Chapter 2

To be fair, I thought she had handled the warning well enough.

That evening, I bought a bouquet of roses and went to her film set to pick her up.

Instead, backstage, I saw Julian holding a plate of fruit and feeding her one bite at a time.

The way they looked at each other was so sticky and intimate it made my stomach turn.

I walked in and threw the bouquet at her feet.

"Mira. Is this what you call cutting him off? Explain."

She stood up impatiently.

"Grant, you're a thirty-year-old man. Can you stop acting like a schoolboy? What are we, kids? Do you really think people just 'stop being friends' like that?"

I stared at her coldly.

"When I said cut him off, I meant you never contact him again. You never meet him again."

"Impossible. If you keep threatening me like this, I'll divorce you. Let's see how you explain that to Grandpa."

I stepped on the roses and ground the petals under my shoe.

"Mira, I told you this afternoon. You only had one chance. Wait for the divorce papers."

Then I turned and left.

Behind me, Julian said in a wounded voice, "Don't fight with your husband because of me. Go after him. I shouldn't have come back."

Mira did not care at all.

"Relax. He's easy to coax. I just have to act cute for a second and his knees go weak. Ignore him."

My knuckles tightened until they went pale.

I called my assistant immediately.

"Nora, have legal draft the divorce agreement. She leaves with nothing. Terminate her spokesperson contract with the company and stop all..."

Before I could finish, another call came in.

It was the caregiver from my grandfather's house.

"Mr. Whitmore, your grandfather... the hospital just issued a critical notice."

My heart dropped.

My eyes burned as I rushed to the hospital, and I told Nora to bring Lily from home.

When I arrived, my grandfather lay in the hospital bed with a head full of white hair, smiling at me.

My eyes nearly filled.

I knew what that kind of sudden brightness meant.

Lily ran to him happily and hugged him.

"Great-Grandpa, I'm here!"

"Good. Good." He patted her back, then looked toward the door. "Where is your mom?"

I wiped the corner of my eye.

"She's filming. I'll call her right now."

Grandpa held my hand.

"You two must be good to each other. Mira is spoiled, yes, but she is not bad. Even if she makes mistakes, be patient with her."

I nodded.

"I know."

I walked out of the room and called Mira.

The phone rang for a long time before she finally answered, her voice bright with smugness.

"Oh, my dear husband. Too embarrassed to apologize face-to-face, so now you're calling?"

"But you really made me angry this time, and you apologized slower than usual. I want punishment. Buy me that blue diamond necklace."

I gripped the phone and forced my voice to remain steady.

"Grandpa is in critical condition. He wants to see you."

There was a pause on the other end.

Her voice trembled slightly.

"How did that happen?"

Before I could answer, I heard Julian beside her.

"Baby, I peeled this shrimp for you myself. Open up."

Then he added, "Huh. I think someone outside the restaurant is acting suspicious. Is Mr. Whitmore having us followed?"

The next second, Mira's sharp voice blasted through the phone.