Part 82

Antony glanced at the clock on his wrist again. It was already eleven o'clock at night, but there was no sign of Claire's return.

He reached for his cell phone again and tried to call Claire again. Unfortunately, if before, he dialed Claire's number and got a connection tone, now, his phone was directly connected to the operator.

"Damn it!" he growled in annoyance.

Now where should he look for Claire at this late hour? Could she be staying at Richard's house? Maybe when Antony called Claire was still on her way home and now the girl must have arrived.

Antony wanted to get back in touch with her sister, but he realized it wasn't the right time so he decided to call it quits.

Antony banged his forehead on the steering wheel, hoping that it would suddenly refresh his brain and give him a brilliant idea. But it was clear his actions were futile.

With mixed feelings, Antony finally started the engine of the car and drove home. Maybe Claire was angry with him today-not likely, but she definitely was. Tomorrow, he would go back to finding a way to meet her, apologize and resolve all their issues. Straighten out whatever preconceptions the girl had in her head.

Antony reached his house in a fairly short time as he was driving at high speed. The house was completely silent and he guessed that everyone was asleep since it was about midnight.

Antony staggered into his room. Without turning on the light, he took off his jacket and threw it carelessly on the sofa near his bed. He took off his shoes carelessly and tossed his socks carelessly as well and laid his body on the bed with his feet dangling to the floor. His right hand was raised to cover his eyes. He repeatedly inhaled and exhaled harshly.

"Claire..." He muttered softly. He didn't realize when he fell asleep until morning came and his cell phone alarm woke him up.

When Antony came downstairs, he saw that all his family members had gathered in the backyard which had been transformed into a dining area. It wasn't just his parents and Flavia but Altezza's parents and Gian's parents and Gian's sister.

Last night, thinking about Claire's whereabouts, Antony forgot his plans to have dinner with his family.

"Good morning" Greeted Antony in his father's language.

"Here comes our bride-to-be." Greeted Gian's older sister, with her enthusiastic tone.

The woman's hands opened as Antony approached, expecting a warm hug and a kiss of greeting on both cheeks. Antony held her for a moment and kissed both sides of her face gently.

"Why do you look gloomy, Cousin?" the woman asked again after seeing Antony's facial expression which did not show the slightest enthusiasm.

Antony simply lifted the corner of his mouth before turning his attention to his brother-in-law and his aunt's uncle.

"Good morning." Another greeting also came from Gian, who looked fresh in a white polo shirt and blue jeans.

"We have to talk face to face." Antony said as he pulled his cousin's arm to get back into the house. Gian frowned, but he accepted even though Antony half dragged him into the house, continuing towards his study.

"What's wrong cousin, why are you like this?" Asked the man finally when they were already in Antony's office.

"You must take responsibility!" Antony said directly to his cousin.

"What am I responsible for? I didn't get you pregnant, Tony." She said in a joking tone.

But upon seeing the cold expression on Antony's face, the man instantly shut his mouth.

"What's wrong? What happened? I just got back and you're already like this. Did your plan to get that guy to cancel his match with Claire not work?"

"It worked? Of course it worked. That man, and I'm sure his father too, turned pale when he heard my threat. But that's not the case."

"So what's the problem now?" Asked Gian curiously.

"The problem is now Claire is avoiding me. And she even resigned from the company because of your crazy plan!" Antony said in a sharp tone.

"Me? Why is this all my fault?" Gian asked not understanding.

"Because you caused her to leave." Antony's accusation made Gian's forehead furrowed even deeper.

"Wait a minute." Gian raised his hands. "Why did Claire leave? And why is it my fault?" He asked curiously.

"Because of all your crazy ideas. About being the Shakh Rukh Khan who broke their engagement."

Gian nodded his head. "Claire doesn't like you interfering in her mother's matchmaking plans?" Gian asked again curious. "If she's that angry, it means she doesn't want you, it means she doesn't like you. But why is it my fault? I'm not the one who controls Claire's feelings, Tony." He said with an accusing look back at Antony.

"She left not because of that. But because she thought I wasn't fighting for her, maybe?" Antony hesitated at his own thoughts.

Gian frowned again. Chuckled skeptically. "What did you do to make her think that you didn't fight for her? That you didn't fight for your relationship?" He asked again curiously. "Didn't you tell her your plans? About us surprising her mom and about her family not coming to their engagement because we're going in their place?" Gian looked at Antony with a curious gaze. Antony was silent and shook his head.

"I didn't tell her, and she also told me that she didn't need to know everything." Antony replied innocently.

"Oh my God." Gian grumbled as he dropped his body on the sofa and rolled his eyes. "It's true that people in love can turn stupid. Even very stupid." He muttered. "Even someone like Antony Quirino, the iron-fisted businessman known as a lion, eventually turns into a moron. For God's sake." he continued in an exaggerated manner as if Antony was not there.

The man massaged his temples as he looked at Antony who was also looking at him.

"Are you insulting me?" Antony asked angrily.

"Yes, Cousin. I'm insulting you." Gian said openly. "How can you be so stupid. I told you to act heroically, not to be mysterious with her.

"If she says she doesn't need to know, it doesn't mean she doesn't want to know. But she's giving you time to explain everything when you want to." Gian said in a patronizing tone. "So what will you do to her then?" Asked Gian again curiously.

Antony shrugged. "I left, leaving her with her twin brother right after you told me your parents were coming." Antony said matter-of-factly.

"And afterward?" Gian asked again.

"And afterward I was too busy to think of anything after hearing from Duncan and Altezza about the company's problems."

"How is it at the office? Didn't you say anything to her either?"

Antony grinned. "I didn't know she was back at work. I was too focused on spending my time solving work problems because you know, I wanted to get everything done quickly so I could spend my time taking care of the wedding and our honeymoon plans afterwards.

"I can't leave all the work to you, considering Altezza can't help you all the time and I can't fully trust you because your interests are not in that field." Antony said at length as he explained to his parents that he had made a mistake.

Gian, who had been leaning his back on the chair, legs crossed and arms folded in front of his chest, could only look at Antony while shaking his head.

"And her family? Didn't any of them tell her the truth?"

Antony frowned. Then shook his head.

"I don't know." he replied listlessly.

Gian rolled his eyes. "Alright, Cousin. You're really being a fool nowadays." He scolded again. "You didn't tell Claire the details of your plan when she said she didn't need to. According to her, when you don't tell her anything, she has two choices. One, it's not important enough for you to share. Two, you assume that she's not important enough for you to share.

"Then, you disappeared without a word and acted 'ignorant' even though it wasn't your intention." Gian said quickly when he saw the sharp look in Antony's eyes. "Once again she will suspect that she is not important or, you don't want to continue your relationship and give up." Gian said again.

"But I already showed her how enthusiastic I was about marrying her. I asked her about the decorations and what kind of wedding she wanted." Antony replied remembering the night he showed her his laptop screen and the wonderful events that followed.

"So?" Asked Gian curiously as Antony instead dissolved into his reverie and smiled like a fool.

"She said it's not time for us to deal with that because I haven't gotten her mother's blessing yet."

Gian nodded. "And that is indeed the fact." He said. "That's the reason why we, me, you and her brother, planned your engagement like an attack. Because if you ask for her mother's blessing in a gentle way, it will only take a long time." Gian replied cautiously. "But the point you forgot, Cousin. Is that you forgot to tell Claire about our plan, which might have made her wrong." Gian continued.

"Maybe for some girls, your heroic act of asking the guy's family to pretend to continue the match and ending up not showing up for the engagement ceremony and immediately offering yourself as the groom-to-be will seem like a sweet surprise.

"But you know that Claire isn't that typical girl. And after all the mistakes you made because of your own actions, you made me the scapegoat?" Gian asked with a disgusted look on his face. "What a great guy you are, Tony." He mocked again.

"So what should I do now?" Antony looked at his cousin with a haggard face.

"You just have to go to her, explain everything and say that your relationship will continue. You don't know things like that? You idiot." Gian mocked.

Antony did not count how many times Gian called him stupid. And it seemed Gian was happy to be able to insult Antony because for the first time in his life, he felt he could beat Antony with his intelligence.