CHAPTER 426: PARTY TIME V

Old Mr. Thorne could understand his granddaughter’s awe at the scenery in front of her, could understand her twitching nose, could understand her inhaling deeply as if to suck as much beautiful air as she could.

After all, this was the place tended lovingly by his wife, a place he usually came to when he needed to think, to make critical decisions, to relax without the interruption of the outside world.

"It is your space too. You can come here when you need to think... so you don’t make hasty decisions."

The softer allure of his last words got Athena’s attention, her brows knitting together as she tried to comprehend his intent.

"Grandpa, if this is about—"

"It is." Old Mr. Thorne agreed, his eyes meeting hers in so much fatherly love that Athena’s defensiveness faded away. She instead shifted closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder.

It, however, didn’t mean that she was planning to change her mind—only to listen to him.

"I know what I am doing, Grandpa. I know you like Ewan..."

"This is not about Ewan or Antonio, this is about you—about what you want, what you need, what choice you don’t regret in the future..." He paused, his voice lowering. "Athena, are you sure this is what you want? An engagement? Are you ready for such a deep relationship, when your feelings are entangled in confusion?"

How did he know? Athena licked her lower lip, swallowing. "I’m not confused anymore. It’s Antonio I want."

A sigh escaped her grandfather’s lips, and she had the feeling she had answered wrongly, though for the life of her she couldn’t understand why she would feel that way.

"Is it because of Victoria and her sudden need to be with Ewan?"

Athena cussed under her breath, unable to help it. "That whoremonger... she must be planning on abandoning Cedric and latching on Ewan, as my cousin is no longer the heir to your empire."

A pause, her voice tightening with heat. "Too bad Ewan isn’t in his right mind to see it. He seems to always fall for desperate, coquettish females who act like they would die without his help. Too bad for him then that I am not like that!"

She was unaware of the bitterness that had seeped into her voice, the anger that played around her words.

Her grandfather sighed again. "Ewan isn’t like that. If you had been patient enough, you would have seen that he pushed her away."

So, her grandfather had been watching? What else did he see?

"Only because Antonio came to me then... his ego couldn’t take it!" she snapped, needing her grandfather to see this ploy, this show of men.

"Only because seeing Antonio caught his admiration of you short, made him aware of his surroundings—aware of who was beside him. I know because when I’m with your grandmother, things cease to exist around me. When our gazes meet, interact, I lose any train of thought that had been besieging me before then. What fills my mind is just her..." He paused, his voice weighted with memory.

"But that’s beside the point. I’m not here to put Ewan in your good graces... yes, I think he is a good man, considerate and all, but my concern is you..."

Athena lifted her head gently from his shoulder, her eyes narrowing. "How so?"

Old Mr. Thorne grabbed her hand, clasping it in his. "There is no light in your eyes when you gaze at Antonio. That light is missing."

Athena chuckled nervously, her fingers twitching in his hold. "Grandpa, that’s fiction."

But Old Mr. Thorne shook his head slowly. "Don’t you see it when I’m with your grandmother? The light in our gazes, our steps, the freeness of our smiles..."

"I feel the same with Antonio."

"Don’t convince yourself into feeling something. It’s either there or not."

Athena chuckled again, disbelief coloring her laughter, hiding her nerves. "And you see that with Ewan?"

Old Mr. Thorne wasn’t pleased with the sarcasm, but he had to tell the truth as a parent. "Yes. I’m not asking that you take him back, but at least, when you want to marry someone, let it be with someone that gives you that—that freedom, that lightness, that peace to be who you are..."

"Antonio is that."

Old Mr. Thorne sighed. This wasn’t going anywhere. "You are bent on marrying Antonio because seeing Victoria with Ewan upset you?"

He tapped her hand softly, his gaze piercing. "My dear, that’s more reason for you to reevaluate your feelings, not jump into another relationship."

Athena had no comeback this time.

"I don’t have the full details of your marriage with Ewan, but at that moment it was a one-sided love, or so it seemed... if I should take a guess, that man loved you even then, but was blinded with revenge to see the truth. You should remember he was a victim in all this, drugged from when he was barely a teen. Not excusing his sense of duty which had dragged him into making stupid decisions, but you have to consider that too, and his redemptive actions since the truth came to light. But that aside..."

He sighed again. "I don’t want you to be in a one-sided love relationship again—this time, with Antonio being the victim."

"But I love Antonio, Grandpa."

"Have you told him those words then? If he was here, could you say it to him?"

Athena hissed softly, getting to her feet, her grandfather’s words biting like needles to her ears. "I will learn it. Ewan just traumatized me enough—sense of duty or not... you don’t have to worry about me."

Old Mr. Thorne nodded, rising to his feet as well. He had done his part, as he was sure his wife would do the same. But his granddaughter was an adult, and she had the final say over her life.

"You are just as stubborn as your mother," he said when they started walking out of the garden.

Athena smiled thinly. "She wanted a man you didn’t approve of?"

Old Mr. Thorne shrugged. "Yes. I had chosen someone from our circle of friends—you know how we thought then, furthering our business and all—but she found a doctor and wouldn’t let go of him, claiming that she loved him, threatening to elope with the student doctor if we didn’t approve of the relationship."

Athena laughed, imagining the scenario. "What finally happened? What made you agree?"

Old Mr. Thorne shrugged again, his lips twitching at the memory. "The light in her eyes when she talked about him, even in his absence."

Athena was just about to ask more about the parents she never met, her curiosity sparking, when a gunshot rang out.