Between A Happy and Sorrow

They were both too stunned to speak. Grace clasped her mouth in disbelief. She took a step back. Fillo, still standing, couldn't do anything. 

Agnes herself walked closer. She grabbed Fillo's hand from Grace. Without any shame, she hugged Fillo and Fillo hugged her back. Grace thought she would be alright but she loved Fillo after all. She loved Fillo and Agnes all her life. Moving on would need more than a few days. 

Grace quickly decided to leave when she saw Agnes smirk on her. Hugging Fillo so tight. It used to be her place. Hugging Fillo when she feeling down and Agnes saw them from the side. And now the place switched. She saw her boyfriend hugging her best friend right in front of her eyes.

Grace thought she could be stronger. But after she reached her cottage, her face was already wet.

"Grace? Why are you crying?'

Grace looked up to see her father. Mister Norma put all his shopping bags and stride faster to his daughter. He grabbed his daughter's face. Grace's face was all red and wet with tears.

"Papa… i… thought… I will be fine…. But it turned out… it still hurts…"

Her sobbing got louder and Master Norma hugged Grace tighter.

"What happened, Grace? What makes you cry?"

"Fillo… hic…and Agnes… they…"

It still hurts, even to say it was still so difficult for Grace. They stood still for a while. Mister Norma let his daughter cry herself out first. Grace was not in the state to tell a story. He needed to be patient. But seeing his beloved daughter crying like this broke his heart.

He always treated his daughter like a queen of his life. He never raised his voice. He was strict but still did it with so much love. How could a mere human… broke her heart like this? She said Fillo and Agnes' names before. What did they do to his angel? He almost never saw Grace crying before. She was a cheerful kid with a bright personality. 

He let his shirt get wet by Grace's tears. Today was supposed to be her happiest day. Yet, Arthur saw his daughter crying on her happiest day.

After Grace cried for a while. He brought his daughter into their lodging. Grace sat on the sofa while Arthur took a cold drink from the small fridge in the room. 

"Please drink this to cool you down, sweetheart. You can tell me everything whenever you want. I won't push you if that makes you uncomfortable."

Grace pulled her father's arm so the man could sit back to her side. She put her head on his broad shoulder. Grace gripped her fingers tighter nervously. She needed to tell her father everything. But there was so much to tell that made Grace overwhelming. She was nervous because she didn't know how her father would react.

But a pair of warm hands engulfed her cold fingers.

"Don't be nervous, my child. Papa will always be by your side."

Grace inhaled deeply then let the breath out of her mouth. And she told him everything. Except for the part where she met Gabriel and what she did with Gabriel. Because now Gabriel was out of the picture. She would never saw him again. So, there was no excuse to bring his name in this matter.

She told her father about her visits to Fillo apartement. About what she saw and what she heard. She told him that she tried to break off their engagement but Fillo refused. And the reason she cried. When Agnes is pregnant with Fillo's child. And they hugged each other in front of her face. 

"It felt like they mocked me publicly. I don't know what I did wrong that made them do it behind my back. If… even though they told me their real feeling, maybe I tried to choose to relent. And they called me.."

"What did they call you?" asked Arthur. His face was all red filled with rage. 

"A goody-two-shoes girl, holy Grace, nerdy and prude girl."

"Oh, my Grace…"

Arthur hugged his daughter back. "It's supposed to be a compliment."

"But-"

"They just couldn't be like you. They were just jealous of you. You should forget about it. Those words mean nothing. It's just words. Those words never define who you are. You are my most beloved daughter. You are the sun of my life. Yes, you are a good girl. Smart, bright, and a kind girl. You should be proud of it."

Grace cried even more. She almost forgot that her father would always be there for her. Without Fillo, without Agnes…without everyone in this world. She still had her father. Her beloved papa. 

And Grace should be grateful about it.

She was the luckiest girl in this world. She already got rid of all the toxic people from her life. And still had a father that loved her unconditionally.

She hoped that this moment would last forever.

"I love you, papa."

"I love you more, my dear Grace. Let's live a happy life together. Today is your happy day. Don't make those bastards make you cry anymore."

Grca enooded. She hugged her father tighter. He was her savior. A mother that she neve met. A hero that always protected her.

She loved him so much.

***

But the happy moment didn't last long.

The later night, when Grace grabbed some dinner from a local restaurant, she knocked on her father's cottage to have dinner together. There was no answer. It was still six in the evening. Sun just set in the west. She knocked again but no answer. Grace grabbed the door handle and opened the door.

She frowned when her father's room looked empty.

"Papa?' 

No answer. His laptop was still on. She looked into the bedroom and bath room but she found no one. She couldn't find his phone. Did her father go somewhere?

Grace plopped down on the sofa waiting. Until someone knocked on the door.

A man.

"Yes? Do you need something?"

"Are you the daughter?'

"I'am Arthur's daughter."

"Yes, Arthur Norma. We found his body under the rock cliff."

"W-what?"

***

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I hope you enjoy my story! Thank you,,,,