Charmed by the Billionaire CEO

Grace had finally calmed down after the emotional breakdown. She sat next to her father, holding his hand, and sniffed.

Dante had been watching her all this while and was surprised to see how guilty she was for hurting him. His ever so brave and fierce daughter was too soft and kind by heart. She only acted as if she didn’t care, but deep inside, she still longed for her father.

Dante smiled as he watched her and said," You are just like your mother, Grace" his words made her look up at him. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"She too acted as if she didn’t care about me, but I know deep down she loved me the same as much I loved her"

Dante knew his wife was angry because he disagreed with giving up his empire and regretted it. After all, that was why she walked out of the house, taking their daughter away. But even after staying away from him, she still secretly fulfilled all her duties as his wife.

Grace wasn’t surprised at all. Yes, he was right. Her mother never stopped loving her father. She had witnessed many incidents.

"She wanted me to live a normal life, but it was too hard for me to step down. It’s hard to leave everything and assume nothing wrong would happen."

Dante had warned Sera the day she agreed to marry him, and she knew it would be difficult for him to let go of everything just like that. She knew his life wasn’t that easy, but she hoped one day he would understand her word and agree to leave everything behind and lead an everyday life.

"I tried my best to keep you and Sera safe, but in the end, I failed" his words were full of sorrow.

Grace knew her mother left Dante because he wasn’t ready to let go of his business, which made her decide to leave him. But now, when she heard him, she felt this wasn’t the only reason for their separation.

"What do you mean, dad?" she asked, curious to know what he meant by he failed.

Dante sighed, held onto her hands tightly, and began to speak," You were only four when someone invaded our house and tried to abduct you. The man who barges inside your room injected you with a high dose of chloroform, but fortunately, Sera walked in on time, and before he could take you away, she screamed for help, and my men were able to get that man," he gasped and a tear roll down his eyes.

"It turned out that the man who tried to abduct you worked as one of a servant in our house. He was sent by one of my enemies because he wanted to revenge for the loss he faced because of me," he breathed heavily as he continued.

"We rushed taking you to the hospital when we saw you had stopped breathing. Your skin had turned pale, and your lips started to turn black. It was a very tough time for us because we were slowly losing you. It took the doctor to operate on you for hours when they finally gave us positive news.

The thought of losing you affected your mother deeply, and that was when she decided to part ways with me. She didn’t want to risk your life anymore, knowing that my enemies would find another way to come after my family, and that was why she left me."

Grace gasped as she tried to absorb his words. This was the reason why they separated. No doubt her mother still loved him because she knew she couldn’t end her feeling for him even after leaving him.

"I don’t blame her as if she was best that time. You both had to go away from me to lead a normal life. But that didn’t mean I didn’t care for you. Even though you both were away, I still came to look for you from afar," he said, looking at Grace, who started crying again.

Dante didn’t want her to feel guilty for misunderstanding him all these years. Sera only tried to protect her.

Grace felt terrible for hating her father all these years without knowing anything. They both were right at their place, and no one was to blame because they did what they right that time.

Trevor was there listening to everything. He didn’t disturb them at all and let the duo talk. They needed to sort out their difference and get to know each other better.

It wasn’t wrong to have a father who was an underworld mafia because that didn’t define the person’s character. He knew Dante didn’t do illegal business, but that doesn’t make him a good man either. He was merciless when it came to people who double cross him. He was a man with a good heart and was evil to those who brought harm to his people.

The more he understood Dante, his respect for him increased. Slowly getting up from his seat, Trevor excused himself, giving them the time to calm their emotions.

"I should’ve understood you, dad. My hate blinded me towards you that I forgot to see the good side in you" Grace regretted doubting her father’s intentions towards them.

Sera would always keep telling her to let go of her anger toward Dante because she had made that mistake once, and as the days went by, she regretted leaving him behind.

Sera had long accepted her mistake of leaving Dante, knowing he would be alone without her. She was so ashamed to face him that she was punished by missing him every day.

"I don’t blame you. It is all in the past, and now, with you being here with me is the best part of my life, and I want to cherish it all my life" Grace nodded to his words agreeing to them.

Dante tried to ease the tension between them. He didn’t want her to keep blaming herself. He wanted them to start fresh.

*****

Knight mansion

"How can they do this to us" Gwen fumed in anger after learning that Grace and Trevor went to meet Dante.

"Even I am pissed," Gavin agreed to her.

Grace had never told them about Dante, but that didn’t mean Trevor and Tristan did talk about him. It was their right to know everything about him. After all, he was their grandpa from the maternal side.

Both twins were aware of him and often talked with him secretly without letting their mother know about it. Tristan had told them everything, and he was glad they didn’t judge him. Instead, he found his profession excellent.

"I am going to scold dad for not telling us anything. I so wanted to visit his place," Gwen complained.

They had only talked with him on calls or face time but never met him in person. Tristan didn’t want to risk their lives, knowing their enemies were on high alert in that country.

Gavin pursed his lips and asked," What do you think they must be doing there?"

"I don’t know. Maybe mon must be crying, and so does Grandpa. After all, they had united after years of hate and misunderstanding," Gwen commented.

"I so wanted to witness everything," Gavin said, and Gwen sighed.

"We could only wish. Didn’t you forget what your brother said? He doesn’t want us to step out foot in that country."

Tristan had warned them, and so did Trevor; they didn’t want to go against their words.

"Anyways, tell me how your preparation is going" Gwen brushed off the topic and asked Gavin, either.

"All good. I can’t believe mom agreed to it. I was getting anxious for nothing" Gavin was so relaxed after Grace agreed to his military enlistment that he was on cloud nine.

Gwen sneered, looking at his stupid smile, and rolled her eyes, picking up her phone and saying," I knew it from the beginning. It was you who was getting nervous for no reason," she exclaimed.

Gavin scoffed at her remark and saw her looking into her phone. He frowned, watching her smile like a fool after reading something on her cell phone.

"What are you smiling at? Show it to me," he said and walked to look into her phone, but she pulled it away, looking at him in surprise.

"T-there is nothing to look at. It’s a work-related thing," she said and kept her phone aside.

Gavin found her behavior strange, but wasn’t his sister always this weird? Ignoring her, he returned to the couch and started playing games on his phone.

Watching Gavin ignore her, she sighed in relief and again pulled out her phone and read Karl’s message.

[ Gwen, why aren’t you answering]

Smiling at his restlessness, Gwen replied,[ Gavin was next to me, I had to keep my phone away]

She tapped the send button, and within no time, he replied,[ Did he get suspicious about us] she could tell he was anxious.

[ No]

[ Thank god, I was so scared] Gwen smiled, reading his text, and typed, [ Let’s meet early for breakfast tomorrow] she sent and got a reply,[ Okay]

The couple chatted for a while before they bid good night.

Gwen had been so happy lately that she could wait for the day she would openly date Karl without anyone’s fear, and she hoped that day would come soon.