"Son? You're back!" What a surprise! Debbie let go of Carlos and ran towards her son excitedly. "Son, why did you come back all of a sudden? Didn't you say you wouldn't come back until the day before your sister's birthday?"
With a faint smile on his face, Matthew cast a glance at his excited mother and hugged her back. "I've had a lot of free time lately and I heard that Father's been on a spending spree so I came back to find out if he has a mistress."
Even though Matthew was studying in a university in another country, he managed the company's affairs in his free time.
Carlos' face darkened with displeasure when he heard Matthew's words. The boy had always been a pain in the ass. He turned to his son and said sarcastically, "What a good son you are, worrying about your old man even when you're not here."
"Yes," Matthew retorted. Then he turned to Debbie. "Mom, I only came back to check on how things are going around here. If he really does have a mistress, I can take you away from here so that you'll never have to see him again."
Debbie had long gotten used to the cynicism between father and son. She patted Matthew's hand as she said, "Son, like I told you before, you just focus on your studies. Don't worry about the company. It'll only be additional stress for you."
"Mother, you don't have to worry about me. All I do is study. I'm not tired." Matthew was a reserved man. He mostly kept to himself and wouldn't hang out with his classmates in his free time. He was a loner.
"Okay, let's go home. Evelyn and Terilynn are home tonight." Debbie held his arm and made their way to the entrance of the house.
When they passed by Carlos, the old man took Debbie to his side and rebuked, "Why do you bother to talk to this brat? He wants to take you away from me forever. Come and walk with me. Stay away from him."
Debbie rolled her eyes and sighed helplessly. "Carlos Huo, you're being childish."
With a disgusted look on his face, Matthew echoed, "Yes, childish!"
Carlos raised his hand in an attempt to slap his son, but Matthew merely said in a calm voice, "Mom…"
It was not until then that Debbie realized Carlos had already raised his hand. She raised her hand too and hit him on his arm. "If you hurt our son, who will help you run the company in the future? And who will take me to travel around the world?"
Carlos had promised her that after Matthew took over the company, they would travel around the world.
"You're coddling him!" Carlos remarked.
"Dad, I feel that Mom's taught me well enough to know that I'm better than some people." It wouldn't take a genius to figure out that Matthew was referring to Carlos.
To Carlos, it seemed that the youths like Matthew and Sheffield were way too arrogant. "Watch it! Plus, no matter what achievements you attain, don't forget that it was I who taught you. Your mother's just spoiling you."
"Hmm…" Debbie couldn't help but chime in, "When our son does something right, you say you taught him well; when he makes a mistake, you say I indulge him too much. Way to be biased, Carlos."
Carlos grabbed Debbie's hand and walked forward slowly. "Honey, you know I think you're amazing."
"Humph, too little too late. I don't buy it! Don't coax me!"
Matthew followed them quietly, listening to their conversation. The two were teasing each other. He could tell that they were happy with one another.
He decided that when he got married, he wasn't going to be as arrogant as his father was, nor was he going to be a jealous husband that would put pressure on his wife.
In the manor
Evelyn was sulking because Sheffield didn't reply to her message until three hours after.
And his message was very short—"I was busy." He didn't say anything else afterwards.
There was a knock on her door. Evelyn straightened her pajamas, got out of bed, and opened the door.
"Evelyn,"
Matthew greeted her. He was wearing black suit pants and a customized white shirt. When he appeared at the door, Evelyn was surprised.
"Matthew! I thought you wouldn't be back until in a few days." Evelyn hugged her brother happily.
With a smile on his lips, Matthew gently patted her on the back.
"I came back in advance to deal with some matters, and I'll leave after your birthday."
"Did you just arrive in Y City?"
"Yes. The flight was delayed."
"Okay! Do Father, Mother, and Terilynn know that you're back?"
"Father and Mother already know, but Terrilyn doesn't yet. I'm going to talk to her."
"Well, I'll go with you!"
They knocked on the door of Terilynn's bedroom. Inside the bedroom, Terilynn was texting Joshua. "Wait, someone is knocking on my door. It must be my mother!" she said to Joshua.
When she opened the door and saw Matthew, she was so happy that she jumped into his arms and cried excitedly, "Wow! Matthew, welcome back! I missed you so much!"
Matthew pulled her away from him and said firmly but gently, "Terrilyn, watch your actions."
Terilynn pursed her lips. "You're exactly like Dad! There's no one else here. Why should I bother?" she whined.
Evelyn piped in, "Okay, it's getting late. Why don't you rest first? We can talk tomorrow."
"Okay!" Then the three of them went back to their rooms respectively.
After making sure that Evelyn had entered her room, Terilynn knocked at the door of Matthew's room.
He was about to unpack his things. When he opened the door, Terilynn immediately went inside. "What's up, Terilynn?"
"I want to tell you something about Evelyn." When she found out that the man that Evelyn was seeing was Sheffield, she had been itching to talk to someone about it, but since Matthew wasn't home, she had no choice but to keep it to herself. Matthew closed the door. He sat on the bed while Terilynn sat on the sofa.
"Matthew, I found out who the man was! The man who impregnated Evelyn. It looks like they're still seeing each other, and Dad knows. I haven't told anyone else. What do you think I should do?" She didn't even dare to talk to Joshua about it for fear that she would say something inappropriate.
Matthew frowned at her words. All he cared about was that Evelyn was still seeing that man. He had noticed that Evelyn looked quite good. "So who is she with right now?" he inquired. Didn't he just see Evelyn and Calvert together on the news?
"You know Dad. He didn't like that Evelyn was seeing that man. Someone posted a photo of them together which got the rumor mill going, so Dad asked Calvert to pretend to be the man going out with Evelyn. Evelyn's only with Calvert for the media, but she's actually dating that man in private." Terilynn felt helpless. She wanted to be there for her sister, especially now that her father seemed to be controlling her personal life. She didn't know what to do.
