"Just go to sleep!" Wesley demanded.
Blair didn't say anything upon hearing what her husband told their daughter.
After hanging up, Erica went back to the bedroom, clutching her phone in her hand.
When she walked in, Matthew's attention was on his phone. "Why don't you go ahead and get some sleep if you've got nothing else to do. I have an important meeting in the morning," he said coldly and put his phone away.
'Really? Does he mean that I can sleep now?' Erica wondered, hesitating with each step she took before getting into the bed.
Just as she had expected, the newly married couple slept in the same bed, but dreamed different dreams.
Being a bride was a lot of work, and Erica felt completely depleted after a busy day. She closed her eyes, about to drift into sleep when Matthew's phone started vibrating on the bedside table.
Having realized this, Matthew looked at Erica and whispered, "Sorry!" Then, he answered the phone and continued, "Hello?"
"Matthew…"
Much to his chagrin, the voice of a woman crying was so loud, Matthew couldn't avoid frowning as he got out of the bed and put on his slippers. "Just tell me what's going on," he muttered.
The woman on the other end of the line said something, but Erica couldn't make out what she was saying. After hanging up, Matthew went to the walk-in closet without saying anything.
He was in a hurry and looked quite serious, implying the urgency of the situation—something bad must have happened to the woman.
Two minutes later, he walked back into the bedroom, all dressed up. It was not until then that he realized there was another person in the room with him. Standing on the edge of the bed, he looked down at Erica, whose eyes were wide with puzzlement. "I have some urgent business to deal with. Don't wait up for me, you should go to sleep."
"Oh, okay." Erica had no qualms with that arrangement. In fact, she would like nothing more than to sleep alone. The call from that woman was like a blessing in disguise for which Erica felt deeply grateful.
She assumed that the woman must be the goddess who shone like the purest moonlight in Matthew's heart. 'That woman is something else! The way she made Matthew leave his newlywed wife on their wedding night is truly amazing!' Erica marveled at the thought of the unknown woman.
With a solemn look at her, Matthew said nothing more and left the bedroom.
When silence befell the bedroom, Erica was certain that Matthew had left. Without a worry on her mind, she threw back her covers and jumped on the bed happily.
There wasn't a trace of sadness on her face which was quite unusual for a bride who had been left by her husband on the night of their wedding. Feeling giddy as ever, she cleared her throat and began to sing. "Come on, come on, turn the radio on. It's Friday night and—" Her singing stopped abruptly when the bedroom door was opened from the outside.
Erica froze, petrified with astonishment.
With his hands in his pockets, Matthew stood at the door, emotionlessly staring at Erica while she was standing on the pillow where he had just rested his head, hands clenched into fists in midair.
Erica reacted quickly. When she realized what she was doing, she quickly drew her foot back and knelt down on the bed. She grabbed Matthew's pillow and patted it sheepishly. She stammered awkwardly, "I have a habit of doing exercise before sleep. I accidentally stepped on your pillow. I'm sorry."
The deadpan expression on Matthew's face remained unchanged at Erica's apology.
As he approached her, the atmosphere in the bedroom became more intense and the beating of Erica's heart grew faster.
She held her breath, dreadfully waiting for his next words until he stopped at the side of the bed.
Reaching out his right hand, he held her chin and raised her face to him.
"Why were you so happy about me leaving?" he asked in a low voice.
'Well, was it so obvious?' Erica blinked her innocent eyes, realizing that she shouldn't have acted so immaturely. She immediately showed a trace of remorse on her face. "To be honest, I'm afraid of sleeping alone in such a big room. I was just singing a song to give myself courage. I wasn't happy about you leaving. Don't get me wrong."
Matthew lowered his head abruptly and pulled her closer to him. "Be good," he said.
"Yes, I will!" Their bodies were so close that she felt uncomfortable. 'Mr. Huo, can you please move away from me a bit? We may be married, but we're nothing but strangers to each other!' she cursed inwardly.
The man looked down at her red lips with some intensity as their breaths intertwined. He was about to kiss her red lips.
Erica understood what he wanted to do and there was no reason for her to refuse him. However, she managed to find an excuse. "Isn't your woman still waiting for you?"
'My woman?' Matthew's eyes dimmed. He finally let her go and moved away from her. He grabbed his phone from the table beside him and left the bedroom.
A sense of relief came over Erica again as the door was closed.
This time, she didn't dare to sing a song again; instead she quickly went to bed and closed her eyes.
Erica didn't sleep well that night. She was constantly thinking about what Matthew would do to her when he came back. When she finally fell asleep, she began to dream of Matthew—his kiss, his indifference, his chiseled body…
The next morning, when Erica woke up, it was already nine o'clock. She changed her clothes and went downstairs to the kitchen.
Unexpectedly, there were already three people in the living room on the first floor, talking and laughing—Debbie, Evelyn and Godwin.
"Hi, Rika. You're finally awake!" Debbie stood up from the sofa and greeted her warmly.
Erica quickened her pace and stood in front of Debbie. "Aunt…um…Mom!" She almost forgot that she was married to Matthew yesterday, and Debbie was now her mother-in-law.
Debbie held her hands lovingly and said, "My lovely girl, are you hungry? Let's go and have some breakfast."
"Okay!"
A little boy with a toy racing car ran towards her and said, "Good morning, Auntie." The little boy who greeted her with a smile was Godwin. He was wearing a pair of dark overalls and Spiderman sunglasses.
Erica stroked his head softly and said, "Good morning, Godwin. Have you had breakfast?"
"Yes, I have. Auntie, go and have breakfast now. After that, you can play with us!"
"Okay. Evelyn, Mom, I'll go have breakfast then." Erica walked to the dining room.
Debbie tagged along with the housemaid and brought her the breakfast.
Erica was okay with the housemaid bringing her the breakfast. That was her job. However, Erica was taken aback when she saw Debbie doing so, and she stood up instantly to take the porridge from her hands. "Thank you, Mom. You didn't have to do that!"
Debbie sat across Erica, and upon sensing her nervousness, she comforted her, "Don't be so formal around me. After all, you're my daughter-in-law and I'll treat you like my own daughter from now on. This is your home. Do you understand?"
Erica was deeply moved by Debbie's kindness. She would have thanked Debbie for treating her better than her own mother, if Debbie hadn't just asked her not to be so courteous. As such, she simply nodded and said, "Okay."
Debbie propped her hand against her chin and looked at the girl eating breakfast. The way she looked at Erica showed how fond she was of her daughter-in-law. "Rika, I want to tell you something."
"Yes, of course. What is it?" Erica was intrigued.
"Eat your food first, or it will get cold. Matthew went out last night, didn't he?"
'Huh? How does she know that?' Erica nodded absent-mindedly, chewing the dumpling in her mouth. "Yes, he did."
"I hope you don't take this the wrong way. His best friend, Nathan, was in a car accident on the way back from the airport last night," Debbie explained. That was the reason why Matthew left his wife alone on their wedding night. And Debbie came to explain the situation to her in the morning.
