Erica hung up the phone abruptly without another word. '
Humph! Tam Wu, you bastard! Now, you want me to consider your feelings as a father? Why didn't you think of this when Ethan was born? Where were your feelings then? You lying son of bitch!' she cursed at him in her heart.
Tam called her again a few more times, but he never received a response. Having realized that it would be troublesome to contact her in the future if she blocked his number, Tam decided to leave her alone.
Putting her cellphone aside, Erica asked the maid to watch over Ethan for a while because she wanted to make some hard boiled eggs for her son. She wanted to do something special for Ethan to make up for the time she hadn't been at his side.
Yes! She decided to boil eggs herself!
Although boiling eggs was a simple enough task, Erica had no idea where to even begin. After all, the life of comfort and luxury had made her complacent and unambitious.
She found a pot and poured some water in it before putting the eggs. The first two steps went smoothly. Next, was turning on the gas stove.
Just then, the maid curiously walked into the kitchen with Ethan in her arms and asked the busy woman, "Mrs. Huo, what are you doing?"
"Oh, I'm making some hard-boiled eggs for Ethan," Erica answered shyly.
"Please let me do it, Mrs. Huo. You shouldn't be bothering yourself with this!"
"It's fine. Don't worry. Besides, I have nothing better to do. I just feel like making some eggs."
The maid glanced at the pot Erica used and asked again, "But why don't you just use the egg-boiler? Wouldn't that be more convenient?"
Erica shook her head and refused. "I know, but I prefer using the traditional way. It tastes better anyway!"
The maid seemed amused by her answer, but she said, "I think it makes no difference. It tastes just the same to me."
"Fine, I will use the egg-boiler next time," Erica said with a smile.
"Okay."
After turning on the gas, Erica came out of the kitchen and took Ethan from the maid. "Aren't you supposed to buy groceries? You can go now."
The maid hesitated as she worried about the careless girl. "Will you be okay to watch over him while I'm gone, Mrs. Huo?" After all, now that the two other temporary maids had been let off, they were the only two remaining adults in the villa.
"I'll be okay. I will feed him the eggs later. You can go," Erica assured the maid.
"Okay, Mrs. Huo."
After the maid left, Erica went upstairs with the baby in her arms. "My good boy, let's go and get you some water and then we'll come downstairs to eat some eggs!"
In the bedroom on the third floor
Erica put the baby in the middle of the bed and went to get a glass of water for him. Just after she fed him two sips of water, the boy pushed the glass away.
"Behave, my sweet little angel. Have some more water," Erica patiently coaxed him.
However, Ethan sat still with a chubby red face, without making any sound. After a while of staring at the baby in confusion, Erica came to a much dreaded conclusion. "Are you going to poo poo?"
But Erica had never changed a diaper in her life! When Erica was at the Li family house, her parents were there to take care of the baby. While here in Matthew's villa, her husband had hired help to take care of her and the baby's needs.
Unfortunately, none of the maids were in the house now. In silent panic, Erica quickly put the glass on the table and lifted Ethan from the bed.
"Oh, my God! What should I do? Should I just let him poo first and then change the diaper?"
'Yes, that's it!' She made up her mind.
Erica begged, "My dear boy, please hold it in for a little longer. Let's sit on the sofa first, okay?"
She rushed to the sofa and sat down, gently sitting him down on her lap. Just as she sat down, the baby began to struggle in her arms uncontrollably.
Erica's eyes shot up in bewilderment. "Have you finished already?"
Her face was stuck in an incredulous expression as she put the boy down on a makeshift bed in the bathroom and started to prepare the diaper and wet tissues.
After she gathered all the things she needed, Erica realized she had missed something!
She still didn't know how to change a baby's diapers.
Her mind went blank for a moment and then a tall figure suddenly appeared in her mind. 'Matthew!' She took out her phone and dialed his number in a hurry.
At the meeting room of ZL Group
The room was filled with more than twenty senior executives who were engaged in an emergency meeting. Matthew, siting in the CEO's chair, looked absolutely livid, while the others looked too scared to even breathe.
When his cellphone vibrated, Matthew was about to put it on silent mode when he noticed the caller ID. He reluctantly asked to be excused, before he answered his phone.
Erica's anxious whining greeted his ears. "Matthew, help! I have no idea how to change Ethan's diaper!"
"Change diapers?" There was an incredulous tone in his voice.
However, instead of looking embarrassed in front of a room full of people, Matthew's facial expression softened and he smiled. He stood up from his seat calmly and motioned the senior executives to go on with the meeting, as he walked towards the door. Although he spoke with a low voice, everyone somehow overheard him saying, "Take off his dirty diaper first…"
The senior executives in the conference room looked at each other with a look of disbelief on their faces.
They had heard rumors that their intimidating CEO had become a stepfather, but none of them believed it to be true until they witnessed the apparent change in him today.
Erica did as he had instructed on the phone. As soon as she tore off the diaper, the putrid smell sent her head in a dizzy trance. Somehow she squeezed her nose shut with one hand and threw the smelly diaper into the trash with the other.
Matthew could feel the repugnance in her voice as she screamed, "Why does it smell so bad? Are you sure we've been giving him powered milk?"
Matthew was speechless. 'What else would we give the baby?' he thought.
It couldn't have taken Erica more than a few seconds to throw away the rubbish, but when she came back, Ethan had already climbed up the bed and rolled around in the clean bed sheet.
Although Erica was mindful enough to put a waterproof plastic mat on the bed, Ethan somehow managed to smear poo everywhere apart from the mat itself.
Erica cried out immediately, "Oh, no! How did you even get up there?"
Matthew could picture the entire scene in his mind as he giggled and said, "Where is the maid?"
"I sent her to the market for some groceries!" Erica whined endlessly, "What should I do now?"
"Wipe him up with some wet tissues and then wash him clean in the bathtub. Then dry him up with a towel and put some pants on him."
"O-okay… How do you know all of this stuff, Matthew? Have you ever taken care of children before?"
"Yes. I've changed Godwin's and Godfrey's diapers before." Matthew had learned how to take care of babies when he used to babysit Godwin and Godfrey.
'Oh, that makes sense, ' Erica thought. With a hint of concern in her voice, she said, "Please carry on with your work. I'll take care of things from here."
"Okay."
After getting off the phone, Erica did exactly as Matthew had instructed her. The little boy couldn't be happier when it was time for his bath. He was completely oblivious to the anxiety he gave Erica when he flapped his hands in the water, giggling happily.
After a while, Erica brought Ethan to the bedroom wrapped up in a towel. When she was about to change him into some clean clothes, a thought popped into her head all of a sudden.
'Oh my God! The… boiling eggs! Damn it! I'm so screwed!'
Erica was practically freaking out now.
She wrapped Ethan up with a towel again and ran downstairs as fast as she could. When she was just outside the kitchen, she heard a loud bang come from inside.
Frightened, Erica leapt in the air as if a firecracker had gone off. She held Ethan close and decided to wait outside the kitchen.
There was another loud bang and this time Erica was on the verge of crying. 'Matthew, please help! Yes! Matthew!'
Meanwhile, it hadn't even been a minute since Matthew came back to the meeting, when he received Erica's call again. "Matthew! Boo…hoo…"
