Baby Ethan rolled over and came close to Matthew, smiling and cooing softly; melting his heart with such an innocent face.
Matthew was hopelessly charmed by his smile as he couldn't help squeezing his cheeks softly. "I'll be done soon."
As soon as Erica got in the car, she sent a private message to Can't Do Anything. "What's the hotel's name?"
Fifteen minutes later, Erica, with a mask to hide her face, sneaked into the hotel following a guest who was checking in.
Before long, she found the elevator and pressed the button to Floor 23.
Hiding in a secluded corner, she peeked at the door of Room 2309, but found nothing.
After what seemed like ten minutes, she finally saw a familiar-looking person unlocking the door to Room 2309.
Five minutes later, Erica's mask was in the garbage bin outside the hotel, while she hailed a taxi from the side of the road.
Alas! Just as what Can't Do Anything said, Aaron was, indeed, accompanied by another man inside his room.
Erica felt so distressed! In truth, she wouldn't have a problem with it if Aaron and that man were really in love with each other. Obviously, she wasn't against homosexual relationships.
However, the man with Aaron looked to be in his forties and he seemed like the kind of person to have a family of his own.
Well, she could never bring herself to like Aaron again!
When she was about to reach ZL Group, she received a call from Matthew. He asked her to go home directly since he and Ethan were already back in the villa.
Erica had to persuade the taxi driver to change destination and take her to the villa instead.
In the bedroom on the third floor
Erica pushed the door open and found it to be quiet inside. A baby was sound asleep in the middle of the bed.
Matthew had just stepped out of the bathroom just then. "Don't stay up late."
Erica nodded casually as if she weren't actually panicking inside. Staring at the man in pajamas, she couldn't help but think of the fight she had with Matthew two days ago because of Aaron.
Matthew had been nothing but nice to her. He gave her money; washed her feet and even cooked noodles for her, but she had an argument with him over an unscrupulous man. Alas! She had been wrong about Matthew all along. A deep sense of guilt arose in her heart.
Noticing her absent-mindedness, Matthew turned around and looked at her. "What's up?"
Erica wanted to say that everything was fine, but her curiosity got the best of her. "What do you know about Aaron?"
"I know that he is a scumbag!"
"Didn't you say you didn't know him before? How come you have such a strong opinion about him now?"
Matthew walked up to her and squinted his eyes suspiciously. "I didn't know him before, but I do know him now. This is the last time the ZL Group will ever work with him. We won't hire an entertainer who is a scumbag."
Pretending to know nothing, Erica continued, "What did he do?"
A smile flashed across Matthew's eyes. "I always wanted to ask you this question!"
"What is it?"
"Is Aaron a man or a woman?"
Erica was rendered speechless. She knew he was aware of the answer. "Of course a man!" she replied anyway.
"Then why did he suggest Mr. Xu get a room with him in a hotel?"
"Mister? I thought the general manger was a woman."
"He is a man, but Mr. Xu didn't go. It's not wrong for a person to have an idol, but you should keep your eyes open and find a person with good morality to idolize in the future."
Erica felt utterly humiliated for liking Aaron. She wanted nothing more than to dig a hole in the ground and hide from her embarrassment.
Can't Do Anything and Matthew had wiped out the good impression of Aaron on her mind.
That night, Erica deleted the photo of her and Aaron from Weibo. Many people asked her why she had deleted it, but she was too embarrassed to even talk about Aaron's disgusting deeds. As such, she didn't give anyone a response.
On the noon of the third day, when Wesley came to pick up Ethan, Erica couldn't help but shed a few tears.
She felt disappointed at how easily she fell to sadness at the thought of not seeing the baby. What if, however, Tam took the child away and she couldn't see him ever again? The mere thought of it was enough to devastate her.
'I have to be stronger!' she told herself.
After Wesley left, she kept comforting herself, "I'm not sad. I'm not sad!"
But when Matthew came back in the evening, Erica couldn't help but sob at the first sight of him.
Confused, Matthew asked, "Did I frighten you?" 'She seemed okay just now. What could've happened?'
Erica shook her head, sniffling like a baby.
"Then why are you crying?"
Erica answered, "I miss Ethan."
Matthew heaved a sigh of relief and loosened his tie. "I'll have someone pick him up tomorrow."
"No!"
"Why not?"
Erica immediately changed the topic. "I want to eat noodles." '
What does missing Ethan have anything to do with eating noodles?' Matthew was even more confused. "You haven't had dinner yet, right?"
Erica mumbled, "I have." In truth, ever since Ethan had left, she had lost her appetite and now her stomach had begun to growl.
With a serious look on his face, Matthew said, "Please talk normally!"
Suddenly, Erica, whose eyes were just red, burst into tears. "Waah… Waah…"
Panic flashed across Matthew's eyes. He didn't know how to comfort her, but eventually he chose to frighten her. "Shut up! I hate to see women crying!"
Erica wailed even louder. "Really?"
"Yes!"
"What a coincidence! I love crying!"
'What do I do?' Matthew wondered, massaging his temples.
When Matthew gave her no response, she responded, muffled sobs wracking against her chest, "Since I like crying, you should stop liking me!"
Rolling his eyes at her, Matthew replied fiercely, "You cry all the time. Who will like you?"
"Don't you know that it's not healthy to suppress your feelings? I cry whenever I want to because I don't like to keep things bottled up inside me. Waaaah…" Not only did she cry, she cried like her world had disappeared!
Matthew was on the verge of having a nervous breakdown! He never thought that Erica would be a lot harder to deal with than a one-billion-dollar cooperation deal. After a while, he was forced to raise his hands, gesturing her to stop. "I promise I'll make noodles for you if you stop!"
Erica's crying stopped at once. She quickly wiped her tears and said, "With a sausage!"
"Got it!" Astounded at how strange the girl was, Matthew glared at her coldly as he took off his suit jacket and hurled it at her. "Put it away!"
With tears in her eyes, Erica grinned, "Okay, Matthew!"
After hanging his jacket on the rack, Erica followed Matthew into the pantry.
With a can of coke and some crispy dates in her hands, she walked into the kitchen and put a crispy date into Matthew's mouth. "There is still something missing in the fridge. Do you know what it is?"
Matthew responded, while chewing the date in his mouth. "What?"
"You have such a big pantry. Why don't you put some sweets and desserts in it? Perhaps some macarons? Tiramisu…Souffle. Oh, can I just live in the pantry from now on?"
"You want some macarons?"
Erica nodded. "Yes!" Although, Erica had a sweet tooth, she was also too self-conscious of putting on extra weight.
Matthew smiled at her and said, "What a coincidence! I know how to make macarons!"
"Really?" Erica was so surprised her eyes widened with anticipation.
"Yes!"
"Then can you make some for me?"
"It depends on my mood!"
Erica smirked and said, "Well, should I try to please you?"
"I'm glad that you're smart enough to know what to do!"
After eating a large bowl of noodles, Erica finally felt calmer. Her pain of missing Ethan was reduced by Matthew's bowl of seafood noodles.
