'I can have him wrapped around my little finger? And I'll be able to do whatever I want? Is that even possible?' Erica wondered suspiciously. Nonetheless, she nodded eagerly. "Of course I want to!"
Matthew tightened his arms around her waist. As he stared at her red lips, his Adam's apple bobbed in his throat. "Mrs. Huo, if you give birth to a baby for me, I'll make you the most powerful person in Y City in everyone's eyes, even mine. What do you think?"
"Well…" Erica trailed off thoughtfully. After a moment of hesitation, she said, "But I don't want to have a baby now." The truth was, she was afraid of death.
Tessie had died while giving birth to Ethan. What if Erica met the same fate as her? Who would inherit her billions of wealth if she died?
"It doesn't matter if you don't want to have a baby right now. I won't force you. But…we can start practicing for it."
Erica, of course, knew what he meant by "practicing." She shifted uncomfortably on his lap like she was sitting on pins and needles. "No, no, no. I just want to take pictures of you!"
Matthew wasn't in a hurry. He just played with her hand and said, "Think it over, Mrs. Huo. If you become the most powerful person in my eyes, you can not only take photos of me with clothes on, but also with them off. You can make me your nude model."
Erica stared at him with her mouth agape. 'Mr. Huo, can't you be more reserved?' she thought to herself.
It was not until then that she realized how badly he wanted to sleep with her. However, she was really not ready for it now. She pinched his cheek in mock-anger and said, "Matthew Huo, you just want to trick me into having your baby!"
Her mother had already been nagging at her to have a baby recently, and now, this man was also doing the same. There was no way she would fall into their trap!
Matthew shook his head. "How can you say I'm tricking you? Isn't it normal for a woman to have her husband's baby?"
"It's normal, but…" Erica didn't know how to explain the uneasiness she felt in her heart even after pondering it over for a while.
'Forget it.
I don't want to think about this anymore!' she thought and finally decided to change the topic. Out loud, she said, "Forget it. I won't take pictures of you anymore. Have you finished your work? Make macarons for me once you do!"
Matthew felt helpless all of a sudden. As far as he knew, Erica was usually a little naive and stupid. Why was she being so wary this time?
Later, in the villa
The moment the oven was opened, the sweet smell of freshly-baked macarons wafted through the house.
Matthew brought a plate of delicate macarons to the girl in the dining room. Feeling intoxicated by the smell, Erica immediately picked up a pink-colored one and took a bite. "Huh, it's not too sweet. It's so delicious!"
Matthew sat down opposite her and smiled. "You are really like a kid who always likes to eat snacks, you know that?"
Erica didn't mind him making such comments about her. "When did you learn how to make macarons?" she asked curiously. After all, it was out of character for a bossy CEO like Matthew to make dessert.
"The same time I learned how to cook," Matthew said casually.
"Is it because you wanted to cook for a particular woman?" Erica teased.
Unexpectedly, Matthew didn't deny it. "Yes," he said with a nod.
Upon hearing this, Erica's heart immediately sank. 'He must have learned it for his goddess, ' she thought gloomily. All of a sudden, there was a bad taste in her mouth. The macaron she was eating wasn't sweet anymore.
There was a moment of awkward silence in the dining room. Just as Erica decided to suppress her displeasure and picked up another macaron for Matthew to taste, the latter's phone rang.
He answered the phone in front of her. "What's up?"
"Matthew."
Recognizing Phoebe's voice on the other line, Erica became quiet at once.
"Yes?"
"I'm pregnant."
After a pause, Matthew said, "I see. I'll come by later."
"Okay."
The words "I'm pregnant" had rung out clearly through the quiet dining room. Erica was so dumbstruck that she forgot to swallow the food in her mouth and just listened blankly to Matthew's conversation on the phone.
It was not until he put away his phone that she came to her senses. Forcing a smile, she asked, "Is Phoebe pregnant?"
"You heard that?"
"Yes." Trying to hide the panic in her eyes, Erica said, "You have to take responsibility and take good care of her. Don't worry about me. I don't care, really!"
Matthew frowned; it seemed that she had misunderstood. "It's not—" But before he could finish, Erica interrupted him and said, "I know you want to help me save face. But It doesn't matter. I don't care. You should treat her well, I mean it." As soon as those words left her mouth, Erica took a deep breath like she had just finished running a race. She dimly wondered if the macarons weren't fit for eating. Why did she feel suffocated all of a sudden? There was a dull ache in her chest like there was something lodged there.
Matthew pursed his lips and asked in a low voice, "You mean you don't care even if I were the father of Phoebe's baby?"
"Of course I don't care." Why should she care? It was not like she loved Matthew…
In an instant, the face of the man in front of her changed, seeming to be covered with a thin layer of frost. "Stop eating them," he said coldly, pulling the plate of macarons away.
Erica was confused by his sudden temper. She pursed her lips and complained in her heart, 'Why are you so angry? Shouldn't you be happy that you're a father now?' "Why aren't you letting me eat? Do you want to eat them by yourself?" she asked in bewilderment.
Instead of answering, Matthew got up with the plate and strode toward the trash can.
"Matthew Huo, what are you doing?" Erica asked anxiously.
Matthew remained silent as he emptied the plate into the trash can before throwing it into the sink.
Looking at the macarons in the trash can, Erica felt so upset that her eyes turned red.
'So now that Phoebe is pregnant with his child, he doesn't care about me at all anymore? She's the most important person to him now?' she wondered bitterly, biting her lip.
Then, she turned around and ran upstairs without saying a word.
Two hours passed, and Matthew still hadn't come upstairs to look for her.
It was only then that it occurred to her that Matthew had told Phoebe that he would visit her soon, and that he must have already left the house.
At Orchid Private Club
When Harmon returned to the table after taking a phone call, he found Sheffield trying to persuade Matthew. "Since you're already married to Rika, why don't you try to like her?" Of course, no one but Sheffield knew the true motive behind his words.
Glancing at Sheffield, Matthew put down his glass and said, "She was willing to have another man's baby, which means that she loves him very much. Do you think I will humiliate myself?" That was what he had thought at the beginning.
"No, Matthew, you're wrong!" Sheffield argued.
When Matthew didn't reply, he continued, "How can you say that you're humiliating yourself? It's true that Erica gave birth to another man's child, but that's in the past. Everyone has a past, right? We all know that she is a simple-minded woman. The biological father never showed up after the child was born, so it's obvious that she fell for a bad man. As long as she is willing to let go of the past and live happily with you, you should cherish her."
"You're wrong. Ethan's biological father did show up. He just met her and the baby a few days ago," Matthew corrected Sheffield with a thin smile on his lips.
Sheffield was taken aback after hearing this. "He showed up? So your rival in love has appeared? Were you there then? What happened?"
"Guess."
Sheffield rolled his eyes at him. "You're so childish. Fine, I'll entertain you. I think that you were there too. Your rival probably said that he came to see the child, but in fact, he wanted to get Rika back."
Harmon looked at Sheffield with a smile. "How dare you poke your nose into Matthew's private affairs? You haven't had enough of kneeling down on a keyboard?"
