"I see a lot of guys every day. I go to school, you know. Those classes are co-ed. What's going to make you happy? Tying them up and pushing them into a crocodile pit one by one?"
Erica snapped. Matthew knew she said that to annoy him.
The doorbell rang. Matthew put down his phone and opened the door. "Mr. Huo, it's time to head to the hotel," said Ana.
"I see," he answered, and left the door open. He went back to his room and picked up his phone to tell the woman on the other end, "Have a good rest."
"Going somewhere?" she asked.
"I have a business lunch. Boring, but it has to be taken care of." He tidied up his clothes and strode out of the room.
"Why did I hear a woman's voice?" Erica asked suspiciously.
The man smiled and asked gently, "Do you mind?"
"Of course! You're my husband. Why wouldn't I mind?" she answered without even thinking about it.
Glancing at the female secretary outside the door, Matthew said, "Don't worry. It's just business. Your husband is as loyal as ever."
Realizing she was jealous, Erica picked up her phone on the bed and said awkwardly, "I don't care what you do, really. Bye!"
Then she hung up the phone.
Matthew chuckled to himself as he reviewed the chat logs between him and his wife. Sometimes he could laugh at the absurd.
As soon as he got into the car, he turned and told Ana, "I need you at the company this afternoon. Get Seth Xu on the line. We have things to discuss."
Ana was confused. "What's wrong, Mr. Huo?" 'Did I do something wrong?' she wondered.
"Nope. Just get it done," he said. He didn't tell her his wife seemed to be jealous of him having a female secretary by his side. He decided not to add fuel to the fire.
Even though Ana had a thousand questions bouncing around in her head, she was still a dutiful employee. She did what he wanted without questioning it out loud. "Yes, Mr. Huo."
Erica hated herself, because she couldn't stop thinking about it. She sent another message to Matthew, asking him about Phoebe. "Has Phoebe Su wired you the money?"
Matthew wasn't thinking about it, because he didn't give a damn about ten million. He made a lot more than that in an hour. He called Owen and asked him to check on it before he replied to Erica, "No."
There were still ten days left before the deadline. If the money wasn't there after that, Phoebe would definitely know what the inside of a jail cell looked like. Matthew might keep her there for a few years, too.
Erica's heart sank at his reply. She tried not to think too much about it. Phoebe had another ten days, after all.
It was noon, and Erica roused herself from her nap. She walked across her room in the Huo family manor, assembling her things for school.
As soon as she hit the parking lot, she saw a car rolling slowly away from the manor gate.
She knew better than anyone else who owned that car. It was Matthew's Emperor.
Remembering she was still angry with him, Erica gritted her teeth and got into her car.
But on the way out of the manor grounds, her driver had to brake the car to a halt.
'He did this on purpose, ' she cursed inwardly.
Yes, Matthew did it on purpose. His wife wanted to run away when she saw him in the distance. There was no way he would let this happen.
Matthew asked the driver to park the car in the middle of the road—crossways across both lanes. As a result, Erica's car was unable to get through.
After this happened, though, the people in the Emperor didn't seem to want to get out.
Erica's eyes fell on the back seat of the other car. She could vaguely see a man sitting on the right-hand side, but because there were two front windshields, she couldn't quite make out who it was.
The person on the other side was probably glaring at her, because she felt his burning gaze.
Who else was that arrogant except Matthew? It had to be him.
The driver looked at the woman in the back seat of the car and started awkwardly, "Mrs. Huo…"
Erica looked out the window and said, "Back up. Find another way out."
After retreating more than ten meters, there was still a fork in the road, which also led to the gate of the manor.
"Yes, Mrs. Huo!"
As if he knew what she had planned, the Emperor car simply turned around, heading down that road. At that speed, Matthew would reach the gate to the manor first. Then he did the same thing, parking the car perpendicular to the road.
Therefore, Erica's car couldn't go anywhere. Blocked in the same way for the second time.
She'd had enough of this. She opened the door and left the car angrily. She came to the Emperor and knocked on the window.
The window to the back seat rolled down slowly. The man sitting there was Matthew.
The pregnant woman fought down her longing for him and shouted, "Matthew Huo, what the fuck? Why are you blocking the way out? I need to get to school. If I'm late, that's your fault."
Owen, who was sitting in the driver's seat, wanted to laugh but held it in. He had to stifle his laughter and pretend not to hear a word they said.
Matthew opened the door, got out and scooted over for her. "Get in the car!"
"What are you doing?" She rolled her eyes at him.
"Taking you to school!" They hadn't seen each other for more than ten days. He missed her so much.
Erica snorted and refused, "No, thanks. I have a car and a bodyguard. Please don't bother, Mr. Huo." She knew that addressing him like that would annoy him.
Unexpectedly, Matthew waved at the driver who was driving Erica's car. The driver immediately understood and headed straight to the parking lot.
Erica couldn't stop the car and watched it roll away.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Matthew told her, "Now you don't have a car or a bodyguard." Saying that, he picked her up and put her into the car, ordering the driver to head to the school.
On the way, Matthew kept holding the woman's soft hand, not letting go of her no matter how hard she struggled.
She opened her mouth to bitch at him, but whenever she did that he covered her lips with his, kissing her fiercely.
It was quiet in the car. Owen kept his eyes on the road and focused on driving. He didn't dare to glance behind him.
Matthew kissed her until she was short of breath. But just before she might pass out, he put something into her hand and released her.
The woman gasped when she saw what he had given her. It was a bracelet made of aquamarines and diamonds. Each aquamarine was about half the size of a fingernail, in the shape of a melon seed. The colorless diamonds were smaller than the aquamarines. There were about a dozen aquamarines and a dozen diamonds in the bracelet, which just sparkled on its own. Erica had never seen something so beautiful.
She stopped gasping for air. 'Is it a gift from Matthew?'
He brought her a gift every time he came back from a business trip. She didn't care too much, she was usually just glad to have him home.
Earrings, perfume, bracelets…
When she looked at the bracelet carefully, Matthew took it back from her. Seeing her confused look, he said quietly, "Stretch out your left hand."
Reflexively, Erica stretched out her left hand. She wore a famous watch he had personally chosen for her at a watch exhibition on her left wrist.
Matthew moved her watch aside and put the bracelet on her wrist.
Now she wore a watch and a bracelet on her slender wrist, and it looked like the most natural thing in the world.
The man kissed the back of her hand and announced arrogantly, "I brought you a gift! Since you're wearing it, you can't be angry with me!"
When did she say she even wanted it? The girl blushed and retorted, "Yeah, right! When did I get a choice in this? You put it on me!" He was still holding her wrist. He hadn't let go yet.
A subtle smile appeared in Matthew's eyes. He nodded and said, "Yes, I insisted on buying it for you. You wouldn't accept it, but I insisted you wear it. You can't stay mad."
