Matthew strode out of the office with an earnest look on his face and ordered, "Owen, get someone to locate Mrs. Huo's phone now." Next, he turned to another assistant. "Get the surveillance footage on the way from the villa to here."
"Yes, Mr. Huo."
The two assistants immediately began to act on their orders.
It didn't take them long to figure out Erica's location. So as soon as Matthew got the address from Owen, he headed out straight away.
The moment he got there, he was greeted with a scene that made him feel both amused and helpless.
Right next to Erica's car, there were two men on the ground while she had one foot on each of them. With her arms crossed over her chest, she commanded arrogantly, "Call me 'my lady.'"
The men wailing on the ground obeyed her promptly. "My lady!"
"Who pulled my hair just now? Apologize to me! And then slap yourself in the face twice."
The one guilty to have pulled her hair said with some difficulty, "My lady, I did it. I was wrong!" Slap! He slapped himself across the face.
The one guilty to have pulled her hair said with some difficulty, "My lady, I did it. I was wrong!" Slap! He slapped himself across the face.
Matthew sighed helplessly before he walked towards her. "Rika!"
When she saw him coming over, the furious woman immediately calmed down her nerves. Then she waved at him and said, "Matthew! Ah! Sorry. I almost forgot. I've brought the file you asked." She had been so busy punishing those two thugs that she had entirely forgotten that the reason she left home in the first place was to bring something to Matthew.
Erica was about to retrieve the files from her car, but Matthew wasn't interested in them at that moment. He just pulled his wife closer and looked her up and down with his arms around her waist. "Are you hurt?"
Erica waved at him. "No, no. These two are just newbies. Even a younger version of me from a few years ago could have easily beaten them. I knocked them down with a single punch!" Indeed, she sounded so relaxed that it was hard to believe she had just been into a fight.
His wife was awesome! She was worthy of an applause.
Matthew glanced at the two defeated men on the ground and noticed how Erica had beaten them black and blue.
Taking her hands into his, he examined them thoroughly. He found a small cut in the back of her right hand as a thin bead of blood oozed out from the wound.
His face darkened. "Did they do this?"
Erica withdrew her injured hand and comforted her husband with a smile. "It's no big deal. When I punched that guy, I accidentally scratched my fist on something metallic he had on his clothes."
Despite realizing that her cut wasn't deep, Matthew still couldn't hold back the distress and anger he felt towards it. So, furious, he turned around and walked to the men lying on the ground. To everyone's surprise, Matthew didn't come unprepared and took out a dagger he had attached earlier to his waist.
Before the men or Erica could react, he cut a deep wound in the hands of the two thugs.
"Ah—" one of the men screamed while the other gritted his teeth not to make a sound.
They thought it was over by the time they saw Matthew putting the dagger away, but they were wrong.
Matthew kicked one man in the stomach and asked in a cold voice, "Who sent you here?" The two sweaty thugs exchanged looks between each other.
Then, struggling to stand on their feet, they started to run.
Matthew flashed the fugitives a murderous look but didn't chase after them. Instead, he waited a bit longer before leaving the two cowards for the bodyguards to catch. "Take them back and interrogate them!"
"Yes, Mr. Huo."
Erica was right. The two thugs sucked. Although Matthew had given them a head start, the bodyguards caught them shortly after they were sent to get them.
Next, Matthew averted his attention to Erica's car. There was no way she could use it anymore. So, as soon as he retrieved her phone and the files from her vehicle, he took her hand and led her to his car.
Matthew didn't drive away immediately, though. First, he disinfected her cut and put a Band-Aid on it. Only after making sure that the wound was properly seen to, he drove back to the company.
Meanwhile, at ZL Group, everyone's feelings were running high.
The executives looked like ants on a hot pan with anxiety after Matthew's sudden departure. During the time he was out, at least a dozen senior executives came to the office to ask if Mr. Huo had already come back.
However, no matter how much they insisted on asking, the only Huo they would find in there was Boswell and not Matthew.
"Uncle, is there anything urgent going on that you need my father to be back so soon?" Boswell inquired the last person who walked into the office looking for Matthew.
The senior executive wiped the sweat off his face. He was too nervous to mind that he was about to vent his anger to a child. "Yes, Mr. Huo is expected for the reading of a document.
Several companies are waiting for him now. Mr. Huo the Third, do you know where Mr. Huo is?"
"Do you mean that you need my father to just read a document out loud?" Boswell asked thoughtfully.
"Yes, no one has the right to do so except for Mr. Huo. Then he will take out the contract he had signed earlier and…"
Boswell listened to the executive's words, and after a while, he surprisingly asked, "Can I do it? I'm my father's biological son. Although I'm young, I can take my father's place…"
The man stood there, speechless at the child's idea.
However, three minutes later, the senior executive was walking into the meeting room, holding the little boy's hand.
Boswell had been coming to the company quite frequently in the past few days. Not to mention that Matthew had also taken the boy with him to all kinds of meetings. So, almost all the senior executives were already familiarized with the boy.
As soon as Boswell came in, everyone greeted him before turning to the senior executive who brought him. "Mr. Chang, why did you bring Mr. Huo the Third here? Where is Mr. Matthew Huo?"
Nevertheless, Boswell didn't give Mr. Chang a chance to answer. Raising the document in his hand, he raised his voice and said, "Didn't you want to hear the content of this document? I'll read it to you now."
"What?" The people in the meeting room looked at each other in shock.
Despite being a group of executives in their fifties, they learned to accept the leadership of a man in his early thirties. After all, Matthew had not only proved himself to be powerful but extremely capable of doing his job. But this? What was this? A ridiculous joke? How could they ever acknowledge a meeting led by a child?
One of the shareholders of the company stood up and kindly urged, "Young Master, please don't make fun of this kind of matter…"
Someone else immediately echoed, "Yes, Young Master, how about you contact your father as a way to help us?" How could a little boy know the words on the document?
There was a hint of coldness in Boswell's eyes. Since he was only a three-year-old boy, he wasn't as intimidating as Carlos and Matthew were, but he wasn't to be underestimated either.
Regardless of anyone's approval of him, Boswell took his father's seat and stated rightfully, "My father wrote this document. I'll just read it out loud. Is there anything wrong with that?"
A dead silence followed the boy's speech. Paige then said calmly, "Ladies and gentlemen, I believe Mr. Huo the Third is right. The content was written by Mr. Matthew Huo, who had to attend something urgent and can't be with us at the moment. But Mr. Huo the Third will only be announcing his father's words. Besides, as Mr. Huo's biological son, he's allowed to represent his father. As long as Young Master can take it seriously, why can't we give him a chance?"
"Well…"
Immediately, a lot of discussion started to take place in the meeting room, but Boswell soon thumped his little hand on the table to stop it altogether.
"It's just a document. Why are you making a fuss about it? Weren't you all anxious about what we'll be working next? Whoever objects my reading, stand up now, and be responsible for the loss the company will suffer after this announcement is delayed."
The meeting room was quiet again. 'Who could afford this kind of loss?' Even if Matthew stood there today, he wouldn't dare to say he would take responsibility for it.
