Gifford sat down on the edge of the bed, and pulled down her quilt a little. Ignoring Chantel's uneasy expression, he threatened, "If you don't tell me the truth, I'll take you back to the military base and interrogate you the way I interrogate spies!"
Chantel shivered. But Erica trusted her to keep quiet, so she gritted her teeth and refused to divulge their secret. "I know nothing, Gifford. How can you do this to me? I am the one who suffered losses here after going through this kind of thing. Yet, you are doubting me. This is too much!"
"This kind of thing? What kind of thing? What happened between us?" he asked coldly.
Chantel's eyes widened. 'He is not going to take responsibility for it?' She couldn't believe it, and was about to say something.
But she changed her mind. It didn't matter even if he didn't take responsibility for taking her first time. "Forget it. Please turn around. I need to go and take a shower."
Gifford didn't move. He smirked, "Do you think it's really necessary for me to turn around? I saw every inch of your body last night."
Her face turned red. To escape from his sharp questioning, she quickly sat up from the bed, and stood up naked in front of him.
But as soon as she was on her feet, her knees gave away weakly and she fell to the floor.
Gifford didn't move. He pretended not to care that she had embarrassed herself in front of him. He didn't even bother to help her up.
Under his burning gaze, she picked up the bathrobe on the floor and put it on.
In the evening, around six o'clock, Erica finished the last photo. She and Hyatt packed up and walked to the school gate.
The green military car at the gate was so eye-catching that she noticed it at once.
The tall man standing beside the car was scanning every student coming out of the school gate. He even had his hands on the driver who had come to pick Erica up.
She knew immediately that the truth had been found, but she didn't think that he would be so quick!
She was going to chicken out of there! Before Gifford could notice her, she hid behind Hyatt and hailed a taxi as fast as she could.
Just when she got into the taxi, Gifford spotted her. "Erica!" He strode towards her.
Erica quickly ordered the driver, "Sir, hurry up! There are bad guys after me!"
The driver was stunned. He immediately stepped on the accelerator and roared away from the place. "Miss, where do you want to go?"
"Uh… go to ZL Group!" Her brother was such a strong opponent, and she needed an even stronger ally to protect her.
Gifford made note of the license plate number of the taxi. He ran back to his car and followed the taxi as fast as he could.
At ZL Group
Erica swiftly paid the taxi driver and jumped out of the car. She dashed towards the ZL Group building.
She quickly came to a halt at the entrance of the company when she realized that she was Mrs. Huo. She had to heed to her image in front of the staff. Erica looked behind her vigilantly and after making sure that Gifford wasn't around, she slowly entered the elevator as she returned the greetings of the employees.
On the floor of the CEO's office
Erica hurried to Paige's desk and asked in a low voice, "Ms. Shen, is Matthew in his office?"
Paige chuckled and stood up. "Yes, Mrs. Huo. He is inside."
"Is he busy?"
"No." 'But he does have company, ' Paige thought with a smile.
Erica breathed a sigh of relief and looked back; still no sign of Gifford. 'How strange. Gifford's tracking ability is highly questionable. Why hasn't he caught up yet?' she wondered.
Just as she pushed the door to Matthew's office open, a big hand grasped her from behind. "Argh—" she screamed out loud.
When she was about to scream again, another hand covered her loud mouth.
But the hand didn't belong to Matthew, because her husband was leaning against the desk and looking at her indifferently.
'Oh, crap! I knew it!' How could Gifford's tracking ability be any bad? He had been waiting for her in her husband's office. She changed her expression when he let go of her and greeted her brother with a big smile, "Gifford! What are you doing here?"
Gritting his teeth, Gifford said, "Erica, I've bought the ticket for you to the South Pole. Are you ready to leave?"
"The South Pole? Why would I want to go there?" She looked at Matthew for help.
"Stop pretending!" When Gifford tried to grab her again, Erica reacted quickly and dived under his hands, avoiding his clutches. She rushed towards Matthew.
Before Gifford could catch her, she hid behind Matthew, only revealing her little head.
"Matthew, get out of the way. I am going to teach this girl a lesson today!"
"Why do you have to teach me a lesson? What did I do to you?"
Gifford was so pissed off. Even now, she refused to admit her mistake. A sly flash appeared in his eyes. "Chantel already told me that you two conspired to set me up. Do you still want to deny it?"
"What? Gifford, how did you force her to tell you this? I'm the one to blame! Chantel had nothing to do with—" The rest of her words faded away when she saw the complacent look on Gifford's face. "You lied to me! Chantel didn't say anything, did she?"
"No, she didn't," Gifford said angrily. Chantel knew that he wouldn't do anything to her, so no matter how much he forced her, she insisted that it had nothing to do with her or Erica.
He had no choice but to deceive this other suspect—Erica Li. And he succeeded. This troublemaker was the brain behind the trick.
Feeling like a fool, Erica glared at Gifford and complained, "You've been single for a long time. You should thank me for setting you up with a woman; instead, this is what I get! You are so ungrateful!"
"You! Do you know what you have done?" Gifford moved towards her. "Matthew, get out of my way. Let me deal with this devil!"
Matthew, who had been silent all the while, stretched out his hand to stop the angry man. All said and done, he had to stand up for this woman hiding behind him. "Gifford, you chose to take Miss Ye to your home; why don't you be responsible for her to the very end?"
It was so obvious that the CEO was trying to defend his wife.
Erica looked at her husband with admiration. "Matthew, you're absolutely right!"
Gifford was so mad that he spun around in circles with his hands on his hips. Finally, he glared at the hateful culprit and said, "I did bring her home, but I never intended to marry her!" And now that they had sex, he might not be able to escape from his responsibility.
Besides, Gifford was sure that Matthew was also involved in the matter. That was probably why he couldn't find a single clue regarding what had really happened. He only found out because Erica was so easily deceived.
"Then, you can marry her now!"
"Matthew, you are spoiling this girl to no end! She is going to get you into a lot of trouble if she continues to play around like this!" Gifford wasn't exaggerating. He absolutely believed in his sister's ability to create trouble.
An unnoticeable smile flashed across Matthew's eyes. "It doesn't matter. I'm ready to bear any consequences for her." He was also well aware of what his wife was capable of, but he had been prepared to solve all those difficulties for her the day he had married her.
"Aren't you angry with her for running away last night?" Gifford asked, frowning.
Before Matthew could answer, Erica protested loudly, "Gifford, are you trying to sow discord between us?" 'Gifford is so annoying! Why does he have to mention that now?' she cursed inwardly.
