Erica's eyes lit up at once when she saw the card. She kissed the flat piece of plastic again and again, resisting the impulse to scream. "Now that's more like it. Thanks, Matthew," she said.
'Wow, I'm a rich woman now! I pretty much have 12 billion!' This was something she never dreamed of!
Matthew sat on the sofa, his slender legs elegantly overlapped, and continued to charm her, "And there's more where that came from. I have much more than 12 billion. If you behave, you'll have it too!"
"It better be all mine! I'm your wife." She ran over and sat on his lap, draping her arms around his shoulders. "From now on, your money and your house are mine. You can't spend money on any other woman! And no other woman gets to live here either!" she declared.
Simply put, she was jealous. She feared that the women who attached themselves to Matthew weren't just after his money, but Matthew himself.
Matthew smoothed her long hair and made an affectionate noise. "Mmm-hmm." He would agree to whatever she asked.
Erica kissed his thin lips happily, held his neck with her arms, and buried her face in his neck to savor this quiet moment. She was as happy as a clam.
Her heart was full to bursting, and she recited an enthusiastic prayer of praise and gratitude to herself. "Ah! The earth! Ah! The motherland! Ah! Mother! I, Erica Li, am rich now! I can spend money on many young, handsome guys. I feel like an empress! Even better, I'm Wu Zhao, the only ruling empress in China's history.
Matthew is my royal consort, emperor in name only. The four men from the FC group are my imperial noble courtiers. The male model is my noble courtier. All of them exist for my pleasure…'
The man whose neck she was nuzzling was considering having a baby with his wife. He had no idea what was running through Erica's mind at the moment. But he was indirectly responsible for her fantasies.
Erica now agreed with the saying—"A man is loyal to his wife because there are not enough temptations. If there are beautiful women around him, it will stir him from his resolve.
A woman is loyal to her husband because she is not rich enough. If she has enough money, she won't mind buying whatever she wants, including handsome men."
At the City Convention Center
Today, there was fair-sized art show. The exhibition was held by the City Art Gallery and the City Artists Association. The sponsor was the owner of a studio and a painter herself, Phoebe Su.
When Nathan was still alive, he and Matthew invested in the studio. Matthew owned forty percent shares, and Phoebe owned sixty percent.
Publicly, Phoebe was the owner. Matthew was the silent partner. Everyone just assumed it was her studio.
As the boss, Phoebe was busy today. She had to receive guests and do interviews at the same time. She also had to explain the meaning of each piece and what the inspiration was to the guests.
After a while, two people walked in—a man and a woman.
The woman wore a light yellow casual suit, a baseball cap of the same color, a valuable white backpack on her back, and a pair of white Vans—the latest style of skateboarding shoes from that well-known international brand.
Her fingernails were painted with brown nail polish with cartoon patterns, and an expensive white watch could be seen on her slender wrist every once in awhile. She held a cup of red bean milk tea. She looked every inch like someone from a rich family. She played the part well.
The man next to her only wore plain clothes, and people could tell at a glance that he was just an ordinary college student.
The security guard at the door stopped them and asked politely, "Hello, invitations please? You won't get in without them."
The woman took another sip of her milk tea, indicated the man next to her with her head. The man understood and took out two invitation letters from his backpack and handed them to the security guard. "Here you are."
When the security guard saw Matthew's name on the invitations, he immediately guessed who the woman was, so he let these two go in without much of a fuss.
As soon as they left, the security guard called Phoebe and informed her, "Miss Su, two people with Mr. Huo's invitations are here."
Everything went smoothly after they entered the exhibition area. The woman carefully praised every piece of work under the gaze of the crowd.
She had to admit that Phoebe's skill with pen and brush was pretty outstanding.
She really captured the essence of a person. You knew who they were, right down to the eyes, even if you'd never seen them before. The landscapes were full of character and life.
Erica was thinking that she should double down on her studies and hold an art show as soon as possible. She couldn't just rest on her laurels if she wanted to be an internationally famous photographer.
Leaving the journalists behind, Phoebe immediately gravitated to the two people who had just arrived—her first thought was Matthew, and her heart felt a tangible thrill, like a mini-lightning bolt had hit it. However, when she saw the two people standing in front of a portrait, all her excitement disappeared in an instant.
"Hey, Miss Su, long time no see!" The woman who was drinking milk tea spotted her first. She stood on tiptoe and waved at her, smiling.
She looked so happy to see Phoebe that people who didn't know them might think they were good friends.
Phoebe's heart was immediately lifted by her smile. Every work displayed here today was the result of her blood, sweat, and tears. She couldn't let Miss Troublemaker destroy any of them, let alone kill her mood.
She didn't respond to Erica. Instead, she summoned the security guard to her side.
The security guard trotted over and greeted her. "Miss Su!"
"Grab two more members of your unit. Watch those two, and don't let them make any trouble!" Phoebe didn't want to get into it with Erica, because she was afraid. Of course, she was not afraid of Erica, but afraid that Matthew would punish her if she tried anything. After all, he had warned her before.
"Yes, Miss Su!" The security guard radioed two of his colleagues, ordering them to tail Erica and Hyatt and watch their every move.
All Phoebe wanted was to be left alone. But the more she wished for it, the more Erica would show up and ruin her plans.
Erica came here today to find Phoebe to prove her innocence and get her to apologize. She wouldn't let Phoebe go until she got what she wanted.
Seeing Phoebe was about to leave, Erica ran over in a hurry. "Miss Su, don't go!" Erica ran over and stood in her way.
People were already looking at them. Phoebe tried her best to keep her poker face and warned Erica in a quiet voice, "I don't have time to deal with you today. Get out!"
"No way! I have a bone to pick with you. Call Matthew right now and tell him what kind of person you are. Tell him that you fell down on purpose to force yourself to miscarry and blame me for it. Tell him I had nothing to do with that. Then apologize to me. And I want a sincere one, not a begrudging one. Make it good. Then I'll leave!" Erica thought she was fairly laid back. Although Phoebe framed her like that, she was willing to let her off the hook as long as she apologized to her and told Matthew what she had done.
Phoebe took a deep breath and said, "I'm really busy today. Can we do this another ti—"
"Shut up! That's the only reason I'm here." Erica had been hoping Phoebe would come to her after she had provoked her two times. But she never took the bait. Erica had to take the face-to-face route.
"Look! This is getting ridiculous!" The snicker on Erica's face made Phoebe feel very uneasy.
She knew clearly that she couldn't admit what kind of a woman she was in front of Matthew and apologize to Erica in public.
"Is that fear I see on your face?" Erica's bright eyes swept around the exhibition hall and finally fell on a sketch.
'Humph! That's my husband! She drew him and displays it in public! Who does that?'
Erica was instantly infuriated. She handed the milk tea to Hyatt and quickly took the sketch off the easel where it sat.
"Erica Li! What are you doing?" Phoebe was in panic mode.
She had sketched Matthew without his knowledge, and never filled it in completely. If anyone asked about it, she would explain that she and Matthew were friends and she subconsciously sketched him from memory.
