Erica tried to open her eyes to check if Matthew had actually sneaked up on the bed to sleep beside her, but she was too sleepy.
When she woke up at dawn, she saw that Matthew wasn't there. She scanned the room and thought that he left her alone to sleep.
The moment she got out of bed, Erica saw a piece of paper on the bedside table. She picked it up and realized it was Matthew's handwriting. She felt like she heard his voice when she read the note. "I'll be on a business trip for three days. I wanted to take you with me, but you kept ignoring me. I have to go now. I'll be back soon, but remember to miss me while I'm gone."
'He's on a business trip? How come it's so sudden?
Remember to miss him? Ha! No. I'm not going to miss him, ' she thought to herself.
After breakfast, she got into the car and left the manor. When the car approached the manor entrance, her phone rang. She didn't recognize the number. "Hello. Who's this?"
Erica heard a man's voice on the other end of the line. "Hello, is this Ms. Li? I'm from a florist's. I am close to Pearl Villa District. Can you come out and sign for the flowers?"
'Huh? Flowers? Could they be from Matthew? Huh, probably not. A man like him doesn't know how to be romantic! He's never sent me flowers before.
But maybe he did that to apologize to me.' Erica felt confused. She asked, "Who sent them?" "Um, sorry, Ms. Li.
I don't know who sent them to you. Would you please sign for them first? I'm in a bit of a hurry to deliver the next order. I'll wait for you to arrive," the man said anxiously.
Erica looked out of the window and said, "I'll be there in about three minutes. Wait for a bit, please!"
The manor was only a few minutes away from the Pearl Villa District. She was already on her way and would arrive in just a bit.
"Okay, thank you! Bye!"
When she arrived at the Pearl Villa District, the first thing she saw was a large bunch of red roses. The moment she got out of the car, the air smelled of roses.
The man in a blue uniform brought her the flowers. "Erica Li, right?"
She was amazed to see this big bunch of flowers. "Yes, that's me!" she nodded.
The man handed her the roses. "Someone has ordered these 99 red roses for you. Please sign here."
Looking at the roses in her arms, Erica was bewildered. "Are you sure he didn't leave his name?"
"No, he didn't. You can check the card, maybe you'd find out who sent them." He took out the receipt and handed it to her.
The delivery man left after Erica signed her name. She stood dazed by the car with the roses in her arms and picked up the card that sat on top of the flowers.
It read, "Wish you happiness every day."
Erica's bodyguard who escorted her to school was assigned by Matthew. While she was wondering who sent her the red roses, the bodyguard had sneakily sent Matthew a message.
Matthew was already boarding the plane. When he saw the message, he slowed down his pace and started typing, "What flowers?"
"A bunch of red roses," the bodyguard replied.
Matthew's face darkened. "Check who sent the flowers to my wife this morning." He gave the order to Owen, his voice sounded serious.
"Right away, Mr. Huo." Owen wiped the cold sweat off his forehead. He admired how this person dared to be so blatant to even send flowers to Erica when she was now Mrs. Huo.
In just a few minutes, Owen found out who got Erica the flowers—it was none other than Watkins.
Matthew sneered and said, "Call his father and remind him to keep an eye on his son, or else, I'll be taking action."
"Yes, Mr. Huo!"
Owen knew it very well that if Matthew ever decided to teach someone a lesson, that person would suffer quite a lot.
The next day, Erica received another bunch of blooming red roses. She couldn't take them with her to class, so she had to place them in the villa first. When she got back from her classes in the evening, she took them one by one and put them in vases and planted some of them in the garden.
The flowers looked so beautiful that she didn't care if they lived or not.
Two days later, as soon as Erica received the roses sent to her that day, she went to the garden to replace the withered ones. While she took them out one by one, she saw Matthew hurriedly walking towards her, with Owen following closely behind him. She was stunned for a while and then carried on with what she was doing.
Matthew stood beside her and stared at the roses she was holding. "Owen."
"Yes, Mr. Huo."
Owen went straight to Erica and picked up all the flowers she still hadn't planted.
Erica dropped the roses in her hands, stood up, and turned to Owen. "Hey! What are you doing?"
Owen didn't say anything. Matthew stared at his wife coldly and said to his assistant in a low, stern voice, "Get rid of them right away!"
"Understood."
Owen slightly bowed and left with the roses in his arms.
Matthew's actions were so sudden, and he didn't even give Erica any heads-up. She was unprepared for this, so she instantly got angry. "Matthew Huo, why are you making him throw away my things?"
"Your things?" His eyes looked fierce and cold. "Erica Li, don't forget that you are my wife, and the babies in your belly are mine. Everything you have is mine, including you."
She not only accepted those red roses sent by Watkins but also dared to plant them in the garden. Matthew was so furious.
"So? Is this how you treat your wife? By getting rid of my things?" Erica had no idea who sent her the flowers, but all the while, she thought Matthew sent them to her as an apology.
Besides, Matthew just told her that all her things belonged to him, so she was more convinced that it was Matthew who sent her the roses.
'Her things? Is she really going to argue with me just for the flowers sent by another man?' Matthew took a step closer to her and grabbed her wrist.
He looked at her eyes and asked through gritted teeth, "Who told you that you could accept those flowers?" Hearing this, Erica was enraged. She shook off his hand. 'Is he out of his mind? He sent those flowers to me. Why couldn't I accept them?' She spat, "Did you just come back here to look for trouble?"
Matthew stared at her for a while. After a few breaths, he changed his mind. "No!" He swiftly lifted her up and carried her in his arms towards the villa. "I came back to sleep with you."
He swore that he would exhaust her in bed so she would be too tuckered out to get up, let alone see another man.
Erica was shocked. 'What? Sleep with me? The nerve of this guy! I'm carrying two babies in my belly, and he wants to sleep with me?' She thought that Matthew had probably gone crazy, so he came back to torture her this way. "Put me down! I'm not going to sleep with you!"
Her hands were still stained with mud. As she struggled to get out of his clutches, Matthew's expensive suit got smeared with dirt.
As soon as they entered the living room, Matthew put her down but didn't let go of her arm. He kicked his shoes off, grabbed her wrists, and pinned her against the wall. He stared at her with piercing eyes for a few seconds. He then lowered his head, took a deep breath, and kissed her hard on her red lips.
"Mmph…" Erica tried to catch her breath. There was a huge difference in strength between men and women, and Erica was forced to bear his anger.
In broad daylight, right in the living room, Matthew had sex with his pregnant wife.
Erica had been staying at the Huo family manor for a while, so the maids in their villa were away on a temporary holiday. That day, they had their own house to themselves.
No one could hear her except Matthew.
