"Mr. Huo found out that I was the one who sent you the roses, so I ended up like this." There was an unreadable emotion in Watkins' eyes as he said those words.
But what he said was like a bomb that exploded in Erica's ears. Her body shivered as she asked cautiously, "Do you mean it was Matthew who did this to you?" 'Why didn't I know anything?' she wondered inwardly.
Before Watkins could answer, Paige came and quickly handed her the phone. "Mrs. Huo, Mr. Huo wants to talk to you."
She took the phone from Paige in a daze and reflexively said, "Hello?"
"Since you are done with your checkup, let Paige drive you home now. Don't go somewhere else anymore." There was no emotion in Matthew's voice.
Erica first turned to Watkins, who had been beaten black and blue, before she said in a low voice, "I heard that Watkins is in this hospital too, so I came to check on him. I didn't expect that he is seriously injured."
"I did it," he admitted bluntly.
She bit her lower lip to suppress the anger that boiled up in her heart and asked, "Why did you do it? Just because he sent me those roses?" 'How can Matthew be this ruthless?' she thought angrily.
"Yes."
"You are so cruel!"
His eyes turned cold as ice when she called him cruel. He could even be more ruthless. "Whoever dares to covet my wife must die," he said through clenched teeth.
She trembled at his words. This was her first time to discover his horrible side.
"Erica, you better stop arguing with me over an irrelevant man. Otherwise, I might do something more savage to him."
Matthew spoke in his usual low voice, but it sounded cold and cruel to her ears.
As Watkins heard their conversation, he said in a trembling voice, "Erica, you may leave now. I want to have a good rest."
Erica hung up the phone and gave it back to Paige. The assistant said, "Mrs. Huo, Mr. Huo told me to send you back home."
"Wait a moment," she answered. She then turned and walked towards the bed. "Watkins, I'm so sorry. This is all my fault."
Watkins shook his head and replied, "Don't blame yourself, Erica. You should go back home now."
She nodded. "Rest well. I'll visit you again some other day." She needed to talk to Matthew about this.
"Okay. Take care."
"Bye."
Paige had intended to send Erica back to the villa, but the latter insisted on seeing Matthew, so they went straight to the company instead.
Only five minutes had passed since they left the hospital when Erica's phone rang. It was Watkins.
She immediately answered it. "Hello? What's up?"
"Erica, I just want to say don't fight with Mr. Huo because of me. After all, you are pregnant now. It's not good for you. This is all my fault. I just thought he doesn't love you, so I pluck up the courage to send you those roses. I have forgotten the fact that you are his wife. Whether he loves you or not, it's normal for him to get jealous when other men send you flowers."
His words stung her heart. Was it true that Matthew didn't love her? She fell silent.
He continued, "Mr. Huo has always been domineering and cruel. Everyone in the business world knows that. I should be grateful that he has not taken my life this time. Erica, I'm just an outsider. Don't care so much about me. What's important is, he is treating you well. If you will still be together in the future, just be careful not to annoy him, okay?"
However, Watkins was not an outsider for her. "Watkins, you are not an outsider. You are my friend. And what he has done to you is definitely wrong." She had nothing to be afraid of. Nothing was going on between her and Watkins, except for being friends. Watkins might be wrong for sending her flowers because he thought that Matthew didn't love her. But Matthew went too far this time.
However, she also couldn't agree with Watkins on one thing. She believed that Matthew couldn't afford to hurt her no matter how much she'd annoy him. She had already offended him countless times, but he had always been forgiving. "Watkins, Matthew is always good to me. Although he is weird sometimes, he has never hurt me. I know he won't ever use violence on me, just like what he did to you. But again, I don't like the way he treated you."
Indeed, Matthew had been spoiling her all the time ever since they got married. She never had any problems with him except for the recent conflicts that happened between them.
Watkins immediately apologized and said with concern, "I'm sorry, Erica. I'm just overthinking. Take care of yourself and your baby."
"Thank you. Bye!"
When Paige saw her hang up the phone, she said with a smile, "Mrs. Huo, your health is the most important now. Don't think too much, and always keep yourself happy."
Erica felt that her words had some hidden meanings. She looked at her in confusion. "Matthew…"
Paige smiled, waiting for her to continue.
"Well…I… I'm just wondering how Matthew had treated his enemies in the past," she said.
"Mrs. Huo, I think there's a misunderstanding between you and Mr. Huo. I suggest that you have a heart-to-heart talk with him later. Mr. Huo was never soft to those who had offended him. But his actions were also premised on how hateful they were. Since Mr. Chai ended that way, there must be a valid reason why Mr. Huo did such a thing to him. It's better that you ask him about it."
Erica was too naive and inexperienced. She had never known how cruel the real world was. That was why she was so simple and pure.
Perhaps the Li family had protected her too well. Moreover, Matthew had doted on her unconditionally since they got married. No wonder she couldn't recognize some people's true colors yet.
But Paige admired her so much. How she wished she could also live a carefree and simple life like her.
Erica's mind was in a mess as complex emotions overwhelmed her heart. She didn't know what to say anymore.
Before she got out of the car, her phone rang again. It was Rhea calling this time. Somehow, her mood had gotten a bit better. "Hello, my dear Rhea."
"Rika, your dear Rhea has just broken up with her boyfriend."
"What?" she exclaimed. She got a little confused, so she asked, "Didn't you just send me some screenshots of your chat history two days ago to show off your love?" Rhea had even sent her a voicemail full of laughter.
"He is dating four women at the same time," Rhea exclaimed.
Erica was so shocked to hear such news. "Oh, my God! Seriously? Four women? Is your boyfriend a beast?"
"I'm sure he is. And you know what? If I haven't accidentally joined a WeChat group and saw a woman's profile photo that looked exactly like mine, I wouldn't have discovered it." There was a hint of anger in Rhea's voice. Well, who would have thought that her boyfriend was such a jerk?
She had actually sent a friend request to that woman. At first, she thought that it was just a coincidence that they used the same profile photo, so she wanted to have a casual chat with her.
But to her surprise, while they were chatting, the woman sent her a photo of her boyfriend to show off that he was a soldier protecting the country.
She stared at the photo for a very long time. And she couldn't be mistaken. The man in the picture, who was smiling cheek to cheek with the woman, was her boyfriend.
