Although Matthew wanted Erica to stay away from other men, she had been training with several male soldiers. Therefore, how could she do as he asked? Besides, it was Wesley who insisted that she should train among the soldiers. 'Why didn't he just go to Dad? Why did he come here to teach me a lesson instead? What a jerk!' Erica thought, doing her best to roll her eyes discreetly.
Putting his hand on her waist, Matthew asked sternly, "Do you still want to argue?"
She shook her head immediately. "No, no, no."
He had come to her with an invitation to take her to lunch. But despite his words, he had brought her to this place so they could have sex. Now she had missed lunchtime in the base.
At that moment, Matthew regained his usual and elegant image as he dressed neatly again. Afterward, he got out of the car and lit a cigarette.
Leaning against the car window, Erica smoothed her messy hair and called the man smoking outside, "Hey, Matthew! I'm hungry. Let's go and have lunch!"
Matthew breathed out a mouthful of smoke before he looked at the flushed woman in front of him. However, she soon became blurry through the haze. "Come with me," he offered.
'Come with him? Back to Y City?' she wondered. "No, no. I haven't met Wendy yet. I've promised to see her before leaving for Y City. Why don't you wait for me so that we can go back together?" she asked. She didn't want to break her promise.
She planned to return to Y City after she met Wendy, and then her two best friends—Hyatt and Rhea.
Upon hearing her answer, Matthew didn't say anything back. He stubbed out the cigarette and called Owen, to whom he ordered, "Let's go!"
More than ten minutes later, the luxury car dropped her off at the base.
With a hat in her hand, the woman stood in front of the gate in shock as she watched the luxury car driving away again. 'How could Matthew, my husband, do such a thing to me?
He said he was going to take me to lunch! Yet he took me to the wilderness to have sex with me. And then he sent me back with an empty stomach.
What a jerk!'
As it was already past lunchtime, Erica didn't find the canteen's door open. So she went to the snack bar and bought a box of instant noodles along with some other snacks.
Then she slowly made her way back, trying to balance the snacks and the box of noodles in her hands when a soldier she had never seen before walked towards her with a big smile. "Aren't you Gifford's sister?"
She smiled at him and answered, "Yes, Gifford is my brother."
Noticing the stuff in her hands, he asked, "Why did you buy these? Didn't you have enough food during lunch? Or did you simply skip it?"
Erica held the instant noodles in her arms and said wistfully, "The second option, I haven't eaten anything yet."
The man laughed. "If you go out and tell people about this, they will say that we're bullying you. Let's go. I'll take you to the canteen and tell them to cook you something."
'Cook me something?' Erica's eyes lit up as she asked cheerfully, "Really?"
The man was amused by her. "Why would I lie to you?"
"Great! Thank you so much!"
Luckily, Erica met a kind-hearted man and ended up having a nice meal thanks to him.
After lunch, she rested for some time before going to the training ground.
However, she wasn't fit for the training at all. As soon as she got there, she asked straightly for a leave with the excuse that she had a stomachache.
But while Tessie was still practicing with the soldiers, Erica felt embarrassed to go back to the dormitory on her own and decided to sit nearby to watch the rest of the training.
Less than an hour later, Wesley showed up with a long face. Erica was feeling a bit lazy up until she saw her father. Immediately, she put on a bright smile and ran over to him. "Dad, my dear dad! Did you come here to see me?"
'Wow, it must be Matthew who called Dad!' she thought to herself.
But Wesley didn't receive Erica gently. Instead, he reached out his hand and pinched her ear. "Did you call Matthew?" He had deliberately chosen not to give her a cellphone, nor had he allowed her to buy one herself. Yet she still found a way to contact Matthew.
"Ouch, it hurts, Dad! Let go of me first!" Erica yelled. Her father was twisting her ear so ruthlessly that she could swear that he would rip it off her head at any moment.
"Well, it seems you've made some progress in the past few years. Now you know you're supposed to call Matthew when you are in trouble," Wesley mocked. Unfortunately for Wesley, however, Matthew always had a way to stop him from teaching Erica a lesson.
With a flattering smile, Erica held her father's arm and behaved like a spoiled child. "No, I didn't. He came to see me on his own. Besides, not even Matthew is angry with me anymore, Dad. I'm your daughter, your own blood! Isn't it about time you stop being so mad at me?" Then her face grew more serious as she complained, "I haven't lived a good life for a few years now. I've also paid the price for running away from home. Dad, please have mercy on me!"
Wesley told himself not to believe her sweet words, but he gradually eased out the pressure on her ear until he let go of it altogether.
Realizing Wesley's heart had softened, Erica added, "Dad, only when we have children of our own, we are able to recognize our parents' kindness. After I gave birth to my four sons, I began to understand it mustn't have been easy for you and Mom to raise the three of us. I will take good care of you and Mom in the future. Don't stay mad at me anymore, okay?"
Wesley rolled his eyes at her. He didn't believe a word of what she said. "Stop pretending! If Matthew doesn't care about what you've done, I don't either."
Wesley shrugged. Nevertheless, Blair was right. Her husband would eventually get soft-hearted for his little girl.
Erica, who was not a fool, knew perfectly well how to seize the opportunity. Releasing her father's arm, she waved at Tessie a few yards away. "Tessie, hurry up! Let's go!"
"Did I say you could leave?" Wesley wanted to scare her.
But this time, Erica simply ignored him by getting in his car and making room for Tessie.
Wesley was beginning to regret letting Erica go.
He felt as if he was releasing a tiger to its natural habitat.
On their way back, Erica didn't stop talking. "Dad, it's been a long time since I last saw my sons. Please, get me a cellphone. I want to video chat with them!"
"Get one yourself!" Despite what he said, he still drove her downtown.
Erica knew exactly where he was taking her. After all, she did grow up in A Country.
As soon as she saw the car heading to the downtown area, she couldn't hide her excitement any longer. "Dad, you're so kind! I love you!"
Wesley snorted, "Sit still!" Careful for Erica not to see it, he couldn't help but raise one of the corners of his mouth.
Poor Wesley! His two daughters had always been the apple of his eye. He just didn't have the heart to beat or scold them no matter what they did.
Yvette, at least, didn't cause him any trouble.
But Erica was the definition of a troublemaker. His blood pressure would often skyrocket because of her. Yet whenever he saw her annoying face, his rage would instantaneously fade.
Poor Wesley was indeed at the mercy of his wife and two daughters for the rest of his life.
When they got to the store, Erica bought her and Tessie the latest smartphones released by ZL Group. While she picked a white device for herself, she gave Tessie a black one.
After they settled everything, Erica asked Wesley to take her and Tessie to the mall so she could also pick up gifts for Hugo and Wendy.
As their aunt, she didn't think it was appropriate to see her nephew and niece without any gifts.
Two days ago, she had an excuse. She had just come back home in a hurry and didn't have the time to buy Hugo his gift. Today, she was going to make it up for it.
Then after she met Wendy, Hyatt and Rhea, she would go back to Y City and be reunited with her husband and children.
As for the moment, Erica couldn't wait to send Matthew a message. Therefore, as soon as she got her new phone, she typed, "Honey, it's me, your lovely wife!"
