Nonchalantly, Matthew dished food into his bowl from the other platters and bowls on the table. "There were no photos," he said stubbornly. "You must be seeing things."
Everyone at the table was silent for a moment.
Debbie tried to ease the tension and chided the man in the seat of honor. "This is your fault. Everyone has secrets. Why did you have to reveal it to everyone? If I were Matthew, I'd pound you to a pulp."
Carlos snorted, "I know you would, but do you think he'd try that? He doesn't have the stones for it."
Matthew tried to ignore his taunt.
Debbie rolled her eyes at Carlos. "So if this ends up in a fight, whose side will you take? Mine or your dad's?" she asked her son.
"You're not gonna fight," Matthew answered calmly. He had never seen his father so much as shoot his mother a stern look, but his mother was always pretty emotional. Still, Carlos always kept his cool and never argued with her, no matter how bad she got.
Matthew couldn't blame his dad. If he managed to marry a woman like that, he would be just as stoic. It would save a lot of headaches in the future. Because in his eyes, girls like his mother were the cutest.
"So? Let's say we do?" Debbie wouldn't give up and asked again.
With a cunning smile, Matthew looked at Carlos, who was dishing up food for Evelyn. "I'll help Dad," he replied.
His answer surprised everyone at the table, including Carlos.
"Why?" Debbie asked gloomily. It didn't make sense.
After swallowing the food in his mouth, Matthew replied slowly, "We were taught that in school."
"You teachers told you to help your dad?" Debbie was confused.
"No." Father and son looked at each other. With a stony face, Matthew replied, "My teachers told us to protect the weak."
"Bwahaha..." Terilynn was the first to laugh out loud.
Then Debbie lost it too, and finally even Evelyn smiled from ear to ear.
Only Carlos was staring at his son coldly. Matthew, however, acted as if he hadn't seen a thing, and continued eating dinner.
He was happy. Finally, he got a dig in. His father was an unrepentant bully, and had it coming for a long time.
Carlos wasn't done. He said to his daughters, "Girls, listen to me. As sisters, you owe it to your brother to beat him up every day. It's a character-building exercise, give him a little humility."
Carlos had said this to the two girls many times. In the past, Terilynn thought that she was able to bully her younger brother, but now...
She shook her head hastily. "Dad, hadn't you heard? Matthew has been practicing free fighting for a while. You know, a free-for-all without rules? And he's hired a taekwondo coach, too. What's your rank now, Matthew?"
"Blue belt, red stripe."
Looking at his son's light-complexioned face, Carlos thought his son to be skinny. He was, but his body was all corded muscle, visible beneath that silky skin. His clothes camouflaged that quite nicely. His son didn't look like a skilled fighter or a taekwondo athlete at all.
"Blue belt, red stripe," Terilynn repeated. "In taekwondo, that's a couple belts away from black. Not to mention fighting in a match without rules. Hear that, Dad? He'd probably be a match for many cage fighters, too. I'd get creamed fighting Matthew. I don't know martial arts. Am I right, Evelyn?" Terilynn called out to Evelyn, who was eating silently.
Evelyn smiled, "Don't you know taekwondo, too?"
A gloomy feeling emerged in Terilynn's heart. She took a bite of her meal and said, "It was too exhausting. I stopped. Don't laugh. Hey, Erica started earlier than I did, and quit pretty quick. Uncle Wesley caught her skipping classes and taught her a lesson. Ha-ha!"
The others fell silent; they couldn't imagine the scene.
Debbie cast a glance at her. "Erica? She's just a kid, but she took those classes all the same."
Terilynn spat out a bone. "She's fourteen years old now! She's not a kid anymore. Last year, she signed up for classes. Uncle Wesley never knew until the Dojang master called her parents because she skipped lessons again."
Hearing that, Debbie shook her head helplessly. "Wesley is such a pathetic dad," she sighed.
It was said that a daughter was like a lover from a father's past life. In Carlos' case, yes, it was true. But not in Wesley's case.
Wesley must have owed Erica a lot in his previous life, so it was payback time in this one. Tough guy Wesley found that Erica was difficult at best. She was always getting in trouble.
Matthew cut in, "Why be sorry for him? Most little girls are naughty. Terilynn was the same. Didn't Dad hit her when she was a little girl?"
Terilynn wasn't angry with his words. Looking seriously at him, she said, "That's nothing. Erica's way worse than I ever was. She practically has 'bad girl' tattooed on her forehead. They call her Miss Troublemaker for a reason."
A girl with a dirty face popped into Matthew's mind. "Yeah, I know," he said, munching on his meal.
Terilynn shot him a look. "Erica's finishing up junior high. Uncle Wesley told her if she keeps being a bad girl, he'll put her in a boarding school in Y City. I guess she's really hitting the books so that doesn't happen." Terilynn and Erica had a lot to talk about, so they kept in touch with each other.
Pushing the food on his plate around, Matthew said, "If she can keep it up, she'll have a new nickname. I don't think she liked the old one."
Terilynn thought for a while. "You have a point. I've been calling her 'Angel' lately. Maybe I should call her Erica instead."
Angel was a good nickname, but she'd probably had it with nicknames already.
After dinner, Carlos called Evelyn to his study.
"Hey, Dad, what's up?"
Carlos said, "I'm putting you in charge of ZL Group's autumn clothing launch. The designers are hard at work, and everything's going well. I'll pick up your grandma next month." He beamed at her. "Don't worry about this. You got this. The only thing is you'll need to give a speech onstage and be around to greet several important international guests."
"I'm in charge?" Evelyn had never done this before.
"Yes." Carlos turned to look at her. "Several media outlets are covering this. All eyes will be on you. Get ready."
Evelyn didn't respond.
"Chin up. You'll be fine. I'll put off your blind date. Matthew is flying back to America tomorrow afternoon. He's doing great over there, keeping his grades up. With his talent, he only needs two more years of further studies under his belt. When he comes back, he'll take over ZL Group. Then you can do whatever you want. I won't hold you back anymore. What do you think?"
Evelyn nodded, "Okay."
Carlos patted her shoulder. "Baby, I'll try my best to reduce your workload. Your happiness is the most important thing. When you're unhappy, just tell me. I'll help you."
Evelyn gave him a hug and answered, "Will do, Daddy."
After returning to her bedroom, Evelyn sat on the edge of the bed, staring blankly for a moment.
Then she stood up and walked to the collection room next to the walk-in closet. She took out a brocade box from the drawer at the bottom of the glass showcase.
She wiped away the dust and slowly opened the box.
A piece of jade, in the shape of the flower named "Purity," was quietly lying inside.
She picked it up and gently rubbed it; she couldn't help smiling when she thought of something.
'Think I'm talking too much? In fact, I've never said so much to anyone other than you. If you don't like it, I'll shut up.'
'Evelina, I never knew a woman could be as lovely as you!'
'If you want to get married one day, just tell me. I'd do it in a heartbeat.'
'Eve, you're my woman now. You can only have me, and I will never let you down...' The man's gentle words echoed in her mind for a long time.