Erica pushed the stroller around the neighborhood. She passed by a pregnant woman out for a walk. She was obviously not very far along. When the woman noticed the baby in the stroller, she walked over and said, "Hi, little one! You're so cute! How old is he?"
"Less than two months old," Erica said.
"I hope my kid'll be as cute as he is. Is he on breast milk or formula?"
Erica's mouth twitched. Instead of answering, she asked, "You must have moved here recently, huh?"
The pregnant woman was surprised by her question. "Why, yes! How did you know?"
With a faint smile, the girl said casually, "Because everyone around here knows me. And they pretty much keep their distance. Especially if they're pregnant."
"Why would they do that?" This confused the other woman even more.
Just then, a man strode over to them. 'Probably the woman's husband, ' Erica thought. He nervously took the pregnant woman in his arms and stared at Erica warily, "I'm sorry, Miss Li. We'll leave you alone. Honey, let's go!"
The pregnant woman didn't know what he was talking about, but followed her husband anyway. As they moved away, she asked, "Who is she? It almost seems like you're afraid of her."
"That's Miss Troublemaker, all grown up. She's the youngest daughter of the Li family. She's also unpredictable and reckless. You'd do well to stay away from her. Everyone else does. See the baby stroller she's pushing? That kid was born out of wedlock. She wouldn't even tell her family who the father was. See what I mean now?"
The man's voice got further and further away. Eventually he was out of earshot.
Standing under the tree silently for a while, Erica walked to the front of the stroller, squatted down and pinched the little boy's face, smiling sweetly. "Don't worry, Feb. No matter what they say, I won't leave you. I'm not like that."
When the baby saw her smile, he gave her a cute smile in return. Or was it just gas? There was a lot of guesswork to parenting an infant.
The nanny came along not long after. She heard the man talking to his wife. She was now a lot warier of Erica. "Miss Li, you forgot to take the baby's bottle with you."
She ignored the nanny, as she ignored most people. She was used to the reactions by now. Erica said nothing, and took the bottle from the woman. She popped the cap off, and held the nipple to the baby's mouth. "Come on, Feb, you gotta be thirsty. Have some water."
The baby fastened his lips around the nipple, and began to sip water from the bottle.
In fact, the pregnant woman who had spoken to her earlier inspired Erica. The quick-witted girl had figured out another excuse to cancel her impending wedding to Matthew.
One rainy day, Gifford finally seized the opportunity to talk with Erica.
As soon as he entered the gate of the Li family house, he saw that his sister was about to head out. He closed the umbrella after shaking it off outside, and parked it in the cloak room. Once he closed the door, Gifford asked, "It's raining cats and dogs outside. Where are you headed?"
"I was going stir-crazy inside, so I'm going to take a walk."
"A walk?" He sneered. Was he supposed to believe that?
Gifford crossed his arms, and said, "We need to talk. Not here—upstairs."
"I'd rather not. Feb's upstairs bawling his head off! It's quieter down here!" Erica was depressed. Children were so hard to deal with. They were cute when they were quiet, but annoying when they cried!
"What kind of mom are you? Shouldn't you see to the baby when he's crying? He cries for a reason, you know. Fine. I can't make you be a mom. But why are you going out? This is wrong, and you know it!" Even a single man like him knew the right thing to do, but how could the baby's mother not know that?
He sighed and thought, 'Erica's still a child! She isn't ready to be a mother at all!'
Erica fired back helplessly, "But the nanny and Mom are taking care of Feb, right? He's not alone." She had also taken care of Feb. She just wanted to get a little peace.
"I'd stay inside. It's raining. You'll get soaked." Gifford held her by the shoulder without listening to her protests and pulled her back.
Erica rolled her eyes. "Hey, Gifford, what the hell are you doing?"
Gifford looked around the living room to make sure no one else was there. Then he asked in a whisper, "Be honest, who's the baby's daddy?"
"I don't know!" Erica replied directly.
Gifford was so angry that he raised his palm and said, "Think I won't hit you? Think again!" Wesley had gone to her university, and consulted with the instructors. He stood out in the hall, and called all the boys with the last name "Wu" out of class. After questioning them, it came down to just two.
However, both of them had girlfriends, and he believed they had nothing to do with his daughter.
"Go ahead! See what happens!" Erica raised her chin and stared at her brother provocatively.
In frustration, Gifford lowered his hand and said, "Fine, you win. Maybe Matthew can knock some sense into you."
At the mention of Matthew, Erica pulled a long face. "Can we leave him out of this?"
"If you won't answer my first question, I'll ask you another. Dad told me you agreed to marry Matthew. Is that true?"
"No!" They didn't give her a choice, or a chance to say no.
Gifford was speechless. "You don't want to marry him?"
"What do you think? Hey, if you can persuade Dad to call off the engagement, I'll do whatever you want." Erica promised while patting her chest.
Gifford mulled it around in his head.
Erica tugged at his sleeve and said, "Uncle Carlos' home is so far away. If I marry Matthew, I'll be living there. We won't be able to see each other. How is that fair?"
"Actually, it's not that far. I go there all the time. I can see you when I visit Sheffield."
Erica pouted her lips. 'Come on, that's not what a caring brother should say!' she thought helplessly. "Okay. Where are you going with this?"
"Just marry the guy. What's so wrong with doing what Dad wants? You've already caused lots of drama here. If you marry someone else, I'm afraid they won't be very nice to you."
"But, what about Matthew? Aren't you afraid that he'll bully me as well?" Erica didn't understand their way of thinking. What made them think that Matthew would treat her well?
"Not really. I know the guy. It was Uncle Carlos' idea, not ours. Besides, Uncle Carlos and Aunt Debbie are good people, and they raised Matthew right. As long as you behave yourself, I think everything'll be okay."
Erica wasn't convinced. She said angrily, "Gifford, Dad sent you to talk to me, huh?"
"No, this is my brotherly advice. I also think it's a good idea to marry an older guy."
"I totally agree with you about Uncle Carlos and Aunt Debbie. But what about Matthew? He's the vice president of a big company like ZL Group. Think I can outsmart him?" Erica wondered why everyone in her family was on Matthew's side. They all wanted her to marry him.
"Listen to you. You're going about this all wrong. Matthew's rich, as are all the Huos. You'll have a good life. Why fight that? Why worry about outsmarting him? This is your chance to be happy. Don't blow it."
"I should know better than to talk to you. You're still single!"
Arms akimbo, Gifford glowered at her and shouted, "Erica Li!"
Erica picked her ear. "I get it. I'll stay here. I'm headed upstairs to comfort the little guy abandoned by his father!"
"Hey, wait. What about the baby? Is he going with you after you marry Matthew?" Gifford asked.