'Oh, so that's why!' Erica nodded and asked with concern, "I see. How is his friend now? Is he out of danger?"
Debbie heaved a long sigh. "I called Matthew this morning. He said Nathan's condition is severe. The doctor has already given a written notice of the patient's critical condition. All we can do is wait and see if he makes it through tonight."
"Is it that serious?" Erica was shocked. No wonder Matthew hadn't come back the whole night.
"Yes. By the way, Erica, have you read the news?"
Erica shook her head. She didn't have time to look through her phone. She didn't reply to Rhea's message either.
"I should give you a heads-up then. Last night, when Matthew left the house, his car was spotted by the paparazzi hiding near the entrance of the community. They followed him to the hospital and photographed him there, randomly writing some crap about him having an affair on his wedding night. The woman they photographed him with is actually Nathan's wife. She had only come out of the hospital to lead Matthew in. But the reporters uploaded their photo online and made up a story to go along with it. They have gone too far this time!" Debbie said, her nose flaring.
Carlos had already dealt with the reporters and the media outlets who had spread the rumor. But since the news had spread fast on the Internet, it was impossible to completely erase all traces of it. Debbie was worried that Erica might misunderstand. She thought it would be best to give the young girl a clear picture of what had actually happened.
That was why she had rushed to her early morning.
She knew that Erica didn't have feelings for Matthew yet, but as his wife, Erica had the right to know the truth.
'Oh!' Erica nodded understandingly. "Okay, Mom. I understand. Don't worry about it."
She didn't mind at all. Even if Matthew really had gone to see his goddess last night, she wouldn't have cared about it.
"Good. Have your breakfast. Let's go to the manor after that; it's more lively there. What do you think?"
"Sounds great!" Erica exclaimed. She was bored anyway.
After breakfast, she had time to browse the news, and finally saw the gossips about Matthew on the Internet Both Matthew's and her names were pasted all over the news.
Many eye-catching headlines had come out. "Matthew Huo Cheating on His Wife on their Wedding Night." "Erica Li, the Most Unfortunate Bride in the World."
"A Marriage Without Love; A Tragedy." "Grand Luxurious Wedding Ends In Disaster."
"Harlot Erica Finally Cuckolded by Matthew Huo."
"Matthew Huo Unwilling to be The Stepfather; Spends Wedding Night with Another Woman."
Erica scrolled down and found more and more of those headlines. News apps, Weibo news accounts, and WeChat official accounts were posting news about them and commenting below.
She had just finished reading the article—"Matthew Huo Unwilling to be The Stepfather; Spends Wedding Night with Another Woman." Just as she was about to comment on it, the article disappeared. She refreshed the web page; it showed that the page couldn't be found.
It was the same with the other articles. Even the accounts that had spread rumors about Matthew's affair started disappearing.
She checked the comments on her Weibo account. Again, most of them were curses and negative comments. But several netizens defended her as well.
For example, a user named "Can't Do Anything" commented, "Erica gave birth to her child before she was married to Matthew. She didn't cheat on her husband. It's the 21st century, and she's a grown-up. She isn't a harlot; she just met the wrong guy. Why are you all cursing her? Is there any guarantee that the man you meet in your life is the right one?"
Erica only had a few thousand followers on her Weibo account. But that particular comment had more than a hundred thousand likes, and it soon reached two hundred thousand.
Erica felt warmth flow through her. She recognized this user name. Since Erica was an active user of Weibo, she frequently updated her posts. This user, Can't Do Anything, made sure to like all her posts. Sometimes, he would comment too.
He was like a gentle, loving elder brother who protected her from the predators.
She wanted to know his real identity, but she didn't find any clues in his Weibo account. It seemed that he also gave likes to posts on military, finance or patriotism.
She was deep in thought when her ringtone pulled her back into reality. It was Rhea.
Erica answered the phone. "I'm so sorry, Rhea! I forgot to reply to your message." Before she could text Rhea back, she was pulled in by the news headlines about Matthew that had popped up on her notifications.
She was so engrossed in the news that she had completely forgotten to reply to Rhea's message.
"Never mind that. Erica, how's everything going? Is the news on the Internet true?" Rhea asked anxiously.
"No, no. The news is absurd. Matthew went out last night because his friend had a car accident. He's in critical condition now. The woman in the photo is his friend's wife. She only came out of the hospital to receive Matthew. The media made up a story about an affair out of it." Erica felt sorry for Matthew as she recounted what had happened. He was innocent, yet had to go through all this.
"Is that so? Oh, I'm relieved. I thought he found a mistress to insult you on your wedding night! If the news were to be true, I wouldn't have been his fan anymore. I'm glad to know that he's not such a bad guy after all!"
"He's a famous figure in the society. His every move is under watch."
"But some of these netizens are really vicious. How are you able to tolerate their comments? Aren't you going to tell everyone about Feb's true identity?" Few people knew about Feb's real identity. As Erica's best friend, Rhea knew.
"Why should I tell the public about him? It's none of their business." Her parents were the only ones who had the right to scold her for being irresponsible. She didn't understand why the others bothered.
Just like what the user Can't Do Anything had said, she didn't have an affair after her wedding. Why were so many people badmouthing her? Did she look like a pushover?
"Fine, but what about Mr. Huo? Did you tell him the truth about Feb?" Rhea was really worried about her friend.
"No. He is just my nominal husband. He doesn't love me, and neither do I. There's no need to explain anything to him." She didn't care what Matthew thought about her. She was hoping that he would see her as an unreliable woman and divorce her as soon as possible. Then, she could live her life on her own terms.
Rhea was at a loss for words. The girl was always so stubborn. "Alright, alright. But I am glad that you at least trust your husband. Since you're married to Matthew now, you should learn to love him even though you don't have feelings for him at the moment. You understand?"
"No, I don't want to!" Everyone was forcing her to be with Matthew.
"Come on, Rika. Mr. Huo is an excellent man. He is ten thousand times better than Hyatt. Countless women would die to marry into the Huo family. Don't you feel lucky?" Rhea knew that Erica didn't love Hyatt either.
"Fine, I got it! I'll come back to see you in a couple of days."
"Come back? Where are you going?" Rhea asked nervously. She was afraid that Erica was planning to escape from Matthew again.
Erica replied helplessly, "Silly girl, don't you know that you need to go back to your parents' home three days after you get married? It's a custom."
"Oh! I'm sorry I didn't know that. I'm not married yet. I don't know much about wedding customs."