Suddenly, the engine revved up and the car proceeded as slowly as possible, seemingly engaged on first gear. Erica immediately caught up to the car and continued pursuit. "What do you mean? Speak clearly! What did you mean by I made Tessie suffer?"
After all, Erica wasn't the one who introduced Tessie to Tam. Moreover, Erica even tried to persuade Tessie to give up waiting on a married man, but she didn't listen to her and insisted on giving birth to Ethan.
Why was she being accused of hurting Tessie?
However, Fanya's silence was clear indication of her indifference and she rolled up the car window.
Erica stopped in her tracks when she saw the car drive in through the gates of the Su family residence. She didn't see the point in carrying on because it was obvious that Tessie's mother didn't want to talk to her.
Instead, she took her phone out and put it close to her left ear. "Hello, Tam Wu? Have you even tried to look for Tessie?"
Tam, who was in the middle of an important meeting, politely asked to be excused when he heard Tessie's name. He found a quiet corner and answered, "I met Tessie's mother at a dinner party. I found out from her that Tessie had transferred to Y City University and majored in fashion design. I have a question for you! Why did you say that she was dead when I asked you the last time?"
Erica was dumbstruck by his words. Why did she say that Tessie was dead? Why? The reason why she thought Tessie was dead was that the doctor gave her the bad news in person, even though she didn't see her body with her own eyes.
When Erica asked to go into the delivery room to see Tessie one last time, the doctor insisted that she leave at once, saying that it was the mother's dying wish that she leave that place with the baby as soon as possible.
Soon after, to honor her friend's last wish, Erica sent someone to inform the Su family of Tessie's death and ran away with the baby.
If Tessie had been alive, she would have chosen to take a major in fashion design at the Y City University. It was only when she met Tam that her dreams of becoming a fashion designer had replaced her aspirations of becoming a photographer. She had planned to work at Tam's company after graduation.
Erica took a deep breath and again said, "Have you tried to contact her?"
"Yes, but I've been very busy lately. Are you going to meet her?"
"Yes!" Erica had to see Tessie with her own eyes and touch her with her own hands. More importantly, she needed to find out what exactly had happened.
Tam paused to think for a while and said, "I'm free around ten o'clock tomorrow morning. Shall we go together?"
"All right!"
After making an appointment with Tam, Erica didn't rush back to the villa. Instead, she had dinner outside as she needed some time on her own to contemplate.
As soon as she finished eating a bowl of wontons, she received a message from Matthew. "The chef has arrived at the villa. Where are you?"
Erica was reluctant to reply, but she didn't want to waste the chef's time. "I've already had dinner outside. There's no need to have the chef come by."
Matthew didn't reply to her message, and Erica didn't care. She had a lot on her mind and as far as she was concerned, a little bit of wandering around was the only remedy that could ease her tension.
At around ten o'clock in the evening, Matthew walked into the villa. He was welcomed into the living room by a deafening silence and his wife wasn't in her usual spot watching a horror movie like she always did.
Meanwhile, in the bedroom on the third floor, Erica was already in bed, playing games on her cellphone. When Matthew walked in, she didn't even move, let alone turn around to greet him, as if she had no idea he was standing there.
He loosened his tie, walked to the bedside and looked down at the busy girl. "I have a question to ask you."
"Sure." Erica had her eyes glued to the screen of her phone.
"Did something happen between you and Phoebe in the past?"
The question took away Erica's attention from her phone, but only for a moment. "No." Indeed, they didn't have any problems with each other before she married Matthew.
However, ever since she became Matthew's wife, Erica had become Phoebe's rival in love.
"Do you have someone you like?"
"Yes!" Erica liked a lot of people. Such as her parents; her siblings and baby Ethan.
Matthew kept silent and then he muttered in a low voice, "You and Tessie fell in love with the same man? Ethan's father?"
Matthew recalled the phone call Erica made on their wedding night.
Erica once said that she wanted to marry Hyatt, but she already had a baby with another man and on top of that, she was now married to Matthew. Matthew could no longer tell which part of her story was true and which wasn't.
Erica was speechless, but she finally looked him in the eye. 'I liked Tam Wu? The man who was old enough to be my father?' She stifled her disgust behind a fake smile. "Matthew, what are you trying to say?"
Could this be the early signs of a divorce? Did his goddess finally lose her temper in front of him?
The two of them stared at each other for a few minutes before Matthew broke the silence and spoke first. "There is no way you two are going to be together in this lifetime, so I suggest you give up on that silly dream!"
"Anything else?" She looked at him indifferently.
"Yes! Is Tessie really dead or was she forced to transfer to another school?"
Erica, who had been calm this whole time, couldn't keep her cool after hearing this. She threw her phone aside, stood on the bed and looked down at the man with a burning rage. "Do you have a problem with me? I want to know the truth more than you do! Why does everyone imply that I hurt Tessie?"
Matthew raised his head and said, "Sit down first!"
"No! Why do I have to listen to you? I'm sorry, Matthew Huo, if you want a wife who'll sit and stand on your word, then you've married the wrong person! Go and find your goddess! She's obedient, gentle and considerate! I can't compare with her. I'll be like this all my life and I don't intend to change myself for another man!"
Matthew pressed his lips in a grim line, meeting Erica's cold green eyes. "Did I say that you hurt Tessie?"
"Isn't that what you mean? I thought she was dead! Dead! The doctor told me that she was dead! Who knew she would come back to life later! Besides, even if she had died, it would have been for labor. Why should I be the one to blame? What does it have to do with me?"
'Died of labor?' These words caught Matthew's attention. "So, who on earth is Ethan's biological mother?"
"Te—I... I mean, Ethan is my baby!" Erica had almost blurted out the truth. She was so frightened that her anger was almost gone and she knelt down on the bed as her legs felt weak.
Erica felt that it would be better not to tell Matthew about Ethan's identity before she found out the whole story from Tessie in person.
However, little did she know that the unfinished word "Te" she had just mistakenly uttered, confirmed all of Matthew's doubts about Tessie being Ethan's actual biological mother.
"You should go to bed early." He walked towards the closet. "Wait!" Erica stopped him.
He turned around and looked at her with an expectant expression.
"What did Phoebe say to you? I don't need to hear about the sweet words or how you were making out in the office. I'm asking about what she said about me!"
Matthew frowned at her words. 'What the hell is she talking about?' "There were no sweet words, nor was there any making out. But she did say something about you."
Although the two women didn't seem to get along well with each other, it was not the reason for him to lie to Erica. What Phoebe said to him about Erica forced him to ask the girl, "What do you think of campus violence?"
'Campus violence? So Phoebe told Matthew that I was a hot-headed person in campus?' Erica thought for a while and said, "You mean in primary school? Junior middle school? Or in university?"
"All," he said curtly.
"When I was in primary school, I punched a boy in the face. When I was in junior middle school, I asked a boy in the other classroom to run around the playground and shout, 'I won't wet the bed anymore.' When I was in senior high school, I locked a girl in the bathroom. When I was in university, I took a video of a girl and a boy making out in the car, and uploaded it on the Internet after having it pixelated. Is that enough?" Erica had a lot more stories to share if he was willing to hear them.
Matthew's lips twitched. After all, his wife had such an illustrious life! "Is Tessie in one of these stories?" he asked.