When Julianna saw Erica slap her father, she ran over quickly, grabbed the other girl's clothes tightly and shouted, "Erica Li, don't hit my dad! You ungrateful bitch! He helped you out of kindness, and now you do this. I'm going to beat the shit out of you!"
The driver rushed to grab Julianna. She was about to hit his boss's wife. "Please let go of Mrs. Huo!"
"Are you high? She hit my father! I need to teach her a lesson!"
Tam was normally a rich, successful, handsome man. Julianna was her father's biggest fan. She admired him a lot.
If someone slapped your idol, you'd probably have much the same reaction. Besides, it was a matter of honor. Julianna had to go after Erica.
Hearing what Julianna said, Tam finally came to his senses. He held his daughter's hand and said, "Julianna, let go of her."
"Dad! She hit you! That's not cool. I need to slap her too!"
Erica glared at Julianna and answered, not to be outdone, "He deserved it. Ask your father why I smacked him, instead of blaming me! Go on—ask him!"
Julianna thought her words made sense. She let go of Erica and looked at her father. "Okay, Dad, why did she hit you?"
Tam put his arm around her shoulder and said, "Julianna, don't worry about your old dad's business. Let's get out of here, okay?"
Then Julianna was forcibly taken away by her father. Erica got into her car.
The two cars left, leaving a woman standing nearby, watching them drive away.
Tessie watched Erica's car speeding off and felt uneasy. She was afraid her lie would be exposed and everyone would hate her, instead of Erica.
'No, no! I can't let that happen. But what can I do about it?'
Determined, she took out her phone and dialed Phoebe's number. As soon as her sister picked up, Tessie sobbed, "Hey, Phoebe! You'll never guess who came to see me. Yeah, that's right. Erica. I'm scared."
Phoebe frowned and asked, "Did she try to bully you again?"
"Yes, she also warned me not to tell anyone. She said even if I did, she wasn't afraid, because we don't have any evidence for what she did..." 'I'm sorry, Erica. I'm so sorry! I really have no choice. I have to keep lying, ' she thought to herself
Phoebe was so angry that she pounded the table and said, "She's gone too far this time!"
"Erica's always been like that, you know."
Reminded by Tessie, Phoebe remembered she'd known Erica for awhile. Each time she got together with her, she came away with the impression that Erica was a bad apple. Stubborn, intractable.
"Don't worry. Next time she shows up and tries to push you around, just call me." Phoebe had made up her mind to let Matthew know what kind of person Erica actually was! He should know exactly who he married!
"Okay, thanks. You're the best."
After the phone call with her younger sister, Phoebe immediately called Matthew. "Hi, Matthew. It's Phoebe. Listen, did you know Erica went to see my sister?"
"Yes."
"She threatened her. Told her that she didn't want to see her face again in Y City. Said she would beat Tessie every time she saw her. My sister even transferred to a new school to get away from Erica, but why can't she stop bullying my sister? What should she do?"
Matthew said calmly, "Ask your sister to keep changing schools, until Erica is satisfied."
That was not the answer Phoebe wanted. Embarrassed, she said, "Matthew, are you going to let Erica bully other girls like this? She's my sister, dammit!"
"That's between Tessie and Erica. I'm not going to get involved." The way Matthew saw it, Tessie was a woman who didn't even want her own child and pretended to be dead to deceive everyone. She deserved to be beaten!
Taking a deep breath, Phoebe tried her best to suppress the anger surging in her heart and said, "Well, I see. I'll try to learn the truth first."
"Mmm hmm." He gave a simple reply and hung up.
At the Pearl Villa District
Erica walked into the villa slowly and put on her slippers without even thinking about it. Before she entered the living room, a sweet smell caressed her nostrils.
And that drew her interest. She took a few steps towards the kitchen and saw Matthew busy cooking in there.
He heard her come in. He looked up at her without saying anything and continued fixing the meal.
Erica wanted to ignore Matthew, but she couldn't because whatever he was cooking smelt so good.
She had to walk over to him and asked, "Hey good-looking. What are you cooking?"
"You got here just in time. Go to the fridge and get the sugar out. Hurry up," said Matthew.
"Okay!" Reflexively, she walked towards the fridge.
It was not until she entered the walk-in fridge that she snapped back to her senses, wondering why she had to listen to him.
But she had already spotted the bottle of sugar. Pouting her lips, she reluctantly took the bottle and walked out of the fridge.
In the kitchen, Matthew was stirring something in the glass container. She leaned her head over and saw that the mix in the container was chocolate-colored. "What are you doing? Is that chocolate?"
Matthew took the sugar bottle from her hand and poured some sugar into the mixture. "Smart girl. Got it in one."
"So you know how to make chocolate?" Erica thought Matthew was a great guy. He was rich, that much was true, but he kept surprising her with how much he knew how to do.
"Yes." He figured he'd defray any other questions before she had a chance to ask them. "Gwyn liked this dessert, so I had the cook teach me how to make it."
Erica's eyes were fixed on the bowl. "Wow, you're so good to Gwyn."
The man glanced at her and didn't deny it.
He cut a pat of butter and dropped it in, letting it melt into the mixture. "Do you want me to teach you how?"
In fact, Erica also wanted to have a try. She nodded immediately, "Sure! Sounds like fun!" With just a few words and a pleasant scent, all the stress she felt from Tessie and Tam melted away. She was focused on making chocolate.
Matthew just stood there. He looked at her in disgust and said, "Go wash your hands."
'Oh... I haven't washed my hands yet...'
She went to the sink, turned on the tap and quickly washed her hands. Then she took out a few tissues to wipe her hands and ran over. "I'm all washed up now. Let me at it!"
Matthew put down the tools in his hands and moved over.
As soon as she got the spoon, Erica started to stir the mixture in the glass container like him. "Do I need to put anything else in it?"
"Yes. The rum. I'll go get some."
"Okay, go ahead. I'll take care of this." Erica continued to stir the mixture enthusiastically.
Matthew wanted to tell her to slow down, but then he decided against it. He went upstairs to get the rum.
When Matthew came downstairs with the rum, he heard a loud bang from the kitchen.
He was sure the sound came from there.
Suddenly, he had a bad feeling. He quickened his pace and went back into the kitchen.
There was no sign of Erica there. He took a few steps forward and saw the dumbfounded girl squatting on the ground.
The ground was a mess. The glass container had fallen to the ground and broken into several pieces. A gooey mess met his eyes, spreading over the kitchen floor.
Seeing Matthew come over, Erica apologized in a timid voice, "I... I didn't mean to." She stared at the broken glass container. Someone had to clean this up. She figured that was her job.
As soon as she reached out for the shards. Matthew immediately stopped her. "Don't move!"