Erica realized that she was such a spendthrift. Would Matthew use this as an excuse to divorce her this time?
If he divorced her, how could she ever find another rich husband like him once again?
When Matthew came out of the bathroom, he saw her sitting on the carpet with two boxes in her hands. Her eyes were drowning in some sort of sorrow, and it looked like she was deep in thought.
They had come back home together, so he knew what was going on in her mind. He asked helplessly, "Are you still feeling bad about the money?"
Erica nodded without turning to look at him, "Of course, I am. It was a lot of money. I had never spent so much on gifts before."
"It was just tens of millions. Why do you care so much? Seriously though, how bad would you have felt if it had been hundreds of millions instead?" Matthew asked casually.
Erica's head shot up and she looked at the man in shock. Matthew was in his pajamas already. "Are you telling me that you have given someone a gift worth hundreds of millions?"
He admitted frankly, "The most expensive gift I have given was worth over a billion dollars."
Erica gasped, "You're worse than me!"
Matthew chuckled and explained, "You made the right call. The money you spent on the gifts will not go to waste. The guests at the auction were from the high society of Y City. The husbands of the women you had bought all those gifts for are either rich or very important men. Now that you have bought their wives such expensive gifts, it will be easier for you to approach them for favors some day."
She was silent for a moment. "But I have an omnipotent husband who can do just about anything. He has money, power, good looks—everything a man could ever want. Why would I ever go to anyone else for favors?"
A satisfied grin appeared on Matthew's face and his eyes danced with joy. 'This girl is so good at flattery, ' he thought. "Anyway, it's good to have more friends. So, forget all about that and go take a shower."
Erica sighed heavily and slowly stood up from the floor. "Fine."
After she entered the bathroom, Matthew took out his mobile phone from his pajama pocket and dialed Phoebe's number. As soon as she answered, he went straight to the point. "I will give you three million for the gold bookmark, the butterfly brooch and the crystal leaf. Have them all sent to my villa tomorrow."
No one knew it better than Phoebe why he wanted those three things. Erica had taken a liking to them at the auction.
Phoebe was angry; her hands trembled. She demanded, "I bought those items because I loved them! How could you take them away from me like this?"
She had bought all three items for less than a million. So what if he had offered her three million? It was not money that she wanted.
"And what about you? How could you take those away from someone who actually loved them?" he retorted.
Did she really think that he had just been sitting there idly? He knew exactly what had happened at the auction. Phoebe had felt Erica's desire for those three items and had deliberately competed against her for them. How could he, who was also sitting right next to Erica, not have noticed it?
"She doesn't deserve them! She bullied my sister! Don't I have the right to take revenge on her?"
Phoebe was a little excited and her voice was less calm now.
"No, you don't. How much do you know about what had really happened? I already have someone investigating about what Tessie had done. If I find out that she hurt Erica, don't blame me for what I do to your sister."
Phoebe was stunned.
Why was Matthew in love with Erica now? Why did he not love her? Why? But Phoebe wasn't convinced yet! She refused to believe the truth in front of her.
The next day, around noon, Phoebe arrived at the villa with a paper bag, wearing her maternity dress.
She walked in casually, as if the place belonged to her. The chefs were busy in the kitchen. She sat down in the living room and put the paper bag on the coffee table.
Erica was still in her cartoon pajamas. When she heard the doorbell, she walked to the stairs to see who had come. She stood on the steps and looked down at the woman. "What are you doing here?"
Since Matthew wasn't home, Phoebe couldn't care less about her fake courtesy towards Erica. "Isn't it normal for me to be here? Before you arrived in Y City, I often hung out with Matthew."
She had purposely left out the truth that Matthew would never go out with her alone. She could only tag along when Nathan hung out with Matthew.
"If you don't have anything else to say, you may leave now. I don't want to see you," Erica said with a scowl.
Phoebe flipped her long hair coquettishly. "Why should I leave? I'm waiting for Matthew to come home."
'Is Matthew coming home now? Why didn't he tell me? This guy is so mean! How could he tell her and not me, his wife?' Erica thought angrily. "Fine. Wait."
Erica walked to the kitchen, drank some water and headed upstairs to change her clothes, completely ignoring Phoebe.
But Phoebe had no intention of letting her be in peace. "Erica, you knew that Matthew didn't love you. Why did you still marry him?"
Erica looked back at her, confused. "Who told you he doesn't love me? Whom else do you think he loves? You? A married woman?"
Erica fired back. Yet, deep down, she knew that it was true. She had always known that Matthew loved Phoebe. At least, that was what she believed.
"If you hadn't showed up in Matthew's life, I wouldn't have married Nathan! I would have been the hostess of this villa!" Phoebe glared at Erica, her eyes filled with fury and envy.
Erica laughed. "If Matthew really loved you, why would he ever have agreed to marry me? Don't be so narcissistic. Even without me, he would have still married Erica Zhang or Erica Wang. Either way, he wouldn't have married you."
"Ha! Do you really think nobody is aware that your marriage to Matthew was arranged? He was forced to marry you!"
With one arm across her chest and the other supporting her chin, Erica asked sarcastically, "Why are you so obsessed with how we got married? The reality is that I married Matthew and I am now Mrs. Huo, and you are Mrs. Tu. Did your husband ever realize that you couldn't wait to be Mrs. Huo? I wonder how he would have felt if he had found out about this? How could he rest in peace?"
Phoebe gritted her teeth and yelled, "Don't you dare talk about Nathan! You're not good enough to even mention his name!"
"Fine. Then, you stop talking about Matthew. You don't deserve him either." Erica knew that she wasn't as smart as Phoebe, but she wouldn't lose to her in a battle of words.
"Erica Li, I'll expose your true colors and show Matthew what kind of person you really are. And then, I will ask him to take responsibility for me and our baby."
Erica's eyes fell on her belly thoughtfully. "Are you even sure that the baby is Matthew's, and not Nathan's?"
Phoebe was stunned at first, but then immediately recovered and told her with certainty, "Of course, it's Matthew's! I'm sure!"
"Oh! Well, in that case, you should take good care of yourself and the baby, so that you can seize any chance in the future to make a comeback. Besides, it would benefit you to be nicer to me. Maybe one day, if I am in a good mood, I might allow you to stay with Matthew as his mistress."
"Erica Li!" Phoebe screamed. Her yell attracted the attention of the chefs in the kitchen.
Facing her furious eyes, Erica snorted coldly, turned around and went upstairs.
On the third floor
Erica fumed. She was so pissed off that she walked around the room in circles. It was the first time she had ever met a woman like Phoebe. She swore that she would give her hell in the future!
Unable to control her irritation, she logged into her Weibo and posted, "What to do if I meet an enemy I hate very much?"
A few minutes later, she got a private message from Can't Do Anything. "There are many ways to deal with an enemy. You can destroy everything he or she loves, or you can destroy the person. It depends on how hateful this enemy is."
Erica began to think about what Phoebe loved and wanted. All that woman wanted was Matthew.
She replied honestly to Can't Do Anything, "She wants my husband! I can't destroy my husband, can I?" Besides, she didn't have the ability to do that! He was Matthew Huo!
Can't Do Anything replied, "Of course not! But you can make your husband fall in love with you, and make sure he's loyal to you. Once his heart is yours, no one can take him away from you!"