Fanya, far from her usual calm self, was fidgeting restlessly in her seat.
Their youngest daughter had offended Matthew. Now that the truth was out, Lyman and Fanya wished they had never had this daughter.
"Mr. Su," Matthew called out abruptly.
Lyman held his breath. He was clearly scared out of his wits. "Yes, Mr. Huo?"
The young man asked with a murderous chill in his voice, "What do you think I should do to your daughter?"
"Well, since Tessie is guilty, you have every right to deal with her as you see fit. I won't get in your way, Mr. Huo." Lyman cared only about saving his own neck. The disgraceful man was mainly worried about whether Tessie's actions would get him into trouble with Matthew.
Tessie, somewhat knew her father to be a heartless man who cared for nothing else in the world apart from himself, but when she heard those words come out of his mouth, she burst into tears.
Why? Why was she born into such a family? No wonder Tessie fostered so much hatred and jealousy in her heart for Erica and even her own sister, Camille Su.
Meanwhile, afraid that Tessie would implicate her too, Phoebe stood there frozen, wishing she could vanish into thin air.
Like everybody else, she only found out today that the illegitimate child she had cursed turned out to be Tessie's child with another man.
A blush of embarrassment heated Phoebe's cheeks and she looked down to avert Erica's eyes.
On the other hand, Camille, the Su family's eldest daughter, remained seated next to Fanya, staring at the arrogant and powerful man on the sofa.
'Phoebe is such an idiot. Even if she listened to Matthew and married Nathan, she still didn't get any benefit from Matthew. In the end, the man she loved so much ended up getting married to another woman. Why do I have two stupid sisters?' Camille sneered in her mind.
"Okay, Mr. Su." Matthew shifted his gaze to Lenora, whose face had been beaten to a pulp by Julianna, and asked, "Who invited my wife to the No. Eighteen Primary School yesterday?" There was no emotion in his voice.
Lenora wasted no time and pointed at the girl beside her. "It was Julianna's idea!"
Julianna was afraid of what Matthew would do to her. Immediately, she denied, "It wasn't me. Tessie gave me the idea!"
Tessie's eyes widened in shock. "No, she said she wanted to teach Erica a lesson." Then she turned to Phoebe for help. Her eyes reddened and wavering in desperation, lips parted slightly.
Phoebe, however, turned her away with a harsh glare.
Tessie knew then that Phoebe wouldn't help her anymore.
Matthew sat there holding hands with Erica, clearly unimpressed at the way the three girls were passing the buck to evade responsibility. "In that case, both the Wu family and Su family must formally apologize to my wife!"
Even before Matthew and Erica had arrived, Lenora and Julianna had already slapped each other a few times. Sensing mercy in Matthew's tone, Lenora acted quickly and scurried to Erica. "Mrs. Huo, I am terribly sorry for what happened. I shouldn't have done that to you. Please forgive me! Please?"
Although the members of the Su family were reluctant to apologize to a young girl like Erica, Matthew's presence there was enough to break their conceited and arrogant perception of themselves. Without further delay, they all complied and came over to humble themselves before Erica.
Lyman was the first one to come over. He smiled apologetically at Erica and said, "Mrs. Huo, I failed to teach my daughter how to behave properly. I hope you can forgive us. Please spare our family. Tessie is at your disposal!"
Lyman made it clear that he wouldn't hesitate to throw Tessie to the lions to save the whole Su family.
Fanya, who had always carried herself with an air of arrogance, had no choice but to come over too with Camille. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Huo. I have not been a good mother. It's Tessie's fault. I apologize to you on behalf of the Su family!"
As a matter of fact, Fanya held the highest position in the Su family, proudly representing each member of the family.
When it was Tessie's turn, she stood up and apologized to Erica again, even though she had already done so many times.
Phoebe slowly stood up from her seat and looked at Matthew's face. She knew that if she didn't apologize to Erica today, she would get into more trouble with him.
No matter how reluctant she was, Phoebe had no choice but to apologize to the wife of the man she loved. "I'm really sorry, Erica. I didn't know that Tessie had done such a thing and I was wrong to misunderstand you. Please have mercy!"
When it was the Wu family's turn to apologize, Tam maintained a calm expression and said, "Mrs. Huo, I am sorry for causing you so much trouble. After this is all over, I wish to leave Y City with my wife, daughter and Ethan. I won't come back here again, except to visit my relatives on the festivals."
This was the best course of action for Tam, especially after what Erica had done, things would get very difficult for him in Y City. Hardly any company worth working for would be willing to hire him. Moreover, he would have to live with the public bad-mouthing him and his family all the time. The better option was to start over new somewhere else in another city.
Yanny, who had been silent all this while, finally took a step forward. Her face, which wasn't very beautiful in the past, looked quite haggard today.
She looked at Erica blankly and said, "I'm sorry, Erica. You've been wronged because of Tam. Julianna is equally to blame, but I have always liked you. I hope you forgive Julianna, at least for old time's sake. And I promise you, just as Tam had said, we will leave Y City after this."
In truth, Erica and Julianna did have some happy days in the past. Even Yanny would occasionally ask her daughter to bring Erica some delicious food before their friendship fell apart.
Erica's heart broke for Yanny because her husband was having an affair with their daughter's friend. But she chose to forgive him and left Y City with Tam.
It was Erica's turn to speak, and she had only one request. "I just want to prove my innocence. I don't care about anything else. As for Ethan..."
Erica didn't want to part with Ethan, let alone Wesley and Blair, who had been taking care of the baby for so long. She knew how hard it would be on her parents, so she said, "I need to ask my parents about that first. If they say no, you can't take Ethan away."
Tam had no choice but to nod his head. "I see. Thank you!"
On the way back home from the Su family's residence, Erica's eyes were stuck staring out the window, deeply contemplating something in silence.
Although she hated Tessie with all her heart, she didn't want Matthew to send her to live in the slums. In the end, Erica softened her heart.
"Matthew," she called out.
"Yes?"
"How about we just force Tessie out of Y City and forbid her from ever coming back again? As for where she goes, let her choose." Erica had to think about Ethan. What if he wanted to find his biological mother when he grew up? If Ethan were to find his mother in a slum, he would be heartbroken.
This was her last act of mercy towards Tessie.
Having realized that Erica was being merciful, Matthew said, "As you wish."
The man's compliance gave her a sense of relief.
Suddenly, Matthew's phone rang. The caller's voice could be heard loud and clear inside the car. It was Owen. "Mr. Huo, Lenora Wang has set out. I have sent two people to watch her and make sure she doesn't escape."
"Okay, I know. Also, don't forget to send reporters to interview Tessie and Julianna. Ask them to apologize to Mrs. Huo and clarify everything in front of the cameras."
"Yes, Mr. Huo!"
After he hung up the phone, Erica sat up straight and said, "Where have you sent Lenora?"
The man swallowed and answered, "In a cave in some primeval forest of a deserted area." Matthew had found the best cave for Lenora.