When she heard what Rhea said, Erica just smiled and showed her around the villa.
"Mind if I snap some pics?" Rhea asked for Erica's opinion.
"No problem!" Erica had the power to make minor decisions like that.
Besides, she asked Hyatt to take some photos of her and Rhea in the garden on the top floor of the villa.
Before she uploaded the pics, Rhea asked Erica, "Rika, can I post these online?"
This question made Erica hesitate for a moment. "I'll need to ask Matthew first," she answered. After all, he was a very private person.
"Take your time. I just want to show off. I've been to Mr. Huo's villa! Ha-ha!"
"Cool. Let me ask him first." Erica took out her phone and sent a message to her husband. "We took some photos in the villa. Can we post them online?"
"Mi casa es su casa. You're the boss. You can do what you want as long as you're happy!" Matthew replied.
Seeing the message, Erica smiled sweetly and sent him a kiss emoji.
Then she edited and retouched the photos that Hyatt took for her and Rhea, running them through a filter before uploading them to Weibo. One was a shot of them sitting in the garden, and the other had them sitting on the spiral staircase, with the words, "My best friend came to see me! Current mood: happy!"
Not only that, she took a selfie of herself and sent it to Matthew. "Rhea said I gained weight. Don't feed me so much anymore, okay?"
With a faint smile, Matthew saved the photo and replied, "I like you like this. You're cuddlier that way. It feels good to hold you in my arms."
She knew he wouldn't be there for at least a couple more days. She decided to tease him. Erica typed, "Then come back and hug me. That way you can judge for yourself how much I weigh!"
"I'll be back soon. Just wait for me. Be patient." Although he told her to wait for him, he really couldn't wait to see her himself. The business trip couldn't end quickly enough.
"I'm not impatient. We're going to get some hotpot now! Bye!"
"Bye."
Erica put away her phone and the three of them went out to eat.
Rhea couldn't get to Y City very often. How could they just go shopping and eat hotpot? They decided to go out drinking and celebrate the fact they were finally together.
And so, after eating, they went and found a bar nearby.
It was already eleven o'clock in the evening by the time they arrived at the bar. The place was already packed with people, and the loud music was deafening.
They chose an unobtrusive booth and sat down. The two girls went back and forth on what they wanted. There were so many good choices. Finally, they decided on some beer and fruit. Their night life finally began.
In fact, Erica wanted to drink at least two glasses of liquor with Rhea, but she was afraid. The bar didn't look all that safe and Hyatt was not a fighter, so she settled for beer instead.
A handsome man took the stage and began to sing. He had a lower-register voice, and sounded very masculine and seductive. Not to mention the song was crazy catchy. Erica was just getting into the song when her phone rang.
It was Tam calling.
'Damn it! I forgot that Tam wants Ethan back, ' she cursed inwardly.
She waved her phone in front of Rhea and said loudly, "It's Julianna's dad. I have to take this."
Erica had told Rhea everything about Tessie and Julianna over hotpot. And now Rhea knew Ethan was Tessie and Tam's kid. She figured Tam might want to discuss Ethan, and that it was a private matter. She gave Erica a thumbs-up sign as Erica walked out of the booth. "Be careful," Rhea said.
"Don't worry!"
Erica went to the door of the bar with her mobile phone, and it was much quieter there. She answered the phone and said, "My parents don't want to give Ethan to you. If you really miss the little tyke, you can go to their place to visit him."
After all, they had already had a relationship with Ethan. When Ethan grew to adulthood, if he wanted to find his biological parents, the Li family would not stop him.
Tam was worried when he heard that Erica's parents refused to give Ethan back to him. "Mrs. Huo, we've got our things packed already. We're eager to pick up Ethan at your parents' place. Don't make this harder than it has to be. Please tell your dad I'll be a good father to Ethan. He is my son, after all. I won't treat him like shit."
Wesley already warned Erica that if Tam insisted, they'd have to give him the child. He was legally in the right.
Wesley and Blair were parents of three children themselves. They could understand the pain of being separated from one's own child. Besides, it was best for Ethan to live with his real father.
But Erica didn't want to give the child to Tam. She'd spent some months taking care of a pregnant Tessie in a basement, and had bonded with the boy. "Have you thought about my parents? How they might feel?" she asked.
"I know your parents treat him like their own grandson. I'm really grateful for that. Just let me take him. I'll even promise to take him to your folks' place to visit as much as I can. What do you think?" Tam was so desperate he almost burst into tears.
If he had known something like this might happen, he would have been there to take him as soon as he was born.
"Where are you going after leaving Y City?" she asked. She had to know where Ethan would be. They would definitely meet in the future.
"To Australia. I already have tickets." Something bad happened to Julianna. Tam knew it was Matthew's idea, so he didn't bring it up again. Julianna pissed off Erica, and the girl paid for it. They had to suffer and enjoy it. '
Australia?' Erica became sadder the more she thought about it.
But it wasn't appropriate for her to keep the child from Tam. She gritted her teeth and said, "You can go to my parents' place to pick him up!"
"Really? Thank you so much, Erica. I really appreciate that." Tam was so excited on the phone that he didn't know how to express his gratitude. "
But you have to promise me one thing first," Erica added.
"Name it."
Looking at the sky, Erica took a deep breath and forced her tears back. "After you take Ethan back to Y City, I need to see him before you leave for Australia." If she couldn't see the child this time, they would go to Australia. She didn't know when they would get a chance to see each other again.
"No problem!" As long as she was willing to give his son to him, Tam would let Erica see Ethan. It was just a small matter.
"Okay." Erica had nothing else to say to him, so she hung up the phone quickly. She still had tears to wipe from her eyes.
She didn't go right back to the bar. Instead, she called Wesley. "Dad, I promised Tam that I'd give Ethan back to him," she said in a small voice after the call was connected.
Wesley had already been mentally prepared for it. After all, Ethan was not Erica's child. "Well, if you agreed, then we have no choice. Your mother and I will pack up some things for him and ask Tam to take them with him when he comes and gets the kid."
"Okay..."
Wesley suddenly changed the subject and asked, "So when are you and Matthew going to have a child? We won't have to worry about someone claiming him, right? If you have a kid, I'll keep whatever Tam doesn't take with."
'What? You old cheapskate!' "Well, we're going to have a kid, but not right away. You can give those things away!" she answered. She was married, after all. How could she not have a child?
"You brat! Fine!" Wesley thought it was better to comfort his daughter. "Don't worry. You knew this day was coming, and you should have been ready to accept it. Having kids with Matthew will fill the void Ethan left."