Since Watkins and Erica were in different places at that moment and he couldn't see her phone, he couldn't explain what was going on. All he knew was that she sounded really cute. He smiled in spite of himself. "Come here and let me see your phone."
"Where are you?" she asked.
"At the entrance to your villa." Watkins had just parked the car at the gate of the villa. He couldn't get in, so he was stuck outside.
"Ah! You're here? I'll be right out. How did you know where I was?" Erica walked out of the bedroom and bounded downstairs quickly.
Leaning against the car, Watkins replied honestly, "Rhea told me. I knew she was headed back to her own country, so I called her to say goodbye. She told me you saw her off at the airport, and thought you'd be home by now."
"Oh! I see. Wait a minute. I'm headed your way."
After hanging up the phone, Erica trotted towards the gate of the villa, phone in hand.
It took about ten minutes to walk from the front door of the villa's living room to the gate. As the crow flew, it would have taken only five. But Matthew had installed a traffic island and filled it full of flowers and bushes. There was no way to get through that without a great deal of trouble. So Erica had to follow the road around it.
Three minutes later, Erica reached the gate, out of breath.
Watkins wore a white sweatshirt, sweatpants, and a new pair of sneakers. He leaned against his convertible. When he saw Erica, he waved at her. "Hi, Erica!"
"Hey, why are you here?" Erica asked, panting. She was exhausted. She contemplated buying a scooter so she could ride out to the gate and back.
"I tried to get ahold of you, but you weren't online. It's almost noon. I thought you might want go out and get some lunch. Oh, by the way, where's your phone? You said it's virused? Let me see."
Erica took out her phone and unlocked it for him. She put her hands on her hips and said, "I can't go now, because I'm meeting up with someone later."
"Oh, I was wondering how you knew I was here before I called. You thought I was someone else, huh?" Far from being annoyed, Watkins thought this rashness was rather endearing.
Hearing this, Erica felt a little embarrassed. "Yeah, I answered my phone without checking the number."
Watkins tinkered with her phone for a while. Looking at her wallpaper, he asked casually, "This your husband?"
"Huh? What?"
"The wallpaper." The wallpaper of Erica's phone was a photo of a man leaning against the hood of a car, smoking. She'd snapped it the other day.
Erica admitted, "Yeah. My husband's getting hotter and hotter. So I took a pic of him to remind me!"
She liked hot men, and often used pictures of them as wallpaper. She used to have Aaron on there, until she found out what kind of guy he was. He didn't seem half as attractive after that happened.
The smile on Watkins' face didn't change. "He's a pretty good-looking guy. You were lucky to marry the guy. Mr. Huo is the dream of thousands of girls in the city. You must get a lot of attention."
"Yeah, hate mostly. They're jealous of me, but it's true—I'm a lucky girl." Erica giggled. Luckily, she was born into the Li family and became the daughter of Wesley and Blair. Then she found herself even luckier to marry Matthew despite the fact that she had been forced into the marriage. It was one of the best things that happened to her.
After examining her phone for a while, Watkins found that there was nothing wrong with it, so he took out his own phone and said, "Let's friend each other on WeChat again."
"Okay."
When they were on each other's contacts list again, Watkins handed her the phone.
After talking face to face for a while, Erica saw Tam's car pulling up.
Tam was driving, and Julianna sat in the back seat, Ethan in her arms. Erica didn't think Julianna would be here. When Julianna emerged from the car with Ethan, things got a little awkward.
But Erica didn't pay much attention to it. She strode over and took Ethan from her arms. "Eth, come here. Let Mommy hold you!"
The little boy wore the clothes Blair bought him before: a light brown short hooded coat, black trousers and a light brown hat.
Tam and Watkins knew each other. When they shook hands and greeted each other, Watkins heard Erica refer to herself as Ethan's mom.
He knew that Tessie and Tam were the child's real parents, but he held his tongue. Eventually, he walked over to the child and played with him for a little while.
For the past couple days, Ethan had been crying nonstop. He missed Wesley and Blair, having bonded with them. When he saw Erica, the waterworks started again. He hurt badly.
It made Erica's heart ache. She held Ethan in her arms and tried to calm him. "Good boy, don't cry, good boy."
Tam walked up to her and said, "We're flying to Australia tomorrow morning. Both my wife and Julianna seem to like the little cutie. Don't worry, we'll take good care of him!"
Ethan had changed his surname since he was taken back to the Wu family. Now his name was Ethan Wu.
Erica shifted her gaze from Tam, and looked at Julianna, who stood there, staring blankly. Erica nodded and said, "If Ethan gets to be too much trouble, just call me. We'll take him back in a heartbeat."
Tam didn't say anything but smiled bitterly. He would never think of Ethan as any kind of trouble again.
He could tell that the Li family really liked Ethan. Yvette had said about the same thing. Now Erica confirmed it. Tam felt happy for Ethan. The boy had been raised by the Li family, and they were kind parents. He couldn't have asked for more.
The little boy was getting heavier and heavier. Erica put Ethan on the ground, took out something from her pocket, squatted down in front of him and put it on for him. "Eth, these bracelets are for you. If you miss me, just look at your bracelets, okay? I'll send you another gift next birthday!"
She knew Ethan was leaving, so she went shopping for the specific silver bracelets. She brought Rhea with her. They both felt they were perfect.
The bracelets were not expensive, but they each had a lock indicating safety with words "safe" and "healthy" carved on it. What better to carry Erica's wishes for Ethan?
There was nothing on Ethan's wrists, so the pair of bracelets looked just fine.
After putting on the bracelets for him, she picked him up again and kissed him. Once, then twice. She really loved the little guy. "Now, all done. I'll see you soon, okay?"
This time, Ethan called clearly, "Mommy—"
Tears welled up in Erica's eyes when she heard the boy call her "Mommy." This was the baby she had brought back home. The kid she raised, the kid she sacrificed everything for. And now he was leaving. She threw her arms around him and buried her face in Ethan's neck. She sobbed and sobbed.
Ethan thought she was playing with him, so he put his arms around Erica's neck and grinned, revealing his baby teeth. Little, white, perfect and shiny. He looked super-cute like that.
Julianna took it all in, a complicated look in her eyes. After a while, she came over and said, "Erica, if you want to see him in the future, just send me a message. My number's still the same, and so is my WeChat account."
Tessie and Lenora had been sent away, and Matthew had taught her a lesson as well. When she calmed down, she reflected on everything that had happened between her and the other two girls.
Erica had never done anything wrong. She'd always been a good friend. They fell out over Julianna's now ex-boyfriend, but Erica knew he was no good from the start. She saw that now.