Matthew looked Erica in the eye. "I realized that I was wrong. I was totally wrong. You never cared about me. Your heart belongs to someone else. Why should I come to the villa and stay under the same roof as you, humiliating myself?"
With every word he said, he paid close attention to the expressions on her face.
Since he thought that she didn't care about him, he had stayed away from her all this while to show her how it felt to be ignored.
It looked like it bugged her that he didn't come home even though he was in Y City.
Erica's eyes filled with shock and anxiety. "No..."
She wanted to explain. She wanted to tell him that she didn't like any other man.
If there was someone she loved, it was Matthew. The man she loved the most was... Matthew Huo.
But Matthew stopped her. "It doesn't matter. Leave. We'll talk about it when I come home. I have something important to do now." He had to investigate the Su sisters to prove Erica's innocence.
But she misunderstood him. She thought that the more important thing to him at that moment was being with Phoebe.
Distress overwhelmed her. She opened her mouth, but said nothing. With a somber face, she left the hospital with Owen.
It was late. Erica tossed and turned in her bed, but couldn't fall asleep. One thought that haunted her was what had happened to Phoebe. And the other was that, once again, Matthew didn't come home.
'He must be in the hospital with Phoebe, ' she thought unhappily. 'They lost their child. It must feel horrible for them and they sympathize with each other.'
She thought more about this over dinner and finally made up her mind. It would be so much better if Matthew trusted her, but if he didn't, then... then she would give him a child!
At ZL Group
The bodyguard who, under Matthew's orders, was following Erica around in secret, reported, "Mr. Huo, when the accident happened, I was a little behind Mrs. Huo. I thought that you, Mrs. Huo and Miss Su are friends, so I didn't get too close to them. The situation escalated very quickly. Miss Su fell to the ground not long after their conversation started."
The bodyguard had stayed away from the scene since Matthew had ordered him to follow Erica in secret.
Matthew asked, "Did you see her push Miss Su?"
"No, sir, but I saw the two of them put their hands on Miss Su's belly for some reason. That was when Miss Su fell down." He was not sure what had really happened.
"Fine. You may leave now."
After the bodyguard left his office, Matthew turned on his computer and carefully watched the car's drive recorder.
It was clear from the video that Watkins didn't slow down when he turned right, causing his car to collide with Camille's car, which was turning left at the same time. There was no significant information in that video.
There were no surveillance cameras at the scene of the accident. The DVR showed Erica standing with her back against Watkins' car, and she also had physical contact with Phoebe. As for who had touched whom first, or if Erica had pushed Phoebe, it was difficult to tell.
There was nothing much in Camille's drive recorder either. Phoebe was standing with her back against the car, blocking everything. But what was clearer in it than Watkins' DVR was that Erica and Phoebe entered a quarrel. Again, it was hard to tell whether Erica had really pushed Phoebe.
Matthew withdrew his gaze from the screen and leaned back against the chair, massaging his tired eyebrows.
He hadn't planned on going home that night, but the thought that Erica might be frightened and alone by herself made him change his mind. He grabbed his jacket and walked out of the office.
It was two o'clock in the morning. There were but a few pedestrians on the streets, and a car or two whistled past once in a while.
Matthew's Emperor ran smoothly on the silent road. He was resting with his eyes shut when his phone buzzed. It was a message alert.
He slowly took out his phone and clicked on the WeChat message from Erica. The content made him smile for the first time in a long while.
"Believe it or not, I won't give up on the status as Mrs. Huo. Just ask Phoebe to give up! It's useless even if you tell my parents on me. I'll just tell your dad that you're trying to dump me for your mistress. And even if you don't love me, I won't divorce you. Marriage is not a game! And getting divorced is too humiliating! So, you and Phoebe, the homewrecker, can both give up on your ideas now! Neither of you will win this game!"
A little more than ten minutes later, Erica heard the bedroom door creak open.
She immediately got up from her sleep, and sat up on the bed.
Under the dim glow of the bedside lamp, she saw Matthew walk in.
She stared vigilantly at the man.
'Why did he come back at this hour? Is he here to avenge Phoebe?'
While she was lost in her fantasy and conjectures, Matthew had already walked to the bed. He looked down at the woman and asked coldly, "Were you trying to threaten me through that message?"
'He did come back to get even with me!' she thought. She glared at him and replied stubbornly, "Yes, that was a threat! So what? I will never be defeated by a mere mistress!" People would laugh at her if that happened! She could never give up!
Matthew slowly bent down, with his arms on both sides of her body. Their eyes met. "Why are you still pretending to care? You don't love me, nor do you want me to touch you. Why should I let you be Mrs. Huo? I'm not a masochist."
On the contrary, he did enjoy being mistreated by her.
Erica looked into his eyes and slowly put her arms around his neck. She stammered, "I... I'm willing to... I'm willing to let you touch me."
Matthew's breath hitched. He clenched his fists, trying his best to control the urge to wrap his hands around her.
"I know you are not in the mood for it right now. After all, you just lost your child. I'll wait until you are ready to... to have sex with me."
'Lost my child? What's she talking about?' Matthew was confused. 'Oh!' he remembered. He had not yet corrected her assumption that Phoebe was carrying his baby.
So, she still thought it was his.
He sighed. "The baby..." '...was not mine, ' he tried to say.
But Erica thought he believed that she was the reason for the loss of his child.
So, she declared before he could finish his sentence, "Although I didn't cause Phoebe's miscarriage, I will give you a child as compensation."
'What nonsense is she spouting now?' Matthew could not figure this woman out. "You didn't cause the miscarriage, but you are still willing to give me a child as compensation? Erica, don't you see the contradiction in your own words?"
"I already told you that I didn't push Phoebe. But you don't believe me. I can't find any evidence to prove my innocence. I watched the drive recorder of Watkins' car, but I couldn't find anything to my advantage." She was accused of something she didn't do, yet she had no way to prove it. "Since I can't prove that I was not the reason for the loss of your baby, I will give you one instead. But I am doing this for you! So, you cannot take this baby away from me and give it to Phoebe!" Erica added frantically. 'The baby will be mine and Matthew's. We'll raise it!' she thought.
Matthew didn't know how to respond. He had never before heard about anyone who would compensate another person with a child.