Erica was ready for her brother's ire. "Don't be so petty. Where are you now?" she asked.
"I'm in A Country!" Gifford replied impatiently. In fact, he had just brought Chantel back and watched her go into the school.
Erica's guarded tone melted into excitement. "Where is Chantel?
Is she with you? Have you two talked? Are you two going to get married or—"
"Shut up!" Gifford wanted to strangle his sister. She had no idea how serious the matter was to him, and it wasn't her business in any case. Her enthusiasm was grating.
"Oh, come on, just tell me. Is Chantel going to be my sister-in-law?" Erica persisted. Idly, she thought of how Chantel was younger than herself. Still, she was old enough to be married.
Gifford suppressed the urge to hang up the phone—or to throw it as far from himself as he could. "I haven't decided yet. Let's talk about it when I have!" he scolded.
Eating a strawberry, Erica pouted and said, "Then think about it carefully. Don't let her down. After all, you brought her to our home."
"You—" With a harsh exhalation, Gifford cut himself off. Seeing no point in talking any further, he ended the call without another word.
He just couldn't understand his sister's side of things. Yes, it was he who brought Chantel back. But did he have to marry her because of that?
This time, though, he'd made up his mind to be a scumbag and to be irresponsible. He would wait and see what the two girls could do about it.
That evening, while Erica was busy with her camera upstairs, her phone beeped. It turned out to be Chantel, who had approved her WeChat friend request.
She also sent Erica a message. "Rika?"
"Yes, it's me," she sent back. "How are things between you and my brother?" She was very anxious to know, but Gifford wouldn't tell her anything.
After a few minutes of silence, she received a reply: "Your brother bought me Yu Ting. But I didn't take it. I spat them out secretly."
A bit confused, Erica thought, 'Yu Ting? What's that? I wonder if it's any good.'
"What's Yu Ting?" she asked.
Chantel was somewhat taken aback by the question. Erica turned out to be even more naive than herself. She felt a little embarrassed to answer directly, so she found the answer on Baidu, took a screenshot, and sent it to her.
Erica finally realized that she was talking about birth control pills. How could her brother be such an asshole? "Of course, you can't take those," she responded. "Otherwise, all our efforts will be in vain!"
"I know that."
However, at that moment, the two women both thought of another important problem. They both were doing their best—by their own means—to arrange things so that Chantel could have a child from Gifford. But what if sleeping with him once wasn't enough to get her pregnant? It was a hairy situation. What should they do?
Erica tried to be comforting and sent a message that said, "You focus on your studies. I'll think of a way." She would figure everything out. After all, she had an omnipotent husband.
"Okay, thank you, Rika!"
"You're welcome. We're family!" As far as Erica was concerned, Chantel was like an adopted daughter of the Li family. If she managed to get pregnant with Gifford's child one day, she would become her sister-in-law. Erica was sure they would be real family sooner or later.
Looking at Erica's message, Chantel was so touched her eyes watered.
The day gave way to evening. Erica stayed busy, but kept an ear out for any sign of movement outside.
At the sound of a car pulling in, she rushed downstairs. A moment later she stood in front of Matthew, slightly panting.
He looked her up and down and thought, 'She's not doing so bad! She's regained her energy quickly enough.'
Not saying a word at first, Erica turned around and went to the dining room, where she retrieved a plate of fruits. In a dramatic matter, as that of one presenting a treasure to a king, she put it in front of her husband. "Matthew, this is the fruit I picked myself. Have a taste."
Her unusual sweetness put Matthew on his guard at once. 'There must be something wrong. What's she up to?' Having none of it, he spoke flatly. "What do you want? Just get straight to the point."
Erica giggled and explained awkwardly, "Nothing much. I just want to apologize to you..."
"Well, I won't accept your apology!" he told her. His wife had put him through a lot: climbing over the wall and running away, giving him a bloody nose, punching, kicking... As he saw it, it was clear he'd been too humble and easygoing with Erica.
If he didn't teach her a hard lesson, she would think he was easy to bully.
She shamelessly approached him, still acting sweet and innocent. "Oh, don't be like that. I really picked these fruits myself. Try this chocolate strawberry. It's good! Come on, just open your mouth!"
"You know, Phoebe is still in the hospital," remarked Matthew, glancing at the tray. "Why don't you take the fruit and go pay her a visit?"
"Pay her a visit?" Erica echoed. A surge of fury rose up within her, and she started toward the trash can. "I'd rather throw the fruit out. Forget about it! I'm done apologizing to you. Forgive me or don't—I don't care!"
She was on the verge of dumping the fruit into the trash can, when Matthew spoke again, less harsh than before. "You know, Dad doesn't like wasting food. He'll be mad if he hears about this."
With a deep breath Erica stopped, turned around, and sneered, "Then I'll give it to the dog. If Phoebe wants to eat it, she can find it in the dog bowl!"
Matthew didn't know what to say. Silently he asked himself, 'Why is she so hostile when it comes to Phoebe?' Not to mention, there was no dog in the villa.
Undeterred, Erica found a plastic bag and poured the fruit into it. Emerging from the kitchen, she told Matthew, "You can't have any of this either. I won't ever pick fruits for you again. I'll feed them to the dog!"
Weary of her ridiculous provocations, Matthew's face darkened. "Is this your idea of an apology?"
"Yes!" she declared, trying to stare him down. "Matthew Huo, perhaps I haven't made myself clear. Phoebe and I are as incompatible as fire and water now. She is my worst enemy! Make sure you tell me when she gets out of the hospital, and I'll throw her a party that she'll never forget!" After all, the woman was her husband's crush. How could she not give her "special" treatment?
"So, your next plan is to deal with Phoebe?" Matthew asked.
"You bet it is! I don't know why you feel so sorry for her. But I'd also warn you to choose your side wisely. Whether it's with me or her, that's up to you to decide, not me. I can't force you into anything. But I'll have you know that she isn't going to win. I have the Li family and the Huo family to back me up. I don't want you to get kicked out of the house just because of Phoebe."
With her ultimatum delivered, Erica crossed her arms over her chest and held her head high. It was a rare look for her: supremely confident.
Expressionless, Matthew settled himself into a chair at the dining table. He tapped an index finger against the table slowly, thoughtfully. "What makes you so sure that my father will kick me out of the house for you?" he asked finally.
Erica didn't blink. "Because since the day I married into the Huo family, I've had the same status as Evelyn and Terilynn in the family; I'm his daughter. He told me that himself. And you are Wesley and Blair's son. No matter what happens, your parents will always be on my side!"
Indeed, Carlos had told Erica this several times. Up to this point she had never mentioned it to Matthew, for fear that it would upset him and lead to trouble. Now that he'd decided to believe Phoebe over her, however, she thought she had no choice.
Now Matthew truly was speechless. Much as he hated to admit it, it did sound like something his father would say.
His family had been hard on him for his whole life, never truly approving of him for a single day since his birth. He'd grown used to it—perhaps too much so.