The moment Blair heard her daughter's voice, her heart softened. She held back tears and gritted her teeth, refusing to look at Erica.
Knowing that her mother was enraged, Erica felt bad for the trouble she'd caused. She turned and told Wesley, "I'm home now. I won't run away. Let me go!"
Wesley snorted and ignored her.
Erica hung her head, and her mood turned gloomy, rather than defiant. Hugo lifted his head and said, "I got this. Here you go, Aunt Rika!"
Erica then remembered her dear nephew was also here. She half-squatted down and looked at him in the eye. "Hi Hugo. So you know I'm your aunt?" she asked gently.
He drew himself up to his full height. The boy looked more and more like Chantel every day. He nodded and said, "Grandma said Grandpa was gonna pick you up!" So she must be his aunt.
Erica was amused by him. "You're so smart, Hugo!"
Hugo's eyes fell on the rope around her wrists. Noticing his gaze, Erica looked at Wesley helplessly and explained, "Grandpa tied me up. He's good with knots, and other people can't undo them. So I'm stuck— Wait! What?"
To everyone's surprise, Hugo grabbed the knot and undid it quickly, while Erica was still talking. The rope hung loosely, and she let it drop to her feet.
Everyone was gobsmacked. They had another genius in the family.
When she was free, Erica kissed the boy again and again in surprise. "Thank you, little one. You're definitely my nephew, Hugo. You are so smart!"
Hugo gave her a smug smile and said, "I'm happy if you are."
Wesley, however, rained on his daughter's parade. "Hugo's smart, but that's not your doing. He got it from your brother or Chantel. Maybe both of them. Don't flatter yourself."
"Dad, it's been more than three years. You can't say you didn't miss me." She didn't give up and asked the same question she had asked many times on the way here.
"Miss you? It's been quieter without you around. I brought you back just to teach you a good lesson. I'll send you back to the Huo family after you learn to behave," said Wesley. And he felt justified as her father. She was still finding new ways to act out. Time to nip this in the bud.
'Never mind. I better just be nice to them. Focus on one at a time, ' Erica thought to herself. She stood up and hugged Blair, leaning her head on her mom's shoulder. "Mom, I'm sorry. I'm back, safe and sound. Please don't be angry."
But Blair pushed her away and scolded, "Don't call me 'Mom!' Not after what you did!"
She had four kids, but ran off and left them. She hadn't been back in more than three years, and she didn't even call them once. Blair didn't believe her daughter could be this heartless.
Erica was getting sadder and sadder, but she had to bear it no matter how bad she felt. After all, she deserved it. She explained to Blair in a small voice, "Mom, I just couldn't accept the fact that Matthew likes me. He's so awesome, and I'm so stupid..." Maybe they didn't know that the more he loved her, the more stressful it was.
"That's why I ran off. I wanted to learn to stand on my own feet. I didn't want to ask you for help. I wanted to be worthy of Matthew's love." Erica took a deep breath and forced her tears back.
Blair's voice softened as she asked, "And now? What have you learned? Was it worth it?"
Erica nodded and then shook her head. "Yeah. But I took the wrong path. Well, maybe that's not the right term. I set off in the wrong direction."
At first, she had imagined that given a few years, she would become one of the most famous, sought-after photographers in the world. She had succeeded—to a point. Maybe she wasn't the most popular one, but she knew her stuff. Trying her hand at everything from photojournalism to portrait photography and even street photography, capturing the hustle and bustle of everyday life. She accepted freelance assignments, lining her pockets while honing her craft.
This all changed when she met Orange. Seeing she was pregnant, he decided to help her out. But he died in jail. In order to take revenge for Orange, she had no choice but to ask Chantel to help her put together a gang of her own. Erica pointed, Chantel paid the bills.
Unexpectedly, the group grew and grew, establishing a fairly prominent gang named the Violet Eagles. Most of the money Chantel earned was spent on them.
Naturally, Erma became the leader of the Violet Eagles, and she used them as her instrument of vengeance.
Finally, Blair sighed and walked inside, Hugo in her arms.
Erica glanced at Wesley, who stood next to her. She didn't miss his loving look, his pride in his daughter.
Erica smiled and held Wesley's arm, acting like a spoiled child. "Dad..."
Wesley's expression hardened. He pulled her hands away and walked straight into the villa.
Looking at his back, Erica sighed heavily. It was really difficult to make things up to that man.
She waved at Tessie, who stood near the car. Erica said, "Let's get inside! At least relax for a while!"
Tessie hesitated for a time. But she had no other place to go, so she had to follow Erica into the Li family's home.
As soon as Erica stepped into the living room, Wesley shouted harshly, "Kneel and ask forgiveness!"
Knowing who he was referring to, Erica did as she was told.
As soon as she knelt down, Tessie immediately tossed her luggage aside and knelt down beside her.
Blair reminded her, "Tessie, your uncle Wesley is talking to Erica. You don't have to kneel!"
Tessie shook her head and said, "I also feel bad for you. What happened to Ethan is all my fault. I shouldn't have lied and treated Erica like that. You and Uncle Wesley raised Ethan as your own grandkid for so long. In this case, kneeling is the right thing to do. I should beg your forgiveness too."
Wesley glanced at Tessie and said, "No, you didn't do anything wrong. Even if you did, you made up for it by raising her four rugrats. And getting a second chance is rare enough. Get up!" He was going to teach Erica a lesson.
Tessie was moved by his words and choked, "Thank you, Uncle Wesley, Aunt Blair. But Erica's had a hard time these years she's been gone. I don't think she really has anything more to learn. If you're still angry with her, punish me instead! Whatever you feel is right."
Erica gritted her teeth and refused, "No, thanks. If my dad didn't beat me today, he wouldn't let it go. Just get up, Tessie. None of this is your fault."
Tessie couldn't bear to see her being punished, but seeing that Wesley was about to get angry, she had to stand up and step aside.
Wesley cast a cold glance at his daughter and snapped, "Do you know what you did wrong?"
"I know, Dad!" Erica's attitude was so good.
"So what did you do?"
"I shouldn't have run away from home and made you worry," she answered.
"Kneel until I'm satisfied. Your brother will be back tomorrow. You obviously haven't learned after all these years, so some time training with him in seclusion will help you. Two weeks, maybe."
Hearing this, Erica widened her eyes. "Two weeks?" Gifford's men went through a grueling training regimen. That wasn't for beginners. She could hurt herself, or worse get herself killed. This was not cool.
"Yes! In fact, why don't we make it fifteen days?" Wesley asked rhetorically.
He had to teach Erica well before sending her back to the Huo family. Otherwise, the Huo family would keep worrying she'd pull the same tricks.
With a sad face, Erica sat on her feet. "Dad, I promise I'll never run away from home again, okay? I can write a letter guaranteeing this. Please don't send me to train with Gifford's men."