"If you know what I mean, what is it then?" Matthew thought she wouldn't understand what he meant.
Thinking about the letter she left to him three years ago, Erica sniffed and said, "Have you met a very excellent woman?" That was the only reason she could think of why he divorced and abandoned her. She guessed it wrong, and he had already expected that she wouldn't really understand what he wanted to say. But since she was not willing to go back with him, he thought it would be useless to explain it.
So instead of answering her, he just gave her an extremely cold look, turned around, and strode to his car.
Matthew's car left Tow Village immediately. But at the gate of Erica's house, a lot of curious villagers still stood. They enjoyed what they had witnessed just now, so they didn't leave the place.
Holding back the tears that were about to fall, she went back to the yard, closed the gate, and washed her face quietly.
Tessie, who had been in the room when Erica and Matthew talked, heard everything. After making sure that Matthew had left, she came to Erica and comforted her, "Erica, are you okay?"
Erica turned around and replied with a smile, "Yeah, I'm fine." She then finished washing her face and began brushing her teeth.
"I think Mr. Huo still has feelings for you. After all, he flew thousands of kilometers just to see you. Don't overthink things," Tessie said. Y City was more than three thousand kilometers away from the nearest airport to Tow Village. All in all, Matthew had traveled over six thousand kilometers back and forth.
Erica stopped brushing her teeth upon realizing that Tessie made sense. She took the toothbrush out of her mouth and said, "He must still be angry at me for leaving without saying a word three years ago. And yesterday, when he asked me if I would go back to Y City with him, I said no."
"Well, since you left Y City just like that, leaving only a letter, even your parents must be angry. You can't blame Mr. Huo," said Tessie.
Erica nodded and replied, "That's actually one of the reasons why I don't want to go back. I'm afraid that my father will skin me alive as soon as he sees me."
Because of what she said, Tessie persuaded her, "You better go back as soon as possible. Don't wait for your dad to come here, or else the consequences will be dire."
"You are right." Erica made up her mind. She would go back to Y City as soon as possible after she had dealt with everything.
'So what if Matthew has a new woman by his side now? I believe I can also drive her away like what I did to Phoebe and Camille, ' Erica thought to herself.
Meanwhile, two luxury cars were driving out of the village. Matthew's face darkened upon remembering what had just happened. They hadn't seen each other for more than three years, but Erica seemed to have become more heartless. She didn't even stop him from leaving. As soon as his car drove away, she turned around and entered the yard without looking back.
Owen, who was sitting in the front seat, looked back at him and asked, "Mr. Huo, is it really appropriate that we lied to Mrs. Huo?"
'It is impossible for Mr. Huo to divorce Mrs. Huo. In the past three years, he has never given up looking for her even just for one day. He is not going to end their marriage, just like this, ' he thought inwardly.
But Matthew just cast a cold glance at him and said, "Watch your mouth."
Owen was a little confused, trying to analyze if there was something wrong with what he said. After thinking about it for a long time, he just kept quiet because he failed to see what was wrong with his question.
Matthew seemed to have read his mind, so he explained calmly, "It was you who lied to her, not me."
"What?" Owen's eyes widened in shock. He had worked with Matthew for many years, but he still couldn't understand what he was thinking.
Matthew continued, "Remember, I just said, 'Owen is trying to tell you we are no longer married.' It was you who said, 'Mr. Huo has already divorced you.' Have you forgotten about it?"
With confusion written all over his face, Owen retorted, "But Mr. Huo, it was you who asked me to say those..."
"Yes. That's why it was you who lied to her, not me," Matthew cut in. Since it wasn't him who told Erica that they were already divorced, it meant that he didn't lie to her.
For the first time in his life, Owen had realized how scheming his boss was. He never thought that he had planned to shift all the blame to him.
As a consolation, Matthew added, "Didn't you eat the noodles cooked by Rika? I was actually going to make you pay for that. But since you will take the blame for me, I will forgive you for eating the food she made for me."
It was the first time that Erica had cooked noodles for him, but Owen had eaten a lot. If they were in a different situation, he would have taught Owen a lesson already. 'What? It was Mrs. Huo who insisted that I eat those terrible noodles. I didn't want to eat them in the first place, ' Owen cried inwardly.
The driver, who was only listening to their conversation, tried his best to hold back his laughter as he turned to look at Owen, who was still in a daze.
There were many questions he wanted to ask Owen, but he couldn't because Matthew was there.
Matthew's four children were already sent to a kindergarten in Y City.
He found Kenney's biological parents, and when the kid agreed to be with them, he immediately sent him back to his hometown so they could be together again.
On the day that he came back from Tow Village, the four kids rushed downstairs as soon as his car stopped at the garage of the manor.
When Matthew entered the living room, Colman rushed over at once and hugged him warmly. "Dad, you're back. Where's Mom?"
"You mom will be back in a few days," he answered firmly. Although Erica had refused, he was determined to bring her back.
Adkins looked at Matthew in silence. The expression on his face was like saying he already knew it.
With a racing car in his hands, Damian raised his head and asked Matthew in a low voice, "Dad, can you transfer us to another grade?"
Matthew put Colman down and squatted to face his four sons. "Why do you suddenly want to change grades?" he asked.
The four brothers looked at each other, then Boswell answered, "We already know everything that the teachers are teaching us." They all felt that it was an insult to their IQ if they continued to stay in their current class. Instead of going to the kindergarten, they wanted to go to the primary school already.
Stroking Boswell's head, Matthew stood up and announced to his four sons, "Okay then. You'll move to the preparatory class. And next year, you'll go straight to the primary school."
"Great!" the four boys cheered in chorus.
Debbie walked downstairs, holding a glass box in her hands. She then asked in horror, "Who put a caterpillar in this box?"
Colman raised his hand in an instant and replied, "It's me, Grandma."
"Why did you catch it?" she asked in confusion.
Taking the box from her hands, he explained, "I used to raise caterpillars when we were in Tow Village. Many people bullied us before, so I scared them by throwing caterpillars into their clothes. They all rolled to the ground in fright. Ha-ha!"
As they got reminded of the funny faces of those who bullied them before, the four boys burst into laughter.
Matthew got curious, so he asked, "Why were you bullied?"
After looking at each other, the three boys looked at Adkins in tacit agreement. Understanding their gazes, Adkins explained instantly, "People are saying that Mom is a bad woman because we don't have a father. Someone has even sneaked into our house..."
"Sneaked into your house? Why?" Matthew interrupted. A bad feeling rose in his heart.
Since the kids didn't want to hide anything from their father, Colman was the one who answered next. With eyes wide open, he said, "An uncle asked Mom to abandon us. He said that if Mom married him and leaved us, he would give her one hundred thousand dollars."
Debbie was shocked to hear such revelation from the little boy.
With a darkened expression, Matthew asked, "What did your mom say?"
Boswell's eyes filled with admiration upon thinking about Erica as he answered, "Mom didn't say anything. She just picked up the stick next to her and beat him up."
Damian then added with a smile, "Yes, that's right. Then Colman put a caterpillar on that man's neck. He was so scared that he almost pissed his pants."
"Ha-ha!" The four little boys laughed again as they remembered the man's embarrassed look.