Paige smiled mysteriously and whispered in Erica's ear, "Aren't you afraid someone's going to steal Mr. Huo from you? You know, I take his office clothes to the cleaner's on a regular basis. They always smell like women's perfume, so we need to get that taken care of. Mr. Huo never cheated on you. But he gets plenty of women approaching him, asking his hand in marriage, and women who want to have his baby. Not to mention those women who just want him because he's hot. Don't you want to go to the party and deal with them yourself?"
"Oh..." It suddenly occurred to Erica that even her sons told her that Matthew was surrounded by women who wanted him. Then she finally committed to it. "Of course I'll go. I'm free now. I can have a little fun too, right?"
Paige breathed a sigh of relief. As expected, Mrs. Huo was still the same as before. With Erica around, she didn't have to watch Matthew like a hawk. Erica would do that for her.
After getting the address of where the party was going to happen, Erica was about to leave, but Paige put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. She looked Erica's dress up and down. Even Erica's everyday clothes were stylish, but definitely not suitable for a large banquet. "Mrs. Huo, maybe a makeover might be in order. I can pull strings at a salon, you can have your make-up and hair done by a professional stylist," she offered.
Erica looked down at her own clothing. That was probably a good idea. "Okay!" she agreed.
Later, when she was in the salon, Erica got a call from Chantel. "Hey, Rika. I'm in Y City. Where are you?"
Erica looked at the make-up artist in the mirror, who was applying liquid foundation on her face, and answered, "Back in the city. I just got here. What's up?"
"There's a party tonight. On 'The Princess' cruise ship. I guess Matthew's coming. Wanna go together? We'll show those guys how it's done." Chantel just flew from another city and was on the way to the cruise ship.
The Princess? That was the ship Paige told her about.
With a smile gracing her lips, Erica answered, "Of course. I'm coming too."
"Okay, see you there!" Chantel was happy to have Erica there. At least that was someone she'd know.
"Okay, bye!"
It was getting dark.
Many luxury cars adorned the marina parking lot. Men and women in formal clothes began to line up, waiting to board The Princess.
The party was beginning to fill up. The guest list was like a who's who of elites, rich men and women, old and young. Some were entertainment moguls while the others were financial whiz kids blown in from out of town. The brightest stars weren't in the sky tonight, they were at the party.
Countless bodyguards in black suits were guarding the ship inside and out, and there were also many plain-clothed bodyguards hidden among the partygoers.
Everyone was on time—all the guests arrived before the stroke of eight. The party was scheduled to go off without a hitch.
Before the workers were about to roll up the red carpet so that the cruise ship could make its tour around the harbor, a clear voice called out to the staff, "Wait a minute!"
The staff members turned their heads in the direction of the voice, and saw a beautiful woman, high heels in hand. She looked like she was from one of the rich families. They didn't dare ignore her. They walked over and one of them asked respectfully, "Hello, miss. Do you have an invitation?"
"I don't have one of those," she answered carefully.
"Well..." The staff members were in a dilemma. "I'm sorry, miss. But you can't board without...ahem...one of those," he mocked.
Just then, another woman came up behind her. She looked a little green and embarrassed. Apparently she got carsick. But face to face with the event staff, Paige put that all aside. "This is the wife of ZL Group's CEO," she announced. "Mr. Huo is on the guest list. Just call her his plus one."
Paige and Owen were pretty well known in the city.
They were Matthew's right-hand assistants. In many occasions, seeing one of them was equivalent to seeing Matthew himself.
The staff members looked at Erica, their mouths open in shock. They thought she was a naughty rich girl, but to their surprise, this was Mr. Huo's wife. They immediately took two steps back and made way for Erica. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Huo. Welcome to the party!"
Erica put down her high heels on the ground and put on the shoes with Paige's help. She was really not used to wearing them.
Paige didn't forget to tell her, "Mrs. Huo, I'm taking off now. I have to attend two dinner parties in Mr. Huo's stead tonight. You should be able to find him, right?" She believed Erica would be the most eye-catching woman tonight.
"Okay, I know. Go ahead. I'm good here." After putting on her high heels, Erica stood straight, straightened her chest and raised her head. In an instant, she looked more imposing than before.
Seeing Erica safely aboard the cruise ship, Paige breathed a sigh of relief.
She kept patting her chest to suppress her nausea. She was never letting Erica take her anywhere again.
Erica put the pedal to the metal all the way here. It would usually take forty minutes to get to the marina, but she made it in half that time. Paige uttered many prayers out of sheer terror on the way.
However, Paige also had one more thing to do, and that was to have the car repaired.
When they pulled in, Erica backed into a wall. Although the scratch was not very obvious, it still needed to be treated.
Erica was the last one to enter the cabin, and the door had been closed.
The event staff outside had already told their people inside who Erica was, so as soon as she appeared, they opened it for her.
This attracted the attention of many people in the cabin. They all looked at the cabin door, trying to see who dared to be late for such an occasion.
But no one could tear their eyes away.
As the door was opened, the woman in red revealed herself.
She wore a red strapless knee-length dress and a pair of black high heels. There was a red bow tied in back, highlighting her slender waist.
Her long black hair was tied behind her, a diamond tiara keeping it together. A pair of simple round black diamond earrings dangled on either side of her neck.
She wore only a little makeup. She'd gotten a tan while training, and her skin was red now. It had gotten that way in the two days she was there. Her full red lips shone with lip gloss, which glistened under the stage lights.
She sported a necklace and bracelet fashioned of crystals and black diamonds. She was also wearing a similar-themed anklet. She looked every inch the wife of a CEO.
She looked mature and lovely. Standing in the light, she shone like a sun.
Her beauty overshadowed every woman there. The woman standing next to Matthew was the focus of tonight's party, but now the focus changed thanks to Erica. She was a being from heaven who chose to grace them with her presence.
Even if she was late, she didn't feel embarrassed. When she saw the man in the crowd she missed the most, she smiled playfully and walked elegantly towards Matthew, the most dazzling man there tonight.
With every step she took, more and more people recognized her.
"Wow! Isn't that Erica Li, Miss Troublemaker? She's back!"
"Yes, it's her! Why does she look so hot?"
"Oh my God! The necklace, bracelet and anklet, that's Black Angel, right?"
"Black Angel! You mean the set that sold for 1.8 billion? She's wearing that? Am I dreaming?"
"No, you're not! It's that jewelry set, no doubt about it. I like it so much, but I didn't have money to buy it..."
"Miss Troublemaker's back. She's a tough nut to crack. I think Noreen Xia's in trouble now! She thinks she's Mr. Huo's girlfriend. She keeps hyping her relationship with the guy. She's just asking for a slap in the face."