Erica had a clear look of surprise on her face and she said, "Have we met before?" The man was extremely tall and lanky with dark, heavy bags under his eyes. If it weren't for the wrinkles on his face, Erica would have thought him to be twenty or thirty years old. But she was almost certain that she had never seen this man before.
He was very polite, well-mannered and respectful.
The man smiled brightly, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose and said, "Everyone in Y City knows you, Mrs. Huo."
"Oh! Well, it is nice to meet you, sir." The two shook hands gently and exchanged pleasantries before the man left.
When she entered Matthew's office, he was completely absorbed in his own work, meticulously going over a signed contract. When he saw her come in, he said, "Please give me five minutes."
"Sure, take your time. Who was that just now? Your client? He was very polite and charming," she said.
Matthew explained briefly, "He is Michel Wang. He just moved the headquarters of Wang Group to Y City last year."
"Oh, okay. Please, carry on with your work." Erica hadn't been inside his office in a long time. The decoration and furnishings of the office had changed a lot.
She looked around for a while and then finally opened the door to his private lounge.
The grey bed sheet was replaced by a new one with a lighter shade of brown. His clothes were neatly hung in the wardrobe. Strangely enough, the number of clothes he had here were no less than the ones he had at home. It seemed as though he had spent a lot of time in the office.
When Matthew went inside a few minutes later, he found the woman lying on the bed and playing with her phone. Without a change in his expression, he blankly said, "Let's go! Aren't we going to the shopping mall?"
"Yes, we are!" Erica got up from the bed, pranced to him and held his arm. "Do you have time to go shopping with me?" "What do you think?" Since Matthew was finished with work, he could keep her company even until tomorrow morning.
Erica grinned and cheerfully said, "Let's go!" After all, she couldn't wait to see her boys.
Knowing that they would come today, Debbie called Sheffield and Joshua early in the morning, asking them to bring their family to the Huo family manor for a small reunion party.
As such, when Matthew and Erica arrived at the manor, they could hear the joyous laughter and screaming of children all the way from the outside when they rolled down the car windows.
As soon as Godwin recognized their car, he rushed over to the middle of the lawn with excitement. He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, "Uncle, Aunt!"
As soon as he spoke, the kids behind him all shouted, "Dad, Mom!"
"Uncle, Aunt!"
Erica waved her hands at them and screamed as loud as she could. "Boys! We are back!"
Matthew couldn't help but smile at such a wonderful scene.
In the parking lot
As soon as Erica got out of the car, she was surrounded by several children. They hugged her waist, arms, and legs.
Although Erica could barely walk, even for just a moment, being surrounded by those children brightened up her day.
Matthew watched it all in silence and sighed inwardly. Perhaps, children were attracted to people with the same IQ as themselves.
When Terilynn came out brandishing a plate of colorful fruits for the children, she saw Erica surrounded by the children. Without hesitation, she looked back at the villa and shouted, "Dad, Mom, Rika is back!"
Several adults came out of the villa one after another after hearing this. Erica hadn't seen Terilynn in a while, so they walked towards the gate holding hands with the children while politely greeting the people who had come out to see her.
"Dad, Mom, Evelyn, Sheffield, Joshua." Erica let go of the children and stood up straight to greet them with a smile.
Debbie shook her head to alleviate the look of guilt on Erica's face. "You silly girl!"
"I'm glad you are back," Carlos added.
"Rika, you are so capable. We haven't found you and these brats for more than three years!" said Sheffield.
Erica smiled awkwardly as she was still a bit embarrassed. "I'm happy to see you all here. I just want everyone to know that I am extremely sorry for making you worry!"
Evelyn came over and held her in her arms. "It's okay. What really matters is that you are here now with your family, safe and sound. Just promise me that you won't pull something like that again, okay?"
"I promise, it won't happen again!" Erica assured everyone.
Carlos waved at her. "Come on in! Matthew, what are you doing hiding behind Rika?
Bring her in!" Matthew, however, cast a cold glance at Carlos when he said that and replied, "Why do I have to bring her in? This is her home too, isn't it? I'm sure she knows the way inside."
Having realized that the father and son were about to engage in an argument again, everyone quickly rushed to make peace. Debbie pulled Erica over and said, "Rika, let's go inside."
Evelyn held Carlos' arm and said, "Dad, let's go inside. It's such a nice day. Everyone's happy, please don't stay mad."
Sheffield winked at Matthew and then patted him on the shoulder. "Dude, you must be thrilled now that your wife is back. The family of six has made a glorious comeback! You have so many sons you could start your own band. I'm so jealous of you!"
Glancing at him, Matthew asked, "What are you going to do about Colman?"
Lately, Colman had been pestering Sheffield about wanting to learn more about network technology. Sheffield had told Matthew on many occasions that he wanted to bring Colman into his home and make him his son.
"I'm waiting for your answer. If you say okay, Colman will be my son from now on."
Matthew always saw an exceptional resemblance in personality between Colman and Erica. In fact, if Matthew had to pick one, he'd say Colman was his favorite. "Stop coveting my sons. You are welcome to have another child with my sister if you want."
Sheffield raised his hands and shrugged his shoulders. "Forget it!" Besides, he didn't want his wife to experience the excruciating pain of childbirth again.
When they entered the living room, Gwyneth saw Erica as soon as she came downstairs. She hopped the rest of the way down and ran towards Erica. "Aunt!"
Erica let Godfrey and Damian down gently and hugged the girl as tight as she could. "Gwyn!" she called out.
"Aunt, where have you been? We've missed you so much!"
Erica smiled sheepishly. "Oh really? I was just out to have some fun. But I'm back now!"
Gwyneth nodded her head and smiled broadly.
Erica looked her up and down and said, "Gwyn, you've grown up. You're almost as tall as me now."
Softly patting her daughter's head, Evelyn said, "She is a junior high school student now."
Gwyneth nodded with a smile. "Aunt, I was still in primary school when you left, and now I'm a junior high school student."
Meanwhile, Damian, who was holding a toy gun in his hand, proudly said, "Mom, we are all in the preparatory class!"
"What? When did that happen?" How could these little three-year-old boys be in preparatory class, looking to start primary school next year?
Adkins explained, "It's not like you don't know that your sons are geniuses. Staying in the kindergarten is a waste of time for us."
Colman echoed, "Yes. Life is too short for a man like me. We can't waste our precious time on this earth."