Matthew checked the time on his phone. It was just half-past five in the morning. He sat up quietly as he observed Adkins struggling to move his brother away from Erica, and asked, "Why did you wake up so early?"
Letting go of Colman, Adkins answered, "I need to go to the bathroom!"
"Go ahead then!" Matthew urged. In fact, he wanted to hold his wife in his arms while he slept for a little longer.
The little boy got out of bed in a hurry, but when he passed by Matthew, something occurred to him. Stopping in his tracks, he asked in confusion, "Dad, wasn't I sleeping with Mom? Why was I with my brothers when I woke up?"
Matthew glanced at the boy and replied calmly, "Your mom insisted on coming to sleep with me in the middle of the night. You know, she's the only girl in our family. We need to pamper her as much as we can, and I can only sleep with her."
"Oh!" Matthew's answer convinced Adkins enough, so he went straight to the bathroom.
Like every other school day, Erica didn't sleep late. She would always wake up with the boys in order to send the four to class. That morning wasn't any different.
After washing up, Adkins asked Erica as she applied some skincare products on her face, "Mom, why did you have to sleep with Dad last night?"
"What?"
Matthew was passing by when he heard the question but paused only for a second. Continuing to look for his razor, he didn't say a word.
Adkins elaborated in a serious tone, "Last night, Boswell and I were sleeping with you. This morning, I found you and Dad sleeping together. I asked Dad about it, and he told me that you insisted on sleeping with him in the middle of the night. Then you hugged each other and slept together during the rest of it."
Erica was rendered speechless. She then glanced at Matthew through the mirror and came to the conclusion that she had indeed spent the night with him. "I didn't have to sleep with your dad!" she said.
Matthew stopped looking for his razor and walked to the woman in front of the dressing table. She seemed lost in thought. "You crawled to my side of the bed last night before we slept. Don't you remember?"
Erica frowned in confusion. Then she shook her head and answered truthfully, "No, I forgot." However, if she were to think about it, when she got up this morning, she was indeed at the other end of the bed where Matthew had slept the night before. Did she really climb over there?
"Never mind." The man walked into the bathroom indifferently.
Yet Erica couldn't stop thinking about it. 'Why do I feel there's something wrong with it?'
At noon, Matthew acted on his word and sent a white piano to the villa. The instrument was settled in a room opposite to Damian's bedroom. Additionally, a teacher was hired for the boy to start taking lessons.
Meanwhile, at ZL Group, Matthew was working in his office when Paige walked in.
"Mr. Huo, some women are causing trouble at the company's entrance right now," she reported calmly.
'Causing trouble?' Matthew stopped typing on his computer and asked, "What's going on?"
Paige coughed, trying to hold back a laugh before she explained, "They said they want to talk to you. It seems that Mrs. Huo lied to them about something in K Country. Several of these women are famous businessmen's wives here in Y City." Paige didn't think it was appropriate to ignore them, so she decided to tell Matthew about the matter.
Understanding what she meant, Matthew sneered, "Take them to the reception room!"
"Yes, Mr. Huo!"
A few minutes later, a man in a suit and leather shoes came into the room filled with angry, rich ladies. Their looks of dissatisfaction, however, immediately shifted into something else the moment they put their eyes on him.
'Wow! Matthew is so handsome!
Look at his slender legs. Oh my God!' Their husbands were nothing compared to this man.
Sitting straight in the armchair, Matthew asked politely, "I heard that you were looking for me?"
By the time the women came to their senses, one of them complained, "Mr. Huo, your wife lied to us. In fact, she went too far!"
The others echoed. "Yes, no wonder she is called Miss Troublemaker. We treated her as a good friend, but she reciprocated our kindness by lying to us!"
"She told us there was holy water in Tow Village. We trusted her!
Each of us spent thousands of dollars on a plane ticket, not to mention the long time it took to get to the fucking Tow Village. And for what?"
"That's right. She didn't simply deceive us into going to that shitty place. The key point is that the river she mentioned is not some divine river. It's clearly a stinky ditch!"
'A stinky ditch?' A faint smile showed on Matthew's face.
As soon as the women were done rambling, the reception room grew silent again. At that moment, Matthew stood up and cast a cold glance at them. "Ladies, don't you have anything else to do?"
'Huh?' The ladies exchanged confused looks among themselves before one dared to ask, "Mr. Huo, aren't you going to give us an explanation?"
Putting his hands in his pockets, he answered them coldly, "What explanation do you want me to give you? Because, honestly, I can't see why you're blaming others for your own stupidity. Or do you think you are all so charming that I'll want to teach my wife a lesson only to satisfy you?"
"But Mrs. Huo wronged us. Shouldn't she be taught a lesson?" another woman retorted.
"Yes! How can you say we're stupid? All we did was trust Mrs. Huo's word. She was the one who lied to us!"
"Exactly!"
Matthew's face darkened as he called out in a piercing tone, "Paige!"
The assistant immediately came over and answered calmly, "Mr. Huo!"
"Buddha surged in the sky of K Country. Many people saw it and fell to their knees to make a wish. Of course, everyone's wish came true after that. Go there and check it out now," Matthew ordered.
His words left the women stunned.
Paige frowned for a moment, unsure of what he meant. But then it dawned on her what her boss's point was. "Yes, Mr. Huo! I'll do it right now."
Without any other word, she turned around and left the meeting room.
The ladies were all speechless at the scene. Anyone smart enough could see that Matthew was making fun of them. Still, some people didn't understand it. One of them muttered, "Is this woman a fool? How could there be a real Buddha in this world?"
Matthew nodded and continued, "Yes, you are right. How could there be a real Buddha in this world? Also, how could there be real holy water in this same world we're talking about? Were you idiots to believe such a thing is real? We're in the twenty-first century. Don't you know the reason my wife gave birth to quadruplets is because of our genes?"
Without giving anyone a chance to react, he added, "Some of you even possess a master's degree. Honestly, if I were you, I would find a wall to bump my head into it a few times to sober up.
Also, if it's not clear yet, I'll tell you now that it's impossible for me to teach Erica a lesson. She's my wife! Has any of that convinced you already, or are you still looking for an explanation?
If it hasn't, I strongly advise you to remember bringing your brain with you next time you go out!"
Afterward, Matthew strode out of the reception room.
It didn't take him three minutes to get rid of a dozen rich ladies from Y City.
Paige, who was expecting at the door, couldn't help but burst into laughter as soon as she heard what Matthew said. However, the moment she saw him coming out, she regained her composure and began to follow him.
The rich ladies remained in the reception room for a few minutes more. They still wanted to vent their anger, but they wouldn't dare to cause any more trouble after being scolded by Matthew himself. Telling their husbands about it would be useless. Instead of taking their side, they might actually scold them as well.
After all, most of their husbands were CEOs in the financial business and depended on keeping a good relationship with Matthew.