Matthew rolled his eyes, holding his phone to his ear. "Where's my wife?" he asked on the other end of the line.
"Don't worry. She is right here next to me. Safe and sound. You shouldn't worry about her. She just came here to check something out," Sheffield answered.
"Well, take her back and put a bodyguard on her. We'll talk about it when I get home," Matthew said.
"You got it!" Sheffield didn't hang up the phone. He told Erica, "Let's go, Rika. Your husband asked me to take you home and keep an eye on you!"
Erica reached out her hand and said, "Let me talk to him."
She took his phone from his hand. Before she could say anything, Matthew quickly said, "Don't try to explain anything to me.
The only thing you need to do now is to wait for me at home." Erica let out a sigh of frustration. "All right!" But she still tried to defend herself by saying, "I have my people upstairs and downstairs. They have my back. I'll be fine."
Matthew's voice became colder and colder as he spoke. "Those gangsters have weapons. Are your men armed?"
"Fine! I'll go home, I guess," she said dejectedly. How could her people get weapons? Most of them, especially guns, were illegal! About the only thing they were allowed to carry was pepper spray, and even that was iffy.
"Good girl."
After they both hung up, Erica returned the phone to Sheffield and sighed helplessly. "You ready to go, then?"
Sheffield stood up from the sofa with a smile, and the two walked out of the private room one after the other.
Coincidentally, as soon as they came out, someone opened the door to Room 206. Some people shuffled out.
Sheffield met with the head of the group, a mysterious expression on his face. Before the head of the group saw it, it had all but vanished. With his usual smile, he greeted him gregariously, "Wow, what a coincidence, Mr. Wang!"
Michel was a little surprised to see him, and to see Erica behind him. But he smiled and responded in kind, "Oh, Mr. Tang! Mrs. Huo! What are you doing here?"
The two men shook hands. Noreen looked at Erica in confusion, and Erica pretended not to notice.
Michel's greeting pulled Erica's thoughts back to reality. "Mrs. Huo! Doing well, I take it? You haven't aged a day! Uh, where is Mr. Huo?" He also looked behind them to see if Matthew was there.
Erica smiled at him and was about to say something, but Sheffield cut her off. "My brother-in-law is out of the country on a business trip. Erica and he had a little tiff and she went out for a drink. Matthew asked me to make sure she got home okay. Fortunately, I got here quickly. I arrived before she could order any wine!"
It was pretty convincing, if only partially true. Michel was taken in by and seemed satisfied. He nodded and struck a conciliatory tone. "Fights are common among couples. The nice thing is, they don't last long. You should probably go back home and get some sleep. Everything will be fine tomorrow."
Sheffield did his part, and Erica picked up the conversation and ran with it. In cooperation with him, she acted annoyed. "Matthew went too far. He can stay out all night drinking with you, Mr. Wang. But he doesn't allow me to drink. Next time you see him, tell him that's messed up."
Michel laughed. "You must be kidding, Mrs. Huo. I think you give me too much credit."
"I see. Thank you, Mr. Wang!" she answered with a smile.
Sheffield shifted position, pretending he had just seen Noreen. Feigning surprise, he asked Michel, "Mr. Wang, isn't this the famous star, Noreen?"
There was a flash of emotion in Michel's eyes, but the smile on his face remained the same. "Yes, she's my goddaughter. I have a good relationship with her mother, so I made her goddaughter. Noreen, come and say hello to Mr. Tang and Mrs. Huo!"
Noreen walked over. She did as she was bidden. Walking up to Sheffield, she said, "Good evening, Mr. Tang!" Her smile was more a grimace, showing lots of teeth. A smile that said her toothpaste tasted bad. But when she was face to face with Erica, she looked like she was struggling with that smile. The actress looked angrier than anything. She said reluctantly, "Mrs. Huo, what a surprise."
Erica did her best to ignore her. Sheffield knew there was bad blood between them, so he tried to smooth things over. "Miss Xia, I've heard a lot about you. And they're right. The number one actress is beautiful and captivating. Now I have something to tell my grandkids!"
No matter how unhappy she was, Noreen couldn't help smiling at Sheffield. He was handsome, rich and powerful. Not only that, he was exceedingly charming. "Why Mr. Tang, I'm flattered!"
After some more small talk, they all went downstairs.
They climbed into their cars and went their separate ways. After everyone had driven off, Noreen asked Michel worriedly, "Why was Erica there?"
The polite smile was gone from Michel's face. He didn't have to act the gentleman anymore. With a gleam in his eyes, he ordered his assistant in the front passenger seat, "Is Matthew really gone? Look into it."
Two minutes later, the assistant answered honestly, "Mr. Wang, It looks as if Mr. Huo is really out of town, at least."
Michel nodded, "I hope we're just being paranoid." The last family he wanted to mess with in Y City was the Huo family.
He had dealings with them, true. He'd go out for drinks, or attend their dinner parties. But they kept it surface level—work-related topics only.
Holding the man's arm, Noreen said in a spoiled tone, "I'm not happy. Erica humiliated me on that cruise ship. You should help me teach her not to mess with me!"
Michel didn't say anything. He just patted her hand to comfort her. He wasn't about to offend the Huo family over a woman.
Since he said nothing, Noreen didn't dare to press the issue. Michel was responsible for a lot of her fame. He made videos of her and they went viral. He got her in front of the cameras whenever he could. Even if she wasn't doing anything, she was still famous.
After hanging up the phone with Sheffield, Matthew ordered Owen, "Trace my wife's journey from the slum to K Country. I have a sneaking suspicion..." It was obvious that there must be something important and dangerous that Erica hadn't told him.
"Yes, Mr. Huo."
Erica drove here by herself. Sheffield threw his car keys to his bodyguard and got in Erica's car, trying to find out what she was going to do.
Sitting in the passenger seat, Sheffield fastened his seat belt, leaned back, and asked her, deadpan, "Rika, why did you look for those people?"
Erica tightened her grip on the steering wheel, but she didn't say anything in the end. Instead, she asked, "Hey, do you think Michel's involved? I mean, he comes off like a refined scholar, but I think that's just an act."
"Well, I don't know. Anyway, don't judge a book by its cover." Michel's company moved their headquarters to Y City two years ago. The Wang Group was doing well there, and now had thousands of branches all over the world.
"You talk to him much?" she asked.
Sheffield replied, "Yes, but not as much as Matthew does. I think you should ask your hubby about Michel."
"Okay."
"Well, if there's really something fishy about Michel, you better stay away from him. I'll ask someone in the gang to dig into his background if you want."
"Thank you, Sheffield!"
Resting his hands behind his head, Sheffield decided to tease her and said, "Rika, why don't you give Colman to me as a gift in return? That's the best way to thank me!"
Playing along, Erica nodded, "Okay. Thanks to you, he's talking about finding a wife every day. Maybe I should just let him stay with you and Evelyn!"