Take My Breath Away

"Mom, stop!" How Erica wished she could cover her mother's mouth so that she wouldn't keep gossiping about her. It was embarrassing the first time around. And to have someone recount the stories just rubbed salt in the wound.

"Why?" Blair didn't think it was such a big deal. She continued to fill Matthew in on Erica's past, heedless of her daughter's protests.

Back when Erica was filling out the application forms for the college entrance exam, father and daughter discussed her plans together. They were upstairs in the study for much of the evening.

Wesley respected her and asked her to choose a major she was interested in. He would give her the best advice he had.

Hearing that she had the freedom to choose her major by herself, Erica was shocked. "I must be hearing things. You said you'll respect my choices?"

Seeing the calculating glint in his daughter's eyes, Wesley regretted what he said, so he answered decisively, "No."

"I knew it!" She pouted her lips.

Wesley suggested, "You can learn from your mom. Go to a foreign language school." Blair was a talented translator and was well-paid for her trouble.

Erica rolled her eyes and disagreed more decisively, "No way! Could you think of anything more boring?"

Wesley knew she wouldn't agree. His face darkened at her answer, but before he could straighten her out, the girl who was reclining on the couch sat up straightaway and said, "It's okay if you want me to learn different languages. Because I'll make friends with a lot of foreigners. Probably even fall in love with one. If that happens, I may not come back and you won't have to see me anymore…"

"Enough!" Wesley was pissed off.

Since she had already had her digs in, Erica obediently shut up and did not say one more word.

Wesley kept telling himself to calm down because Erica was his biological daughter. He tried to hold back his anger and soften his voice. "Then tell me, what do you want as a major?"

Erica cupped her chin and thought for a moment. "Medicine! Wearing a white gown and holding a scalpel, doctors are real hotties!" In her mind, the young men in clean white doctor's coats were especially attractive.

"You? A doctor?" Wesley regained control and said in a serious tone, "I'm pretty sure that's the impossible dream, as far as you're concerned. I'm afraid your mom and I have t

to see that you are so nice to Rika. But I don't want you to be bothered by the baby. You are always busy with your work and Rika will go to school. Just leave the baby here for the time being. We'll take care of him. When Rika's missing the baby, I can take him to see her or she can come back here to stay for a while."

"Okay," Matthew answered curtly.

Half an hour later, Wesley and Matthew went upstairs. Blair went to the kitchen to prepare formula for Ethan.

In the hallway, Wesley patted his son-in-law on the shoulder, and after hesitating for a while, he finally opened his mouth. "I know you don't like the girl, and it's unfair of us to make you marry her. Rika does what she wants, and it's not always what you want. But she's a nice girl. Promise me, if she does anything wrong, send her back to me and I'll discipline her myself. Don't hurt her if she ever pisses you off." It wasn't that he didn't trust Matthew. But Erica was his daughter. He knew very well how much she could irritate other people. He didn't really know how much one man could take, and didn't want his daughter to pay the price if she annoyed him too much.

However, since she had Ethan, Wesley could feel that Erica had changed a lot. She was much quieter than before, probably because she felt guilty. Wesley didn't feel happy about the change. On the contrary, he felt sorry for his daughter.

Deep in his heart, he hoped that Erica would find happiness again. Although she always made trouble, at least she was happy.

Matthew nodded, "Don't worry, Dad. I got this."