Take My Breath Away

Hands trembling, Erica answered after a while, "No time. I need to find Tessie and Julianna." She believed she was innocent and she didn't need to be afraid of what the public thought about her. She knew the malicious rumors going viral online were fake.

But she had underestimated the power of a mob mentality!

Matthew insisted, "If you show your face in Y City University now, you could be in danger!" Many media outlets had bought this story and reposted it. It went viral on the Internet. So, most people would know about it by now.

If Erica showed up on the steps of Y City University, she'd be mobbed by angry people who might try to take matters in their own hands.

"But I..."

"Come to my office now. Don't rush off to find Tessie," said Matthew, trying to persuade her patiently. He had to make sure she was safe.

Since he insisted, Erica had to agree first. "Okay."

The driver chauffeured her to ZL Group. Matthew was waiting for her in his office.

Seeing her come in, he got straight to the point. "Mr. Chai just called me."

Erica was stymied for a moment, and then remembered he was the boss of Champion Group. "Oh, why? Did he ask you to cut him a check? It's cool. I did smash the things in his operations department."

"No. That's not why he called me."

"What? Then what did he say to you?" 'Didn't Neville Chai talk to Matthew about the bill?' she wondered.

Matthew fixed his eyes on her face and said, "Mr. Chai said you are interesting. He also asked if you have a sister. You apparently made a good impression."

Erica was thrown for a loop. 'What's wrong with Neville? He really wants a girl like me to be his daughter-in-law? Doesn't he have enough drama in his life?'

"What did you say to him?" Erica bent over his desk, playing with a pen.

"I told him a girl like my wife wouldn't be a good fit for his son."

Matthew didn't expect Erica to be so capable of winning people's hearts. Neville Chai only met her once, but he was already fond of the girl and wanted her to be his daughter-in-law.

"His son?" Erica thought carefully about Watkins' handsome face in her mind, and said, "He's indeed very handsome. I think I will like—"

Before she could finish her sentence, Matthew interrupted, "Think it over before you say anything." His cold voice was full of warning.

Looking at his gloomy eyes, Erica realized that he was right to be annoyed—she sh

kissed—that's when I started wondering. Then, when your mom wanted to get you vaccinated, you told her you had a C-section and didn't need the vaccine. But I've touched your belly. There's no scar."

Anger began to rise in the girl's eyes. Matthew held her hand and continued, "The next day, your dad took your ultrasound report to the hospital so he could find out for himself. And you can guess the rest."

He didn't need to keep talking. Now she knew perfectly well what happened.

In a gloomy mood, she withdrew her hand and pounded on his shoulder. "So you worked with my parents to cheat me, and then you didn't tell me you knew what was going on. So, what? Were you ever going to tell me? Or were you just sitting back, laughing at my attempts to be a parent?" 'He's about as bad as Mom and Dad! They must be related!' she thought angrily.

Matthew knew that the girl would be angry, so he held her in his arms and comforted her. "We just wanted to know if Ethan was really your kid. We didn't pry into anything else. Like this thing between you and Tessie. I didn't touch that till you asked me."

"Humph! Who knows! Maybe you already knew Tessie was lying to me, but you wouldn't tell me. You just pretended to investigate when I asked and just now let me know what you found out!" She knew better now. She'd never believe Wesley, Blair and Matthew ever again!

Matthew kissed her forehead and said, "No. I didn't know anything about Tessie and Tam until today."

He felt bad for Erica. She'd shouldered a huge burden for her friend, and all her friend did was lie about her. Some friend!