Take My Breath Away

Erica and Tessie stood face to face in silence.

In a way their lives were mirrors of each other: one lived in a paradise while the other was in hell.

Tessie finally forced a smile and broke the silence. "Well, Erica, look at the state I'm in. Are you feeling happy now?"

The other woman's smile was entirely real. "Yes, I'm happy now! You've done a lot of harm, and it's finally catching up to you, Tessie. You didn't think things would turn around so quickly, did you?"

In fact, Erica hadn't expected things to be resolved so quickly, either. It had only taken a week to go from her investigation to dealing with Tessie and her companions.

Thanks to the man in the car, her innocence had been proven in short order.

The thought of Matthew, and of the victory he'd won her, widened Erica's smile.

Naturally, Tessie could not fail to notice. "Erica, I really envy you!" she said.

Erica seemed to have everything. She'd been born into a rich family, had parents who loved her very much, and now she was married to Matthew Huo, the most powerful man in Y City. As her life went on, it would only get easier, and no one dared to offend her.

But as for Tessie?

She smiled bitterly. Life was so unfair to her! She hated everyone in the Su family; she hated Tam and his daughter...

But in spite of everything, she felt sorry for Erica and Ethan.

Now she couldn't see Ethan, and Erica had turned against her, leaving her quite alone in this world.

Erica eyed her one-time friend coldly, as though she could read her thoughts. "You've ruined your own future for yourself!" By far, Ethan was the most pitiable one in this whole incident. Tessie was his biological mother, yet since running into Erica again, she hadn't so much as mentioned the baby once, let alone asked to see him.

It was sad to think that Ethan had such a mother.

"Erica, can't you ask Mr. Huo to let me go?" Tessie asked quietly. "As long as you don't send me to the slum, I'm willing to serve you my whole life. I'll do anything for you."

Erica shook her head. "No, I don't need anything from you. Just behave yourself and live your life there for a while. Maybe one day when Matthew forgets all about you, you will be free."

Tessie suddenly took a step forward and said, "If I tell you a secret, will you ask Mr. Huo to show me a little mercy?"

"What?" Erica asked warily.

Tessie stared into her old friend's eyes, her manner deadly serious; this warning was the last thing she could do for Erica. "Be wary of my sisters."

With that she went off, leaving Erica confused and deep in thought. 'Her sisters? Does she mean Phoebe and Camille?'

Of course she would be wary of Phoebe. After all, they were rivals in love. But, what about Camille?

Erica racked her mind, trying to figure it out. She remembered that woman in her

ter class, Erica wanted to go shopping with Hyatt before going back home. But as soon as she arrived at the school gate, she saw Matthew's Emperor car—and that car was hard to ignore.

With a hasty goodbye to Hyatt, she ran up to the car somewhat excitedly. This was very unusual!

She hadn't yet reached the car when Matthew emerged from it and personally opened the back door for her. They both sat in the back seat.

With a sweet smile, Erica looked expectantly at her husband and asked, "Why do you have the time to pick me up today?"

Matthew cleared his throat. "I'm going on a business trip tomorrow. But I'm not busy this evening, so I thought I'd pick you up and go cook us something at home."

Erica clapped her hands—she couldn't help herself. 'Matthew's cooking tonight? That's great!' She cried, "Oh, my! What are you going to make?"

"Well, what would you like to eat?"

"Hmm...anything is okay," Erica said with a shrug. "How about you make something you haven't made before, and we'll see how it is?"

He paused, then nodded, "Okay!"

Back to the villa, Erica watched TV as usual, while Matthew kept busy in the kitchen.

Unable to stay on an empty stomach, Erica was munching an apple. At the sound of the electric stirrer, she twisted around on the sofa to look into the kitchen. "What are you doing?" she called.

"Cream," he answered laconically.

"What? I thought you were making spaghetti," remarked Erica. 'I'm pretty sure you don't put cream in spaghetti, ' she added silently.

"Well, don't you like cream puffs?" Matthew asked.

'So he's also making puffs?'

Erica put on her slippers and rushed toward the kitchen, only to be stopped at the threshold by Matthew. "Keep a distance, please!" he urged. "Stay at least three meters from the kitchen!"

"I'm just curious why you'd make cream puffs," said his wife. "Does Gwyn like those?"