Take My Breath Away

Erica was ready for her brother's ire. "Don't be so petty. Where are you now?" she asked.

"I'm in A Country!" Gifford replied impatiently. In fact, he had just brought Chantel back and watched her go into the school.

Erica's guarded tone melted into excitement. "Where is Chantel? Is she with you? Have you two talked? Are you two going to get married or—"

"Shut up!" Gifford wanted to strangle his sister. She had no idea how serious the matter was to him, and it wasn't her business in any case. Her enthusiasm was grating.

"Oh, come on, just tell me. Is Chantel going to be my sister-in-law?" Erica persisted. Idly, she thought of how Chantel was younger than herself. Still, she was old enough to be married.

Gifford suppressed the urge to hang up the phone—or to throw it as far from himself as he could. "I haven't decided yet. Let's talk about it when I have!" he scolded.

Eating a strawberry, Erica pouted and said, "Then think about it carefully. Don't let her down. After all, you brought her to our home."

"You—" With a harsh exhalation, Gifford cut himself off. Seeing no point in talking any further, he ended the call without another word.

He just couldn't understand his sister's side of things. Yes, it was he who brought Chantel back. But did he have to marry her because of that?

This time, though, he'd made up his mind to be a scumbag and to be irresponsible. He would wait and see what the two girls could do about it.

That evening, while Erica was busy with her camera upstairs, her phone beeped. It turned out to be Chantel, who had approved her WeChat friend request.

She also sent Erica a message. "Rika?"

"Yes, it's me," she sent back. "How are things between you and my brother?" She was very anxious to know, but Gifford wouldn't tell her anything.

After a few minutes of silence, she received a reply: "Your brother bought me Yu Ting. But I didn't take it. I spat them out secretly."

A bit confused, Erica thought, 'Yu Ting? What's that? I wonder if it's any good.'

"What's Yu Ting?" she asked.

Chantel was somewhat taken aback by the question. Erica turned out to be even more naive than herself. She felt a little embarrassed to answer directly, so she found the answer on Baidu, took a screenshot, and sent it to her.

Erica finally realized that she was talking about birth control pills. How could her brother be such an asshole? "Of course, you

ith Phoebe?" Matthew asked.

"You bet it is! I don't know why you feel so sorry for her. But I'd also warn you to choose your side wisely. Whether it's with me or her, that's up to you to decide, not me. I can't force you into anything. But I'll have you know that she isn't going to win. I have the Li family and the Huo family to back me up. I don't want you to get kicked out of the house just because of Phoebe."

With her ultimatum delivered, Erica crossed her arms over her chest and held her head high. It was a rare look for her: supremely confident.

Expressionless, Matthew settled himself into a chair at the dining table. He tapped an index finger against the table slowly, thoughtfully. "What makes you so sure that my father will kick me out of the house for you?" he asked finally.

Erica didn't blink. "Because since the day I married into the Huo family, I've had the same status as Evelyn and Terilynn in the family; I'm his daughter. He told me that himself. And you are Wesley and Blair's son. No matter what happens, your parents will always be on my side!"

Indeed, Carlos had told Erica this several times. Up to this point she had never mentioned it to Matthew, for fear that it would upset him and lead to trouble. Now that he'd decided to believe Phoebe over her, however, she thought she had no choice.

Now Matthew truly was speechless. Much as he hated to admit it, it did sound like something his father would say.

His family had been hard on him for his whole life, never truly approving of him for a single day since his birth. He'd grown used to it—perhaps too much so.