As Myra’s vision blurred, she fell into Heather’s arms, hearing the latter’s anxious voice calling her name.
The sudden onset of pain was identical to the headache she had experienced before, but this time, it affected her whole body. Myra gripped her chest tightly, the pain threatening to cease her heartbeat. Without delay, Heather lifted her friend up.
She then took Myra to the hospital in her car, but something peculiar happened. A short while after arriving at the hospital, Myra could feel that the pain had vanished.
It was exactly like her headache last time, which left as suddenly as it came. Heather’s eyebrows creased in a frown as she wondered what was going on with Myra.
“What did you see at the rockery?” Myra was staring in a particular direction when she fainted, but when Heather followed her gaze, she didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.
“A cave,” Myra answered with a hollow look in her eyes.
The frown on Heather’s brows deepened. How could a simple cave cause her to become like this? she wondered. She was in a hurry to get Myra to the hospital, so she didn’t look too closely, but what else could a rockery contain but rocks and caves?
“Don’t let Tony know of this.” Myra did not wish to worry him on the day right before their wedding.
“Okay.” Heather hadn’t contacted Tony in her hurry, and now that Myra had told her not to let him know of this, she decided not to do anything unnecessary.
“Has this happened before?” Acting like a doctor, Heather asked her friend sternly. The incident had given her a huge fright.
“You saw it once before. You were also the one who took me to the hospital that time,” Myra answered word by word.
At that moment, she was lying on the hospital bed. The doctor had left after confirming that there was nothing out of the ordinary, so now Myra was resting to regain her strength.
“I’m really worried…” Heather hesitated, deeply worried about Myra’s current condition. However, any proper treatment would have to be delayed because of Myra’s pregnancy.
Moreover, Myra had been pregnant for a few months, so it wouldn’t be plausible to remove the child; it wasn’t some serious illness anyway.
“Don’t worry,” Myra comforted her friend.
Heather’s hands were still trembling as they held Myra’s. She was so very afraid, for Myra was like a dear sister to her, and she would not allow any accidents to happen to her.
“I’m sorry. It’s my fault for dragging you back to school. That other incident was also my fault,” Heather apologized. She truly believed that the blame was on her.
The series of incidents reminded her of Matthias, and she suspected that Myra was experiencing the aftereffects of forgetting Matthias.
Heather did not dare to continue her train of thought. She was sure that it was bad news, and she kept blaming herself. There was a deep sense of guilt inside her as she realized that she had hurt Myra despite treasuring her.
But she must not tell her the truth; she mustn’t say anything about Matthias. She looked at Myra meaningfully, guilt written all over her face.
“This was a coincidence; it’s not your fault.” Myra continued to comfort Heather.
In her hazy consciousness at the rockery, she felt like she saw a young man with a pale and melancholic face. The face was familiar yet strange, and when she tried to think back on it, she could not recall any other details.
Heather was supporting Myra as they walked out of the hospital. I shouldn’t have brought Myra to the school. She racked her mind for clues and anything related to this incident. Myra had met Matthias a few times before, and it was at one such meeting where Myra experienced the headache.
This time, Myra’s whole body was thrown into pain after seeing the cave. What was the relationship between these two incidents? Heather couldn’t find the answer. If this was really related to Matthias, then he must have brought Myra to the rockery before.
In order to prove her theory, Heather drove to Locke Group after dropping Myra off at her home. She hadn’t contacted Matthias in a while, and this was a sudden visit too. Unfortunately, Matthias was out of office.
Matthias’ assistant Lara was the one who received Heather, and she was very polite to her. However, Heather could keenly feel Lara’s enmity toward her.
“When is Director Locke coming back?” She didn’t want to waste too much time here; she had to see Matthias now.
“I’m not sure. Maybe he’ll be back soon, or maybe he’ll take a few hours.” Lara was ambiguous in her reply.
She saw the anxiety in Heather’s expression. She had noticed Matthias’ decadent attitude as of late, and, unable to think of any other culprit, she was sure that Heather was the one who caused him to be like this.
She did not blame Heather for stealing Matthias’ heart, but she was angry at her for not appreciating him enough. This was why Heather unknowingly became Lara’s subject of hate.
“Can’t you contact him?” Heather asked anxiously. Lara wasn’t like this before, so why the enmity now?
“Director Locke is in an important meeting, so I dare not disturb him,” Lara answered, faking a smile.
Heather understood the meaning behind Lara’s words, so she said without thinking, “Then I’ll call him myself.” To her, Lara had been energetic and loveable before, but now she was just bitter.
“He had probably turned off his phone.” After saying that, Lara left.
Heather looked at her phone, unsure of how to respond to Lara’s bitterness. Despite everything, she decided to send Matthias a message and continue waiting there.
10 minutes had passed, but there was still no response from Matthias, proving Lara’s claims to be true. Heather immediately called Matthias on his phone, and it was truly turned off. She glared at her phone, an unknown rage boiling inside her.
As she was wondering what she could do, she suddenly remembered Evan, Matthias’ butler. She immediately left Locke Group and made a beeline for Matthias’ villa.
When Evan saw Heather, he gave her a bright smile which caused her to feel uneasy. Heather did not fancy Evan’s overenthusiasm every time they met; she disliked men who were too attentive.
“Tell Matthias to come straight back to the villa after he’s done with his business. I have something to ask of him,” she said without beating around the bush, acting like she owned the place.
Evan expressed his agreement with smiles all over his face. To him, Heather might very well be the mistress already. It was rare for him to see Matthias treat a woman differently; no matter what, Evan had approved of Heather and wished that the two would just start dating already.
When Matthias was done with work, he turned on his phone and saw Heather’s message. He hadn’t received news from her in a long while, so he was surprised to see her looking for him in such haste.
After that, he read the message from Evan and was even more surprised that Heather had gone straight to his home. At this, Matthias could feel a subconscious smile creep onto his face.
Matthias hadn’t cracked so much as a smile these few days, so the sudden grin creeped out the bodyguards around him. He put his phone away and made up his mind to hurry back, lest he suffer Heather’s wrath.
At the thought of Heather’s face, Matthias couldn’t help smiling again. There was a look of tenderness in his eyes, but even he himself failed to notice that he was starting to harbor special feelings for Heather.
Matthias fixed his clothes as he stood at the door, for he wanted to look spirited in front of Heather. He feigned calmness and nonchalance as he walked in.
He threw a glance at Heather, who was seated in the living room, and pretended not to mind as he walked over. In reality, he was already experiencing a plethora of emotions in his mind.
“I’ve been waiting for quite a while, Director Locke,” Heather said abruptly.
She had business with Matthias, so she decided not to be too rude. Moreover, she had no intention of mentioning Myra to him.
After thinking for a while, she had decided to get the answers indirectly, chatting about things while inching closer to the heart of the matter. She would spare nothing to get the information she needed.
“I was busy with a meeting, so the phone…” Matthias explained uneasily. Evan stole a grin at the side, for he had never seen Matthias so nervous before. He didn’t believe Matthias for a second when he said he had no feelings for Heather.
Heather forced a smile. “I understand. My visit was too sudden, right?” Even she felt strangely awkward for rushing over all of a sudden.
“No, no, it’s fine. You’re welcome here anytime.” Matthias was behaving like a harmless boy.
Evan discreetly dismissed the other people in the living room, leaving Heather and Matthias alone. His thoughtfulness earned Heather’s appreciation.
After all, there were things Heather would hesitate to say in front of an audience, so now that Matthias was the only one listening, she felt more relaxed.
“I just wanted to say that I was too rude last time.” She started off apologetic.
Matthias stared at Heather in surprise. Regarding the incident before, he had already reflected on his actions. He didn’t expect Heather to pay a visit because of it, but upon reconsideration, he immediately came to his senses as he realized that Heather was too stubborn to apologize for an incident like that.
Heather obviously had another motive. Matthias wasn’t dumb; he had seen Heather directing a conversation in her favor before, and since he wouldn’t want to get too calculative with her, he decided to just play along.
“No, I was the one at fault. I spent a long time at home reflecting on it, and I realized that there was something wrong with the way I treated women—I don’t respect them enough.” In order to look good in front of Heather, Matthias parroted the words Evan had used to reprimand him, blurting them all out in one go and putting on a deeply regretful expression.
Even Matthias felt that he himself was being weird. Why am I trying to get on Heather’s good side? This cannot go on, he decided.
However, he couldn’t control his own actions. He cursed his behavior as he questioned his supposed feelings toward Heather.
“Let’s get something to eat?” Heather asked tentatively.
Matthias quickly agreed. He liked meals with Heather; he felt that even the food tasted better when he was with her.
The two went to their destination in their own cars, for it wasn’t an appropriate time for them to be alone together in the same car. Heather went in front; she was the one treating the other for a meal, so she led the way.
In the car, Heather reflected on her actions, telling herself that she really rushed over to see Matthias for Myra’s sake.
“Maybe I’m just looking for an excuse,” she mumbled to herself.
The moment Matthias appeared in front of her, she felt her anxious mind calm down, as if she hadn’t seen him in forever. She felt that she was a failure; she knew that they could never be together, but still, she couldn’t control her emotions.
Maybe she already had feelings for Matthias since an earlier time. She recalled her first time meeting Matthias; it was behind the rockery, and he had appeared shier and more bashful than Myra.
Those eyes were ignorant of worldly affairs. When Matthias stood next to Myra, it was a harmonious picture, for they were the same type of people. On the other hand, Heather felt that she was the odd one out. This was why envy took over her and urged her to do what she did. She hated even more the fact that Matthias’ eyes were always on Myra, never once turning to her.
