Heather was actually not surprised upon hearing this answer. How could she forget that she first encountered Matthias at the man-made hill too? Heather wore a spurious smile. It seemed like Myra had gone through the pains because of Matthias.
“You have a good memory.” Heather lowered her head so Matthias couldn’t see her eyes nor the complicated emotions in them and took a bite of food.
Matthias smiled and remained silent. Not only did he remember the incident clearly, but he even felt like it happened yesterday. His memory was so vivid that he could clearly recall Heather’s expression at that time.
“You asked me out today just to ask about this matter?” Matthias asked in disappointment. After beating around the bush, it turned out that Heather’s motive was to ask this simple question.
Heather did not respond to Matthias. Her aim had already been achieved and she didn’t intend to explain to Matthias. Seeing Heather ignoring his question, Matthias roughly understood that it was true that Heather came to him just to ask this simple question.
How ironic. Matthias smiled in resignation. He had never expected that this was what was on Heather’s mind. No wonder her apology today sounded so unnatural. Matthias felt like he had been used, and he would rather Heather had not come to find him today. At this thought, he laid down his cutlery as he had lost his appetite.
Heather noticed Matthias’ reaction but she couldn’t care less and continued enjoying her dinner. Deep down, Heather was still bothered by what Matthias had done previously. The only reason she came to find him this time was for the sake of Myra. After proving her thoughts, Heather detested Matthias even more.
Besides, she became even lost as she couldn’t figure out the reason behind Myra’s malady. In fact, she wasn’t too sure how devoted Myra was toward Matthias back then.
It was hard to guess what a girl was thinking about. They could say the opposite of what they meant. Moreover, it was true that Myra was attracted to Matthias at that time.
They were probably very in love with each other back then. If that wasn’t the case, Matthias wouldn’t have been able to pull through the period after their breakup.
Heather was flustered when she realized this beautiful first love was destroyed by her. She didn’t dare to imagine if Myra would still want to be her friend if she recalled what happened in the past. It was only now that Heather recognized how serious the mistake she had made in the past was.
She couldn’t face Matthias all the more, who was Myra’s first love and someone whom she had persecuted before. Heather’s mind was tangled at the thought of this complicated relationship.
“I’m done with my food. There are some urgent matters to attend to in the company, so I shall take my leave first.” Matthias made up an excuse as he intended to leave.
Heather did not stop him since it would be meaningless for them to continue eating together. Nodding, she still wanted to say something to Matthias but bit her tongue toward the end.
As such, she watched Matthias walk out of the private room. It seems like I’ve offended him. Ever since Heather met Matthias, she felt like she couldn’t even handle things in a rational manner anymore.
Neither did she want her relationship with Matthias to end up this stiff, but it somehow turned out to be so. If this continued, the amity that was finally established between them might perish and they might become enemies again.
After Matthias left, Heather stopped eating too as she had completely lost her appetite. Standing up, she stared at the direction in which Matthias had gone off and hesitated for a moment before leaving the room resolutely.
Seeing Matthias starting his car engine and leaving, Heather felt distressed. She had just met Matthias not long ago, yet they ended up in such a situation now. The development of their relationship was even more torturing and complicated than a pair of lovers’.
On the other hand, Matthias sped away and drifted all the way home recklessly as he desperately needed to vent out his displeasure. Fortunately, he arrived home safe and sound. When Evan saw Matthias come home with a darkened face, he reckoned Matthias had a fallout with Heather again.
In order to not get himself into trouble, Evan intended to avoid bringing up Heather lest he irritated Matthias. However, Matthias brought Heather up first this time, which made Evan stare at him innocently as he didn’t know how he should react.
“Don’t you think this woman is weird?” Matthias asked Evan crabbily. Evan couldn’t avoid the question, so he nodded in a quandary. He didn’t dare to further provoke Matthias and thought it would be better to agree with whatever he said at this moment.
“Miss Langston is not an ordinary woman.” Evan attempted to defend Heather, which made Matthias glare at him in return.
With that, Evan smiled awkwardly and stopped talking. Obviously, Heather had provoked Matthias again. Evan wondered how Heather even managed to make Matthias this furious.
“Don’t ever mention her name in front of me,” Matthias scowled angrily.
Evan wore an innocent expression. It was him who brought up Heather first, yet now he’s blaming me. It sure is hard to please him.
“Sure, sure. It has been a long day for you. Why don’t you go upstairs for a bath first?” Evan quickly changed the topic. He decided to let it go for the sake of his salary increment.
“Bring me to the hill. I want to go to the hot spring.” Matthias wanted to take a hot spring bath as the usual bath couldn’t satisfy him anymore. At that time, he purchased this bungalow situated at the foot of a hill exactly so that he could develop a hot spring behind the bungalow.
Matthias had a health issue ever since he was born, and soaking in hot springs was beneficial for him. As such, there was a hot spring built in Locke Residence especially for him. After arriving at Bradfort City, Matthias made himself a hot spring too.
Matthias had always been a big spender, so he had bought the land behind the bungalow as well. Nevertheless, this was just the tip of the iceberg. Even Matthias didn’t know how wealthy the Locke Family actually was.
Now, Matthias was still not the most influential person in the Locke Family. Although he was the person-in-charge by name, the shares had not been transferred to him yet.
Matthias only possessed a small amount of Locke Group’s shares while most of the shares were still in the hands of the elders. If the elders in the family were displeased with Matthias, they could drag him down from his current position anytime.
Matthias had been extremely prudent over the years, but he still couldn’t escape from the Locke Family’s control. Moreover, only a few elders in the family were supportive of him while most of them were discontented with him.
For instance, the present family head of the Lockes was displeased with him, but he still supported Matthias because there was no other person in the family who was as talented as Matthias when it came to running businesses.
The family head was well aware that their family business would only prosper and expand if Matthias was the leader. Hence, he had been guarding Matthias in the dark so that no one would target his position. No matter how much he detested Matthias, he would still support him so that Matthias could focus on managing the business.
Nevertheless, these reasons were exactly why Matthias felt insecure. No one could guarantee that he wouldn’t be dragged down from his current position in the future.
He would only be safe after possessing a majority of the shares. Matthias had been striving to achieve this goal all these years. However, neither did he dare to act recklessly since most of the shares were in the hands of the other Locke family members.
No matter how desperate he was, he couldn’t buy over the shares from the other family members because such an action would cause alarm within the family, which would in turn accelerate his downfall.
The Locke Family was smart to make this move because Matthias could only obey them and would only receive shares as a reward if he did so. Otherwise, he would have to give up Locke Group. Matthias knew that the family head was actually soft-hearted despite being harsh. As such, he would become the person-in-charge with autonomy sooner or later, and he would break free from the control of the group of elders.
Having accumulated power and waiting to take action for so many years, Matthias had tried his best to give in whenever he could. However, there was news from the Locke Family a few days ago where they made a fuss out of his marriage again. Matthias knew he would sooner or later be involved in a political marriage, but he didn’t expect that he was still unable to escape from this fate even after he had run away from Tasnia City. Matthias was already frustrated to begin with, but this news actually came to him a few days before Myra’s marriage. It seemed like God was deliberately testing him by throwing these two incidents at him simultaneously.
Soaking in the hot spring, Matthias felt relaxed. Meanwhile, Evan stood beside Matthias to be at his service.
Evan was probably the only one who could understand Matthias. These few days, he had kept away his sharp tongue because he knew anyone else would feel terrible if put in a similar situation.
Matthias had been totally devoting himself to his work. Since there were so many things that were bothering him, he rather put those troubles aside and completely focused on what he was supposed to do.
However, something couldn’t simply be avoided just because he hoped so. While Matthias was having the hot spring bath, he asked Evan, “Are the Lockes pushing me again?”
Matthias’ face turned sullen at the thought of being pressured to get married. He had already sacrificed a lot for the Locke Family, and even his health was at stake. However, he didn’t think that everyone in the family was this ungrateful and was actually dying to exploit him to the maximum. At times, he even thought that he was just a tool of the Locke Family, and this tool would be abandoned someday once it reached the end of its usefulness. Although the Locke Family would need a great deal of courage to abandon him, it didn’t mean that Matthias would always be safe. After all, it wasn’t too hard to get him replaced.
Matthias felt like he was just a puppet all these years. He had undergone terrible dark times which would be unbearable for ordinary people. Now that his only hope had vanished too, Matthias felt that his life was meaningless. He had been fighting against his fate until today, yet he still lost terribly.
“The family head advised you to head back to Tasnia City,” Evan replied in a concise manner.
Matthias knew the family head had given him this reminder out of kindness, but he didn’t feel like going back to Tasnia City at all. Moreover, he would have to attend blind dates once he was back.
What a wretched life. As much as outsiders might deem Matthias as a rich and influential man, the truth was he was powerless.
Thirty was a common age to get married. Thinking he was almost reaching this age, Matthias let out a rueful laugh as he thought he was too pathetic.
“In my opinion, you should visit Tasnia City after attending Miss Stark’s wedding.” Hearing Matthias’ terrifying laugh, Evan couldn’t help but voice his opinion.
“No way,” Matthias rejected it resolutely.
“This is the third time they pressured you to get married this year. If you don’t go back this time, they might lose their heads and make a big fuss out of this matter. Please consider it carefully,” Evan said responsibly. His livelihood depended on Matthias, so he naturally didn’t want Matthias to get into trouble. As such, he would advise Matthias whenever the latter was being irrational lest the Lockes caught him tripping.
