Take My Breath Away

"What a coincidence. I'm almost never here. I come home about every six months or so to visit." Gifford walked towards the kitchen, trying to find something to eat.

Chantel followed. "Oh, I see. Sounds like you're really busy."

"Yeah, but I'm used to it! Where are Mom and Dad?" Gifford opened the fridge and started piling food on the counter, taking out everything he thought he could eat.

"They thought you weren't coming back today, so they went to bed early." She stared at the ever-growing pile of food on the counter. "You must be hungry." Chantel curiously looked at the man who was eagerly devouring a steamed bun.

He didn't say anything for a moment, working on swallowing what he was eating. "Sorry. Haven't eaten anything since noon."

"Hey, don't dig into the leftovers. I can cook, you know. What do you want? I'll make it for you."

Gifford was surprised. This girl was much nicer than Rika. He asked in disbelief, "You can cook?" She already told him that, but apparently he wasn't paying that much attention. How would she have taken care of her grandfather otherwise?

Erica was two years older than Chantel but was still very childish. She couldn't even hold a pan steadily. Fortunately, she married Matthew. She was his problem now.

Most girls in the Li family weren't particularly adept with stove or pan. Yvette only knew how to boil eggs, and almost nothing else. Gifford was a little worried for Yvette. She was going to marry into the You family. He wondered if her inability to cook would hurt her chances of domestic bliss.

But as spoiled as Rika was, her marriage to Matthew seemed pretty solid. If she got on his nerves, Matthew never let that show.

Thinking of this, Gifford had to admit that Erica was really lucky to marry into the Huo family.

"Yes, I can cook. What do you want to eat?" Chantel asked again.

Gifford shook his head. "I'm not picky. Fix whatever you want. You make it, I'll eat it." After all, it was almost midnight. He didn't want to keep her up half the night cooking for him.

"Okay."

So Chantel turned on burners and started to prep a basic meal. Gifford had nothing to do, so he watched her.

People always assumed that kids who grew up in the countryside learned how to take care of their family. Now it looked like that was true.

Chantel was good at everything from washing vegetables to cooking. Meanwhile, Gifford made small talk. "Did you cook at home a lot?"

"Oh yeah. My grandpa would feed the chickens and cattle, and I'd have to fix the meals."

"So how do you like it here?"

Chantel turned around and nodded at him seriously. "It's nice. Your parents have been good to me. And Ethan's so cute!" Chantel wondered about Ethan, like who his mom was. She guessed it had to be Erica or Yvette. But when she tried to confirm these guesses with Blair, she shut the young girl down.

So, finally, she stopped asking.

"That's cool."

Soon, the kitchen was filled with the delicious odors of a freshly cooked meal. She'd fixed a large bowl of braised noodles with tomato and egg.

Chantel brought the noodles to the table and told Gifford with a smile, "Eat it while it's hot! Sorry if it doesn't taste good, but that's what we have."

Gifford picked up a few noodles with his chopsticks, blew on them, and put them into his mouth. He chewed them quickly and nodded. "Mmm! This is amazing! Much better than anything my sisters ever made. I guess you can cook."

After hearing him rave about the food, she smiled and sat next to him, watching him gobble down the noodles.

When he had almost finished his meal, Chantel suddenly said, "I heard that your mom's eager to set you up with someone."

Actually, Blair had set Gifford up on blind dates so many times that it was almost getting trite. "Yeah, she's like that," he admitted. Frankly, he was lucky enough she didn't force him to go. That way, if he went on one of her blind dates or not, it was up to him. It was not like they led anywhere serious.

"Are you really single?" Chantel asked, resting her chin on her hands.

"Yes."

"Anyone you have your eye on?"

"No." He was too busy to think about women.

Chantel put down her hands and lowered her voice. "What do you think of me?"

Gifford was a bit slow on the uptake. He swallowed the egg in his mouth and asked, "What do you mean?"

"I've got a surefire plan to make sure your mom won't send you on blind dates anymore. Look, I don't have a boyfriend. There's no one I'm crushing on. If you want, I can marry you and your mom won't bug you..."

"Koff...koff...koff..." Gifford's food went down the wrong pipe. He began coughing uncontrollably, and it took him awhile to recover. By the time he was done, his chest and throat were sore. He thought he was going to die.

"I'll keep your parents company for you and take good care of them." Chantel meant it. She'd thought about this for a long time.

Yes! Of course she wanted to stick around. Blair and Wesley were like the parents she never had. She didn't know what she was missing.

But she could also promise to be good to them. To be a good daughter-in-law.

She was young, after all, so she hadn't considered all the angles. She thought they could get married as long as they were together.

If Gifford had known that he would have such a shocking conversation after eating the bowl of noodles, he would definitely stick with leftovers. "I'm sorry, Chantel. I'm 12 years older than you. I'm not right for you. You're really just like a sister to me. Better than my other sisters, but still..."

Chantel knew how to advance and retreat. She suppressed the disappointment in her heart and said, "It's okay. It's just a thought. If you don't want to, then that's fine by me."

Her words relieved Gifford. He looked at her and sighed, "You're so sweet. Not like Rika at all!"

"So, I take it she's not very nice?" Chantel asked in confusion. They kept saying it all the time.

"Yeah. If she comes here, I'd stay away from her, if I were you. Wait. Maybe not, because you're a girl. She'd probably try to get on your good side."

Chantel couldn't help laughing. "I really want to meet her!" She was really curious about Erica.

"Just wait. She'll be by sooner or later. Either she runs away from home, or comes here to visit my parents during the Spring Festival. Anyway, she'll be back."

"Okay," Chantel replied.

Early the next morning, when everyone was still asleep, Gifford left the Li family's house.

The sun rose slowly. In Y City, in the Pearl Villa District, it was half past nine before Erica got downstairs to have breakfast. She was surprised to see Matthew sitting at the table in his pajamas and reading a financial newspaper. He apparently didn't go to work today.

Hearing her footsteps, Matthew looked at his wife and said indifferently, "I'm staying home today."

"Oh wow. I won't be home today."

"Oh? Did your class schedule change?" He specifically took time off today so he could relax at home with her.

Erica took a sip of milk and said, "No classes. I have the day off, so I'm going out."

"For what?"

"That's private."

"Where are you going?"

The girl blinked. "Matthew Huo, you're just full of questions." Matthew was so astonished he couldn't speak.

After breakfast, Erica's phone rang. Glancing at the caller ID, she quickly stood up from her seat and answered her phone. "I'm on my way."

Then she grabbed her backpack and ran towards the door.

"Stop!" Matthew called out to the girl who had ignored him.

Erica turned around and asked, "What's up?"

Matthew walked over to her and said, "I'll see you out." He wanted to see who was picking her up!

Puzzled, Erica didn't refuse. She changed into her shoes and walked out of the villa.

A silver SUV was parked right outside the villa. A man in a dark blue windbreaker left the car.