Take My Breath Away

Everyone looked at the woman Chantel called out to. But the woman continued walking like she hadn't heard a thing.

Finally, someone told the woman, "Miss Zhu! I think Miss Ye is trying to get your attention!"

Panic flashed in the woman's eyes, but she took a moment to get ahold of herself before she turned to see. Chantel was busy mopping Erica's dress. The woman smiled at her and asked, "Yeah? And what do you need?"

The green juice had created an angry dark stain on the red dress. It was painfully obvious, and had ruined the dress, hopefully just for the evening. Pointing at the stain, Chantel asked, "Did you knock that glass of juice over?" Her tone told everyone she was furious.

'This is just too much. We dealt with someone earlier, and now another person decides to mess with Rika. Do they really think she's such a pushover?' Chantel thought in exasperation.

Before the woman could say anything, someone else piped up. "It must be her. I saw her drinking the same kind of juice before it happened."

"Come to think of it, you're right. I think she did it on purpose."

A woman approached Erica and whispered in her ear, "That's Lucia Zhu, a local model. At another party she was at, she made a point of falling so that Mr. Huo would catch her. She laughed it off like she was drunk, but she was so obvious."

'Fell so Matthew would catch her?' Erica's anger flared.

She was already pretty heated because of the stain on her dress, and the fact that someone might have done that intentionally. When Paige had sent dozens of dresses for her to pick from, she chose this one immediately. That was the one she wanted. No matter how beautiful and expensive the other dresses were, she didn't even bother trying them on.

Erica had come here to build prestige as Mrs. Huo, to establish once and for all that Matthew was her husband, and he was off the market. So she wasn't going to take this from anyone, particularly someone who had designs on Matthew.

Seeing that there was no way out of this, Lucia Zhu decided to apologize. "I'm so sorry, Mrs. Huo. I didn't mean to do that. Maybe my dress brushed the glass of juice and knocked it over by accident. How about this? I'll pay to have it cleaned, and then have it sent to you. How does that sound?"

The woman had a good attitude and she did sound sincere, which was hard to find fault with.

Erica's eyes darkened. If she hadn't seen the smugness in Lucia Zhu's eyes, she would have believed that the woman was apologizing to her sincerely.

"You stained my brand-new dress. Deliberately, from what others are saying. You think an apology is enough? Do I look like I'm that laid-back?"

If Lucia Zhu hadn't done it on purpose, Erica would accept her apology—though reluctantly.

But obviously, this woman knew what she was doing, and pretended to be innocent. Not only that, she made a pass at her husband when she wasn't around. No, she was not going to go easy on someone who did that!

"No, no. I'm really sorry. Please forgive me. I'll pay to have it cleaned, I swear." Lucia Zhu seemed to be very anxious and scared. Miserable and alone, she faced the truth of her situation. Hot tears started to fall.

Everyone was watching with interest. If Erica didn't frame this right, they'd think that she was a hot-headed bully who pushed around everyone she didn't like. Thinking of this, she threw the wet tissue she had used to mop up the stain on the table and took a step forward. "Okay, let's say your story is true. Turn around."

Her words confused Lucia Zhu. "What?"

Erica was a little impatient. "Just do as I say!"

The woman turned around slowly, and finally stopped, facing Erica again.

Erica sneered, "You're wearing a strapless, form-fitting, mermaid dress. No decoration, no tassles. Your dress couldn't have knocked anything over. Mine can, thanks to the bow in the back. No, this is all you. I don't get where you come off, thinking you can fool me. Your dress doesn't flare that way, or drag across a table, or anything. And yet you're trying to tell me that the dress knocked the glass over? Maybe it was your elbow? And since your elbows aren't covered, you should have felt it when your elbow hit the glass. So how could you say you didn't do it on purpose? Think I'm an idiot?"

Lucia Zhu was stupefied by her retort. Erica was right, but Lucia Zhu just couldn't admit it. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Huo. I really didn't know I knocked it down. Maybe I touched the tablecloth..."

"Shut up!" Erica was getting more and more fiery. The woman still wouldn't admit it and was still making excuses when everyone knew she was lying.

At this moment, Matthew noticed a crowd forming at the dessert table. He had a bad feeling about this and walked over there to see what the commotion was.

When he got closer, he found the woman drawing this crowd was none other than his wife. "What happened?"

Hearing him speak, the crowd greeted him and made way for him. He smoothly strode to Erica's. She was fuming with rage.

What he didn't know was that he picked the wrong time to stand with her. Erica glared at him and asked, "Do you know this woman?"

She was livid, and had no respect for him. Her tone and bearing accused him.

Her attitude scared the people around her so much that they held their collective breath. 'Wow! No wonder she's Mrs. Huo! She's probably the only person who could talk to Matthew that way.' The guests were laying odds on whether the CEO would have an angry response.

Matthew did not react the way everyone expected him to. Instead of annoyance, the man displayed tenderness. "Who?" he asked softly.

Erica pointed directly at Lucia Zhu. Until then, he hadn't spared her a look. He wasn't even looking around for anyone, and devoted his full attention to his wife.

His deep eyes took in the woman's face for less than two seconds and then moved away. He had a good memory, which served him here. "We met once. At a dinner party."

"So, is it true that she fell into your arms on purpose when she was drunk?"

The man thought for a while and nodded. "On purpose? I don't know. I did make sure she didn't fall." But he hadn't thought about it after that. Only then did he see the stains on Erica's dress. Matthew frowned and asked, "What's wrong with your dress?"

"She tipped over a glass of green juice on purpose and it spilled on my dress." Erica changed her attitude and leaned against his chest, acting like a spoiled child. "Honey, Paige found a bunch of dresses, but this was the only one I liked. This woman stained it deliberately. I hope it's not ruined!"

Matthew's face gradually turned gloomy. He wrapped his arms around his wife's waist and gave Lucia Zhu death glare. He said coldly, "This is ridiculous! Why won't you leave my wife alone? Guards, take her to the top deck. Tie her to a chair and keep her there for three days and nights!"

Although he didn't deal with Noreen Xia himself just now, it didn't mean he didn't care! And now there was someone else trying the same shit. What were they trying to do? And why choose his wife? He could turn a blind eye when the Li family punished Erica, because they were their elders. But these other two women? They were nothing to him. And yet they were ballsy enough to try and mess with his wife. They needed to be taught a lesson.

His words made everyone gasp. 'That long? If she dies of exposure, will he be held accountable?'

I sure wouldn't want to piss him off. You mess with the best, die like the rest, ' they all thought.