As the music ended, Flora stepped back, creating distance between herself and the loathsome man. Her face a mask of frosty indifference, she spat out two words: "Boring."
With that, she turned on her heel and strode away.
Behind her, a dark voice echoed: "Flora, if you dare to cheat on me... be prepared to face the consequences."
Matthew was never a man of virtue, he wouldn't accept sitting idly by while being cuckolded.
Fate is a curious thing. Sometimes one strives to distance oneself from another, but fate stubbornly pushes them back together.
Flora left the grand ballroom filled with harmonious music and laughter of strangers, heading straight for the flower garden at the back. The forced smiles on those people's faces made her nauseous.
"Release me first! If someone sees us now..." A familiar voice echoed in a teasing manner.
Selena? Flora squinted from behind the bushes where she hid, looking at the standing Selena. She was not alone. Alongside her was a tall man.
He had quite a handsome face, but it was marked by a long scar that ran from above his eyebrow to beneath his eye, giving him a fierce, unsettling look. His scowling face only enhanced this impression.
"How could I let go? Miss, if I were to release you, would you run back to Matthew?"
"You've lost your mind!" Selena struggled to free herself from the man's grip, but his hand was firm. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't break free.
He looked at Selena with an intensely pleading expression, his tone almost begging: "I implore you, Miss, stop tormenting yourself, stop tormenting me. Seeing you with that man, I can't stand it..."
Losing her patience, Selena almost screamed out.
"Winky Nicholas! Let me go first! He's my fiancé, of course I should be with him..."
"But I love you!"
Winky Nicholas cut her off resolutely, confessing his feelings. He then bowed his head, his posture utterly submissive. As the two continued their tug of war, Flora had seen enough, she silently turned and left.
She could only laugh. Matthew had just warned her not to cuckold him. And the moment she turned her back, she caught Selena industriously fitting him with a pair of horns.
Her smile faded as she was stopped by a tall man.
"Flora, we need to talk."
Flora scoffed, crossed her arms, and took a step back, looking very guarded. She had no business to discuss with this man. She might have had yesterday, but not today.
On what grounds does he believe he can talk to her when he pleases, and dismiss her just as easily?
"I have nothing to say to you." She deliberately avoided his gaze.
Her action infuriated Matthew. He didn't care about their surroundings and swiftly picked her up. Ignoring her struggles, he maintained his hold and walked to his car.
He effortlessly opened the car door, pushed her into the passenger seat, and closed the door again before walking to the driver's side.
"Matthew!" Flora couldn't help but yell out: "Are you out of your mind?"
The man in the driver's seat remained silent, only reaching over to buckle her seatbelt before starting the car. The vehicle shot through the night to a deserted street where he finally stopped.
"Flora, we need to talk." He repeated his earlier statement.
Flora frowned, still looking out of the car window with crossed arms, not intending to glance at the man next to her. He showed no respect for her, so she didn't want to acknowledge such a person.
Matthew clenched his fists, slamming one onto the steering wheel, clearly frustrated. The woman beside him was always defiant, always in opposition to him.
"Don't forget, your two children are in my custody..." He threatened, left with no other choice.
To Flora, his threat was the most foolish thing the man beside her could utter. Their child was his as well... but at the moment, she suddenly couldn't find the words to describe this bizarre blood relationship.
Only then did she turn to face him, querying: "What do you want?"
"Nothing at all, just be my woman."
It wasn't the first time he had proposed this to her, and he himself was surprised at the extraordinary patience he could offer her.
But... just looking at her sitting silently next to him, he wanted to reach out and pull her into his arms. Regardless of social status, family background, or the fact that she had two children of her own.
Nor did he care about her motives for approaching him.
"Director, if you've had too much to drink, don't drive. It's not safe." Flora gently smiled, treating his previous words as the nonsense of a drunk man.
And if it was just the babbling of a drunk man, it was only for amusement. There was no need to take it seriously.
Matthew looked at her for a long time, then without saying a word, he started the car, returning to the familiar road, taking Flora home.
But at the start of the road, he made a detour to a small locksmith shop.
"Hello, could you help me change the lock on my house? My home lock is old and rusty... it's not safe."
The locksmith nodded in agreement, quickly gathering his tools and followed the luxury car into a small alley. A small house that wasn't at all compatible with the car parked outside left the locksmith slightly surprised.
Flora frowned, giving Matthew a bullet-like stare: "What are you doing? My door lock works fine..."
"Not good enough." Matthew responded flatly: "Change it, makes it easier for me to catch any intruder."
Catch what intruder? She wasn't even his to begin with.
Flora was steaming with anger. If she could, she'd like to grab this man by his hair and slam his detestable stony face. But sadly she couldn't. In terms of status, power, or the balance of forces, he far surpassed her.
Waiting for the locksmith to finish his tinkering, he pulled her into the house and closed the door. The enclosed space housed only the two of them.
"Tell me. Do you want to be Ethelbert's fiancée or my woman?" He wasn't one to go back for old grass. This was a first.
"What do you mean by your woman?"
Flora didn't answer hastily. She retorted with a question.
Hearing the words "my woman" from Matthew's lips, she knew what he meant. Asking was merely to confirm her own guess.
The man slightly furrowed his brows: "My woman means my woman. What else could it mean?"
"Is that so? Then I can give you an answer... I, Flora, do not want to be your woman." Flora gave a self-deprecating smile: "I don't want to be the woman who sees you in the shadows. I don't need your money, nor do I need to take advantage of you, is that clear enough?"
Matthew stepped back, maintaining an appropriately polite distance in an instant.
For the first time, he found himself rebuffed by a woman. The sensation was not one he relished. However, he was not one to coerce. Her refusal, thus, was to be respected.
"Your daughter has been running a fever these past few days. I'll take the morning off tomorrow to bring her to the doctor."
His tone had returned to its usual cold detachment.
Flora lowered her gaze, taking a moment to ponder. With Ethelbert's watchful eyes on her, she could not be there for her little one. She had but one choice left - to rely on the man standing before her.
Even though she had just rebuffed him.
"I... I can't be there to pick her up. Matthew, could you help me? Just ensure they're safe for the time being, that's all I ask."
"And just who do you think you are? Why should I protect your child?" Matthew laughed, as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world.
She was quite a puzzle. Having just rejected him, she was now asking him to look after her child. He was a normal man, not a charity, with no spare time to take care of two kids who had no relation to him.
Although he was fond of the two children, at the end of the day, they were not his.
Flora met his gaze: "Because you have a responsibility towards them too."
"Responsibility? Are you out of your mind? Or... are you afraid that the children will bother you when you're trying to seduce other men?"
A crisp slap echoed. Flora stared at her reddened, trembling hand in disbelief. She couldn't believe she had actually slapped Matthew across the face.
Matthew was just as stunned. He had never considered this possibility.
Not many had dared to confront him head-on, let alone slap him. It seemed only this woman had the audacity to do so.
"How dare you slap me? You're gutsier than I thought."
He advanced towards her, Flora retreating step by step, increasingly on the back foot. He pushed her onto the couch, leaning over her, his lips grazing the delicate skin of her neck.
Then he heard a plaintive whisper: "Why... why on earth are there men like you? You said you would not coerce anyone..."
Matthew jerked his head back, looking into her eyes. A solitary tear trickled down her face, her countenance grim, as if accusing him of heinous crimes.
Just then, the phone rang, interrupting their tussle and his train of thought.
"We've discovered Ethelbert's plan. Do you have time to hear it?" A familiar voice sounded at the other end.
Matthew straightened up and walked over to the window.
"Go ahead."
He spent a long time on the phone. Long enough for the remnants of the emotional storm to dissipate completely. By the time he hung up, he could think clearly.
It was he who had put Flora in danger. He had a responsibility towards her and her children; it wasn't an unreasonable demand.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of the kids." He whispered into Flora's ear.
She was face down in the pillow, silent. He couldn't tell if she heard him, but he didn't care. He knew what he had to do, and he would do it.
Her defiance and opposition today was no pretense. He was no fool, he had realized his misunderstanding of her. She wasn't the type of woman who would cheaply sell herself out, like his mother.
On the contrary, even if it meant enduring it alone, she was prepared to protect her loved ones at all costs.
Matthew had just stirred up some trouble. Early the next morning, Ethelbert was on her doorstep.