Matthew slightly bowed his head, staring at the profile of the woman walking beside him. After a long while, he finally spoke: "Flora, I'm sorry..."
Flora stared straight ahead, nearly making Matthew believe she hadn't heard him. As he was about to repeat himself, she abruptly responded: "You didn't trust me." It was a statement, not a question: "You didn't trust me and didn't listen to my explanation. Do you know how important trust is in a relationship?"
Matthew hadn't known how important it was before. But now, he knew. He had experienced it himself.
"Things won't be the same from now on." he stated emphatically: "That was my mistake.
I will change.
From now on... whatever you do, I will trust and support you.
Can you forgive me?"
He didn't dare plead or beg, only managing to ask in the most nonchalant and casual tone he could muster.
He didn't impose on Flora, let alone dared force her to make a choice whether to forgive or not.
He had made up his mind that even if she did not forgive him, he would treat her with the utmost kindness, love, respect, and trust.
"Alright." Flora turned around, looked at him and nodded: "Alright, I forgive you, and I give you another chance.
Because I truly love you very much." She had been doing a lot of thinking in the recent days.
She loved him and wanted to be by his side until the end of her life, so she certainly could not carry on living with past mistakes forever.
Moreover, she too had been at fault in those past events.
At the very least, she hadn't been cautious enough to prevent a malicious person from plotting against her.
Matthew was flabbergasted, hardly believing the words he had just heard: "What did you just say? Can you repeat that?"
"I said, I forgive you." Flora reiterated, clearly and decisively.
Before she could finish, she was tightly embraced by the man before her.
His familiar warmth engulfed her, making her feel more secure and tranquil than ever before.
Perhaps, only by going through storms can love and family become a peaceful and happy harbor.
"All the past is over now.
I will resolve all troubles.
From now on, as long as you wish, I will definitely find ways to make it happen." he vowed in her ear.
Flora nodded.
She believed he would do his utmost to fulfill her wish because, her only desire was for the whole family to be healthy and happy together.
After a moment's thought, she asked him: "Shall we take a family photo, do you think it's alright? Our parents, the two of us, and our children..."
"No need for my parents." Matthew nodded and then shook his head.
For him, a family picture just needed Flora's parents, her and their children.
"Why not?"
"Because they're undeserving." Matthew sighed: "They never fulfilled their parental responsibilities.
My father never recognized my existence, never considered me as his son.
My mother couldn't even fend for herself, let alone bear the burden of a child, so she abandoned me on the streets."
His childhood years were painfully difficult, all he received was the malice of others, and countless deep wounds that soon turned into indelible scars.
He could not convince himself to forgive the people who had given him life only to ruthlessly discard him.
"But your father..." Flora hesitated.
"He let me back into the house, gave me the Charles surname, only because his beloved child died.
He had no heir, so he remembered he had a bastard son - me! I will never forgive him in this life!" The mere mention of the past stirred resentment within him.
Subsequently, he regretted showing his ugly side to Flora: "I'm sorry for losing my temper with you.
But if it weren't for my foster father, I would have died long ago, how could I survive until he sent someone to bring me to the Charles house?"
The ringtone of his phone in his pocket perfectly timed its ring.
Flora faintly smiled: "You take the call, I will check if Paul has slept." Without waiting for his nod, she headed straight towards the white building.
She didn't expect to hear a faint rustling sound behind a clump of trees, where she saw a slightly hunched back, and the suppressed sobbing of the person hiding there.
"Is this... his father? I wonder what he heard..." she pondered silently.
Most likely, he heard most of the story, hence reacted that way.
Matthew finished the call quickly, turned around to see that Flora hadn't left, and said: "I have to step out for a bit, will find you when I get back."
Flora nodded.
Perhaps Matthew was in a hurry, he didn't notice Flora's glance towards the bushes.
Once he was gone, she spoke: "Uncle, you... are you crying?"
"Flora? Why are you here..." The man sighed heavily, clumsily wiping his tears: "No, I wasn't crying... You're married to that boy, you should call me father."
Flora burst into laughter.
She never thought Matthew's father would be like this.
"What are you laughing at? Am I that funny?"
"Not at all, it's just..." Flora replied: "I laughed because you and he are very similar.
Clearly, he yearns for a complete family, but he dares not admit it.
And you, clearly you love him very much, but refuse to say it." She asked him directly: "Although his mother was... but if you wanted to know if he was really your biological son, surely you could have found a way, right? Like a DNA test.
Why did you kick him out of the house? Do you know... how much he had to suffer to survive?"
The man before her did not respond to her question, his brow tightly furrowed: "What is it? What are you trying to say? How could you... disregard others so?"
Was he... feeling indignant on behalf of Matthew's mother? Flora suddenly felt that behind this incident, there might be secrets that both she and Matthew were unaware of..
Matthew hastily departed, for Selena had chosen to fast, placing pressure on Mimi, coercing the little girl to arrange a meeting with him.
Mimi had no other choice, reluctantly dialling his number for him to handle the matter.
The hefty door opened.
Matthew stepped into the room, his face maintaining its frosty expression: "Why did you choose to fast?"
"Because I wanted to see you." Selena was sitting on the floor, seeing him enter, she slowly pushed herself to her feet: "It seems my tactics were successful.
You are here, are you not?"
"If you aren't honest with me, I will leave immediately." Matthew did not proceed further, instead decisively halting near the door.
Selena smirked: "In such a rush, are we? Of course, I have something to discuss with you." She chuckled, leaning against the wall, her index finger waving in the air: "I want to make a deal with you."
"You? What do you possess that could be worth bargaining for with me?" To Matthew, her words were nothing short of a joke.
"You release me, allow me to return to my country.
In return, I will help you keep an eye on my father.
Compared to Winky, I am definitely much more valuable, I can gain access to numerous secrets Winky would never have the chance to touch in his lifetime.
I will aid you in dealing with him, acquiring his power, to make you the underworld's kingpin."
Her proposition was enticing, yet Matthew shook his head: "I have no desire to be the kingpin of the underworld." This was his truth. After experiencing countless good and bad incidents, he had realised that compared to family, power and status meant absolutely nothing.
"I've decided, I will relinquish all of those things. All I want is to live a peaceful and happy life beside the people I love." Thinking of Flora and their children's smiles, he couldn't help but break into a smile: "Believe me or not, that's up to you.
But I genuinely no longer possess any ambitions towards those things.
I truly wish to advise you, stop being a pawn in others' games, live for yourself, and for the people you cherish."
That was all he had to say, whether Selena took his advice to heart, he was entirely unaware.
In these events, Selena was to be blamed, yet she also had her pitiful side.
Not long after Matthew left, an incident occurred outside Selena's holding room.
Mimi stood straight as a statue, silent.
Pressing against her temple was the menacing black muzzle of a gun.
"Winky, if you do this, aren't you afraid..."
Before she could finish her sentence, Winky interrupted: "I've nothing left to lose now, I'm afraid of nothing.
Take me to see her!"
"I haven't even finished talking, and you're interrupting? So impolite!" Mimi did not tremble, she rolled her eyes at Winky's gloomy expression: "You're so enamoured with that woman, does she know?" She asked, then answered herself: "Probably not, huh? If she knew about your feelings and appreciated you, she wouldn't have pulled those stunts... You've done well though, tracking her down here.
I'm extremely curious, how a cold-blooded woman like Selena managed to bewitch you?"
"Stop talking, quickly..." Winky didn't wish to prolong the conversation.
This was Matthew's territory, he was afraid of an ambush.
Mimi cut him off this time.
She powerfully kicked his gun-wielding hand, forcing the muzzle away.
"BANG..." The gunshot echoed harshly.
Mimi's kick didn't make Winky drop the gun.
She drew her knife, but couldn't match his speed.
He grabbed her hand, violently twisting her wrist, leaving her with no choice but to let go.
The razor-sharp knife clattered to the tiled floor, creating a chilling echo.
And the black muzzle once again pressed against Mimi's temple.
This time, Winky was more cautious, he growled: "Let me see her!"
A whirlwind of thoughts raced through Mimi's head.
She feigned a serious expression, punching in the access code to the door, allowing Winky to enter.
As soon as he stepped in, she swiftly took a step back.
The door slammed shut behind him.
Winky instinctively raised his gun.
But there was no one in front of him, only a network of brilliant red lasers woven together, forming an impregnable barrier.
And Mimi stood behind the closed door, her voice emitting from the speakers installed on the ceiling: "Winky, it's true I couldn't fight you, which is why I had to rely on 'other means'.
Take your time playing with this state-of-the-art security system my uncle spent a small fortune on."
Winky furrowed his brow deeply, studying the laser grid before him.
If he touched the lasers, he would certainly be injured, and it might set off an alarm, activating other security measures.
In solitary vigilance, he could potentially slip through the cracks, but certainly, he could not take Selena along. That was likely the intent of Mimi, or perhaps Matthew's.