True Love Waits novel Chapter 1353

"No, no. I mean, I can't leave now." Erica shook her head like a rattle drum. She just couldn't leave the village without finishing her mission.

"Are you sure?" Matthew asked with a frown. He couldn't fathom what was preventing her from wanting to leave this place.

"Yes, I'm certain!"

He put out the cigarette. Silence descended as the couple glared at each other. They had seemingly reached a stalemate. Owen stepped forward and said boldly, "Mr. Huo, it's late. Why don't we rest here tonight and talk about it tomorrow?"

'Talk about it tomorrow?' Matthew cast a cold glance at Owen and then at the woman who was clinging to the car door. "Lead the way!" he ordered gruffly.

Erica gritted her teeth and quickly straightened up. "Okay."

She thought that Matthew would sit in the car and follow her, but he didn't. The man strolled behind her, shadowed by his bodyguards. The drivers trailed behind them in the vehicles.

When she reached home, Pike's men were waiting for her at the door.

She ignored them and walked forward to open the door to the courtyard.

Pike and his men didn't have time to catch Erica even though she was right in front of them. Their hearts thumped when they saw the man trailing her. Where did this rich and powerful man come from?

After the door opened, she stepped aside and addressed Matthew with a smile, "Mr. Huo, this way, please."

Like Erica, Matthew didn't bother with the stunned people at the door. At her invitation, he reluctantly stepped into her yard.

While the couple could just ignore Pike and his gangsters, Owen couldn't. He winked at the two bodyguards and ordered, "Get rid of them."

"Yes, sir!"

After inviting the CEO, who didn't fit in here, to her room, Erica remembered something important. "Make yourself comfortable. I need to step out to do something."

The man, who had been surveying her house, which was less than thirty square meters in size, frowned. Confusion coursed through him, and he turned to glare at her, expecting an explanation.

After a pause, she clarified, "I asked Tessie to hide outside. She doesn't know that I have returned. I need to find her."

"Tessie?" He frowned.

"Yes." The woman blinked innocently.

The man's eyes lingered on her for a moment, and then he realized something. His tone was frigid as he said, "So, after leaving Cass that year, you went straight to the slum to find Tessie?"

Erica chuckled and confirmed, "Yes. If I hadn't gone there, you would have tracked me down and brought me back home."

Matthew took two steps forward. His glare was so cold that it could freeze her to death. "How could you live in a slum with my sons?"

He had to admit that Erica's plan had been effective. He had never suspected that she would have gone to the slum, let alone find Tessie.

"I had no choice. I had to avoid your men. Besides, I didn't starve your sons. We had lived like this for years, but I raised them to be healthy and happy boys." Erica didn't believe that it was a big deal. After all, they were boys. It was good for them to experience some early hardships so that they would treat their wives and parents well in the future.

Matthew realized that Erica still had the same characteristics as before. She hadn't changed much in these three years, except that she was now more capable of provoking those gangsters.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of something. For the time being, he dropped the argument with the woman. Instead, he walked silently to the small beds beside him. Five single beds had been arranged side by side in the room. These would be the beds that his four sons and Kenney had slept in.

As his back was toward her, Erica took the opportunity to sneak out of the room.