NovelEnglish"Everything's been settled, Evelyn. There's only one thing that hasn't been taken care of yet, but that's coming!" Erica said. She hadn't figured out what to do with Tessie and Lenora yet. The young newlywed was still discussing this with Matthew.
"That's good. Anything I can do to help?"
"Thanks, Evelyn. But I think I'm good. Matthew H...Matthew took care of everything. He's so good to me." And the events of recent days had taught her that. She had always been grateful to him. She might as well invite him to dinner to thank him for his help.
Evelyn nodded, "Nice! Well, dinner's almost ready. We probably need to get in there. Let's go."
"Okay."
The noise level was rather high. The Huo family was a big one, so that was to be expected. They all chatted and bantered back and forth, gathered around a huge table in the dining room.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtEventually the topic turned towards attractiveness. Erica decided to suck up to her elders. "Hey, Dad, you were pretty hot back in the day. You could have been a model or a movie star. You still could, to be honest."
Matthew snorted. 'She's defiant and arrogant around me. Why do they get all the love?"
She had them charmed. The more she talked, the deeper Matthew's frown became.
"Why the frown, Son? Rika is young and playful. You should enjoy having a woman like that," Carlos said.
Debbie echoed, "That's right. Rika doesn't even have any makeup. If I hadn't reminded Matthew last time, she still wouldn't have any."
It was not until then that Erica realized that it was Debbie who had reminded Matthew to buy the makeup that sat on her dresser. She smiled sweetly at Debbie and said, "Thank you, Mom!"
"No need to thank me. Hey—if you need something and Matthew doesn't pick it up for you, just remind the guy. Matthew, you should learn from Sheffield and Joshua. Look how they treat your sisters!" In Debbie's eyes, Sheffield and Joshua were the perfect sons-in-law. They could do no wrong and treated her daughters like queens.
Matthew put down the wet tissue in his hand and looked at the others indifferently. "If you could see how she treats me at home..."
The smile on Erica's face froze. She pinched the man under the table and thought, 'Couldn't he say something nice about me?'
Matthew held her hand and continued, "I carry her up the stairs, cook for her, wash he
e was being targeted and shot down at every turn. And worse, it was over her.
The longer this went on, the worse she felt. She poured a glass of red wine for Matthew, filled a bowl of soup for him, and served it to him with a smile. "I'm sorry, Matthew. Have some soup."
It was obvious that she was trying to please him.
However, this scene made everyone overreact again. They all thought that it was because Matthew was angry and Erica was afraid of him so she acted like a servant to mollify him.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmDebbie tried her best to sound patient. "Rika, Matthew should be serving you soup, not the other way around. He's a man, and men take care of their wives."
Erica hadn't expected to hear that. "It's okay, Mom. It's just a bowl of soup."
Carlos began, "Are you seriously pouting? Look how scared Rika is. Hurry up and grab some food for your wife!"
Matthew felt hopeless and helpless. What did he do wrong? He did nothing and said nothing. Why were they constantly harping on him? It was like he could do nothing right.
He really didn't feel like part of the family anymore.
Without saying a word, he picked up the chopsticks and began to pick up food for Erica. He also glared at his wife, who was struggling to control her laughter.
"Dad, I saw Matthew glaring at Rika! Give him a talking-to." Sheffield decided to rat on Matthew, telling Carlos, as if he thought there was too much peace in the house.
Matthew had done the same to him many times before. Evelyn always got mad at Sheffield thanks to Matthew's meddling. Now it was his turn.
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