Take My Breath Away

With one of her disarming smiles, Erica put the rest of the money back into the bag. Her grip on the arm of the housemaid did not relax. "Please help me..."

She whispered what she had in mind into the maid's ear. As she listened, the maid's face went pale, until finally she tried to return the money. Shaking her head frantically, she stammered, "No, no, no. The Su family are not to be trifled with. If they learn of this, they'll make me suffer for it!"

Erica held her gaze and tried to be reassuring. "That doesn't matter. You have nothing to be afraid of. This is more money than you'd get in several years at this job. So even if they fire you, you can just take the money, go somewhere else, and find a new job!"

"Well..." The maid hesitated, her eyes wavering between Erica and the money. "No, I can't. What if they send me to prison?"

Erica stuffed the cash into her hands again. "They can't do that," she insisted. "What I'm asking you to do is not against the law. The worst they can do is drive you out of the Su family. I'm telling you, don't worry. I'm Matthew Huo's wife. You saw us together. Even if they do throw you out for helping me, you'll be all right. I will ask my husband to find a better job for you!"

Biting her lip, the maid tried to think it over. She had seen Matthew before. At the time, though, she had thought that Erica was his sister or something—not his wife.

Fearing that she was still not convinced, Erica went on. "Look, I am not asking you to kill anybody or set something on fire. I'll give you my phone number. Call me if anything happens to you."

Another moment passed, and finally the maid nodded in agreement.

At ZL Group

After getting out of her afternoon class, Erica went to Matthew's office again.

As she navigated the maze of lobbies and hallways, she overheard a number of employees gossiping about herself and her husband. They seemed to think Mr. and Mrs. Huo had to love each other very much, since she came to see him so often at work.

Erica casually flipped her bangs and traded easy smiles with passersby. It occurred to her then that it would be best if she came by even more often. She needed to find more opportunities to cultivate her relationship with Matthew, so that she would be secured as Mrs. Huo.

As it happened, Matthew was not in the office. Paige said that he'd gone out to meet a client.

Left to her own devices, Erica produced her camera and wandered about the office, taking pictures of whatever caught her attention. First it was Matthew's ridiculously expensive, gadget-laden desk. Next came the wine rack that most people weren't supposed to know about. Eventually she got bored enough to even start photographing his trophies, one by one.

An hour later, there was the smooth click of the office door opening.

Reflexively, Erica pivoted toward the sound and snapped a picture. Glancing at the screen, she found that she'd taken a rather clean and appealing photo of Matthew striding through the doorway.

It took him a fraction of a second to recognize the loud click of the camera's shutter. Spotting his wife, he gave her a nod. "Ten million for a photo," he told her, deadpan. "Keep taking!" He didn't bother to mention that that was at a ninety-percent discount; she was his wife, after all.

'Ten million for a photo?' thought Erica, not getting the joke. Fumbling, she put the camera away and smiled apologetically. "Oh, Matthew, you know I'm poor—" she began.

"Poor you may be, but you still have enough money to pay for the photos!" Matthew observed.

"Oh, honey..." Sweetening her voice, Erica left the camera case on the desk, drew near, and hugged him. It was best for her to be a flirt now. Erica wouldn't dare to act this way in front of her father or brother; if she tried, they would think she'd lost her mind and probably have her committed. However, she'd begun to think that acting more coquettish with her husband would work to her advantage.

Yet she failed to notice the slight smile that it put on Matthew's face. Not only was this woman becoming more comfortable around him, but she also called him "honey" more often than before. More importantly, it was sounding less forced on her part.

"Honey," Erica said again, "we are a married couple. And I just spent one hundred thousand dollars today—" She stopped as though cut off by the noise of a gunshot. Quite against her original intent, she had let the cat out of the bag already.

To his credit, Matthew didn't look terrible concerned—or surprised. "Oh, really. What did you buy today?" he asked.

"Well, I didn't exactly buy anything..." Erica fumbled over the words. Technically they were true; she had bribed the maid of the Su family. But that, of course, would be rather difficult to explain to him.

In general, Matthew didn't care much what Erica spent his money on, but he seemed to find a trace of guilt on her face. This aroused his curiosity.

He pulled from Erica—not roughly, though—and looked her up and down. He saw a hole in her trousers.

Staying casual, he asked, "Where did you go today?"

Erica's eyes avoided his. Nervously, she scratched the back of her head, then indicated the camera on the desk. "I went to school after waking up. After class, I came to see you because I missed you!"

'Missed me, huh?' Matthew thought. He was silent for a while, then asked, "Do you want me to reimburse you ten times over for what you spent today?"

'Ten times? Then it will be one million dollars!' Erica's eyes lit up. "Of course! I-I mean, no...no need for that." It was extraordinary to see: One instant she was all excited and then, mid-sentence, she was back to being her mild, undemanding self. It wasn't for nothing; if Matthew reimbursed her, he would definitely want to know what she had spent the one hundred thousand dollars on. The only way to keep it under wraps would be to just move on, like it hadn't happened.

As Erica inwardly grappled with this, she failed to notice that her behavior had made Matthew even more suspicious than before; now he was certain that something unusual was going on. Turning and strolling toward his desk, he said, "Did you come here for anything at all in particular?"

"Oh no, nothing. I just wanted to ask what you would like to eat tonight. Do you have any appointment for dinner?" She was afraid that Phoebe would call him for comfort, so she wanted to occupy his time first.

"Yes," he said.

Somewhat disappointed, Erica started for the door. "Well, then I'll go home first!"

"Wait!"

She stopped and turned around.

Matthew produced his checkbook, a doubtful look on his face. "You really don't want me to reimburse you for the one hundred thousand dollars?"

Erica's face twitched. She was about to blurt out an affirmative, but held it in at the last second. "No, I don't need it this time. You've reimbursed me a lot already!"

Her husband didn't seem to hear the refusal; his pen was already scratching across the check. "I said that I would reimburse you for all your expenses, and this is no exception. Take the check and leave!"

Grinning from ear to ear despite herself, Erica walked over, took the check, and looked it over. She almost swore out loud when she read it. 'Seven figures! It's really ten times the reimbursement!'

Overcome with emotion, the miser kissed the little slip of paper once, then again. Remembering her husband, she threw her arms around his neck and cried, "Matthew, honey, I love you so much!"

She planted a fierce, wet kiss on each of his cheeks. Suppressing a laugh, he deftly took out a handkerchief, wiped his face, and pulled away from her.

Trying to look a little disgusted, Matthew said, "Look, why don't you be on your way? I don't want to see you, or anyone, for a little while." Seeing how she had reacted to the check, he wanted to test which was more important in his wife's heart: himself or his money.

Slipping the check into a pocket, she said, "Honey, if you don't want to see me, why don't you give me another million? I promise that I wouldn't go home tonight then!"

Her tone suggested that it was a joke, but it left Matthew speechless all the same. His expression froze in a broken sort of smile—really, it was more of a grimace.

There was no need for a test, he realized. The truth was obvious already. Money was more important in Erica's heart!

His mind spun with confusion. Wesley and Blair were not mean people. Not only that, but Gifford gave a considerable living allowance to Erica every month, despite the fact that his sister routinely drove him crazy. Why did this little woman still carry herself as if she was so poor?

Clearly, whether a person loved money was not solely dependent upon their financial condition.

Finally he spoke, his voice cold—he almost didn't realize he was speaking. "How about I give you a billion dollars? And in return you could give up the title of Mrs. Huo, and I'd let Phoebe—"

Before he could finish his words, Erica slapped the check heavily on the desk. "A billion dollars? Here's something worth a billion dollars: send Phoebe to the slum!"

Once again Matthew was speechless. It seemed like every word his wife spoke flipped his mood on its head. He asked her another question then. Privately he thought it was a very childish question, but he couldn't help himself. "Erica, in your eyes, which is more important: the title of Mrs. Huo...or me?"