Take My Breath Away

Fanya cut one of the medallions of foie gras on her plate elegantly without looking at her daughter. "Why wouldn't she be arrogant? Erica's one of the Li family, a renowned military family in A Country. She's always been a selfish bitch. Now that she got her claws into Matthew Huo, she's even worse," she sneered.

Her words made the food in Phoebe's mouth hard to swallow. Erica's connections made her impossible to touch. Her family was rich and powerful. "If you have any better ideas on how to bring her down, I'm all ears."

'They don't have any better ways of dealing with Erica, do they? Why does it always come down to me?' she thought to herself.

"I had good ideas, but you screwed up everything!" Camille spat. It was an accusatory tone, full of contempt and blame.

She had wanted to build a close relationship with the Huo family, but she was even further from her goal thanks to Tessie and Phoebe.

After a moment's silence, Phoebe gritted her teeth and said, "We could hire someone to..." She dragged her index finger across her throat. A gesture that indicated murder.

Bang! Fanya dropped her knife and fork. The knife and fork hit the plate and made a sharp sound. She stared at her daughter with an expression of astonishment. "Are you crazy, Phoebe Su? Are you seriously threatening a member of the Li family? Do you have a death wish? Are you out of your damn mind?"

Even if they succeeded, they probably wouldn't get away with it. And if Matthew weren't able to figure it out, Wesley and Gifford likely would.

"They'd find out. Matthew, Gifford, Wesley, it doesn't matter who. And they'd come after us. They might kill every last member of the Su family to get back at us."

Phoebe's body trembled, and her face became even paler, if possible. "Okay, okay. Point taken."

Then silence reigned in the dining room of the Su family. Only the sound of knives and forks colliding with the dishes could be heard.

They couldn't even take Erica down after sacrificing the baby in Phoebe's belly. The Su family needed to think this over more carefully.

Phoebe complained of being weak from the miscarriage, so after she was done with dinner, she went upstairs. Her mom and dad followed. Camille got a phone call, so she waited downstairs until she was done. Eventually, she started to climb the stairs herself.

However, as soon as Camille reached the second floor, she heard an earth-shattering scream. "Aaargh!"

That was Phoebe! Everyone in the house heard it, too. Then the door to her room opened, and she crawled out.

"Phoebe! What's wrong?" Camille asked as she stood straight and looked at her sister with contempt.

'Now I think I know why Mom and Dad don't like Phoebe or Tessie. Look at her! She's a mess! We're rich and powerful, and she acts like this! She just literally crawled out of the room. Like a lizard! This would be really embarrassing if this got out, ' she thought.

Lyman heard the noise, and rushed out to the hall to find out what was up. He stared Phoebe huddled on the floor, trembling and stuttering. She'd been frightened half to death. But by what?

Concern was evident in his gaze. She was his own daughter, after all. He walked over to her and helped her up. "What's wrong, Phoebe?" he asked in a worried tone.

"Dad, Dad..." Seeing that it was her father, Phoebe rushed into his arms and sobbed uncontrollably. "S-s-snake! There's a-a snake in my room!"

'Snake? But our villa is in a suburb. We're too close to the city for random critters to show up.

How could there be a snake?'

When Camille heard about the snake, a touch of fear flashed through her eyes. She tightened her grip on the phone.

So did Fanya. Panic contorted her normally calm face. She clapped her hands and summoned several maids who were all upstairs as well. "Go to Phoebe's room and see what's going on!"

The maids weren't stupid. They weren't going any further, because they were also afraid of the snake.

Most people had a natural aversion to snakes.

When Camille saw them hesitating, anger gushed out from the bottom of her heart. She ordered coldly, "Hurry up! Didn't you hear me?"

One of the maids in her twenties was pushed forward. She was normally a braggart, but being singled out like this was not something she liked. She had no love for snakes either. She shivered and slowly walked toward Phoebe's room.

When she passed by Phoebe, she asked, "Miss Su, where's the snake? I've been volunteered for reptile duty!"

"It's... on the bed."

When the maid entered the room, everyone held their breath and waited a few seconds. Then a scream was torn from the maid's throat. "Aaargh!"

The maid suddenly rushed out, trembling. Tears were in her eyes. She told everyone standing in the hallway, "She's right! There's a snake in there! A green one... It's coiled up on the bed. Boo...hoo..." In the end, the maid was scared to tears, and she saw the snake's long, thin tongue flickering in and out of its mouth.

Fanya felt her blood freeze, and then calmly ordered, "Quick! Close the door and call animal control!"

"Yes! Mrs. Su."

Half an hour later, a staff member of the animal control came downstairs with a box containing the snake. He addressed Lyman first. "Mr. Su, we caught your snake. There was no need for all the fuss—it's just a king ratsnake. It's not poisonous or anything. We searched the house just in case, but it looks like you're snake-free for the time being."

"Thank you," said Lyman politely.

"You're welcome!"

Fanya suddenly asked, "Sir, why is there a snake in our villa? We've lived here more than ten years, and this has never happened."

"First time for everything, I guess. Maybe the snake slithered up the gutter and dropped onto the balcony, but this is just conjecture at this point. Well, we've done our job. If you need anything more, it's a police matter."

And Phoebe did have a balcony. The supposition seemed reasonable. But their backyard led to a meadow, left alone by the city to prevent urban sprawl. It was possible it could have come from there. But this was the second floor, and it might not be easy for the snake to make its way up here.

"Okay, I see. Thank you, sir!"

After the animal control staff left, Fanya called the police.

That night, in the Pearl Villa District, for the sake of the twelve billion dollars, Erica stepped out of her dress, used a deeper shade of red lipstick, and winked at the man stepping out of the shower. "Honey, let's do this."

Matthew was thrilled

and pounced on her.

On the second night, in order to get the twelve billion, Erica took some pain medication and choked back sobs. She hesitated to take off her dress this time. "Matthew...are you ready?" Another sleepless night passed.

On the third night, for the sake of the twelve billion, Erica popped more pills and cried. "I don't think I can... Boo...hoo..."

The man pulled her into his arms and whispered, "Twelve billion..."

"Well...maybe for that much..." Sure enough! Human beings work themselves to death to get a little extra cash.

After getting out of bed the next morning, Erica immediately bought herself an insurance policy worth a ton. She was afraid that she would not get anything if she died in bed.

She wasn't thinking of herself, though. The beneficiaries were Wesley and Blair.

A few days later, when Erica was photographing a large patch of flowers in the suburbs, she received a call from the maid in the Su family.

The maid sobbed the moment the call was connected. "Mrs. Huo, they found out. They knew I let you in. Now they are going to run me in for attempted murder. What should I do?" Her words devolved into sobs.

"The snake wasn't poisonous, right? What makes it attempted murder?" Erica was very angry.