"N-No, it's not necessary."
The reward of 100 million was tempting, of course, but it was Matthew that Tiffany really had her eye on. She shook her head with a gentle smile, saying, "Even if it was someone else who was in danger that day, I would've saved them as well. And besides, no one would just watch from the sidelines and do nothing in that kind of situation."
Matthew replied, "If you don't want the compensation, you can tell your father to contact my personal secretary directly. I'll give preference to the Floch Group when it comes to my company's projects."
The Floch Group was the company owned by Tiffany's father. A polite smile crossed Tiffany's pretty, lightly made-up face. "Thanks for your kindness, Young Master Matthew, but it really isn't necessary."
As soon as she finished her sentence, however, Matthew's cell phone suddenly rang.
"Excuse me, I've got a call to answer."
He picked up the phone and noticed that it was an incoming call from Thomas, his personal secretary. He asked, "What's the matter?"
"Sorry for my incompetence, Young Master Matthew. I didn't get to do what you'd asked of me. Old Mrs. Kings has taken Miss Murphy back to the Kings Residence," replied Thomas, who then told Matthew everything that had happened over the phone.
"Why would Grandma be there all of a sudden?"
"I don't know about that either."
Thomas also wondered how come Elizabeth would be so well-informed. At the thought of this, he immediately added, "But judging from what she said, it seems like she wants you to marry Miss Murphy."
Matthew frowned slightly at Thomas' words. He replied coldly, "That's wishful thinking."
Then, he hung up and stared thoughtfully at his phone's screen.
On the other hand, Tiffany couldn't stop her heart from beating fast at the sight of Matthew's handsome face as she sat across from him. It took forever to calm her fluttering heart. Before she came here, Rachel had reminded her again and again to play hard to get with Matthew to arouse the man's interest.
Keeping Rachel's advice in mind, she took the opportunity and said, "Young Master Matthew, I'm pleased to see that you're safe and sound."
"Pleased?"
"Yeah."
Tiffany nodded slightly while acting like an innocent and naive young lady. "Actually, whenever I help somebody, I'll feel a little pleased."
She sounded as though she liked helping people and had done so many times. In Bloomstead's upper-class circle, Tiffany was the No. 1 beauty commended by everyone for both her beauty and her talent. Even though the Larson Family was ranked at the bottom of the list of top businessmen and prominent figures in Bloomstead, Tiffany's own charisma had brought a lot of business to the family.
Just then, the waiter knocked on the door and began to serve the food.
Tiffany said, "Let's dig in, Young Master Matthew. I'm really sorry, but I've got to go to the orphanage on the outskirts at 1:30PM. If I'm late, the kids there will be upset."
God only knew that in order to build a wonderful image for Tiffany, her parents didn't only force her into learning miscellaneous things at an early age but also had her do more charity work to create a perfect image for herself. This time, though, Tiffany only said she was going to the orphanage in order to show Matthew her "virtues" while playing hard to get.
Undeniably, Tiffany was a "fine" lady, but Matthew couldn't help feeling that the woman before him wasn't as simple as she seemed. Suddenly recalling what Thomas had said just now, he asked right away, "Miss Larson, since you're so interested in helping others, I wonder if you can do me another favor."
"Huh? What is it?"
"Could you pose as my girlfriend?"
"Girlfriend?"
Tiffany's heart thumped wildly; she was overwhelmed by the unexpected surprise. Seems like Mom's advice of playing hard to get really works!
Swallowing a mouthful of saliva, she held her spoon and fork with fair hands for a few seconds before putting them down. Then, she asked a little crossly, "What do you mean, Young Master Matthew?"
Matthew replied, "My family has arranged a marriage for me, but I don't like it, so I'd like to have you pose as my girlfriend for a while. You may ask for whatever you want when it's done."
"Why me?"
Tiffany asked with feigned composure while suppressing her excitement.
The man cast a sidelong glance at her indifferently. "You can turn me down too," he said impassively.
"I…"
Tiffany hesitated. In the end, she couldn't hold herself back. "Well, now that you've said so, Young Master Matthew, how can I turn you down?"
She dreamed of becoming Matthew's wife. Now that she had an opportunity to stand beside him, she feared that she wouldn't have another opportunity if she turned him down.
Unbeknownst to her, the instant she agreed to Matthew's request, the man's thin lips curved up into a barely noticeable smirk. As expected, she's no different from those women who have thrown themselves at me, he thought. He even wondered whether Tiffany saving him that day was a sheer coincidence or a meticulously planned scheme.
Chapter 4:
In the living room of the Kings Residence, Veronica, who had been forcibly brought here, made up an excuse in an attempt to leave. "It's getting late, madam. I've got to go to the hospital to deliver meals to my parents."
However, Elizabeth replied kindly, "I've sent someone to get your parents transferred to the Kings Family's private hospital. They'll be taken care of by professionals, so you may rest assured."
Upon hearing her words, Veronica jumped to her feet with a deep frown. She asked, "Madam, by having my parents transferred to another hospital without my permission, are you trying to use coercion against me?"
"What nonsense are you thinking about, young lady?"
Instead of getting enraged by Veronica's question, Elizabeth laughed. "Speaking of it, it's fate that brought you and my grandson together. You also know that Matthew—that rascal—never had a woman around him despite his age. So, I could only resort to unscrupulous means by drugging him. At first, I wanted to bring him and the Spencer Family's daughter together, but who would've known that he ended up sleeping with you instead? Luckily, you're not bad either."
Upon listening to her words, Veronica finally realized why Matthew got drugged. Turns out that I was thrown together with that jerk by a cruel twist of fate!
"I—"
Just as she was about to speak, a silver-haired old butler came in. "Young Master Matthew's here, Old Madam."
"Tell that brat to get in."
"Yes, Old Madam."
The butler turned around and left. Matthew came in right afterward. Dressed in a silvery-gray suit, he looked straight at Veronica before turning his gaze to Elizabeth. "Grandma."
"I thought you wouldn't come back anymore," Elizabeth mocked grumpily. Then, she pointed at Veronica, saying, "Well, you're here just in time. Let me introduce someone to you—"
Matthew interrupted Elizabeth before the latter could finish her sentence. "That can wait, Grandma. Let me introduce my girlfriend to you first."
Stunned, Elizabeth seemed quite surprised. "Girlfriend?"
Veronica was even more astounded. God only knew how aggrieved she felt deep down. If Elizabeth had known more about her grandson, she wouldn't have lost her chastity!
"Come in," Matthew said to someone outside the door.
Everyone immediately focused their gaze on the outside before they saw a woman dressed in a waisted aqua blue pleated dress coming in on high heels with her head down.
Why does this woman's figure look so familiar? thought Veronica.
"This is my girlfriend, Tiffany," said Matthew as he introduced Tiffany to Elizabeth.
Upon hearing Tiffany's name, Veronica was immediately stunned. While Veronica was staring at Tiffany, the latter also looked up at her. As their gazes met, the sisters could hardly conceal the surprise in their eyes, and they had the same doubts in mind. Why her? Why is she here?
On the other hand, Elizabeth, who was older and thus much more perceptive, hit the nail on the head by asking, "Isn't she Tiffany Larson, the Larson Family's gifted daughter who's famous in Bloomstead for her beauty and talent? How did you get her to pose as your girlfriend?"
"Nice to meet you, Old Mrs. Kings."
Tiffany greeted Elizabeth politely.
"I had a car accident a week ago, and Tiffany was the one who saved me. When she got me out of the car, I gave her the ring that was handed down in our family. You should know what this ring means, Grandma," Matthew said while raising his left hand to show the ring he was wearing.
Looking at the black diamond ring, Veronica instantly recalled what had happened. No wonder there was a ring in my pocket after I saved Matthew that day! Turns out that he put it in my pocket when I saved him, she thought. However, the ring went missing after Tiffany popped up the next day, and she wondered at the time where the ring had gone. At the moment, it seemed that Tiffany had stolen it, having known long ago that the ring belonged to Matthew!
Veronica stood up. "That ring was—"
"Why are you here, Veronica? I didn't expect to meet you here."
Tiffany instinctively interrupted Veronica. Suppressing the shock within her, she held Matthew's wrist and said, "Veronica, he's the guy I told you about—the guy that I risked my life saving."
Then, she introduced Veronica to Matthew, saying, "Matthew, she's Veronica, a friend I got acquainted with while doing food delivery to experience life."
Veronica was really disgusted by Tiffany's brazen-faced lies. There was even a moment when she wanted to speak out and unmask the lady's nauseatingly hypocritical and ugly nature, but she decided against it on second thoughts.
The only thing that could prove that Veronica had saved Matthew's life was the ring, the name she had used at the hospital, and the surveillance footage. However, the fact that Tiffany managed to steal the ring without anyone noticing and deceive Matthew meant that she must have checked the surveillance footage and been fully prepared. In other words, the surveillance footage might've been destroyed by the Larsons long ago.
If she were to step forward and accuse Tiffany at this moment, even if she were to remove her makeup, she would probably have no evidence to prove that she had saved Matthew's life. Rather than getting herself in trouble, she'd better wait and see what was going to happen.
Matthew sized Veronica up with narrow, piercing eyes that grew more and more fathomless. "Is that so?"
Tiffany said, "What a coincidence, Veronica! I didn't expect to meet you here. Do you know Matthew too?"
She remembered Matthew telling her that his family had arranged a marriage for him. Could Veronica be the woman that Old Mrs. Kings is trying to fix him up with? But how did she get to know the Kingses?
Tiffany was on tenterhooks deep down.
Veronica didn't bother to answer Tiffany, who was addicted to acting. Instead, she said to Elizabeth, "Madam, since Young Master Matthew already has a girlfriend, I've got no reason to be here anymore. I'm going back first."
She was sounding Elizabeth out to plan her next move. She had to be cautious against Matthew, who was powerful and ruthless, and the Larsons, who would threaten her at every moment using her adoptive parents.
Seeing that Veronica was turning around to leave, Elizabeth stood up and grabbed her hand. "Calm down, young lady! Sit down first."
She sat Veronica down in the chair. Then, she barked at Matthew, "Come with me, you rascal!"
"Yes, Grandma."
With that, Matthew followed Elizabeth into the inner room without forgetting to throw Veronica a meaningful look.
With a squeak, the door to the inner room closed.
Tiffany couldn't hold back her anger any longer. Stepping quickly toward Veronica, she uttered under her breath, "Veronica, you b—"
Slap! Slap!
Veronica boxed Tiffany's ears twice before the latter could finish her sentence.
"What else do you know besides calling me a b*tch? Oh, right, you know how to be a goody-two-shoes by taking credit away from others. Am I right, sis?"