Veronica wasn’t surprised by Matthew’s appearance. However, the man who used to be so high and mighty suddenly apologizing to her made her somewhat surprised.
Leaning against his chest, she let his familiar scent fill her senses. Instantly, the complicated emotions in her heart dissipated. She trusted Matthew, but seeing him so intimate with Eviette today inevitably made her jealous. “Explain yourself?”
At first, Veronica didn’t think much about it, but Matthew’s sudden attitude made her feel that the situation wasn’t that simple. Although he was in the room, it was dark because the room card was not inserted, and Veronica still had the room card in her hand.
In the darkness, Matthew held Veronica tightly as if afraid she would turn around and leave if he let go. Sensing his hesitation, Veronica was sure that there was more to the story, so she inserted the room card, and the room instantly lit up as bright as day.
She held his hand, and the two looked at each other. Even though it was just eye contact, it was enough to calm her restless mood.
The two sat down on the couch, and Veronica got up to the liquor cabinet and took out a bottle of red wine and two wine glasses. Then, she opened the bottle and poured the content into two glasses. She handed one of the glasses to Matthew. “Since you did this, there must be a reason. I still believe in you.”
Matthew’s face was filled with worry, and his slender fingers reached up to tug at the tie around his neck. He leaned forward, spread his legs, and rested his elbows on his knees. With one hand holding the wine glass, he lowered his head in contemplation. After a while, he apologized, “I’m sorry. There are certain things that I should have told you from the beginning. Do you remember a person called ‘Flavian’ who came to our house before?”
Flavian? Veronica pondered for a moment and remembered the day at Pinewoods Villa when her parents came over, and they were having dinner. One of the maids suddenly came and told them that a man by the name ‘Flavian’ was here to see Matthew.
“Yes, I remember.” Veronica nodded. Matthew’s expression became serious. Hel raised his glass and drank the wine in one gulp, leaned back on the couch, exhaled, and continued, “His name is Flavian Kings.”
“Flavian Kings?” Suddenly, Veronica was a little puzzled. The name somehow rang a bell to her. After a few seconds of silence, she suddenly realized. “Isn’t Flavian Kings your deceased father? How is he still alive?”
Matthew shook his head, lowered his gaze, and glanced at the transparent wine glass in his hand. Heavy emotions were written all over his face. In front of Veronica, he never pretended to be someone else.
“He didn’t die. Flavian had an affair with another woman shortly after marrying my mother. At first, it was kept a secret, but the truth was eventually revealed. Women in that era had conservative traditional values, so my mother never thought of getting a divorce. She tolerated everything until she fell ill in the end. Later, my grandmother found out about this and ordered Flavian to cut ties with the other woman, or she would cut off all ties with him. To this day, he never agreed.
“Due to that, my mother died of depression. Flavian never repented and was cut off from our family by my grandmother and was declared ‘dead’ to the outside world. I only learned the truth about this many years later, but I didn’t want to get involved. I thought the matter had ended there, but Flavian suddenly appeared more than a month ago, wanting to acknowledge me as his son.
“For a selfish person like him to suddenly show up must mean that he carries a purpose. Besides, he is now thriving in Kyoland and has his own family. He doesn’t need to seek for me again.”
