Chapter 275 Shortcut
Matthew eyed Veronica darkly as his lips pressed into a thin line. “So. We’ll be at an impasse until I give you what you want, is that it?”
He was one more push away from an outburst, but even so, he still spoke slowly and steadily. He was calm, much like how the seas and skies were before a storm, as if he was completely unaffected.
However, the more he behaved this way, the more anxious Veronica felt. She could sense that there was a fire burning in him, consuming him.
Nonetheless, she went on to add insult to injury as she drawled coquettishly, “You don’t have to sound like you’re forced into this. It’s not as if this is the first time you’ve tried to make me concede to you, right? Although…” She flashed him a captivating smile while her red scarf brought out a pink tinge to her flawless alabaster skin.
She looked as alluring as a poisonous poppy, but she was just as aggravating too.
He had fallen deeply for her, he realized grimly.
Having trailed off earlier, Veronica continued with wicked amusement, “I’ve never been one to run away in the face of fear, Matt, so do whatever you like. I promise I won’t tell Grandma about it, because I’m gracious like that.” As she said this, she reached up and pried his fingers off her scarf. She shrugged him off and turned to get out of the car. She slammed the door behind her and walked away without so much as a backward glance.
Left in the car with his insurmountable rage, Matthew clenched his fists and struck the steering wheel in front of him once, then pressed the heel of his palm into the horn several times, disrupting the winter serenity with several loud honks.
“Damn it!” he cursed aloud, then leaned back into his seat as he pinched the space between his brows. Out of nowhere, a sense of helplessness seized him.
He wondered if all these years of getting his way had corroded his reasoning mind, or if his affections for Veronica had clouded his judgment. Whenever she was around, he felt the need to subjugate her and make her accede without question.
However, his attempts to do just that had been to no avail, and he realized belatedly that her heart must be carved out of stone if she could stand up to him repeatedly, each time bolder than the last.
The series of failures had him questioning his own abilities. How is it that I’ve managed to conquer the business world but not one woman? Why is it so hard for me to win her over? He had lost, re-grouped, and refined his strategies, only to lose again. It was like he was trapped in some vicious cycle.
From the driver’s seat, he could see Veronica’s proud figure walking ahead. He pinched his brows as he watched her leave, and there was no telling what he was thinking about.
Meanwhile, Veronica was walking down the street huffily after leaving the car. As she kept up her pace, she held onto her phone and searched for nearby cars she could hail, but not a single driver was willing to pick her up. Worst still was the fact that there were no taxis driving by the area.
This is quite the conundrum, she admitted as she looked around.
Just then, her phone rang, and she hurriedly picked up the call when she saw Elizabeth’s name displayed on the screen. She felt quite odd receiving a call from her at such an odd hour. “Hello, Grandma.”
“Veronica, is it true that your master has been hospitalized after a bad fall?”
“Huh? Oh, right, yes.” Veronica slowed in her steps and turned around in disbelief. Sure enough, Matthew’s car was crawling up to her. What is that jerk up to now?
“It’s getting late, and I don’t want you to go back to Cabot Town alone. I’ve already spoken to Matthew and told him to drop you off.”
“No, there’s no need for that, Grandma. I can just get a cab—”
Elizabeth cut her off mid-sentence. “I’ve heard the rumors flying around these days too. You’d better believe that I gave Matthew a stern lecture, but he told me that the rumors only started after word got out that you became my god-granddaughter. He said he only did that for your best interests. Silly girl; you didn’t think he was actually out to get you, did you?”
Veronica rolled her eyes at Elizabeth’s explanation. Despicable! The guy’s shamelessness knows no bounds! He did it out of my ‘best interests’? Seriously? Should I thank him then? She was completely baffled by how low Matthew would stoop just to get his way. I can’t believe he actually lied to an old lady!
Not wanting to expose him for being the lying and scheming devil that he was, she had no choice but to go along with the false narrative as she replied, “Grandma, I never thought of him that way. I simply didn’t think it was safe for him to drop me off at this late hour.”
“Well, it’s all settled now. I’ll have that grandson of mine drop you off, and if he doesn’t, then he and I will have a good talk later.”
“Oh, uh, Grandma, I—”
“Bye-bye now!” Elizabeth hung up before Veronica could say anything.
Sighing as she listened to the series of beeps on the other line, Veronica quirked her lips unhappily, wondering what she had done to deserve all this.
A loud honk sounded next to her at that moment, and Matthew rolled down the car window with a roguish, triumphant smile playing on his lips. He said nothing, which infuriated Veronica even more.
She clutched her phone and opened the car door, then barked, “How low will you stoop, Matthew? Your grandmother is nearly in her seventies, and you actually bothered her with something like this? What are you, a kid?”
He kept his right hand on the wheel and tapped against the edge with his fingers, contemplating his reply. “I’m only acting on Grandma’s orders. If you have a problem with that, take it up to her.”
“You know what, just let me down here. You don’t have to see this trip till the end. I promise I won’t tell Grandma about this.” The last thing Veronica wanted was for him to come back to Cabot Town with her and create even more drama than there already was.
Matthew retracted his gaze and started the car, continuing down the road. “Should I be worried that lying is second nature to you? I wonder how Grandma would feel if she found out you were a habitual liar.”
Being called a habitual liar by the likes of him irked her to no end, but she let this slide. Far too tired to argue with him, she took off her scarf and draped it over herself, then closed her eyes as she willed sleep to come.
Next to her, Matthew knew that she was still suffering from bouts of insomnia, and he couldn’t bring himself to interrupt her rest. As such, he turned the heater on to full blast and cruised ahead.
Veronica had not had proper rest since Vincere Games was set up. She leaned into the seat and let the gentle swaying of the car treading down the road lull her into sleep.
Worried that she would be uncomfortable, Matthew lowered the back of her seat so that she could sleep better. Thankfully, it was lowered so slowly that there was no sudden impact that would have woken her up otherwise.
Just like that, she slept for a full two hours. Matthew had taken a shortcut to Cabot Town, and by the time Veronica woke up, there was about another hour’s drive left before they reached their destination.
“Where are we?” she asked groggily.
“Glensbury,” he replied.
“That’s fast,” she observed, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes as she sat up. It was only after she had gotten her bearings that she realized the back of her seat was lowered to a forty-five-degree angle. It was no wonder that she had slept soundly through the better part of the journey.
She frowned at the thought of this and began to question what Matthew’s intentions were. All this blowing hot-and-cold on his part was borderline psychotic.
“You don’t have to look at me with such immense gratitude,” he pointed out sarcastically. “I only did it because someone asked me to.”
Veronica actually believed that by ‘someone’, Matthew meant Elizabeth.
