Chapter 331 Matthew Tells Her to Get Lost
Everyone refused to let Matthew off. Veronica was too nervous to breathe. Standing there quietly, she watched the situation develop while looking for an opportunity to help Matthew. “That’s right. Matthew, Grandma is right. You should find a woman and get married to her,” she reminded him indirectly.
As things stood, he could now propose getting engaged to a woman and take his time with the proposal of marriage later. Even if he were to announce to everyone right now that he wanted to marry her, she wouldn’t turn him down. She would at least accept his proposal to stabilize the situation first.
However, the situation didn’t develop as she had expected. Just as she was secretly praying for Matthew to agree to this, she heard him say, “Sorry, but I can’t do as you say.”
“You…” Veronica was speechless for a moment. However, she dared not speak much on such an occasion. She dug her teeth into her lips, feeling as anxious as a cat on a hot tin roof. How could he be so foolish? Did he really refuse Grandma’s demands for my sake because I told him that instead of getting married right now, I wanted to strive for opportunities to make myself strong enough to be his match before marrying him?
In the past, she would only remember the despicable things Matthew had done. But now, she saw in him the willingness and courage to take responsibility for everything all by himself, which were sufficient to prove his over-indulgent love for her. As a result, she was both incredibly moved and guilt-ridden. For an instant, she even wanted to come forward and tell everyone right away that the ‘young man’ was actually her.
“How impudent!” Elizabeth flushed angrily. Immediately, she stood up and pointed at Matthew, saying, “Either you marry a woman right now or get out of the Kings Family!” With that, she left him no room for maneuver.
Everyone at the scene could tell from her words that she was giving Matthew a chance… But he didn’t cherish it. “Grandma, I’ve got no problem marrying a woman—but not now,” he replied. Roni promised to marry me a few years later. I can wait that long.
Elizabeth nodded. “So you’re not gonna listen to me anymore, huh?” She was so furious that her hand that was pointing at Matthew trembled.
Standing next to Elizabeth, Yura immediately tried to soothe her, saying, “Please calm down, Old Mrs. Kings. Don’t get angry, you—”
“Don’t get angry? Ha! Fetch me the tool—now!” Elizabeth ordered in a stern voice.
Yura was somewhat hesitant, though. “Please think twice about it, Old Mrs. Kings. The tool hasn’t been used for years.”
Elizabeth’s eyes reddened in anger. Glaring at Yura, she barked, “What’s the matter? Are you not gonna obey me anymore?”
As a servant, Yura was unable to refute her employer, of course. “Well… Yes, Old Mrs. Kings. I’ll bring you the tool right away.”
Those standing in the memorial hall looked on with folded hands, and some could hardly conceal the smug smile on their lips. They couldn’t wait for Matthew to be punished and chased out of the Kings Family, upon which no one would compete with them for the position of ‘future head’ of the family.
Not knowing what to do, Veronica was burning with anxiety. She approached Conrad and asked in a whisper, “Uncle Conrad, what is the ‘tool’ that Grandma talks about?” Even though she didn’t know what the ‘tool’ was, she knew that it mustn’t be a good thing.
Conrad let out a sorrowful sigh. He answered in a grave voice, “It’s the whip.”
His voice was barely audible, but Veronica heard him. “The whip?” The so-called ‘whip’ was a whip covered in barbs. Such a whip was very elastic and could strip off a layer of skin with each strike, making it a tool for an excruciatingly painful way of punishment.
At the thought of this, Veronica turned slightly pale with fright.
Before she came to her senses, Yura had brought out the so-called ‘tool’, which was a two-meter-long snakeskin whip. From a short distance, Veronica could vaguely see the faintly visible barbs on the whip. The barbs were terrifyingly sharp; a glance at them was all it took to send a chill down one’s spine.
Conrad stepped forward and said, “It’s enough, Matthew. You’d better listen to my mom.”
For a moment, Veronica found Conrad’s actions incredibly ironic. To think that the person who is Matthew’s enemy is the only person at the scene who speaks for him. For some reason, she suddenly began to feel sorry for Matthew. She felt that his life wasn’t as glamorous as it appeared. Instead, he had to deal with evil people and struggle to stay alive.
One could imagine how difficult it was. Now that I’ve chosen him, I’ve got to protect my man, she thought. At this moment, all her previous misgivings no longer mattered to her. Having made up her mind, she plucked up her courage and stepped forward, saying, “Grandma, I’ve got something to tell you.” She wanted to tell Elizabeth the truth about everything to prove Matthew’s innocence.
“Ha! What is it that you want to tell her?” Before Elizabeth could speak, Matthew suddenly turned around and looked askance at her with cold, proud eyes. “Are you trying to win her favor by telling her when I started going out with that guy? Veronica, don’t forget that this is a Kings Family matter. You’re only Grandma’s god-granddaughter. What right do you have to poke your nose into my business?”
Veronica was speechless. W-What does he mean? she thought. Matthew’s words were cruel and merciless, but every word he said pricked her heart like a needle, causing her heart to ache and warm at the same time.
Matthew was stopping her from speaking because he kept his promise and didn’t want her to disclose what had happened today. As a result, her mind went completely blank. In an instant, she didn’t know what to say.
“Oh! So Veronica has long been aware of your relationship with that guy, huh?”
“Seems like you’ve been fooling around with that ‘stud’ for a long time. No wonder you never touch women.”
“Mom, Matthew is simply unmanageable. In my opinion, with such a wild temper, he’s not qualified to be the future head of the Kings Family.”
“This is simply outrageous!”
…
Making use of the opportunity, those people did everything possible to ostracize Matthew.
Ignoring their words, Elizabeth looked at Veronica with a frown. “Veronica, what do you want to tell me?” She had an intuition that Veronica probably came forward not to expose Matthew, but to help him. Not only that, but his overreaction to Veronica’s words had revealed something without him realizing it.
Matthew’s eyes narrowed slightly. “There’s no room for you to speak here. Get out of here!” he yelled at Veronica again.
Standing where she was, Veronica fell silent without moving. Matthew was still keeping his promise by taking the blame for everything. All of a sudden, she was somewhat puzzled. What on earth gave him the strength to stick to his ‘promise’? Moreover, it was only yesterday that she agreed to go out with him.
In other words, they had only been together on a trial period for a day. She couldn’t help but wonder when exactly he had fallen in love with her, as well as how deeply he was in love with her—so much so that he was willing to bear so much pressure for her sake.
“Shut up!” Elizabeth reprimanded Matthew before beckoning Veronica over. “Veronica, come over here and tell me what you want to say. Don’t worry. Nobody dares to lay a hand on you with me protecting you!”
