Chapter 465 He’s Worried
Veronica flung her arm over Larry’s shoulder after he finished speaking. “We know each other too well; I don’t have feelings for you anymore. I prefer the sort of guy who can make my heart thump when I first see him. By the way, you’ve been in the entertainment industry for a while now, so I’m sure you know many handsome guys.
Why don’t you introduce a few to me soon?” She was clearly saying this for Matthew’s ears. Hmph! Does he think I don’t have better options? If he can have Sasha, I can also date other handsome men. It’s all a game! If he wants to play, then I’ll play with him!
Matthew could feel his temples throbbing when he heard Veronica’s words ringing in his ear. However, he had no choice but to hold himself back.
“If you ever guide Roni down the wrong path, I will never forgive you for it,” he said in the end. Since Larry saw Matthew as Veronica’s godbrother, he figured that he would have to speak to Larry with that ‘godbrother’ role in mind.
When Larry heard what Matthew said, he turned around and grinned at Matthew. “I wouldn’t dare to do so. Nevertheless, I can’t stop other men from throwing themselves toward her,” he said. Larry was indeed a good friend—he played along with Veronica by using his words to trigger Matthew.
Veronica gave Larry a look to indicate that he had made a smart move. “Well, of course. I have way too many pursuers coming after me now,” Veronica added. She might have sounded rather conceited, but she didn’t sound like she was exaggerating it.
“Hey, aren’t you guys coming?” The rest of the people were already a distance away, and Skyler soon realized that there were three people who hadn’t caught up with them. So, he waved his arms in the air and told them to hurry. Veronica carried some bags in one hand and rested her other hand on Larry’s shoulder.
“Hurry up, Crazy. I remember how your parents used to host barbeques and how great you were at preparing the food. I’ll have to try some of your cooking today! Hahaha…” Veronica and Larry chit-chatted as they walked, leaving Matthew all to himself.
Matthew, accustomed to being treated like a VIP, couldn’t bear to be left on his own. His face turned hot with rage, and the veins in his arms protruded out of his skin—he was evidently infuriated by the situation.
Hold it in. I have to hold it in! He kept telling himself to calm down, and he eventually walked behind them after he managed to soothe his anger a little. He walked at a quick pace, and he soon caught up with Larry and Veronica.
With about 10 feet between him and the duo, Matthew walked behind them and listened to their conversation. Veronica had an arm around Larry’s shoulder, and they were chatting and laughing as they walked.
Sometimes, Veronica would throw her head back as she let out a hearty laugh. She didn’t seem to care about her image at all. Meanwhile, Larry didn’t seem like he was trying to keep his image as a celebrity, either—they interacted casually and comfortably.
Matthew tried to strike a conversation with them, but they completely ignored him. “Hey, Demoness, do you remember how you climbed over the school walls to go to the cyber cafe? I thought you would guide me in gaming, but all you did was get me punished,” Larry said.
“That’s because you’re dumb. We wouldn’t have gotten caught if you had managed to win the game earlier! What nonsense,” Veronica replied. They continued talking about games for a while, and Matthew finally found a chance to interrupt them midway. “Did you guys skip high school and climb out to play computer games?” he asked.
Larry frowned and glanced at Veronica before looking at Matthew. “Yes…” he started with a nod. But before Larry could say anything else, Veronica interrupted him by patting him on the shoulder.
“Now that we’re talking about this, I just recalled something. I heard the others say that you were caught skipping school once and were forced to stand on the stage in front of everyone else. Hahaha…” Veronica let out a cheerful giggle as she thought about this funny incident.
Laughing was contagious—Larry started laughing along as well. Matthew had never been a part of Veronica’s past, so he felt a mixture of interest and regret as he heard both of them talking about their younger days. He regretted having known her a little too late.
Regardless, that was only 20% of what he felt—most of his emotions were related to jealousy and anger. That d*mned woman. We only broke up for less than three months. How dare she put her arm around another man’s shoulder while ignoring me? She’s… too much!
Once they got up the hill, the guys began to set up the grill for barbequing while the girls prepared tables and cutleries for the meal. They delegated the tasks clearly between the guys and girls, so they efficiently got things done.
Since Larry’s parents used to have a barbeque stall, and since he used to follow his parents to work, he was especially good at preparing the food. Naturally, he was tasked with handling the skewers at the grill.
Stephen helped Larry out with the grill, and Skyler, a long-time fan of Stephen, stuck to him like gum everywhere he went. The few girls didn’t have much to do, so they sat on the mat and pulled out a deck of cards to play.
Abby dragged Shirley and Monica along to play cards with her. Caleb was worried that they’d have trouble communicating since Abby couldn’t speak, so he stuck by her side the whole time.
As the three girls sat on the mat and played their card games, Veronica and Matthew looked somewhat out of place while sitting beside them. Veronica ignored Matthew, who was staring at the view in the distance. So, she got to her feet and walked to the nearby trees, where she wanted to stroll around and feel the breeze.
This part of the hill was relatively flat, and the grounds were mostly rocky, so there wasn’t a lot of overgrown grass around them. Furthermore, the place was blocked from strong winds, so it wasn’t likely for them to have a fire emergency.
Veronica had done her research online before picking this place. While she was doing her research, she found out that there was a mining cave nearby that the miners had abandoned in the past. In the cave was a mining pit that had salamanders in them.
Since she didn’t have much to do, she figured that she would take a stroll down the hills instead of standing around awkwardly. Their barbeque spot wasn’t far from the depths of the hills, so she only had to walk through the forest for a few minutes before she got there. She followed the instructions on the website and searched around to find the abandoned mining pit.
As she stood around the area, a cool breeze greeted her. The wind was refreshing, especially under the sweltering summer heat. She was just about to walk back when she heard some rustling sounds behind her. When she turned around, she realized that the person standing behind her was… Matthew. “Why did you follow me here?” Veronica wasn’t too pleased to see him there.
Matthew stood a distance away from her with both his hands stuck in his pockets. He maintained his cool demeanor as he spoke. “This is an abandoned mining pit, and it’s probably really deep. It’s dangerous to be here,” he said.
“That’s none of your business.” Veronica let out a scoff. She felt like he was a busybody. Of course, I know that it gets deep inside. How else can the salamanders survive there, right?
I’m a grown-up, so of course, I can take care of myself. Anyway, we’ve already broken up, so why is he faking his care for me? Who is he faking it for?
She turned around and walked carefully over to the cave. Matthew parted his lips as if he were about to say something, but he simply followed behind her when he saw her walking in. “Ah!”
Even though Veronica was wearing flats, there were too many rocks under her feet, so she accidentally tripped a little. She instinctively let out a cry when she nearly fell. But soon after that, she steadied herself before she continued walking.
She was perfectly fine, but Matthew, who was following behind her, felt excessively worried for her. “Stop right there!” he shouted. When he saw her making her way further into the cave, and when he saw how dark it was inside, he worried that an accident might happen there.
