There was only silence all the way to the art gallery and Matthias didn’t answer Heather’s question. Am I doing this because I hate her? Or is it because I’m exacting my revenge? At first, this was actually the reason why he did it but at some point, he began to look at her differently.
After the car stopped, she got out of the car straight away without even waiting for him to open the door for her. Looking at her retreating figure, Matthias had many emotions surging within him but he didn’t know what to say.
There were many times he wanted to tell her outright that he had fallen in love with her, but the moment the words reached the tip of his tongue, he couldn’t spit them out.
After all this time, he had never confessed his love to anyone since his confession toward Myra had totally failed back then. He had always been waiting for a chance to say the words that he was preparing for a long time. Should I be more fancy like on television or more straightforward and simple?
“Heather!” Looking at her leaving hurriedly, Matthias couldn’t help but call out to her.
The woman in question froze for a moment before she continued walking forward. Seeing that she was unmoved by his call, he had no choice but to catch up with her.
The tickets were with her so he quickly followed behind her. Before entering the art gallery, the two of them maintained the same distance between them at all times.
After Heather handed the tickets in her hand to an attendant, Matthias took a step forward and closed the distance between them. She could feel him approaching her and she even got a whiff of his cologne. He really is a detailed person.
He immediately stepped forward and grabbed her hand, and her eyes widened in response. “You should relax a little,” he whispered into her ear.
Heather tried to free herself but he was grabbing her hand tightly, refusing to let go.
“Let me go,” she growled.
They had already entered the art gallery and the people around them were very quiet, so it wouldn’t be appropriate for her to shout loudly. Looking at the smirk on his face, she realized that she really hated this look of his.
“If you prefer me to hold you by the waist, I can let go of your hand,” he announced dominantly. I can’t be too gentle with her; otherwise, I won’t even get the chance to speak.
Glaring at him angrily, Heather realized that he wasn’t joking since she could feel the aggressiveness exuding from his body. For a moment, she didn’t dare move a muscle.
“Looks like you still prefer me holding your hand.” He revealed a victorious smile. At least we have come to an agreement.
However, she didn’t like the feeling of a warm palm and she could even feel the sweat coming from Matthias’ hand, but never in a million years did she think that it was because he was nervous. He had never held someone’s hand this openly before and he lacked experience when it came to dating, so he was actually a little embarrassed deep down.
As for Heather, she didn’t want the curator, Mr. Henriksen, to see them coming in as a ‘couple’, so she avoided him while looking at her hand, which was held by Matthias tightly.
“Matthias, what are you trying to achieve here? Stop playing games with me,” she muttered since she could not stand his silence any longer.
“I just want you to accompany me at this exhibition. You promised me a date.” Matthias tilted his head and revealed a boyish and bright smile.
I’ve never seen this side of him before. Heather pouted her lips as she had nothing to say once he mentioned the date. Fine. I’m killing two birds with one stone anyway. Not only am I not defying Grandpa’s orders, I’m also repaying Matthias for the date I missed yesterday, so I’m actually honoring my promise.
“I don’t like art galleries.” She looked at the painting on the wall with boredom since she wasn’t interested in it at all.
“I don’t like it either.” He looked around and he wasn’t interested in these paintings too, but he still had a mysterious smile on his face. “But I like looking at these paintings with you.”
Suddenly, Heather felt her heart skip a beat. He is obviously flirting with me. What’s wrong with him today? Everything he says seems weird.
“But I don’t like coming to art galleries with you. It is a gruesome chore,” she muttered ruthlessly as she vowed to herself, I won’t be easily swindled by his words.
“Then please bear with me,” he uttered bluntly. It was true that the two of them had many problems with each other in the past.
Therefore, he tried to approach her peacefully at first before taking on a more forceful approach. Since I can’t please her by lowering my status, it won’t hurt for me to be more aggressive with my approach.
“Matthias, you are still shameless as always.” Initially, she was confused by his recent actions and she thought that his personality had really taken a turn but by the looks of it, he was still the same old Matthias.
“Thank you for your praise, Miss Langston.” However, he still enjoyed the constant bickering between them. It was probably because the two of them never got along well, so he didn’t care about the way they interacted and only cared about liking her.
Sometimes, one would be struck by love in the most unexpected of ways. Until today, Matthias still hadn’t figured out why he fell in love with her. Whenever he wasn’t by her side, he would miss his various interactions with her, so the affection toward her would come up to him all of a sudden.
“Just tell me what you want. There’s no need for games.” At the moment, she didn’t want to play any more games with him. There’s no point bickering with each other.
“My goal is simple.” He revealed a satisfied smile, reminding her of his speech back in Italy where he had a triumphant smile that was particularly attractive.
“Spit it out. I don’t want to beat around the bush with you any longer.” The two of them stood side by side in front of a famous painting with their hands tightly intertwined, as if they were a cute couple.
Matthias purposely closed the distance and he was about to whisper in her ear, but she moved her head away as she still wasn’t used to this kind of intimacy.
“You are my goal,” he enunciated every word clearly. At a very close distance, he could even smell her natural scent and the fresh perfume she wore.
She had an elegant swan-like neck, which tempted him to no end. However, he tried to suppress the urge to kiss her since it wouldn’t be appropriate for them to show intimacy in such a public space.
For a moment, Heather’s thoughts ran wild as his words were too ambiguous. As he breathed into her ear, she could feel his warm breath caressing the behind of her ear, making her want to move away from him.
Since she couldn’t figure out his intentions, she planned to deal with it coldly, so she used her only free hand to push him away. Immediately, the suppressing and ambiguous atmosphere faded away between the two of them. Even though Heather really wanted to punch him, the occasion wouldn’t allow her to do so.
After calming herself for a while, she tried to maintain her façade. The people who are attending the exhibition today are all elites so I can’t cause any trouble.
“Let’s go!” she announced imperiously as she couldn’t take it anymore. I can’t do anything in the art gallery.
Matthias shook his head. “Our date has just started. Why are you in such a hurry?” He finally got the chance to come out with her alone, so he was delighted even though they were doing nothing.
Heather looked at her hand, which was held tightly in his, and she suddenly felt that she had lost her freedom. “Can we go somewhere else?” We can at least find a place where I’m not restrained. Now, I’m completely under his control.
However, Matthias was unwilling to leave.“The environment here is great and the paintings look gorgeous. Why don’t we calm down and enjoy it?” Knowing her, she is definitely plotting something but I won’t fall into her trap this easily.
“Since you like it so much, why don’t you stay here? I’m leaving.” Heather refused to give in to him. Even if a world class painting was displayed in front of her, she wasn’t in the mood to enjoy it at all.
And so, he had no chance but to take a step back. “Where are you going?” Since she had already made her words clear, it wouldn’t be wise for him to continue dragging her around the art gallery.
He finally got the chance to enjoy a peaceful time but he didn’t expect her to hate it so much. As he looked back at the painting resignedly, she dragged her to the entrance straight away. Looks like she really doesn’t like these paintings.
Soon, they arrived at the entrance but when Heather saw how reluctant Matthias was to leave, she asked tentatively, “Do you really like the exhibition?”
He nodded his head slightly as he didn’t hold back his praise. “The paintings in the exhibition really are magnificent. Even an amateur like me can see that they are gorgeous.”
It seems like he really wants to stay here for a while to enjoy these paintings.
“Since you like it so much, we must leave here as soon as possible.” She tried to annoy him by revealing a smirk and she couldn’t help but go against him. Upon hearing that, Matthias paused for a moment and he held onto her tightly. Suddenly, she couldn’t move an inch, so she asked confusedly, “What are you doing? Are we not leaving?” Is he now throwing a tantrum?
“Do you really hate this exhibition or do you hate the things I like?” He was displeased with her cynical tone. Initially, she wanted to infuriate him and now, she almost succeeded in doing so.
“I hate the things you like,” she answered directly without any consideration for his feelings.
“Really?” he asked reluctantly. Truth was, her answer was very obvious but he didn’t know why he was deceiving himself.
“Mr. Locke, do I have the right to choose the next location for our date?” she asked in an aggressive tone.
Finally, he let go of her hand and muttered, “Yes, you do.” It’s no use reasoning with her.
“Come play tennis with me,” she suggested. Matthias, on the other hand, didn’t know why she wanted to play tennis with him all of a sudden.
Since he didn’t know how to play tennis, a hint of hesitation flashed across his face, and the alert Heather picked it up. I can’t let go of this chance to embarrass him.
“If you don’t know how to play, I can always teach you.” She curled up her lips in a sarcastic manner as she tried to make him hate her.
However, he had his own ego to protect. “There’s no need for that.” It’s just tennis. How hard can it be?
“Then let’s have some fun later on,” she countered with a bright smile. Finally, I’ve won this round.
