Since Matthias couldn’t be convinced, Nikolai didn’t continue persuading him. The latter didn’t want to meddle in his cousin’s way of solving the problem either. Matthias’ stubborn personality was no secret to anyone who knew him—Nikolai knew that all too well, but he was sure that Matthias would eventually come up with a perfect solution.
It was getting late and Matthias was still in his office; Nikolai wanted to keep his cousin company but his offer was rejected. The man was brainstorming for a way to resolve the issue, and he had to let Myra know about this as soon as possible. His forehead furrowed deeply as he came to a conclusion at last—Heather was indeed the best candidate to help him out.
Considering how badly things had gotten between them, Matthias wasn’t sure how he could face Heather. Moreover, deep inside, he hadn’t forgiven her as well.
He rose from his seat and drew the curtains as he looked outside. Is she still spending time with that man right now?
Just then, a sarcastic smile crept up his face. At that moment, he felt like a worthless criminal; he despised himself even more than ever.
“Heather and Myra aren’t the only women in this world—there are plenty more fish in the sea, so why am I still holding on to the past?” Matthias muttered to himself. At times, he really couldn’t bring himself to think positively of his own worth. Why am I like this?
Eventually, he let go of the curtains—the flashing bright lights outside had nothing to do with him. He rarely enjoyed his life; instead, he’d spent most of his time in self-deprecation.
As he reminisced about his past, he recalled that he had never once stopped forcing himself to hone his skills so that he could become a successful person one day. In the end, what he earned from those years were simply dirty tricks and betrayals.
At the thought of that, Matthias clenched his fists. He must make a decision, for midnight was approaching soon. The air was cool and breezy tonight, signifying the start of the fall season. All of a sudden, a sense of loneliness filled Matthias’ heart. Indeed, was there ever a place that he could call home?
He had never truly been a part of the Locke Family; at the same time, he never considered them his family either. Ever since his mother passed away, he lost his one true home.
It was precisely this lack of familial love that made Matthias so hungry for the affection a romantic relationship could offer. However, his hopes were all in vain.
At that moment, the harsh reality snapped him out of his thoughts. He hastily dialed a number on his phone and the call got through at once. A kind and gentle voice came from the other end of the line; Nikolai was preparing to go to bed, but he immediately picked up his phone as soon as he saw that Matthias was calling him.
“Find someone to personally send Heather the photos.” Matthias couldn’t bring himself to meet Heather in the end. More than that, he didn’t want to witness Heather being together with another man.
After debating his choices, Matthias decided that this was the best solution. Nikolai responded to his request quickly—he was told to get it done as soon as possible, but where was he going to find a messenger at this hour? Nevertheless, Nikolai ended the call bitterly and immediately got to work.
In truth, Nikolai wanted to personally pass the photos to Heather. He wanted to see her face, for her every expression and gesture never failed to put a silly smile on his face.
Sadly, he couldn’t carry out the job on his own since Matthias wasn’t willing to expose his identity as the sender. Therefore, it must be done discreetly without a trace.
Right now, Nikolai was pressed for time. He had to settle the issue quickly and find a messenger as soon as possible—preferably a stranger on the streets. He decided on that idea and prepared to entrust the errand to a random passerby. As he gave it another thought, he found that this method was full of flaws.
These days, a person’s trust was as fickle as a candlelight, so Nikolai decided to find someone who was more reliable. Just then, he thought of someone and immediately contacted the person; after all, they could be asleep if he were a second later. If that happened, it wouldn’t be easy to find another helper.
After briefly going through the instructions with that person, Nikolai let out a pent-up exclamation on his bed—finally, he was halfway done with the job. It was then that he realized something extremely important—the photos were still with Matthias, not him.
Before he could reach for his phone again, Matthias was already calling him.
“I’m right outside your lobby; come downstairs.” Matthias was simple with his words. Meanwhile, Nikolai peered out his window and noticed that Matthias’ car was parked outside.
As a result, he hurried downstairs immediately. Matthias was leaning against his car with his arms crossed over his chest as he waited for Nikolai, and he didn’t seem like he was in a rush.
“The photos,” he said as he passed Nikolai the photos.
“Have you found our messenger?” Due to his taller stature, Matthias emitted a condescending air as he looked down at Nikolai.
“Don’t worry, he’ll be here very soon.” Nikolai was relieved that he had found someone in advance; he was often caught off guard by Matthias’ sudden requests.
The two of them had a brief conversation before Nikolai headed back inside without noticing that Matthias was walking with him as well. He was surprised to find Matthias right behind him as he turned around again, so he stared at the man with an odd look in his eyes and asked him why he’d followed.
“Do you have wine at home?” Matthias wanted someone to drink with; the last time he had drunk to his heart’s content was with Heather. In hindsight, Heather was a great drinking buddy.
With her, he could drink without any worries and they could talk about anything and everything—Heather was knowledgeable about all sorts of things. One could tell that there wasn’t a dull moment in her life just from hearing her speak, and Matthias wanted to share a conversation with her once more over some drinks.
If they were to overlook their disputes, the time they spent together was pretty intriguing. If only there wasn’t that irreparable disparity between them, then perhaps…
Matthias quickly shrugged away these ridiculous thoughts in his mind. For the past few days, he would inadvertently think about Heather, so much that he was confused by his own mind.
He remembered the time when he’d met Myra all those years ago; he used to think about her day and night, fantasizing about getting together with her. These days, Matthias came to enjoy spending time with Heather instead.
Whenever he was alone with Heather, he would stare at her from time to time—the fondness he had for her was similar to his feelings for Myra back then. Their relationship which originated from an intense rivalry had somehow become something else; for some reason, his hate for her had gradually turned into admiration and even attachment.
“Matthias,” Nikolai called out to him as a reminder. He wasn’t sure what made him so lost in thought that he wasn’t walking out of the elevator.
“Huh?” Matthias looked up and stared at Nikolai.
He finally realized that the elevator doors were open—Nikolai was holding onto the button, yet Matthias remained standing inside, seemingly unaware of it.
As a result, Matthias hurried outside as a sense of awkwardness filled his face. Nikolai glanced at him briefly—he rarely saw his cousin act this way. He speculated that Matthias was still concerned about Myra. Either that, he was thinking about Heather.
Other than women, Nikolai couldn’t think of any other reason for Matthias’ disorientated state of mind. Matthias wasn’t fond of bringing business affairs out of the office; he usually wouldn’t get off work if he had unfinished tasks, so there was no way he could be thinking about work.
After unlocking the front door, Nikolai headed straight into his house. Their relationship was much more casual in private, for they were no longer superior and subordinate after office hours.
They were cousins at the end of the day, and their relationship was no different than a pair of brothers’ in private. After returning home, Nikolai plopped onto the sofa—the firmness of the fabric cushion was just right for him.
Meanwhile, Matthias swiftly pulled over a stool and sat down in front of Nikolai. It seemed that he was planning to have a long drink tonight.
“You might not like what I have here,” Nikolai said a little stiffly. Matthias was awfully picky with his alcohol; Nikolai’s collection consisted of gifts he’d received from others, so he wasn’t even sure of how they tasted.
“What do you have?” Matthias didn’t feel like being alone tonight, and he didn’t want to go home to his villa either. He just needed someone to keep him company.
Nikolai stared at Matthias helplessly before his gaze shifted to a bookcase nearby; several bottles of wine were displayed there.
Matthias followed his cousin’s gaze before he got up and walked over to the bookcase. As he looked through the bottles, he found that there indeed wasn’t anything that suited his taste.
Nevertheless, he wasn’t too fussy about it tonight since he was already in the mood to drink. Thus, he casually picked up a bottle of dry red. Nikolai’s alcohol tolerance wasn’t the best—Matthias knew that, so he chose this variety of red wine which had a relatively lower alcohol content.
Nikolai got up from the sofa. He preferred to use the dining table if they really ought to drink; after all, he wasn’t fond of drinking on the sofa.
Meanwhile, Matthias carried the bottle of wine to the table as well—they seemed to be on the same page. At the table, Nikolai said with a smile, “It’s no fun drinking wine on its own, Matthias. Hold on, I’ll get us some snacks.”
Matthias narrowed his eyes slightly; he wondered how Nikolai was going to bring them drinking snacks out of nowhere. Unexpectedly, his cousin came out of the kitchen with a bowl of roasted peanuts in no time.
Matthias raised a brow at him; sure enough, nothing was lacking in Nikolai’s home. The latter stared back at Matthias with a triumphant look on his face.
“Why do you have freshly roasted peanuts in your kitchen?” Matthias asked in confusion.
Nikolai let out a mysterious chuckle and said, “My kitchen has everything—I have other snacks as well. Just tell me if you want anything else.”
Matthias waved a dismissive hand at him. He only wanted to have a quiet drinking session, and he wasn’t interested in eating snacks. The two of them sat facing each other at the table as Nikolai propped his head up with his hands. He had been feeling sleepy since earlier, but he couldn’t go to bed with Matthias’ prolonged disruption.
“You really need to work on your alcohol tolerance,” said Matthias as he popped open the bottle of dry red.
Nikolai wasn’t really interested in alcohol, and he hadn’t thought about increasing his tolerance for it. He had always been following behind Matthias during meetings and such, so there wasn’t an instance where he needed to attend a gathering alone. With Matthias around, Nikolai only needed to engage in some light drinking.
“You know I don’t like to drink.” Nikolai stared at the red liquid in the half-filled wine glass—it looked like a glass of fresh blood. The color itself was so disturbing that Nikolai became quite uncomfortable at the sight of it.
“How can you survive the corporate world without a certain tolerance for alcohol?” Matthias argued. To a businessman, it wasn’t a matter of likeness or not when it came to drinking alcohol.
“I don’t need to drink much with you around, Matthias—just some light drinking will do.” Nikolai had always been very dependent on Matthias, so it gradually became a habit that he couldn’t shake off.
“What if I’m not around anymore?” Matthias swirled the wine in his glass as he observed the smooth movements of the liquid against the glassy surface; for some reason, he felt a sense of satisfaction from watching such things.
Nikolai’s expression darkened at his words. “What are you talking about? Didn’t we make a promise? I’ve told you that I’ll always follow you around.” He recited those words with such determination and righteousness that Matthias couldn’t help but laugh.
“You’ll have to face the world on your own someday; no one wants to be a follower all their life.” Then, he took a sip of wine as his eyes remained fixed upon Nikolai. The latter became uneasy under his cousin’s piercing gaze.
“Let’s talk about something else.” Nikolai didn’t want to linger on the subject any longer. Matthias was acting a little strange today—the things he said were oddly intimidating, and Nikolai had a bad feeling about it.
“Then…” Before Matthias could finish, a knock sounded on the door. Nikolai jolted in response upon hearing that, so he jumped to his feet and went to open the door.
Matthias stared thoughtfully at Nikolai’s back as he rushed over to receive his visitor. His cousin was probably the only one who treated him with such sincerity; perhaps all those years of looking after Nikolai were not in vain.
