It was a heavy downpour out there. Heather, who had no makeup on, was sitting opposite Matthias. It stirred something within him that he wanted to capture and keep this beautiful moment to himself. A shutter sound could be heard and he took a photograph of her while she was drinking her coffee. However, she lifted her head the next second and snatched his phone away from him.
He felt a little frustrated that he had forgotten to turn off the shutter sound, and now Heather had deleted the photo without a second thought. She then glanced at him coldly, her expression unkind. “Don’t simply take photos of me.” To Heather, she was looking like a mess now, so how could she let anybody photograph her in such a state? She fixed her fierce gaze at him, as though he had done something unforgivable.
“You look too pretty so I couldn’t help it,” Matthias replied with utmost sincerity. Heather’s aura seemed weaker than usual when she did not put on any makeup, and she looked more adorable now when she was angry.
Upon hearing his words, she felt resigned toward Matthias’ aesthetic judgement of a straight man. She did not think that she would look good right now with her current state. As she came to that thought, she found her attention being drawn away by his phone.
She realized that there were countless photos of her in his phone, and she had no idea when he took all these without her knowing.
Frightened, she looked up with a hint of horror. “You sent someone to stalk me?” There were a lot of photos which were taken from a far distance and it would not have been taken by Matthias himself.
“No,” Matthias responded while he snatched his phone back and added, “It’s all taken by me.” Back then, he once stalked her from behind and he initially just thought of watching her from afar. However, he could not contain himself in the end and took a few photos.
“Don’t ever do such a thing again.” Heather did not want to have an argument with him today, so she sounded gentle while she spoke.
“I’m sorry.” Being exposed by Heather on the spot, Matthias too felt disgusted with his own obsessed and foolish actions.
“Alright, then; I’m going home now.” Heather did not want to stay with him any longer. She had been running around for a long while, and now she felt so weary that she did not even want to talk to anyone else.
Upon seeing that, Matthias quickly stood up and offered, “I’ll send you.” Right at the moment, he was looking as though he was a big boy who had just done something wrong. He looked so panicked and he wanted to behave better to win her favor.
“No, it’s alright.” However, she rejected his offer decisively. She had not forgiven him for what happened just now and she even refused to let him get closer to her.
Upon hearing her words, he was no longer stubborn. Evan had once advised him, saying that sometimes when a girl forcefully said no, he should listen to her. Otherwise, the girl would hate him if he did the opposite.
Looking at such a situation right now, Heather obviously did not want him to send her off, so he could only watch her retreating figure as she walked away. Holding an umbrella in the heavy rain, Heather looked even more fragile and thin. At this moment, Matthias was longing to stand by her side and hold the umbrella for her, protecting her against the wind and rain.
As Heather’s unbending figure faded away in the rain, Matthias withdrew his gaze, thinking that he should head back to the company immediately. Because of an uncertain text, he ran out in a hurry and made himself look like a hot mess. Moreover, he did not win the heart of his beautiful woman either.
Ever since he was transferred to the business department, he felt that everything became much quieter as he was now free from Regan’s blabber. He knew that Regan was actually waiting for a chance to come back but he was badly hit by the loss previously, which meant that he would not cause any trouble again in a short period of time.
In this poor weather, a lot of people were using various ridiculous reasons to take their time off, as the losers would have thought that the life of a wealthy person was unrestrained and happy. In fact, no matter if it was on a windy day or a stormy day, Matthias would come to the company earlier than anyone else.
Moreover, the board of directors were not completely disappointed in him despite his abnormal actions during this period of time, as his good performance back then was still well remembered after all.
In his most hardworking years, he only slept for four to five hours a day and he gave it his all. Even though he made a whole lot of money for the Locke Group and even expanded the business scale of the company, people would gossip behind his back, saying that he could thrive just because of his identity.
As soon as Matthias thought about this, he decided to put away his messy thoughts. He had been with the Locke Group for a very long time and he even felt a little nostalgic. Moreover, he had been working so hard all these years for another important purpose of his and he would do anything just to achieve it.
The documents were crammed full of words and he looked at the information with his eyes narrowed. The reason that the Locke Group could develop so rapidly and smoothly in Bradfort City was all thanks to that person who paved the way for them.
In the business world, everyone would have their own axe to grind just for their own benefits. Ever since he had more concerns in his mind, he started to examine that goal of his which was not known by anybody. Is it really worth it to sacrifice so much for that goal?
There was still a heavy downpour out there. This heavy rain had lasted for a very long while and it would certainly burden the drainage system of Bradfort City. Moreover, in some places, the water had risen to calf-level. In short, there would be floods if it continued to rain so heavily. As he looked down from such a high level, Matthias noticed that all living beings had become very small.
He was standing in front of the window while the humans below were just like ants. Right now, there were various conspiracies going on in Bradfort City. When the upper levels were competing for power and gain, the ones struggling to survive at the bottom of the pyramid were the ones who suffered. As this thought came into his mind, he felt increasingly swayed and he was even a little shaken.
If I give up now, will it be a good thing for everyone? In the middle of the night, Matthias would also ask himself the same question. However, there was no turning back for an arrow that had been released, and he did not have any other choice now.
…
Heather was finally back at Langston Residence. As soon as she stepped into the living room, she saw Robert, who was sitting on the sofa. He fixed his gaze at her and she smiled at him wearily.
“You even went out in such a heavy downpour—looks like you really can head out all day,” Robert muttered, feeling a little angry. It wouldn’t help dispel his anger no matter how beautiful his granddaughter’s smile was.
“I had to go out to solve an urgent matter.” She found a reason to excuse herself. However, he glared at her, as he would not accept such a general reason.
Despite his angry glare, Heather walked straight to his side and sat down beside him, and she leaned her head on his shoulder. Robert was old and his hair had all turned grey; even his shoulders did not have much strength.
“You’re so heavy! Do you want to squash your grandfather to death?” Robert muttered, still feeling enraged. However, he did not move his body away and he allowed Heather to continue leaning on him.
“Grandpa, you are the man who treats me the best in this world! I’m afraid I won’t be able to get married next time,” Heather said while she behaved like a spoiled little child. She had no makeup on and she looked adorable.
As expected, Robert’s expression had softened a lot more while he responded in disdain, “Don’t put the blame on me if you can’t get married because of yourself.” Not only that, he sounded a lot gentle too. After all, he was pretty easy to get along with.
“Well, if that’s the case, I’ll be staying with Grandpa forever then. It’ll be great too,” Heather continued. She wanted to always stay by his side and in fact, marriage was not so much of an important matter to her.
Looking at all the unhappy marriages of the Langston Family, she had very high requirements toward her own marriage ever since she was a child. If it failed to reach her expectations, she would rather stay single proudly.
“No can do! I don’t think it’s great. I’ll still want to hold my great-grandson and I want to see you get married and have your own child before I die.” As Robert spoke, he was feeling more and more helpless. He felt as though the last day of his life was approaching and he feared that he could not live to see a few more years.
Moreover, as Heather still had not settled down, he felt anxious for her deep down and this was what concerned him the most. It was even more worrying than the matter of Langston Group, as the company would not have anything to do with him anymore after he had passed on. However, even when he was already up in heaven, he would still be worried that Heather would not receive the happiness she deserved.
“It’s easy to have a child but it’s too hard to get married.” Though she did not have her hopes up high about marriage anymore, she still wanted to have a kid as she had to carry on the bloodline.
Heather believed that even though the child was born in a single-parent family, she could let her child feel double the love and it would not be any worse than the others. At least, it would be better than the families that seemed harmonious outwardly but divided at heart.
“Don’t fool around! Our family rules do not allow premarital pregnancy.” Upon hearing her words, Robert even mentioned the rules of their family just to educate her. He knew that she was having such a wicked idea in her mind and he definitely did not want her to be a single mother.
“How many in the family will still actually abide by the house rules? Come on, Grandpa. The world now has changed.” As Heather spoke, she reached out her hand to touch his white beard. Lately, he had been fond of growing out his beard and it had gradually grown very long.
Ever since he had grown his beard, his face had become kinder. Heather would always touch it as she could not help it, acting like a cheeky, naughty little kid the whole while.
In front of Robert, she was like a child who would never grow up and she would always recall these memories later. Everyone thought that Heather Langston was a matured and steady woman but in fact, she still had her innocence within her. However, she could only bury this childlike innocence deep down in her afterward.
“Well, if they don’t follow the rules, I can’t care any longer. But you should definitely abide by the rules,” Robert said in an earnest and firm manner, as he definitely would not let her do something foolish.
“Grandpa, you’re treating us so differently! This is unfair.” Heather would certainly not do such an irrational thing when Robert was still alive. She was just casually speaking about it and in fact, she was possibly the most obedient person in the Langston Family who would actually comply with the house rules.
All in all, some of the traditional customs in the family were worth passing on. Although she felt contempt for the Langston Family’s preference for sons over daughters, the house rules that were inherited were not less demanding for the boys and were also not harsher toward the women. Therefore, she thought that the house rules were still relatively fair.
“The whole family thinks that I treat you the best and they think that I’m being unfair. But in fact, they have never looked at themselves and they can’t see the fact of how strict I am with you too.” As Robert thought about the situation in this family, he spoke heartily. The rumors were unfair to Heather but there was nothing that he could do to stop it.
Deep down, Heather was actually clear of many things. The biggest reason why she got along so awkwardly with the Langston Family was that Blake was demonizing her behind her back.
On top of that, her attitude toward her own parents was also cold and she was also not good at expressing her feelings. Therefore, the rumors were spread out naturally by the foolish people. Moreover, Robert did not want to tell them about the contributions that Heather had made for the family privately. They would never know that it was because of her efforts that they could all be living so comfortably right now.
Blake was going overboard lately and he was playing tricks secretly behind their backs. However, Robert hesitated for a very long while and could not make up his mind due to his consideration of the pride of Langston Family. It was proven that Blake was not suitable for that position and with the Moriartys who were eyeing on them, he was afraid that tragedy would finally happen someday.
The one thing that he was lacking was a suitable reason to pull Blake down from that position and let Heather to replace him. Even if it would cause the whole family to be unsatisfied, Robert would still need to take the family’s harmony into his consideration. After all, he did not want to watch the family collapse and fell apart before he died.
“It’s alright, Grandpa. As long as you understand what kind of person I am, I don’t care what other people think of me.” Heather smiled after hearing his words as she didn’t know why he was being so indignant today. She did not mind about all these, since she had been misunderstood for so many years, after all.
“The Langston Group should flourish in your hands.” As he spoke, he looked at Heather deeply. There were some things that would never be too late to make up his mind on.
