The atmosphere was heavy. At this hour, there weren’t a lot of people waiting to board a flight. The lounge exuded a mild refreshing scent that seemed like it was barely even there. It instilled a sense of familiarity in Heather, as though she had smelled this scent somewhere before.
“Do you smell this fragrance?” Her question was so sudden that Matthias wasn’t able to make the switch yet.
He tried his best to sniff, but he didn’t pick up any unusual scents. Getting up from his shoulder, Heather looked all around but did not notice anyone suspicious.
“A perfume fragrance?” He only smelled perfume. When he tried his hardest, he even smelled a fusion of several different perfumes.
Looking around, he figured that it was probably coming from the person next to him; even a man was wearing perfume.
“No. Maybe I was mistaken.” She brushed it off. It seemed the mild scent was also gone now. She reckoned she was just imagining things.
He looked at her with a worried gaze and suspected that the heavy burden weighing in her mind must have led to this scenario.
“We’re going to board the flight in a bit. Stop overthinking.” He spoke nonchalantly, but he had his guard up. It was possible that Heather wasn’t mistaken.
He also had a feeling that they were potentially being followed. Thinking about the phone call earlier, he was certain that someone was following them in secret. Otherwise, why would that person behind all of this know them like the back of their hand?
Even with both of their heightened senses, they couldn’t find their stalker. It seemed the stalker disguised themself very well. Only a few people were scattered around the lounge. On the surface, they all looked like social elites. If the two really had a stalker, then it would be one of these people here.
When it was almost time, people started pouring in one after the other. They were most likely on the same flight as the two. Matthias was on high alert, trying to determine the most suspicious person. Compared to him, Heather was a lot calmer. Her facial expression gave nothing away; it didn’t look like she was interested in uncovering the identity of the stalker just yet.
“No one here looks suspicious,” she murmured in his ear.
This sparked his curiosity. What criteria did she use to judge that these people weren’t suspicious? Nevertheless, she never made up nonsense. Since she made that statement, she definitely had a rationale behind it.
“They’re challenging us. If they sent someone at this time, that’d increase the likelihood of them exposing their identity,” she analyzed. At first, her mind was in a mess because of Myra, but with the sudden turn of events, she was back to her senses.
Someone was following her in secret. She was not a saint and was going to pay them back for it. Currently, she was waiting for the day when she could counter-attack.
There was one thing, however, that she couldn’t figure out. Why did this person have to go through Matthias? What was their purpose? She had yet to figure that out. Perhaps once she went abroad and eased her mood, she would naturally figure some of it out.
Even though Heather didn’t say a word, she agreed with Matthias. She was too oppressed in Bradfort City. Ever since she came back to the country, nothing good had happened, so indeed, she needed a distraction. Her problem with Myra was not going to be resolved for a while either.
It was better if she stayed rational. If her rationality crumbled, the outcome would only be less favorable. She boarded the flight with a weight on her mind, but before going on the plane, she asked Matthias to give Robert a call.
“Old Master Langston,” he greeted warmly.
“Matthias! What made you think of me?” They joked around with each other. Robert had already taken Matthias for his own grandson-in-law, so he was a bit more affectionate toward him.
Shortly after, Robert came to the realization. It’s clearly Heather’s phone, but why am I hearing Matthias’ voice? Are they together this late in the night?
“Is Heather with you?” Robert asked directly.
“Yes. I have something to tell you, but I don’t know how to.” Matthias was in a tough spot, but Heather was placid next to him.
“Speak your mind. Is Heather giving you a hard time again?” Robert had a feeling that Matthias’ phone call was not good news.
“No. I’m at the airport with her now. I want to apologize to you for not getting your permission beforehand and bringing Heather here of my own volition. I would like to borrow her for a few days.” Matthias spoke in one breath. He was truly in a tough spot. He had never done something without authorization before, which made him very apologetic toward Robert.
“Where are you guys planning on going?” Robert’s voice became lower, and he clearly sounded upset.
Matthias looked over at Heather with a troubled look. It was troublesome now; he had left a bad impression on Robert, which wasn’t the outcome he had hoped for.
“Heather wants to go to Iceland for a few days. I—” Even through the phone, the stiffness in Matthias’ voice was clear. Why does it feel like I’m doing something illegal?
Without giving him a chance to finish, Robert interjected, “Put Heather on the phone.” He had complaints about Heather’s recent behavior.
“Grandpa.” Her voice came through the phone into Robert’s ear.
“Is Bradfort City not cold enough for you that you’re going to Iceland in the middle of winter?” Robert felt like Heather had already overstepped her boundaries before. Now, she had come up with another strange idea; it felt like she was eloping overseas with Matthias.
“Grandpa, I felt an urge to go to Iceland. I want to go somewhere no one can stop me.” She spoke in a gentle voice, but her tone was still persistent.
Robert couldn’t stop her. Doing something first before telling him would catch him off guard. Even if he opposed, she was still going to go to Iceland.
“You’ve been causing more and more trouble these days,” Robert reprimanded.
Heather turned around intentionally and lowered her voice. “You always wanted me to be around Matthias more. Isn’t this the situation you wanted to see?” With Matthias by her side, she naturally became more bold. At least, Robert would feel more at ease.
“Whatever. Go and come back sooner. Don’t delay the opening of the company.” Robert could tell that she was getting more and more distracted from the business, and he didn’t know what she had in mind either.
“Okay.” She almost forgot that Robert was constantly keeping an eye on her from behind. It was going to be a bit difficult to act capriciously.
If it weren’t for this phone call, she would probably continue to delay the opening of the company. When the call with Robert ended, she decided to rush back before the New Year and proceed with opening the company as planned.
“How did it go?” Matthias asked.
“He told me to come back before business opens. He hopes that I put work first and stop messing around,” she said nonchalantly. She almost forgot about the responsibility on her shoulders.
“Are you done with all the preparations for opening the business?” he asked out of concern. It was clearly written on her face that she was reluctant.
“Everything had already been prepared before I returned to the country.” She brushed away her gloominess from before. It looked like she had to get back on track again.
While they were talking, the announcement to board the plane was made, whereupon they followed the crowd out of the boarding area. They had bought first-class plane tickets. Upon getting on the plane, they realized that there weren’t a lot of people in first-class.
It was ideal as well. It was quiet, so they wouldn’t get disturbed by other people. Heather consciously nestled up against Matthias’ shoulder. Since she had done it once, the second time came a lot more naturally.
Lowering his head to look at her, he was filled with happiness. If only there was no end to this trip. Not long after, she was about to fall asleep. She didn’t know whether it was because she had stayed up all night, but she felt especially drowsy today.
The last time he watched her this sound asleep was when they were pitted against each other not long after she returned to the country. Indeed, time had flown by and changed their hostile encounter with each other. In the present, he only wanted this happiness to last forever.
The moment the plane took off, he also felt exceptionally comfortable. They were leaving this place to Iceland, where no one knew who they were. Perhaps in Iceland, there weren’t that many people out to get them.
By the time Heather woke up again, it was already bright out. Even though Matthias felt like his shoulder was about to break, he didn’t dare to move out of fear that he would wake her up.
“Did you sleep well?” he asked in a caring tone, worried that she didn’t get enough sleep.
During this time, Matthias also dozed off for a moment, and the two fell asleep with their heads leaning against each other. When he woke up, he felt a pain in his neck, but he didn’t wake her up.
“Are you hungry?” He was worried that she would be hungry since she didn’t really eat the day before. Her body wasn’t able to endure such torment.
“I don’t have an appetite.” She still didn’t want to eat anything. Previously, he thought that she was starting to feel better, but her emotions were still a wreck.
“Have something to eat at least so you don’t get stomach pains.” His concerned appearance made him look like an elder. It reminded her of how Robert cared for her.
“I want to have some porridge.” She would probably be able to eat if it was porridge.
He stood up. “I’ll go take a look.” Perhaps he would be able to find what she wanted.
After a long while, he returned with empty hands. It looked like he wasn’t successful.
“It’s fine. Once we get off the plane, we can go have some.” Looking at the time, she saw that they were about to land soon.
“There’s no porridge in Paris,” he lamented. They had the best porridge back home.
“I might have more of an appetite when we get off the plane, but right now, I really don’t,” she explained to him kindly. He could be really stubborn sometimes that she wouldn’t know what to say to him.
On the other hand, he didn’t know what to do with her either. If she says so, then so be it.
“Aren’t you hungry?” she asked in return. He was concerned about her hunger the whole time, but he did not tend to his own stomach.
“I’m not,” he replied.
Looking at him in dissatisfaction, she said, “It’s not good to have double standards.” Why is he becoming more and more like a nagging mother? Why didn’t I notice he had these qualities in the past?
“A certain someone doesn’t want to eat, so how could I have an appetite?” He pushed the responsibility to her again and was making it seem as though she was absolutely wicked.
“So you’re blaming me!” she bantered.
As they talked and laughed together, the atmosphere loosened up. It seemed as though they had really put Bradfort City behind them. On the surface, Heather looked completely fine, but Matthias knew that she was hiding it from him; even the smile on her face carried some pretense.
“Since you left Bradfort City so suddenly, did you inform the people at Locke Group?” It would’ve been fine if she had acted on impulse by herself, but she was feeling disconcerted now for dragging him along.
“I’m the Executive President of Locke Group; I don’t need to inform anyone there.” His expression shifted slightly, as if she had crossed a line with him.
