One shouldn’t speak too carelessly on a snowy day. Looking at the snow outside the window, Matthias thought, These are the kind of days that are perfect for snuggling. However, the heater in the car was getting weaker. If they were still unable to find their way out, they might really need to send an SOS message.
“The GPS isn’t helping at all.” Heather looked at the car’s GPS and felt that it was leading them to an even more remote area.
“The petrol is running low.” Matthias was worried that the car would stop halfway.
“Should we call and seek help?” Heather actually sounded like she was gloating.
“It seems like you’re quite happy to run into a situation like this.” Matthias had never met a woman like Heather. Ever since she arrived in Iceland, he had been taken aback by her every word and action.
Heather darted an indifferent glance at Matthias while wearing a half-smile. “Are you unhappy with me?” From her perspective, Matthias had been nitpicking at her ever since they reached Iceland.
“How dare I?” Matthias quickly denied. As if testing Heather’s patience, he was growing bolder by the minute. He even thought he would be safe in front of Heather no matter what he did.
In fact, he was right. Heather’s temper had gotten much better and she smiled more often now. Besides, she wouldn’t simply blow up at Matthias anymore. Even if he stepped over the line, she would let it pass and wouldn’t kick up a fuss like she used to anymore.
Despite his insensitivity, Matthias still noticed something was off. On the surface, it seemed like Heather was making improvements, but in reality, it showed something was wrong. For some reason, he was perturbed by the underlying issue. What’s with her sudden change of behavior? This question had been bothering Matthias for a while now. Occasionally, he would wake up in the middle of the night to check on Heather, who was not far away from him, for he was worried she would suddenly disappear out of the blue.
“I wonder how things are in Bradfort City.” Heather suddenly thought of Bradfort City. After all, before they went abroad, she had come across a woman, and she had a hunch that she would meet the woman again soon.
Recently, Heather couldn’t stop thinking about the encounter. She felt that the appearance of the woman was not a coincidence and the latter might be related to the mysterious party behind the scene. In fact, she had just informed Leon about this matter via Messenger a while ago and hoped that he could help her find out the real identity of that woman.
“If you’re worried about the situation in Bradfort City, we can head back earlier.” Matthias was willing to end their vacation earlier. As much as he enjoyed the time spent with Heather recently, he too had been troubled by some uncertainties, so he would rather head back to Bradfort City and face reality.
“Do you want to go back to Bradfort City?” Heather turned to look at Matthias. Actually, she already had this thought long ago, but she hadn’t been able to make up her mind.
Matthias remained silent, so Heather regarded his non-denial as acquiescence. Naturally, she understood Matthias’ thoughts, given that both of them were staring into each other’s eyes and reading each other’s minds.
“There’s no way we can go back now. The planes won’t be able to take off on a snowy day.” Heather retracted her gaze from Matthias and stared at the heavy snow through the window.
No one knew when the snow would stop. At this point in time, the decision of whether to go back or not was not up to them but the weather instead.
“We can take a train to leave here and transit to a plane in another country.” Matthias felt like Heather was still running away from the problem. There were plenty of solutions so why would she insist on getting on a plane in Iceland?
“You can’t wait to go home, huh?” Heather was surprised because Matthias seemed to be rather determined this time, and she didn’t know how to respond to him.
Matthias pulled up the car. “The petrol has run out.” They then decided to forgo asking for help as their plan was to save the remaining bit of petrol for the heater to run.
On the other hand, Heather immediately dialed the emergency number, but when the police asked for her exact location, she was at a loss for words. The GPS wasn’t working and they were currently at an extremely remote place, so she didn’t know how to inform them about her location either.
Just then, Matthias took over her phone and started communicating with the police. After his narration, the police quickly had a grasp of their location.
“I was today years old when I realized yet another skill of yours.” Heather smiled while gazing at Matthias. The way he explained their location to the police was indeed interesting. Never would Heather ever thought to explain it in such a way. Looks like Matthias is pretty quick-witted, she thought.
“I’ve learned some survival skills before.” In fact, Matthias had mentioned this before, but he decided to emphasize it again.
It was only then that Heather recalled that fact. No wonder he sounded so professional just now. It turns out that he has undergone some special training before. Now that she thought about it, the Locke Family was indeed prudent, but she couldn’t understand why they would provide so much training to the person in charge of the family. She had heard from Matthias quite a number of times about the training he had undergone. He even had to excel in martial arts, which wasn’t something any ordinary man would be able to endure.
“What exactly did the Locke Family go through for them to be so strict with you?” Given how strict Matthias’ family was with him, Heather couldn’t even imagine how he could’ve tolerated it throughout those years.
The training that was coerced onto Matthias by the Locke Family had already exceeded the endurance limit of any ordinary person. Moreover, Matthias was thin and weak back then; he didn’t look like he would be able to endure all of it at all. Hence, Heather was really surprised to see him equipped with all these skills now.
“The Locke Family is large with many descendants. Unfortunately, every person in charge in the past didn’t live long. They either passed away due to the strain of overwork or were kidnapped and killed as a result of blood feuds,” Matthias said calmly as if it was a common event in normal families. Heather freaked out after hearing his explanation.
Before this, Heather had always thought that the Moriarty Family was gloomy and eerie. But now, it seemed like the Locke Family was not so different from the Moriartys after all. As such, she thought it was no coincidence that the two families were connected.
“What about your father?” Heather recalled that Matthias’ father was the ex-CEO of Locke Group, and he had passed away at a young age too.
“He was killed by an enemy,” Matthias answered unaffectedly. He indeed had no feelings toward his father at all.
Back then when Matthias’ father was still around, he did not fulfill his responsibility as a father at all, and because of him, a lot of pressure was exerted onto Matthias after he died, so of course, the man would detest his father.
“I’m sorry,” Heather mumbled apologetically and internally cursed herself for being too straightforward.
“No worries. If it wasn’t for his death, I wouldn’t have been able to become the person in charge of the Locke Family today,” Matthias said in a revengeful tone. Even his expression had changed.
“Don’t overthink it. What has passed is past, so let’s not hold on to these anymore,” Heather consoled Matthias. His father had already passed on, so Matthias shouldn’t entrap himself because of his father.
“I’ve taken it easy a long time ago, so don’t worry about me. I’m not affected by this incident at all. After all, what has passed is past.” Although Matthias said so, in reality, he actually wasn’t able to reconcile with himself.
Just then, Heather looked straight into Matthias’ eyes, knowing that whenever he lied, his irises would change color, making them look like a clear well. While they appeared alluring, it, in fact, meant that he was troubled deep down.
“You’re lying.” Heather called him out directly. She could feel the emotional struggle that Matthias was experiencing, and she hoped to help him resolve it.
“I’m not.” Matthias smiled. If truth be told, there were a lot of things he couldn’t tell Heather.
“You don’t dare to be honest with me because you don’t trust me?” Matthias felt his heart squeezed when he saw Heather’s disappointed look. Oh, how he wished to be completely honest with her, but he didn’t want her to bear any unnecessary burden.
“I didn’t expect you to care for the Locke Family this much.” Matthias directed the topic in another direction.
Heather was taken aback by Matthias’ comment. She was indeed interested in matters regarding the Locke Family because she wanted to make a breakthrough from there. It was hard to approach the Moriartys, so she could only target the Lockes for now.
Nevertheless, Matthias was very prudent, so Heather wasn’t able to make any progress either. She was rather distressed that she couldn’t find a breakthrough because whenever Matthias recollected the past, he wouldn’t delve deeper into it.
“Do you think I care about the Lockes?” Heather looked at Matthias calmly. She had to remain firm at this moment lest Matthias noticed her intention.
“Then, could it be me you’re caring for?” Matthias said in a self-mocking manner, for he didn’t think too highly of himself.
In fact, he had long noticed that Heather was concerned about the matters regarding his family all this while. Although he had not figured out her real intention, he kept his guard up. In fact, he was rather disappointed in Heather’s actions because it seemed like she was more concerned about the Locke Family’s secret than him. He couldn’t help wondering when she would start taking him seriously.
He had been waiting for a change in Heather, but she had remained secretive to him all this while, which made him frustrated. No matter how much effort he put in, he couldn’t make Heather open up to him. While he had gradually opened up to Heather, the latter’s heart remained closed, making the man feel rather hurt.
“I’m curious about your encounters these past years too.” Finding out the Locke Family’s secret wasn’t Heather’s only intention; she wanted to care for Matthias too.
“What has passed is past—that is what you said to me just now.” This time, Matthias refused to give in and went against Heather.
The atmosphere became tense at once. The heater was getting weaker and the car engine was about to shut off, yet they didn’t feel cold at all.
“Heather, I do not wish to recall what happened in the past. Please stop forcing me, alright?” Matthias gave in toward the end. He didn’t wish to continue arguing with Heather, so he gave her an out.
“Well, sorry for caring then. I know my place now—I have no right to meddle with President Locke’s private matters.” Heather did not give in to Matthias’ compromise. As such, the harmony that had been gradually built between them over the past few days was destroyed instantly.
“Heather.” Matthias didn’t know how to bring this around with Heather. Just now, he had indeed felt her care for him, so maybe he had been oversensitive. After giving it a thought, he figured his words were indeed too harsh just now.
“When will the rescue team arrive?” Heather put the matter aside and brought forward a more realistic question.
“An hour later,” Matthias replied.
“The heater has already stopped working. We’ll be frozen to death in the car after an hour,” Heather said indifferently as if the dispute between them had not happened.
“An hour will go by very fast.” Matthias felt like Heather was exaggerating the situation.
Just then, Heather opened the door and the cold wind, accompanied with snowflakes, gushed into the car. Dumbfounded by Heather’s actions, Matthias quickly yelled at her from behind, “Where are you going?”
