SWNOVELS Chapter 11: Don’t Be Deceived by Appearances
At first, Dolores was sure Matthew was satisfied with her. She knitted her eyebrows and wondered: Did Matthew find someone
more suitable for him?
At such a thought, Dolores felt a load of worry leave her at the thought.
*****
That night, the moment Matthew got home, he immediately shut himself in his room. It seemed he still had work to attend to.
Dolores learned about Matthew’s food preferences from Coral and she wanted to prepare dinner for him all by herself.
Coral watched from the side with a smile. “This is what a wife should do for her husband.”
Dolores gave a nervous smile and looked at her feet. If it wasn’t for the fact that she was at Matthew’s mercy, she wouldn’t go out
of her way to cook for him.
Coral sighed nostalgically. “The madam passed away a long time ago, and the master remarried not long after. The young
master rarely goes back home, but beneath his cold facade, he actually treasures relationship with others.”
Dolores listened to Coral intently without interrupting her.
“Ms. White once saved the young master when he was still a child, and later on, she has been following him around. The young
master never liked her, but for some reason, his attitude toward her took a turn for the better after his business trip. You have
nothing to worry about with her. You’re the one he married.” Coral patted Dolores’ shoulders as she tried to comfort her.
Dolores strained a smile as she knew all too well she had no say in who he wanted to spend his time with. It was his life, after all.
Even though they were husband and wife by law, it never really felt like they were. They were more like strangers. She also knew
the real purpose behind their marriage.
Dolores snuck a glance at the study and remembered the black coffee Helen made that morning.
Dolores turned to Coral. “Coral, do you know where the coffee beans are? I want to make him some coffee.”
Coral was impressed by how thoughtful Dolores was, so she pulled out the coffee beans and handed them to her while also
giving her some words of advice. “Don’t add any sugar or milk. The young master isn’t fond of sweet things.”
Dolores nodded and in no time, a freshly brewed cup of coffee was ready. She poured some into a fine coffee cup and carried it
to the study.
In the study, Matthew was on the phone and paced the room impatiently. “What’s the matter with the human resource
department? Is it that hard to get a good translator?”
Matthew knew a variety of languages, but not the language spoken by A Country because no one spoke it enough for him to
prioritize learning. He was handling a new project in that country, so not knowing the language was going to cause him a lot of
trouble, since he had to deal with everything himself.
“Let the human resource manager know I’m only giving him a day. If he can’t hire anyone within a day, tell him he’ll be the one
looking for a job!”
Someone knocked on the door before Matthew could say anything more. He fumed with anger at the interruption and stared at
the door.
He called out in an icy voice, wanting to get the interruption over with. “Come in!”
Dolores hesitated as soon as she heard the anger in Matthew’s voice. Was he angry at her?
However, she had no choice but to enter since she’d announced her arrival, even though he sounded like he didn’t want to be
disturbed.
Dolores put on her largest smile while stating her reason for being there. “I’m sorry to disturb you, but I brought you some fresh
coffee.”
Matthew’s gaze moved from Dolores’ face to the cup of coffee in her hands. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously at her. Earlier
that morning Dolores was avoiding him like a plague, but now she was bringing him a cup of coffee? ‘This woman is
unpredictable!’
Matthew placed his phone on his desk and sat down. He watched Dolores intently to figure out what she was up to!
“I hope I made it right,” Dolores said, placing the coffee on his desk.
Matthew continued to sit there, motionless, and staring at her. Then, he gradually relaxed until he was lying lazily against his
chair.
Dolores smiled and motioned to the cup. “Are you going to try it?”
Matthew raised his eyebrows with a sudden realization. He finally understood the reason behind her sudden change.
“Are you flattering me now because you want to ask about that land in Repulse Bay ?” he asked scornfully
Dolores froze briefly in disbelief. She didn’t think that he would think of the connection so soon.
Before Dolores could react, Matthew grabbed her chin and stared at her menacingly.
“Is this the reason the Flores family insist to let you marry me although I’m a crippled person?”
Matthew was being far from gentle as he forced Dolores to look at him. His fingers dug into her flesh, and she struggled not to
react. She opened her mouth, wanting to explain everything. However, no words came to her, and she just stood there, staring at
him.
‘Should I tell him my father abandoned my mother, brother, and me? Would he even believe me?’
“I’m not—”
“Get out!” Matthew shouted, flinging her away from him.
Dolores lost her balance as Matthew let her go and her arm swung into the cup of coffee. Black liquid poured out of the cup and
drenched the documents on his desk. Matthew’s expression quickly changed from disgust to rage.
Dolores hadn’t anticipated such a turn of events and she frantically tried to mop up the coffee.
Matthew snatched her hand away and shoved her back.
“I asked you to get out; didn’t you hear me?”
He was repulsed by her trying to suck up to him and Dolores could only leave the room.
“Wait, take this too!” Matthew called with annoyance.
Dolores obediently fetched the cup and dashed out of the room.
*****
After dinner, Matthew returned to his room without saying a single word.
Dolores let out a helpless sigh. Matthew was a terrible human to try to talk to and connect with. It would be nearly impossible to
convince him to give her the rights to the piece of land, so Randolph would return her mother’s dowry.
Dolores took a bath and crawled into bed. She tossed and turned and tried to find a comfortable position, but wasn’t able to fall
asleep. She eventually decided she’d rather not lay in bed for hours when she couldn’t sleep.
She couldn’t stop replaying the moments after she accidentally spilled the coffee that afternoon and, surprisingly, she felt a little
sorry for him. Dolores decided she wanted to make it up to him, so she snuck off to the study.
She switched on the lights and found the documents still sitting on the desk in a damp pile. She went over to try to dry them off
when she discovered they were written in the language of A Country . Parts of the document had become smudged and illegible
because of the coffee spill, but a majority of the documents were readable enough.
Dolores grabbed some blank sheets of paper and wrote out the document word for word from what she could still read. Dolores
knew the language spoken in A Country having lived there so long. Doing this was her way of apologizing to Matthew. She
translated the information into their language so he could understand it.
She methodically translated the contents of over ten pages. By the time she finished, it was almost dawn.
She put down the pen and massaged her sore wrists. After making sure the papers were in their proper order, she placed them
on his desk in a tidy pile before heading to her room to get some sleep.
Dolores was still sound asleep when Matthew was having breakfast the next morning. She had stayed up far too late the night
before. Coupled with her pregnancy, which caused her to require far more sleep than normal. So, she failed to wake up at a
normal hour.
Matthew frowned. “She hasn’t gotten up yet?”
Coral lowered her gaze. “No, she hasn’t. You’re her husband, so you should know the answer yourself.”
Matthew understood immediately what Coral was trying to say.
“Never mind.”
Matthew had never been the type to explain himself clearly, and that attitude applied to Coral as well, even though she was the
one who had cared for him since he was young.
“Young master, I know you have no feelings for Miss Flores, but your marriage was arranged by the madam when she was still
alive. Besides, I can see she is a thoughtful person. She asked me about your favorite food and had gone through all the trouble
to make dinner for you last night. She even made coffee for you.”
The reason Dolores was flattering him was only to get the piece of land in Repulse Bay for the Flores family. Nothing more.
Did she really care about him? Matthew found such a thought amusing.
He turned and stared at Coral. “Don’t be deceived by her appearance.”