SWNOVELS Chapter 7
Helen sat next to Sasha and spoke endlessly to her about how she should contact Francis more often for the sake of their family's business. Since the beginning, she held no regard for Matthew's feelings at all, who was her son-in-law.
Maintaining his silence, Matthew's attention was all focused on Sasha, who kept her brows knitted since she got into the car. Her facial expression was solemn and she didn't speak a word, giving him the impression that she was really annoyed.
Matthew's heart was in pain as he thought to himself, Does it annoy you that much to return home with me? Is Francis that important?
Soon after, they reached the entrance to their community. While Matthew went to park the car, the rest of them went upstairs. Reaching the doorstep with the luggage, Matthew happened to hear Helen's voice coming from within, "Sasha, your father is right.
There's no future for you if you stick with Matthew. The whole of Eastcliff knows that you guys had never been intimate before. Even if you divorce him now, your reputation is still untainted, and many rich young masters will chase after you.
You can definitely find someone who is thousands of times better than him, so why do you choose to stay on a road you know has a dead end?"
Another pang of pain hit Matthew's heart; this wasn't the first time that they had made such comments about him. Pretending that he hadn't overheard anything at all, he pushed the door open and went in. Helen snorted when she saw him, without a single trace of guilt on her face. Instead, she glared at him confrontationally. "You took so long just to get the luggage. What a wimp!" Through gritted teeth, she continued to lash at him, "Matthew, can't you just be a little more worthy so that Sasha won't be ashamed because of you?"
"What's wrong with me?" Matthew snapped, unable to hold back.
Helen retorted aggressively, "If it wasn't for you, maybe Sasha could have clinched a huge deal by spending more time with Young Master Cooper, and we could have at least moved to another place. It was all because you were there that it affected Young Master Cooper's mood. We have now lost a huge business potential. Do you know that?"
Frowning, Matthew thought, Are you blaming this on me? Don't you know what ulterior motives Francis has? So according to your logic, I should just be a coward and let my wife hook up with other men in exchange for a business deal? Holding back his anger, Matthew began, "Mom-"
"Don't call me that!" she interjected straight away. "We're not that close with each other!"
Blood instantly rushed to his face. "Francis has crooked intentions toward Sasha and you both... you both knew about all this. He didn't mean to discuss any business opportunities with her at all. All he wanted was... to take advantage of Sasha!"
"So what if that was the case?" Hellen shouted. "Social meetings are unavoidable when you want to make a business deal. In every other family, it's the husband who is out socializing, but it's the opposite for a useless scum like you. It's your wife who needs to earn a living to feed you. Are you now having the nerve to criticize her?"
Matthew hurriedly defended himself, "I-I am not criticizing her."
"That's enough!" Sasha said in a low voice and glared angrily at Matthew. "I'm tired!"
After Sasha went back into her room, Helen cast Matthew an infuriated look. "Did you hear that? Sasha said she's tired. Hurry up and do the laundry now. Also, because you didn't come back for a day, there are a lot of dishes waiting for you in the kitchen. Clean all that up now!"
Matthew tightened his jaw, but still went ahead and cleaned up the room thoroughly in the end. In these past three years, he had already gotten used to such a treatment.
It didn't matter to him how the Cunninghams were treating him, as the only thing that he cared about was Sasha's view of him! Now that he had inherited his family's legacy from the jade pendant and acquired the ability to control the life and death of others, it would be a piece of cake to rise up against them.
In other words, he definitely had what it took to turn the Cunninghams into an influential family in Eastcliff. But the question was, were the Cunninghams worth his effort?
The answer to that question all depended on Sasha's attitude concerning him! If Sasha had no feelings toward him at all, then he should let go of this marriage of three years.
On the other hand, if she still cared or loved him at all, then he would shoulder the responsibility that a husband should carry. Matthew thought, If you don't leave me, then I'll be with you till death do us apart! After he was done with the chores, Matthew went into the room which had two beds. The wider one belonged to Sasha while the other, which was less than three feet wide, belonged to him.
Sasha sat at the dressing table in a daze, as though she was thinking about something with a sad expression on her face. When she heard him coming in, she turned her head to the side and wiped away the tears from the corner of her eyes. But Matthew had seen everything and he panicked. What's happening with Sasha?
He had gotten to know Sasha very well for the past three years. Although she held the title of Eastcliff's most beautiful woman, with her stubborn personality, she refused to achieve anything through only her looks. Instead, she was determined to strive for success with her own abilities.
In the company that belonged to her family, Sasha started from the lowest level employee and, step by step, made her way up to the senior management level where she was now.
The fact that she was in charge of one of the Cunningham's companies was all the result of her hard work. For such a long time, she had endured all of the difficulties and challenges without shedding a single
tear.
But what about now? Why did she turn out like this after coming back from this business trip? What exactly happened during the trip? Matthew couldn't help but recall the conversation he had with Francis over the phone the other night, and his heart beat harder. Could it be that he did something unforgivable to Sasha?
The thought of this made him clenched his palms into tight fists as he felt a piercing pain in his chest. "Sasha, what exactly... happened?" he asked in a low tone.
She cast him a glance and said with a cold look, "It's nothing!"
Trying his best to calm himself down, Matthew consoled, "Tell me. Maybe I can help you."
"Help me?" She looked at him disdainfully. "How do you plan to help me? You can't even take care of yourself, Matthew. Yet you want to help me? Who do you think you are?"
Although he was momentarily caught dumbfounded, Matthew couldn't reveal to Sasha yet that he had inherited his family's legacy and was now a genius doctor. It was still a mystery why the Larsons were annihilated.
Before he had gathered and developed enough abilities, he didn't dare to expose his true situation. Firstly, he needed to be sure of Sasha's feelings for him before deciding if he would confide in her. Sasha spoke again with a deep sense of disappointment, "Matthew, just handle your own matters right! It has been three years since you started working at the hospital.
Three years! While the others are advancing in their careers, you're the only one who got demoted year after year. I heard that you didn't show up for work yesterday. Where did you go? Don't you know that it wasn't easy at all to get you this job?"
Needless to say, it must be Jeffrey who had ratted on him. Everytime Matthew ran into some problems at the hospital, Jeffrey would be telling an exaggerated version of it to Sasha. Jeffrey's intention of doing this was not only to have more contact with Sasha, but also to make a personal attack on Matthew.
"Something came up yesterday," he answered.
"What came up?" she asked.
"I" Matthew was tongue-tied. He wanted to tell her about what had happened to Natalie, but since she didn't pick up any of his calls, it clearly revealed her true attitude toward him.
If he was to bring up Natalie now, not only would she not show any pity, she would even throw in some sarcastic remarks! With a tightened jaw, he finally asked the question, "Why didn't you pick up any of my calls for the past few days?"
Surprised, Sasha stared at him for a moment and then said angrily, "I choose to pick up calls as I please. Do you really think that you can control me, Matthew?
"You" Matthew was so mad that he then shouted, "Sasha Cunningham, what do you take me for?"
Equally mad, she asked back in return, "What do you take me for, then?"
Lowering his head, Matthew didn't speak further. If it was in the past, he would have replied that she was his wife straight away, without any hesitation. However, he wouldn't say that right now as he felt disgusted!
Seeing that he was silent, Sasha got even angrier and slammed the table. "Get out of here! Don't ever show yourself in front of me again!"