Chapter 22
Chapter 22
Last night, Matthew had Billy Newman make a public announcement that his daughter had been cured by Matthew with the use of a drug so that his medical skill could be kept as a secret.
Just like Demi, Eric and the rest of the Cunninghams thought of the drug manufactured by their company as soon as they learned about Billy’s announcement. It was invented two years ago but the research was later put to a halt after it failed to pass the required quality review. However, that was not important because the point was, the drug had cured Billy’s daughter!
That was to say, the glory and honor of being invited to the ninth floor of Times Hotel last night should have belonged to the Cunninghams. In the end, they had been robbed of it by Matthew and Sasha’s family. The Cunninghams went livid with rage when they realized this. At the same time, Eric made up his mind to make Matthew and Sasha’s family pay a heavy price for this.
James trembled with fear after receiving Eric’s phone call. “Well done, Matthew! Look at the mess you brought upon us!” Helen’s eyes went red-rimmed when she chastised, “If you’re looking for trouble, why didn’t you just involve yourself in this? Why did you implicate all of us as well?”
“Matthew, will you only stop after getting all of us killed?” Demi confronted him resentfully.
Sasha stood next to Matthew looking just as bleak as the rest of them. As one of the managing executives of the company, she knew very well how dire the consequences of this matter could be. Once it escalated into something huge, Matthew would surely be sentenced to jail! “Matthew, you really acted too rashly this time!” Sasha muttered.
“That’s not rash. It’s something only dingbats would do!” James slammed the table and challenged Matthew, “Matthew, tell us now, how are you going to settle this?!”
“It’s not a big deal.” With a faint smile, Matthew reassured them, “All of you, please don’t worry because I’ll solve this!”
“Will you? How are you going to talk your way out? I’m surprised to see that not only are you keen to pursue vanity, you’ve also learned how to brag. Since Mr. Newman told you that he no longer owes you anything, do you think he will help you?
The Cunninghams are going to take the dispute to court! And once things get messy, our entire family will get implicated! What wrong has our family done to have our life cross paths with a good-for-nothing guy like you?! You have no talent and all you do is constantly bring trouble to us. Goodness gracious, life’s just getting harder and harder…” Helen started crying her heart out hysterically.
“That’s enough!” James roared angrily. “We should focus on settling the issue at hand!”
“How’re we going to settle it? Don’t you know your father well?” doubted Helen.
James had difficulty coming up with a reply, knowing well that Eric had never been one who cared about kinship and family ties.
“In fact, there’s a solution to it…” Demi spoke suddenly.
“What is it?” asked an anxious Helen.
Looking at Matthew, Demi said leisurely, “Matthew was the one who did the stealing. If he was willing to shoulder all the responsibility for it, our family would no longer be implicated.”
“Demi, what nonsense are you talking about?” Sasha found her suggestion unacceptable.
“I think she’s right!” Helen’s eyes brightened up with hope as she continued, “He was the one who stole the drug, so why should it be associated with us? Matthew, why don’t you turn yourself in and take the blame yourself?”
“Mom! How could you ask him to do that?” Sasha asked anxiously.
“What’s wrong with that? Did I put it wrongly? We have no idea about what he did, so why are we getting implicated by him? Why should we suffer the repercussions together with him?”
Sasha, who got so enraged by Helen that her face turned red, countered, “W-Why didn’t you say so when all of you followed him to the ninth floor of the hotel last night? Also, you guys can’t excuse yourself anymore after taking the car and the watch from Matthew!”
“We had no idea about his theft last night. As for the car and the watch…” James carried on somewhat reluctantly, “We can give them back to him…”
“What are you saying?” Helen raised her voice and said crossly, “He owes us that car and that watch. Shouldn’t he make some contribution to our family after living off us for such a long time? Matthew, don’t you think so?”
Matthew’s heart was seized by a surge of bitterness as he realized that not only did Helen want to benefit from what he did, she also wanted him to take all the blame alone and be sent to jail. It was way beyond his imagination how bold and shameless his parents-in-law could get.
“Matthew, please don’t worry!” Sasha grabbed one of his arms and whispered, “I won’t allow you to bear this responsibility alone.”
Sasha’s words of support warmed up his heart substantially. Caressing her long and smooth hair, he said with a smile, “It’s alright. Sasha. You don’t have to worry about me. I’ve told you before that I wouldn’t let you go through anymore suffering for the rest of your life and I’ll honor that promise!”
“You may continue to brag all you want!” Demi criticized with her lips pursed. “The summons from the court are reaching soon, Matthew. If you really don’t want to see my sister suffer, you should take the blame upon yourself!”Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.
Helen’s eyes gleamed up with inspiration when she heard Demi. “Yes, if you love Sasha, you should just turn yourself in!”
“Everyone, please don’t worry because I’ll settle it!” With that, he headed straight out of the house.
“Matthew…” Sasha wanted to go with him.
“Stop right there!” Helen blocked the door and warned Sasha angrily. “Sasha, this is the best solution for the time being. Our family can only clear our names with Matthew taking on the responsibility himself.”
“But…”
“I don’t want to hear any buts! Do you want to see your parents being sent to jail at such an old age?”
Looking lost, Sasha’s eyes went red-rimmed at once.
Meanwhile, at the Cunningham Residence situated to the north of the city, Sasha’s cousin, Charlie, was gesticulating excitedly as he said, “Grandpa, I’m sure this plan will be watertight! We have Sasha under control now that we have something to threaten her with! If she refuses to obey our instructions, then we’ll just send her as well as her family to jail!”
“Sasha, that b*tch has been unwilling to contribute to the family with the good looks she has. It’s all her fault trying to play a virtuous girl that costs us so many profitable businesses!”
“Exactly! If it wasn’t for her, our wealth would have already been multiplied by several times!”
“This time, let’s see whether she’s willing to cooperate.”
“President Smith from Midshire contacted me two days ago, saying that he will give us the project worth 3 million in Midshire as long as Sasha is willing to go on a holiday trip with him for a fortnight.”
“That’s nothing. President Ferguson from Northgulf has just offered me a project worth 50 million!”
“Ha ha ha, there’s no rush. We can arrange them one by one and fill up her schedule!”
The Cunninghams were talking excitedly about it.
With a smile, Eric tapped the table softly and announced his decision, “We should put off those projects from other cities and focus our attention on seizing the projects available in Eastcliff first.
Jason, call up those bosses and invite them over to have a gathering here. Charlie, make a trip to Sasha’s place and ask her to dress up to join the dinner with the bosses.”
Jason, who was slightly confused, asked, “Dad, how many bosses should I call? Didn’t we just decide to arrange them to meet Sasha one at a time?”
Eric glared at him and snapped, “You know nothing! As Sasha is still a virgin, she’s at her most valuable moment. We will hold an auction for the bosses later to let them bid for a night with Sasha so that our benefit can be maximized!”
Jason’s eyes sparkled with excitement as he said delightedly, “Dad, you really have great foresight! Fine, I’ll arrange it. Ha ha, we must fetch a good price from that b*tch tonight!”