CHAPTER 173

“It’s my pleasure to have the same birthday as your father so it would be much livelier if we celebrated our birthdays together.” Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.

“But it would be too late even if we go back now.”

“It’s not too late. It would take us about forty-five minutes to get there,” Matthew voiced out and then he took out his phone to send a text message to Thomas.

“Forty-five minutes?”

It was fair to say that Veronica had taken Matthew’s words seriously earlier on but right now, she felt that he must be pulling her leg. She leaned back against the front passenger seat and wordlessly finished off the leftover cake that Matthew couldn’t finish, the whole time wondering what he was trying to do.

Five minutes later, the car arrived at a large, open space and there was already a helicopter waiting there. After Matthew got out of the car, Veronica followed suit and trailed after him. They then boarded the helicopter and just then, she had an incredulous look on her face.

She finally came to her senses after the door to the helicopter was slammed shut and she heard the whirring sound of the propellers. At that point, she realized that he was actually going to send her home, and it was by the means of a helicopter too!

“Are you actually sending me home?”

At that, Matthew pursed his lips but didn’t answer her question. Despite that, Veronica was quite sure that he wasn’t lying, so she instantly texted her adopted parents respectively. ‘Wait for me. I’ll be home in about half an hour.’

After she had sent off the text message, she received a phone call from her adopted parents in no time. Due to the loud noise in the helicopter, Veronica didn’t answer the phone but instead, she communicated with them via text message throughout the entire journey.

As such, she was lost in her happy thoughts and she leaned by the window to look outside, a smile on her ruby-red lips. She was clearly in good spirits. Suddenly, she came to the conclusion that Matthew wasn’t such a mean person after all.

Thirty minutes later, the helicopter arrived at Cabot Town and landed in South Court, which was the basketball court in town. Subsequently, Veronica and Matthew

got out of the helicopter. As soon as they walked out of the basketball court, the helicopter departed as well.

Meanwhile, Veronica kept her eyes on the helicopter that slowly disappeared into the distance and she couldn’t help asking as she reached out to tidy up her hair, which was all messed up from the wind, “How did you know where I lived?”

Meanwhile, Matthew, who was dressed in a suit, tucked a hand into the pocket of his trousers and straightened his necktie before revealing a wicked smile. However, he didn’t say a word.

Although Cabot Town was located in a slightly rural area, there were still quite a few people who came out for their evening walk after dinner so coincidentally, they saw the duo get out of the helicopter. In no time, a crowd stood around, watching the duo while whispering amongst themselves.

The two of them walked out of the basketball court and there were already two cars parked outside waiting for them. A man dressed in a suit instantly walked forward to greet them as soon as he saw them walking toward the car. The man then handed over a bunch of keys to Matthew. “Young Master Matthew, I’ve prepared everything.”

“Thank you,” Matthew responded before entering the car.

Meanwhile, Veronica got into the front passenger seat. Shortly after that, they drove off gradually and headed toward Veronica’s house.

Along the way, Veronica couldn’t contain the complicated feeling that arose within her and she found Matthew’s behavior slightly perplexing too. Elizabeth had actually invited them over to the Kings Residence for dinner, but Matthew had stood her up and brought Veronica back to Cabot Town to join Veronica’s father’s birthday celebration. He obviously doesn‘t lack friends and family to celebrate his birthday with!

After considering the situation for a short while, Veronica rubbed her nose awkwardly and asked, “Matthew, do you like me?”

As soon as she said that, the car came to a sudden halt on the road. Meanwhile, Matthew turned to her with a surprised look, and there was a flash of awkwardness in his eyes.

“Why are you staring at me like that? If that’s not the case, then why did you suddenly send a helicopter out of nowhere to bring me home to celebrate my father’s birthday? You businesspeople are always so cunning, so I’m sure that you must have an ulterior motive here.” Veronica was quite sure that she was right.

Just then, Matthew tightened his grip on the steering wheel as his heart pounded furiously. Usually, even in meetings that involved tens of billions, he was much more composed and not as anxious as he was right now. Are my frelings for her so obvious now?

“If I say-”

Веер! Веер! Веер!

Suddenly, before Matthew could finish his sentence, a car from behind tooted its horn and interrupted his sentence. At that point, he furrowed his dark brows and turned back to look at the cake on the back passenger seat. He then reached out to push the cake box back into position because it nearly toppled over. “I’m just too bored.”

“Bored?” Veronica rolled her eyes at him and she was fully trusting of his words. Yeah, he must be really bored! Otherwise, why would he have come all the way here? It‘s so far from Bloomstead!

Five minutes later, their car came to a stop in front of the entrance of Veronica’s old home.

Daniella was anxiously awaiting their arrival under the darkened dusk skies. As soon as she saw the car pull to a stop by their entrance, she instantly came forward to welcome them.

Veronica leaped into Daniella’s as soon as she got out of the car. “Mom, I’m back!”

“You reckless girl! You just left in the morning and now you’re back again?! Are you here with Xa—”

“Mrs. Murphy, I’m sorry for paying a visit so late at night.”

Just then, Matthew took out the cake and a bouquet of flowers from the back passenger seat. Subsequently, he spoke up while walking toward Daniella.

The headlights of the car were still on and at that point, Daniella finally saw that it was actually Matthew. “Oh–Young Master Matthew, i-it’s you!”

Daniella was very surprised to see Matthew. At that point, she reached out and pinched Veronica’s arm before glaring at her. The former’s accusing look seemed to be expressing her thoughts of, Why is it Matthew? Shouldn‘t it be Xavier with you? You little brat! How dare you flirt with two guys at the same time!

“Roni mentioned that it’s Mr. Murphy’s birthday today so as her brother. I should pop over to celebrate with Mr. Murphy too.” Matthew no longer maintained his usual cold, indifferent attitude and he amicably chatted with Daniella.

At that, Veronica grumbled to herself, Roni?!That‘s such an intimate nickname and it sounds gross! Is he generally so hypocritical?! He‘s purposely giving me such an intimate nickname in front of Mom! He‘s indeed a good actor! What a hypocrite!

“Yeah, Mom. Old Mrs. Kings has acknowledged me as her god-granddaughter and he’s her grandson, so I should address him as my brother too.”

Just then, Veronica didn’t want her mother to jump to the wrong conclusion, so she quickly came up with an explanation.

“Oh–is that so? In that case, come on in, Young Master Matthew. Let’s head inside. Our place is slightly shabby, so I hope you won’t find the place unbearable.”

“Mrs. Murphy, you’re too humble.”

“Tony, Crayson, hurry up and come out! Look who’s back!” Daniella yelled out in the direction of the inner part of the house.

Just then, Tony and Crayson walked out together. Immediately, Veronica ran forward happily and gave Tony a big hug. “Happy birthday, Dad! I came back in a rush, so I didn’t bring any presents for you.”

“What sort of nonsense are you talking about? I’m happy enough to have you back! Why are you back so late at night?” Tony beamed widely and he was clearly very happy.

“Matthew sent me back.”

Veronica smiled happily and walked forward to stand in front of Crayson. Then, she affectionately placed an arm around his shoulders. “Master, let me introduce you guys. This is my... uh... brother. His grandmother took me as her god-granddaughter, so he’s considered my godbrother.”

After she had said that, she turned to Matthew and introduced Crayson. “This is my master, and his name is Crayson.”

Crayson held a tobacco pipe in his hand and he took a puff from it. Subsequently, he exhaled and the smoke that came out of the pipe shrouded them slightly, affecting their line of vision.

However, beneath the smoke, there was a change of expression on Crayson’s weathered face as his sharp eyes scanned Matthew from head to toe. However, after the smoke dissipated, Crayson lifted his head and chuckled. “He’s such a handsome guy. Ha!”

Meanwhile, Matthew walked forward and murmured, “Hello, Mr. Murphy. Nice to meet you, Master Crayson.”

Matthew was very respectful toward them, and this was the first time ever that Veronica had seen this humble side in him.

“Mr. Murphy, these are from Roni. She bought you a cake and some flowers.” Just then, Matthew handed the items to Tony.

“Gosh, look at this girl! Why did you get me another cake after getting me one earlier?!” At that moment, Tony looked at Veronica and heaved a sigh.

“Dad, these are from Matthew.” Veronica was thankful enough to Matthew for being able to get home today so naturally, she didn’t want to take the credit for his kind gesture.

“Alright, alright. Let’s take a seat inside. Why are we all standing by the entrance anyway?!”