Matthew was left speechless, unable to find the right words to respond. Dolores lifted her head, giving him a questioning look that seemed to ask what was happening. Finally, Matthew understood why Samuel had hesitated earlier. How could someone so young be so cunning and manipulative?
“Kid, if you keep behaving like this, you won’t grow up to be tall,” Matthew said, trying to assert his authority.
“I’ll grow taller than you! You won’t be able to catch up,” Samuel retorted confidently, bolstered by his mother’s presence.
Was this child abandoning his benefactor as soon as he was no longer needed?
“What the hell is going on?” Dolores suddenly stood up, sensing a familiarity between the two based on their conversation.
Didn’t Samuel despise Matthew? How did they have any connection?
Had Matthew secretly been in contact with her son without her knowledge?
What was his motive?
“Explain it to me,” Dolores demanded, her expression turning serious, as if she wouldn’t let them off easily without an explanation.
“You, tell me,” Dolores pointed at Samuel.
Samuel blinked his eyes and told her the truth, “Mommy, I know that Sampson bullied you.”
Dolores’ heart skipped a beat. How… How did Samuel know about this?
“Samuel.”
“He told me,” Samuel pointed at Matthew and added, “When Sampson came to our home and said he wanted to take us out for a meal, I sensed something malicious in his intentions. So I called Matthew for help. He asked me if I wanted to seek revenge for you. My answer was YES. Then he instructed me to go with Sampson obediently, as he would find evidence of Sampson’s crimes.”
Samuel knew his mother cared deeply for him. Even if she had been mistreated by Sampson, she would not seek revenge at the cost of her son’s safety.
Initially, he had planned to tell Matthew about this, but considering that Matthew had abandoned his mother before, he had second thoughts. He anticipated that Dolores would be furious upon learning the truth.
“Is that true?” Dolores asked, her gaze fixed on Matthew, her heart filled with a surge of coldness.
Undoubtedly, Matthew had the courage to take the blame for his actions.
“Yes.”
Although Dolores was seething with anger, she didn’t explode in front of Samuel. Instead, she instructed him to rest, saying, “Samuel, get some more sleep. Mommy will bring your clothes here later.”
Samuel obediently nodded, pulling the quilt over himself. He sneaked a triumphant smile at Matthew, thinking, ‘Mommy is angry now. Will you still be able to win her over?’
“Come with me,” Dolores said sternly, leaving the room after her words.
Matthew glanced at Samuel and asked, “Kid, did you set me up?”
“I was just telling the truth. How is that setting you up?” Samuel replied, pulling the quilt to cover half of his face. His eyes peeked out, blinking innocently. “It was you who told me to let myself be caught.”
As he uttered the last sentence, his voice fell to a whisper. It seemed inappropriate to say such things.
Matthew had helped him punish a bad guy, but he had also made a mistake.
With these thoughts, Samuel felt even more remorseful towards Matthew.
“Well,” Matthew said with a slight smile. “I lost. But…”
His smile grew brighter as he spoke meaningfully, “Guess if I can calm down your mom’s anger?”
“Nope,” Samuel replied confidently, knowing deep down that Dolores loved him unconditionally.
“My mom gave birth to me, and she loves me so much.”
Matthew found amusement in the logic behind his words. He squatted down, looking into Samuel’s eyes. “Kid, there are things I can give your mommy that you never could.”
“What?” Samuel became flustered, looking into Matthew’s confident eyes.
Matthew stood up abruptly, as if their eye contact had never occurred. He casually smoothed his unruffled collar. “Your mommy is waiting for me.”
“Explain yourself!” Samuel sat up, shouting in frustration.
‘Is he angry?’ Matthew wondered to himself.
Without paying any attention to Samuel’s outburst, he walked out of the room calmly. Dolores was waiting for him outside. Seeing him emerge, she asked, “What were you doing in there? It took you so long.”
“I had a little conversation with your son,” Matthew replied, pressing the ‘unlock’ button on the car key. With a beep, the car parked at the entrance unlocked.
“Let’s go.”
Dolores followed him and climbed into the car. After driving for a short while, Dolores finally broke the silence. “Stop. I need to talk to you about something.”
Matthew pulled over by the side of the road.
“You’ve really crossed a line this time. Do you realize that?” Dolores turned her head to look out the window, unable to muster the courage to meet his gaze. She felt a sense of disappointment. She never imagined that he would love her children or accept them.
However, she couldn’t accept him putting their safety at risk.
“They mean everything to me.” Dolores placed a hand over her chest, feeling as if there was a hole in her heart, with a chilling wind passing through. “How could you use his life as bait? What if something goes wrong? Have you even thought about that?” She continued, her head bowed. “I’m not like you. You have plenty of women to choose from when you grow tired of me, and you can have more children in the future. But I only have Samuel and Simona.”
Matthew’s expression changed dramatically upon hearing the last sentence.
He looked at Dolores with a somber expression. “Dolores Flores, dare you say that again!”
He rarely used her full name.
Matthew grasped her chin firmly, forcing her to look at him, and said each word deliberately, “Dare you say that again!”
As Dolores perceived the disappointment in his eyes, she felt stunned. She then sneered, “You pursued me for the sake of novelty, right? In your world, there are countless women, most of whom are of your own class. Why did you fancy me?”
Her looks?
There were countless women far more beautiful than her.
“There must not be a woman who has given birth to your child by your side, am I right?” Her words dripped with scorn.
Matthew’s anger surged, but he instead smirked. “Was I so good to you before that you think I’m a kind-hearted person, huh?”
“Do you forget what you promised me?” He approached her step by step, his sharp eyes and raised eyebrows clearly visible, his breath felt. She held her breath and replied, “But you also promised me that you wouldn’t harm my children.”
“Have I harmed them?”
“But you took advantage of them.”
“So what do you want to do about it?”
Dolores looked down. Yes, what could she do to him?
She had no power to fight against him.
If it were her being taken advantage of, she would swallow her grievances because she didn’t care. But since this involved her child, she would never back down!
“Dare you take advantage of them again, I will kill you,” she declared in a determined tone.
“Kill me?” Matthew had never encountered someone so audacious as to claim they would kill him to his face.
And it was coming from a woman.
He didn’t become enraged; instead, he chuckled.
He admired her determination. Despite having nothing, she possessed courage.
“Very well. If it happens again, you can go ahead and kill me.” He released his grip on her chin, reached out to grab her waist, and then exerted some force to lift her from the backseat to the driver’s seat.
Dolores exclaimed in shock, “What are you doing?”
“Hush. Keep your voice down.”