Chapter 702


    It had been a long time since Lara had been described as a little girl, but she didn’t let her reaction


    show. Niki probably had no idea that his casual remark was making her heart race like crazy.


    He had always been a dim little boy in Lara’s eyes; she knew that she was no match for Matthias, and


    she understood that there was a certain distance between her and Niki as well.


    All of a sudden, Lara felt a little miserable—was there no other man left for her in this world? Why did


    she have to waste her time on this pair of cousins? At that moment, Lara couldn’t help but criticize


    herself for her poor choices.


    “You’re the one who’s acting like a little boy, Niki. It feels like you’ll never grow up,” Lara replied. Her


    words stunned him momentarily, and he had the urge to refute her ims.


    “Are you saying that I’m still a child?” Niki seemed quite unhappy with her opinion, for he had clearly


    improved tremendously in the past few years. Thus, he was unsatisfied to hear that from her.


    Lara could make out the discontentment in his tone, so she didn’t linger on the topic and brushed it off


    with a smile. On the other hand, Niki stared at Lara in confusion; for the very first time, he was


    reconsidering who he was in this woman’s eyes.


    Even though Lara had moved on from the topic, Niki still couldn’t let it go. He said again, “Have you


    always thought of me as someone who’s super childish?” He didn’t realize that Lara was praising him,


    and he thought that it was an insult.


    “No.” Lara wasn’t sure why Niki was exceptionally impulsive today, so much that a sentence as


    simple as that could trigger him immensely. It was pretty unbelievable indeed.


    “I’m sorry, I was being too emotional.” Niki saw the shift in Lara’s expression and knew at once that


    it wasn’t a good time to keep prodding on. Otherwise, the two of them might end up in a quarrel again.


    Niki was always like this—even though he was stubborn at times, he knew just when to stop. His


    sharp attitude immediately put out Lara’s mes of frustration.


    “Stop apologizing to me. You’ll make me feel guilty.” Lara didn’t want to hear his apology, for it made


    her feel like she was constantly bullying him.


    “All right, let’s not talk about this anymore.” Niki didn’t know why they were being so fussy with each


    other today. In fact, their meaningless bickering made them seem a little dumb.


    Lara nodded. Both of them had just be unemployed, so there was no need to hurt each other with


    words. Thus, she turned and stared at the road ahead. Right now, her heart was still racing from


    Niki’s earlier words, and she wondered if he was feeling the same.


    Their car ride wasn’t a long one, but Lara was a little exhausted from it as her emotions were running


    wild inside. For a split second, she even had doubts if she’d actually fallen for Niki. Am I really falling


    for another man? she asked herself. If that wasn’t the case, why was she seeing him in a different light


    all of a sudden?


    Perhaps Lara couldn’t bring herself to admit that she had unknowingly developed feelings for Niki


    after working together with him for some time. These two were blind as a bat when it came to such


    matters, for they were still inexperienced in dealing with romantic rtionships.


    Meanwhile, Niki couldn’t stop stealing peeks at Lara from the driver’s seat. He didn’t understand


    why either, and he simply wanted to look at her for no good reason—even a nce or two wasn’t


    enough.


    An unfamiliar possessive feeling rose up in his chest all of a sudden. Niki thought that he was going


    crazy, and he just noticed that Lara had such a beautiful side profile. The unanticipated speeding up of


    his heart made him restless all of a sudden like an anxious little boy.


    “Just turn left over here.” Lara smiled at Niki, wanting to give him the prettiest smile she had.


    The moment one noticed a change in their friendship, they would end up being more conscious of their


    appearance. Lara recalled countless times in the past where Niki had seen her sluggish state, and


    feelings of embarrassment washed over her.


    Most of the time, fuel needed to be lit in order to trigger a romantic rtionship; a sudden epiphany


    could make two people realize their importance in each other’s hearts. Matthias, who had been a long-


    time observer, gave them such an opportunity to spark their rtionship. After all, Niki’s overly


    impulsive moment led them to expose their feelings for each other. Even though Matthias had to


    endure a round of his cousin’s vicious scolding, he wasn’t mad about it. In fact, he was even a little


    grateful.


    Love was blind, and it could even be destructive at times. Along with that, it could alsoplete a


    person. Matthias didn’t know if he was ruined in the hands of Heather or if she hadpleted him,


    though. Whatever it was, he hoped that love could bring Lara and Niki happiness.


    Meanwhile, Matthias was stuck in an endless loop of day-to-day working life. He stopped for a moment


    and thought about his future—now that he had lost both his most trusted assistants, he was sure that


    tomorrow would be a boring day. To be honest, he was already quite bored as of now.


    Matthias studied the CCTV footage on his monitor, but he couldn’t spot Lara nor Niki. He was truly


    not qualified to be a businessman—how could he make such a choice? If he really were to lose Lara


    and Niki at a time like this, it’d greatly affect his ns for the future.


    In truth, he had be like this all because of love. Needless to say, emotions were a businessman’s


    biggest enemy. Matthias rose from his seat and stared at his reflection on the ss window, looking


    awfully haggard at that moment.


    “Look at you—you look nothing like a corporate big shot,” he muttered to himself. He didn’t know if he


    was doing the right thing, but since he had already done it, he might as well carry on without leaving


    any regrets.


    He would return to his vi after getting off work, but his life would still be as dull as ever. Now that


    Evan was no longer serving him, there would be less fun at home—in fact, the house would evenck


    a certain liveliness to it.


    Matthias was truly all alone. From now on, he could only fight his battles by himself; he’d even lost his


    beloved Heather. Perhaps this isn’t so bad, though. Just then, a devilish smile crept up on his face.


    He recalled his mother’s words of the past. “You have a long way ahead of you, Matthias. You’ll meet


    someone you love and who loves you back; she’llplete you and also ruin you. When that happens,


    don’t repeat my mistake.”


    Indeed, his mother had been ruined by love. Matthias thought about his own family history, and it


    probably wouldn’t take long for him to meet the same fate as well. After all, he knew that he would live


    a life of destruction ever since he was a little boy; even if he didn’t meet Heather, he would’ve stepped


    on this path of no return anyway.


    “I’ll make them pay their price, Mom. I’ll avenge you for sure,” Matthias said as he stared fixedly at his


    own reflection in the window. He looked a lot like his mother, and it seemed as though he could see her


    standing before him.


    His mother never wanted him to drown in hate, but considering his young age when those things had


    happened to him, how could he not? His mother simply wanted Matthias to learn to ept the past and


    live his own life. Unfortunately, he still chose the path of destruction in the end—he didn’t want to fulfill


    anyone else’s wishes.


    At that moment, the Locke Group was already hanging by a thread since Matthias’ various tactics had


    garnered a lot of negative attention from the public. Moreover, he even openly challenged the Hart


    Family. As a result, the Locke Family sessfully became an unwanted guest in Bradfort City.


    Matthias had worked hard to move all of the Locke Group’s forces here, and all of that was for this day


    toe. He was unsure of what else the head of the family had up his sleeves, but he would definitely


    make the Locke Group suffer huge losses this time.


    Material ? of N?velDrama.Org.


    Matthias was waiting for the right moment to strike while trying to get to the bottom of the Locke


    Group’s hidden forces. At the same time, he was constantly provoking many influential parties in


    Bradfort. Essentially, Matthias was taking one step at a time to force the Locke Group into a dead end,


    and he was never loyal to thepany to begin with.


    Back then, there was a long period of time where he wanted to be an international business


    tycoon through the Locke Group’s name; it wasn’t until he met Heather did he remember his original


    goal.


    If Matthias were to grow the Locke Group and be a sessful businessman in the process, he


    would’ve brought glory to his name. However, he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself. The Lockes had


    killed his mother; Matthias wanted them to pay for what they did, and there was no better price to pay


    than the Locke Group itself.


    As soon as thepany fell, those good-for-nothings from the Locke Family would experience what it


    was like to live in hell. Naturally, Matthias couldn’t wait for that day toe.


    He used to be brainwashed by the typical businessman mindset until Heather stirred his emotions once


    again, reminding him that he was capable of feeling things. He often felt like he was staring at himself


    when he looked at the woman—they weren’t purely businesspeople. In fact, not even Tony was


    considered a true businessman.


    Their judgement would often be affected by their feelings; if they had to make a choice between


    emotions and profit, they would even unhesitantly pick the former over the other. Nevertheless,


    Matthias didn’t feel like it was a weakness at all. He was willing to ept this side of himself; the world


    had many other business tycoons to deal with, so the fact that he wasn’t one wouldn’t make a


    difference.


    However, the more he wished to fulfill his wish of destroying the Locke Group, the more he had to


    pretend to care about thepany. He had to express his concern more than anyone else in order to


    trick them.


    In the end, he even had to trick himself. Thus, from Heather’s point of view, there was a huge


    possibility that Matthias would pick the Locke Group over her. At that moment, Matthias suddenly


    realized something—he finally understood that Heather’s scornful attitude toward him back then was


    directed toward the Locke Group.


    Nheless, now that he was in a dire situation, Matthias didn’t have a choice anymore. He didn’t


    even have the courage to stand before Heather to tell her the whole truth.


    He had driven away his most trustedpanions, and he had lost Heather as well. Everything he was


    doing was ording to the Locke Family’s wishes. Although he was a step closer to gaining their trust,


    he didn’t know if he should be mourning or celebrating.


    Troubled by his thoughts, he pushed away the stack of documents on his desk, but even so, he


    couldn’t calm his disturbed state of mind. Just then, he suddenly remembered about Ether who had left


    his vi in a hurry—he still owed her an exnation.


    Since he wasn’t in the mood to work, he decided to visit her. Matthias didn’t want to owe anyone


    anything, especially when it was a woman. He recalled that the woman’s body was a little cold to the


    touch; for a split second, his mind brought him back to the night where he and Heather had cuddled to


    sleep.


    Matthias suddenly felt like a lowly idiot and a failure. The unanticipated reminder made his reason for


    visiting Ether seem so ridiculous. Did he intend to exin things to her, or did he simply want to search


    for a sign of Heather on that woman’s body in desperation?


    Whatever it was, Matthias left the presidential office and headed straight to the Caliph Nightclub. He


    didn’t know how he was going to apologize to Ether, but perhaps he could make her leave the club


    forever. After all, Ether wasn’t suitable to be mingling around in a ce that served to entertain men.


    Indeed, it was in a man’s nature to free a damsel in distress, and Matthias was no exception. Even


    though he wasn’t very close to that woman, he didn’t want her to keep working at a ce like that.


    From an outsider’s perspective, it might seem like Matthias was always surrounded by beautiful


    women. In reality, he couldn’t be bothered by those women around him. If not for professional


    purposes, he never made contact with women in private.


    Nevertheless, what he had with Ether was an unforeseen connection; it was the first time Matthias


    wasn’t as irked by a woman like her. Still, he was vaguely aware that he was simply using her as a


    source of emotional support.


    With nobody around him at the moment, Matthias needed a friend; more urately, he needed


    someone to listen to him. As such, he naturally thought of Ether, the woman who would appear in front


    of him from time to time. He didn’t think he was an exceptionally noble person, and he didn’t feel like


    she was lowly either.


    Matthias no longer felt like suppressing his feelings. Since he finally had something he wanted to do,


    he was going to do it. He was even considering giving Ether a new identity; after all, life was too short


    not to go crazy once in a while!