Chapter 11: Don't Be Deceived by Appearances
Back then, she was sure he was satisfied with her. Dolores knitted her eyebrows and speculated: Did he find someone more suitable for him?
At such a thought, Dolores felt that the circumstances were somehow more acceptable.
At night.
The moment Matthew came home, he immediately shut himself in his room. It seemed that he still had work to attend to.
Dolores had learnt about Matthew's preferences on food from Coral in the afternoon, and she was ready to prepare dinner for him by herself.
Coral smiled, "This is what a wife should do for her husband."
Dolores strained a smile while lowering her head. If it was not for the fact that she was at his mercy, she wouldn't flatter him on her own volition.
Coral let out a sigh, "The madam has passed away a long time ago and the master has remarried ever since. The young master rarely goes back home, but beneath his cold facade, he is actually someone how treasures relationship with others."
Dolores listened to her intently without interrupting her.
"Ms. White used to save the young master when he was still a child, and later on, she has been following him around. The young master has never liked her, but somehow his attitude towards her takes a turn for the better after that business trip last time. Nevertheless, you have nothing to worry about. You are still his wife anyway." Coral patted her shoulders as she tried to comfort her.
Dolores strained a smile as she knew well she had no say in who he wanted to be acquainted with. It was his own life after all.
Even though they were husband and wife in name, it somehow never felt like that. They were more like strangers.
She knew very well the real meaning of their marriage.
Dolores sneaked a glance at the study room and recalled the black coffee that Helen had made in the morning. She asked Coral, "Coral, do you know where the coffee beans are? I want to boil him some coffee."
Coral thought that Dolores was very thoughtful, so she dished out the coffee beans and handed them to her while also putting in some words of advice, "Don't add any sugar or milk. The young master is not fond of sweet things."
Dolores nodded and in no time, a freshly-brewed coffee was born. She poured some into a delicate coffee cup and carried it to the study room herself.
In the study room, Matthew was looking impatient on the phone, "What is the matter with the human resources department? Is it that hard to get a good translator?"
He knew a variety of languages, but not the language spoken by A Country because it was not widely spoken. Furthermore, he was handling a new project in that country, so not knowing the language was going to cause him a lot of troubles since he had to personally deal with everything himself.
"Let the human resources manager know, I'll only give him a day. If he can't hire anyone within a day, ask him to get ready to get lost!"
Suddenly, someone knocked on the door. Matthew was still fuming with anger when he was interrupted by that knocking sound. He called out coldly without keeping his emotions in check, "Come in!"
Dolores suddenly felt her guts tighten. Was he angry for some reason?
However, since she had already announced her arrival, she had no choice but to go in even though he might not be in the mood to receive any guest.
Dolores put on her widest grin while announcing the reason for her arrival, "I have made some coffee for you."
Matthew trained his gaze on her face before slowly turning it onto the cup of coffee in her hands. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Just in the morning, she was avoiding him as if he was a plague, but now she was sending in a cup of coffee for him?
This woman was really capricious!
Matthew replaced his phone to its original place and sat down. He watched her intently to find out what this woman was up to at that moment!
"I hope it suits your taste buds." Dolores placed the coffee on his desk.
Matthew continued to sit there motionless. His body gradually relaxed and in the end, he was lying lazily against his chair.
Dolores prompted him, "Have a taste of it?"
Matthew raised his eyebrows and suddenly came to a realization. He could guess the reason behind her transformation as he said mockingly, "Are you flattering me now because you want to ask about that land in Repulse Bay?"
Dolores froze briefly in disbelief. She didn't think that he would be able to make the connection so soon.
Suddenly, Matthew grabbed Dolores' chin and said menacingly, "Is this the reason the Flores family insist to let you marry me although I'm a crippled person?"
He exerted a lot of strength into his fingers, which caused Dolores to feel an excruciating pain besieging her chin.
She opened her mouth, seemingly trying to explain herself.
However, no words of explanation could come out at that moment.
Should she tell him that she was actually abandoned by her family?
Would he believe her?
"I'm not…"
"Get out!" Matthew flung her away.
Dolores lost her balance and her arm accidentally toppled over the cup of coffee. Black liquid poured out of the cup and seeped into the sheets of documents on his desk. Matthew's face completely darkened at this sight.
Dolores didn't anticipate such a turn of events as she frantically tried to wipe the coffee dry.
Matthew snatched away from those sheets and bellowed, "I ask you to get out; didn't you hear me?"
He was feeling repulsed by her who was sucking up to him!
Dolores could only leave.
"Wait, take these out too!" Matthew said with annoyance.
Dolores obediently fetched the cup outside the room.
After dinner, Matthew returned to his room after finishing his meal.
Dolores let out a helpless sigh. This man really had an unpleasant character. It was a challenge to get close to him, let alone capturing the rights to that piece of land and regained the authoritative position from Randolph.
Dolores took a bath and then lied in bed after that. She fumbled around from time to time, not able to fall asleep. She decided to get off the bed for now.
At the thought of what had happened in the afternoon when she had accidentally spilt coffee all over his documents, she felt a little sorry for him.
She wanted to make it up to him, so she tiptoed to his study room.
She switched on the lights in the room and saw that those moist sheets were still on the table. The documents were written in the language used by A Country.
Some of the ink on the sheets which were interfered with by coffee was muddled up, making that part unrecognizable.
She took some fresh papers and copied down the information on the documents. Dolores was well-versed in the language used by A Country although it was not widely used at all. This was her way of apologizing to him. She translated the words into his familiar language so that he could decipher the information.
She methodically translated the contents of more than ten sheets of documents. By the time she was done, it was almost dawn.
She put down the pen while massaging her sore wrists. After making sure the papers were in order, she tidily placed them on his desk before returning to her room to get some sleep.
When Matthew was having breakfast the next morning, Dolores was still soundly asleep. She had fallen asleep way too late last night. Coupled with her pregnancy which caused her sleeping time to increase, she failed to wake up early today.
Matthew frowned, "She hasn't gotten up yet?"
Coral lowered her gaze, "Yes. You guys are husband and wife, so you shouldn't ask me that."
Matthew understood completely what Coral was trying to say.
"Forget about it." However, Matthew was never the type to explain himself clearly, and this attitude applied to Coral who had practically cared for him since he was young.
"Young master, I know that you have no feelings for Miss Flores, but your marriage was still being blessed by the madam when she was still alive. Besides, I can see that she is a thoughtful person. She had asked me about your favourite food and made those dishes for you last night. She even boiled some coffee for you."
The reason Dolores was flattering him was just to grab that piece of land in Repulse Bay for the Flores family. Nothing more.
Did she really care about him? Matthew found this thought amusing.
He turned around and stared at Coral, "Don't be deceived by her appearance."