Chapter 421 Matthew's First Love
In the courtyard of the Martinez Villa, lights were blazing brightly at this moment.
Guests gathered in small groups, holding wine glasses and chatting cheerfully.
Adelaide was greeting guests when she suddenly heard a buzz of excited discussion around her.
Following everyone's gaze outward, she saw a tall, upright figure with a cold, powerful aura slowly approaching.
When she clearly saw the man's face, Adelaide's breathing stopped, her face instantly turned pale, her eyes full of disbelief.
How could it be him?
At this moment, Adelaide's mind went blank as she stood there in a daze.
Her eyes stared fixedly at the man continuously approaching, not knowing how to react for a moment.
Until the man stopped just a step away from her and said, "Ms. Martinez, long time no see."
Adelaide instantly snapped back to reality and responded haltingly, "Mr. Moore, long time no see."
Matthew lowered his eyes, a trace of self-mockery crossing his heart.
Over the years, he had imagined countless times what reuniting with Adelaide would be like, but he never imagined it would be like this.
The moment he received Amelia's invitation, his heart, dormant for over a decade, began to beat again.
But at this moment, his heart that had finally regained some life was knocked back to rock bottom by her single sentence.
Adelaide had never thought she would see Matthew again either.
Matthew was her first love, and the time she spent with him was the happiest and most carefree period of her life.
Later, she went abroad to study and broke up with him.
After that, they never saw each other again.
Adelaide thought she would never see him again in this lifetime.
But sometimes, fate just catches you off guard like that.
Actually, she had also fantasized about what it would be like to reunite with Matthew.
But she didn't expect this day would come so soon.
She tried hard to adjust her emotions and gave him a polite but distant smile.
"Mr. Moore, please come in."
"What? Old friends meeting, don't want to chat?"
"I'm sorry Mr. Moore, I still need to attend to the guests."
"No problem, I can wait. What about today? Tomorrow? The day after?"
Matthew didn't deliberately lower his voice when speaking, so the guests around looked over curiously and gossipily.
Adelaide thought that after everything she'd been through, she was strong enough to face anything calmly and composedly.
But at this moment she realized that whenever Matthew was involved, she couldn't control her emotions.
Just like over a decade ago.
She forcibly suppressed the bitterness in her heart, looked up at Matthew, "Matthew, what exactly do you want?"
Matthew's eyes stared straight at her as he chuckled lightly, "Just want to catch up, what are you afraid of?"
He suddenly leaned closer, bending down to whisper in Adelaide's ear, "Did you do something wrong and feel guilty, or haven't thought of a perfect excuse yet?"
His lips were very close to Adelaide's ear, his warm breath spilling onto her sensitive skin, causing a tingling sensation.
Adelaide instinctively stepped back two steps, looking at him warily.
"Mr. Moore, please show some respect."
"Respect?"
He had been too respectful back then, so much so that Adelaide didn't take him seriously at all and broke up just like that.
He took a deep breath and put on a proper smile again, "Thank you for the reminder."
With that, Matthew walked straight toward the hall without looking at her again.
Watching Matthew's departing figure, Adelaide felt a dull ache in her chest.
She thought time would help her forget this relationship, but seeing Matthew again, her heart was still uncontrollably affected by him.
But from the moment she chose to leave him, there was no longer any possibility between her and Matthew.
She covered her chest, forcibly suppressing that bitterness, and continued greeting guests as if nothing had happened.
Sophia was about to come out looking for Adelaide when she saw Matthew walking in, her eyes instantly lighting up.
"Matthew, you finally made it! Your assistant said you weren't feeling well, I thought you weren't coming."
As the CEO of the Lumina Group, Matthew naturally received an invitation.
But before Sophia came, she received a call from him saying he wasn't feeling well and wasn't planning to come.
Matthew smiled, "Just my stomach acting up, already better after taking medicine."
Sophia looked at him disapprovingly, "Then you should go home and rest properly. Let me check you over."
As she spoke, Sophia was about to take Matthew's hand, wanting to pull him aside to examine him with her portable medical kit.
Matthew instinctively dodged.
Realizing his overreaction, Matthew reached out to ruffle Sophia's hair, "I'm really fine, don't worry."
"Alright then, but if you feel unwell, you must tell me immediately." Sophia reluctantly withdrew her hand.
"Okay." Matthew responded absentmindedly.
Sophia looked at him suspiciously, feeling that Matthew seemed a bit off today.
However, she didn't think too deeply about it and said, "Matthew, did you see Adelaide when you came in? She's Tobias's only granddaughter, I'll introduce you to her later."
Matthew instinctively wanted to refuse, but suddenly thinking of something, he swallowed his refusal.
He just said okay.
He had never told Sophia about his relationship with Adelaide, and didn't want to bring it up for now.
He had many questions he wanted to ask Adelaide.
Why did she suddenly break up back then?
Why did she leave without saying goodbye? And blocked his phone number and all his social media accounts.
...
But he knew very well that Adelaide was resistant to him now.
If Matthew wanted an excuse to get close to her, he had to rely on Sophia.
He let Sophia lead him back to the villa's courtyard.
At this time, Adelaide was still exchanging pleasantries with guests. Even from a distance, he could clearly see the smile on her face.
Bright and beautiful.
Completely different from the panic and tension when facing him.
He shook his head mockingly and followed Sophia over.
"Adelaide!"
Hearing Sophia's voice, Adelaide slowly turned around.
When she saw Matthew beside Sophia, her smile instantly froze on her face.
Sophia pointed at Matthew and said, "Adelaide, this is my senior, Matthew, CEO of the Lumina Group."
"Matthew, this is Adelaide I told you about."
Adelaide stood there in a daze, not knowing what emotions to face him with.
Just as she was at a loss, Matthew suddenly extended his hand.
"Adelaide, hello."
Adelaide looked at his outstretched hand, her feelings complicated.
She slowly raised her head to see Matthew looking at her with a smile in his eyes.
He was like someone greeting a person he just met, polite and formal.
She felt both relieved and a bit disappointed in her heart, extending her hand to touch Matthew's.
The moment their fingertips touched, Adelaide could clearly feel the cool warmth of his palm.
She instinctively wanted to withdraw her hand, but her fingers were suddenly grasped.
She stared wide-eyed in shock and tried to pull back again. This time she easily withdrew her hand.
Sophia took in their interaction, and as if watching a good show, tactfully didn't interrupt.