"I'd like to introduce you to your brother and his wonderful wife," Her mother said in a cheerful tone. Erin appeared both nervous and thrilled to meet her half-brother, despite what her mother had implied. She had never had a sibling before, but she will have one today.
When she felt Nathan's warm touch on her delicate arm, she let go of her breath. She carefully shifts her focus to Nathan, who appears to be fierce and strong yet maintaining a calm demeanor. Erin assumed it was just lunch, but due to a large number of individuals in attendance, it turned into a party. Because her mother is a noblewoman, everyone who attended the party was a celebrity, including the industry's wealthiest.
She frowns as a man approaches her with a woman in his arms who is quite familiar to her; who could it be?
"Hello, Erin Raylee... it's great to meet you. My name is Matthew Henderson, and I'm your brother." said the man, who introduced himself as her brother and gave her a kind peck on the cheek.
"Nice to meet you, Matthew." But she locked her gaze on the woman with her brother, her mouth gaping, and she asked, "Olivia?"
"Erin…" Olivia speaks to Erin with a croaked voice and a regretful expression on her face.
"Maybe we can give our wife some privacy, Mr. Henderson," Nathan suggests with his deep and calm voice.
Matthew gave Nathan a nod and they both walked away at the same time, leaving Erin and Olivia to converse. Lucille was equally astounded, and her son Matthew walked her to the front of the room to face the other visitors.
"Olivia, what happened to you? I've been trying to contact you for a month now, yet you're here with my brother's wife? Oh my god, I'm really confused."
Olivia gulped and felt awkward because her husband was Erin's brother, so she couldn't make eye contact with her. Maybe her best friend would say something completely different if she knew she wouldn't have married.
"Why did you marry my brother in the first place, and how did this happen? Olivia, I miss you terribly…"Erin wondered, a little puzzled as to what had happened and why Olivia had not even called her; she loves her best friend. She was concerned about everything that had happened to her.
Olivia gives herself a hug and leads Erin into the backyard, which is full of flowers and has a great view of the gardens. Before speaking to Erin, Olivia sighed and took a deep breath.
"Erin...it's a long story, but Mathew protected me from my ex-fiancee, John. He rapes me and Matthew beats him to death, your brother saved me from that bastard, but I don't want the horrible story to reach your ears, so I keep it a secret while I go to therapy for my mental health, that's because I don't want you to worry about me, you have a lot of problems and I don't want you to be sad... and then Matthew never gives up on me, he stays with me all the time, until one day he proposes to me that he wants to have an heir, and I marry him...it all happens so fast." Olivia explained to her with a trembling sound in her voice.
Olivia tried to act happy simply to keep from sobbing, but she couldn't, and she cried in front of her best friend. Erin hugs Olivia as tears gently stream down her cheeks as she senses her best friend's misery.
"I'm sorry if that happened to you, Olivia, but thank God my brother saved you from that monster...I looked for you every day, believing that you were fine and safe... I'm sorry, but I have no idea what's going on with you;" Erin said while still hugging Olivia then took Olivia to the bench so that they could sit and talk.
"I should have listened to you when you said that John isn't good for me, that he's a jerk and a monster...I apologize for not listening to you." Olivia said, her voice is low and timid.
"No, don't say that; you're simply a victim of false love... but the main thing is that you're safe with my brother now. That's all that matters... so, where has John gone?"
"I'm not sure... Matthew said he's gone for good." Olivia replied and paused for a moment.
"Perhaps he's dead..." Olivia whispered, her voice trembling.
"What do you mean?" Erin asked her with her voice intrigued, she's curious and confused but she wants to know the truth.
Olivia becomes pale as a result of Erin's query, and just as she is ready to speak, a deep and quiet voice interrupts their intense conversation. Erin rushed over to Nathan, who was with Matthew, right away. "Why are you here, Nathan? Is the celebration over?"
"Not yet honey, but I missed you already…" Nathan said with his sexy voice. Erin knows it's just a pretend act just to show Matthew that they are a happy couple.
"Are you alright..." says Matthew as he kisses Olivia's lips. Olivia simply smiled and nodded her head, then looked at Erin, who was also staring at her, and Erin gave her a warm hug and said "I'm gonna visit you at your house some other time…take care."
"Thank you, Erin…" Olivia said and went with Matthew.
"Nathan kindly takes care of my sister...she's my sister now," Matthew said as they went to the other side of the room. "Of course, she's a treasure.." Nathan replied and turned his gaze to Erin.
Erin and Nathan were the only ones left in the backyard when the other couple left. Nathan remained silent, waiting for her to say something. "Stop pretending that you love me..." Erin muttered as she raced away from Nathan, who grimaced and clenched his teeth, baffled as to why Erin said that, his intentions were genuine when it came to Erin, does it look like a game to her? He sighed and made the decision to chase her.
Erin stepped outside, where she was surrounded by a large crowd, and she bumped into Luke's muscular chest. "Erin?" Luke muttered and smiled at her.
"Luke?" she said, her eyes darted and her mouth fell open.