Chapter 699

Matthias attempted to chase after Ether moments later, but she was already far gone. With his pajamas on and a messy hair, he looked rather chaotic.

After giving Evan a threatening glance, he then ordered, “Bring her back. She hasn’t even put her shoes on.” After all, Matthias felt that he was also at fault and could not just let Ether go without apologizing.

However, Evan thought it was better not to chase after her. From his understanding of Matthias, the man didn’t like to owe anyone. Although he didn’t like being intimate with women, there was still a sense of chivalry in him.

With Ether’s departure this time, it would make Matthias even more guilty. In other words, it would secure a follow-up meeting for the two of them.

Evan was obviously reluctant to go after her, so he said to Matthias, “She’s far gone, sir. There’s no way we can catch up to her.”

Since he didn’t want to go out the house with his pajamas on, he could only gaze at Evan and perturbedly uttered, “I really hate it when you make such decisions on your own. Clean up the mess you’ve made.”

Although his words were rather amiable, his tone was nowhere near friendly as it carried a strong, threatening vibe to it.

“What else could I have done, sir? If only you’re able to see how scary you look whenever you’re drunk… You kept crying for Heather, but how could I have brought her to you? As such, I had no choice but to bring Ether to you instead,” he answered boldly. Since things had already gone south, he was prepared to accept whatever atrocities that cast upon him.

“Shut up.” Matthias grew more infuriated as Evan was pushing his limits.

Since he knew that he had triumphed over his boss, Evan looked at Matthias smilingly without sensing the hint of danger from the latter.

“There’s plenty of fish in the sea, so why dwell on just one, sir?” said Evan as he tried to advise the other man. If what Matthias said was true about Heather marrying someone else, there was no point in waiting for her.

“Shut up. You’re fired,” said Matthias. It was rare of him to spit such cruel words.

However, Evan merely grinned upon hearing that. He hadn’t expected things to transpire this way, for Matthias even suggested firing him. Right then, his grin turned into a sarcastic smirk. Unlike the Matthias he once knew, the person before his eyes had certainly lost his ambitions and assertiveness ever since knowing Heather.

“Look at what the woman has turned you into, Matthias. Do you realize how embarrassing you’ve become?” Previously, Evan expected Heather to bring joy and happiness into Matthias’ life, but that wasn’t the case at all. On the contrary, all he received from her was pain and demise.

Because of her, Matthias became more and more unhinged—he was even willing to ruin his future.

Naturally, Evan couldn’t bear to see him gradually turn into another person for Heather’s sake.

Matthias had once proposed to Evan about expanding his business worldwide, and the latter had high expectations and hopes for him. However, Heather had become the only thing on his mind right now, and all the plans about going global had been thrown out of the window.

“It’s none of your business,” Matthias answered as he shot Evan a malicious gaze. Since they were always synergistic, no one could remember the last time they had a fight.

Now that they were arguing because of Heather, Evan felt deeply disappointed.

Indeed, love is lethal.

Anyone who fell under love’s spell would be so blinded that they could only think of the person they adored, effectively ignoring their friendships and blood ties.

With that, Evan turned back to leave. If his departure failed to wake Matthias up, perhaps there was really no more hope for him!

At this very moment, Evan felt especially remorseful for becoming Matthias’ wingman in his pursuit of Heather, and he blamed himself for allowing his boss to say those affectionate words to her.

The very things he couldn’t do himself were exactly what he pushed Matthias to do. Why did he have to turn him into a love saint?

Now that he thought about it, everything was ridiculous. After all,there were so many obligations Matthias had apart from his love life. Since he possessed the potential of becoming an influential businessman, Matthias shouldn’t be wasting so much time and effort on Heather.

Besides, it didn’t feel like Heather was right for him; given how she was tormenting him, even Evan wanted to cry out for him.

As he watched Evan’s decisive turn, Matthias suspected that he had been planning to leave him earlier.

Since he knew that Evan had his own expectations for him, he was fully aware that a big part of his success was due to Evan’s assistance.

However, his impulsiveness from earlier had caused him to say such absurd words to the latter.

Although he was somewhat regretful about it, Matthias would not beg for him to stay. Nonetheless, Evan’s departure wasn’t entirely bad because he would have to leave either way—Matthias would soon become an ordinary man, after all. Naturally, an ordinary man did not require a butler.

As he turned his head around, Matthias couldn’t tell whether Evan had turned back to look at him.

Regardless, the latter’s departure had been pushed forward, and that contributed to the progress of his plans.

Sadly, Heather was a key factor to his ultimate goal, but she was no longer with him. Now that she had chosen somebody else, he didn’t know what else he could utilize to strive for Heather’s return. If he didn’t fight for her, would she really get married to Leon?

Since he was afraid that his fear would turn into reality, he didn’t dare to ponder about it any further. He initially had no clue whether he was on the right path, but now, it seemed like he was going the wrong way based on how everything was crumbling down.

If I can’t even keep the woman I love, what’s the point of having more plans? Matthias couldn’t stop thinking about the woman.

Perhaps he should have lowered his head and put down that despicable pride of his. He thought about all the possibilities in his head, yet he did not take any action to bring her back.

With Evan’s departure, the mansion suddenly felt like an empty hall. He stared at his servants as they continued on with their tasks, looking as though nothing ever happened.

Before this mess, he always believed that the earth would stop rotating without him, but he eventually realized it stopped for no one as time went by. Around him were the faces of the servants, each of them unfamiliar to him. As he observed them, it felt like it was his first time meeting them.

Matthias walked back to his room and locked himself in. Warmth and passion belonged to others, whereas he only experienced coldness.

Moreover, he felt that it wouldn’t be a terrible idea if he could just stay in his room all day. After all, he had always wanted to try being a couch potato for once.

However, he never got the chance to experience that due to the never-ending pile of work he had.

Despite being a busy man of the upper class, the only person he had was himself.

He became truly alone once Evan left him, and he felt really uneasy because of that. All these years, he had viewed Evan as a crucial part to his life. Nevertheless, the two were bound to split up. Even the end of a relationship between a couple was inevitable, so who could say it wasn’t the same for friendships?

At that moment, Matthias coldly grinned upon realizing that he’d lost both his relationship and friendship. Despite that, he knew he had to collect his jumble of thoughts and head to the Locke Group to be the director he was.

Given the hectic activities awaiting him at the Locke Group, Matthias didn’t have time to dwell on his sob stories since he was the director of the company. On the contrary, there were even times when he had to function like a robot.

As sprinkles of water fell upon his body, he was eased by the warmth of the water. After allowing his body some comfort, Matthias suspected that his emotions would eventually fade away.

He was aware that a businessman’s purpose was to be a money-making machine, and Matthias smirked as he forgot what his true purpose was.

Even if he were to turn the Locke Group into an international success, what then? What he truly desired was to be a human made of blood and flesh, not a mindless machine. Needless to say, he found himself in a dilemma.

Meanwhile, he had given himself a very short haircut—it was so short that he could simultaneously wash his face and hair. With a buzzcut as such, he didn’t even have to use a hairdryer.

Matthias then changed into his elegant black suit and headed to the company. After all, the more he procrastinated, the more unfinished work he would have to deal with later on.

By 10.00AM, he showed up at the Locke Group. Nikolai saw his fresh look and was about to approach him for a talk, but his fear of Matthias’ glare stopped him from doing so.

On the other hand, Lara boldly approached Matthias and greeted, “Good morning, President Locke!” In fact, she welcomed him warmly as though nothing had happened.

She didn’t even care where he had been yesterday and gave Matthias a sweet smile, to which the latter forced out a slight grin in return.

“Come with me, Lara.” After observing her subtle gestures, Matthias had something he wanted to clarify with her.

When she looked at his stern face, Lara couldn’t tell what he had to say to her. However, she put immense effort in her job every day and was probably the next person after Matthias who was most familiar with the Locke Group.

Matthias entered his office and saw the pile of documents on his desk, but he was already far used to it. Nonetheless, he felt rather suffocated by his job after being welcomed by his endless amount of tasks.

“Close the door,” he said as he reminded Lara, seeming as though he had a serious issue to talk about.

She promptly closed the door and stared at Matthias anxiously.

“I’ve arranged your documents in order, President Locke. You just have to start from the left,” she said.

Although she was an exceptional secretary, Matthias had enough of her petty actions in the dark.

“How long have you been working for me, Lara?” Upon hearing Matthias’ sudden question, she was slightly taken aback.

“About three to five years? I don’t really remember,” she casually replied. Despite claiming that, she actually remembered how long she had been in the company—she just didn’t want to reveal it.

Naturally, she wouldn’t let anyone in on her dirty little secret of crushing on him, let alone the man himself.

“In that case, you should know what I detest the most, which is being deceived.” As his face grew more and more strict, Lara became nervous.

Upon hearing that, she felt a little guilty. Moreover, she realized that she should have expected him to be sharp enough to notice her suspicious movements.

“I’m sorry.” Lara had no intention of denying her actions. Since he already knew about it, there was no point hiding it anymore!

“I’m not here for your apology nor your explanation. Instead, I’m here to fire you. Any objections?”

Since he wanted to leave her some bits of pride, he held back his words.

“No, President Locke. I’m very grateful.” When she raised her head, her face was wet with tears. It was great, for no one would be burdened any longer.