Chapter 729

When did Zayne even contact that man? Heather felt that Zayne seemed to be keeping a lot of things from her. However, at this rate, that person would show up at any time if they kept on stalling like this.

Heather sunk into the sofa in distress once again. Since that man was able to come to an agreement with Zayne, he had probably made his fair share of sacrifices.

When she put it that way, Heather no longer felt as stressed to meet him. After all, Zayne had always been on her side all this time; to be ‘betrayed’ by him once in a while wasn’t such a bad thing.

Just then, a gust of wind sent the rustling noise of grass into the villa, and Heather was agitated by the slight commotion. From then on, she paid extra attention to pick up any movements from outside while a hint of anticipation tickled her heart. After all, she had been thinking about this person a lot for the past few days.

She had once been in love with him, so how could she erase him from her memory in the blink of an eye? After experiencing that, Heather truly felt that emotions could make a person act in predictable ways. Back then, she was an outsider to all these conventional patterns of human nature; now, she was a part of them. She’d never imagined for this to happen to her, but the truth was right in front of her eyes.

Meanwhile, the white walls around her seemed like a cage; Heather hugged her knees on the cushion, her eyes clouded with weariness and confusion.

At last, a knock on the door cast away her moment of self-deprecation—it appeared that their guest had arrived. Heather waited in anticipation for him to come in on his own, and she even forgot to speak.

“Is anyone home?” Matthias stood outside the door; he was as nervous and restless as the woman inside. As a result, he went a little heavy on the knock, and the door creaked open under his unintentional force. He realized it wasn’t locked to begin with.

It seemed like Zayne had helped them out quite a lot this time. Matthias headed straight inside, for he knew this was an indication that he was welcomed. After entering the living room, he noticed Heather on the sofa right away. Even though her hair was messy and she was wearing a pair of slippers, he still thought that her beauty was unparalleled.

“Hey,” Matthias greeted Heather.

However, she had been looking elsewhere since he entered. She was deliberately avoiding his gaze and wasn’t planning to respond to him either.

Instead, Matthias went up to her; as his footsteps approached gradually, Heather’s heart sped up steadily as well. He finally came to a stop when he was about three steps away from the sofa.

He stood there and looked down at Heather for a long time, but she wasn’t willing to spare him a glance. Hence, he leaned toward her and nudged forward a little, slightly closing the distance between them.

“Are you really going to ignore me, Heather?” Matthias’ voice was as soft and soothing as ever, and his expression couldn’t be more kind.

“Why are you here?” Heather acted like she didn’t know about his visit.

Matthias took another step forward. Heather finally turned to him, and the two shared a moment of silence as they locked eyes. Just then, Heather found her words stuck in her throat; similarly, Matthias couldn’t seem to voice out the sweet talk that he had planned either.

“I missed you, so I came to see you.” Matthias wanted to keep staring at Heather like this without a care in the world.

On the other hand, the woman was fully prepared so that she wouldn’t be caught off guard. She wasn’t planning to keep on conversing with Matthias, nor did she want to have any physical contact with him.

Thus, she instinctively scooted to the side.

“I’ve already made it clear last time,” she said firmly. She couldn’t bring herself to be with him, after all.

Meanwhile, Matthias promptly sat down next to Heather when she turned away. The moment she felt him beside her, she darted far away in reflex like she was being scalded.

“You always pretend to hate me, but I know how you truly feel.” Matthias didn’t want to lose her anymore, and he wanted her to understand his feelings.

“Please behave yourself, Matthias.” Heather stood up immediately, not being able to do it anymore.

The man reached out and grabbed her by the arm, for both sides were unwilling to give in. Heather struggled to break free from his grip, but she couldn’t seem to muster the strength to do so.

“I know that you’ve been thinking about it for the past few days, Heather.” Matthias wanted to take control of the situation this time. In other words, he refused to be on the passive side forever and to be led on by Heather all the time.

“I don’t know what you mean by that,” Heather said coldly with a scoff as she flung away his hand.

Unfortunately, his fingers were so tightly clasped around her arm that she couldn’t shrug it off at all.

“Running away isn’t going to help us, Heather.” Matthias’ voice became cold as well.

Heather didn’t expect him to be so headstrong today, and she couldn’t reject him when he acted this way. At that moment, she was a little regretful that she had decided to wait for him in the living room.

“We’re on two opposite sides, Matthias. It wouldn’t do us any good to keep hanging onto each other.”

Heather would rather put everything on the table at this point.

“You seem to be the only one thinking we’re on opposite sides,” Matthias reminded her.

“Am I wrong, though?” Heather stared condescendingly at him; she was now standing while he was sitting down. Meanwhile, Matthias’ calm and collected demeanor made it seem like he had full confidence of winning the woman back.

“I’ve always been with you, so how could we be on opposite sides?” Sometimes, Matthias felt like he didn’t understand Heather at all. Why wouldn’t she voice out her doubts? Instead, she was always beating around the bush and blindly making assumptions.

“We’re both businesspeople, so you should know how pros and cons work.” Heather’s eyes were emotionless as they remained fixed on Matthias. In reality, she wanted to hide the panic in them.

“Businesspeople are entitled to be in love too, and they’re fully capable of giving up their profits for the one they love.” Matthias returned her eyes without any reservation. He was aware that she had her own considerations and doubts.

“Well, I can’t do that, so I don’t want you to force yourself to either.” Heather felt it was quite unfair for Matthias to be stuck in this situation. Moreover, she still couldn’t trust him fully.

“Are you a fool, Heather? The world we live in isn’t dead—one plus one doesn’t always add up to two.

No matter what happens, I love you and I’m willing to stand on your side.” Matthias was transparent with his words for he no longer wanted to play the guessing game with Heather.

“When the time comes, can you guarantee that you’ll be able to do something that could hurt yourself all because of love?” Heather never believed in love; she was also unconvinced that a slick and cunning man like Matthias would actually offer such a naive compromise out of the blue.

“I can guarantee that, but I’m not sure about you.” Matthias was spot on with his response.

Heather was touched by the sincere look in his eyes, and she was nearly convinced by his words.

However, there was a voice inside of her constantly reminding her to not be swayed by Matthias’

honeyed words in the heat of the moment.

“You’re right, I can’t. Compared to love, I’m more willing to put my trust in human nature.” Heather gave him her answer. There was nothing he could do about it, for she didn’t believe in love no matter what.

Matthias chuckled in response; his laugh was candid and radiant even in such a tense atmosphere.

“I’m sorry, I know it’s my fault for not making you feel safe. I’ve never given you a definite answer since the beginning, so it’s only normal for you to feel this way.” Matthias unhesitantly put all the blame on himself.

Heather stared at him suspiciously; the man before her felt like someone she’d never met. More than that, she couldn’t understand how he could see through her thoughts so easily.

Needless to say, Matthias’ words had reached her heart, and it would only take another second for her to give in entirely. However, her rationality pulled her back, stopping her from surrendering and agreeing to it.

“Why can’t you give up on us, Matthias? It’s a path full of obstacles and hardships,” Heather couldn’t help but ask him. After all, she was curious about the reason behind Matthias’ perseverance.

“How is this giving up when we haven’t even gotten together yet?” Matthias saw through her conflict inside, for he knew that she was currently in a dilemma and beating herself up.

“You’re getting harder for me to understand, Matthias,” Heather said in resignation. The look in his eyes were terrifying to watch—his eyes were passionate and warm, and Heather had nowhere to hide in front of them.

“Just don’t leave me. You’ll understand everything about me sooner or later.” Matthias finally let go of her arm. He was confident that she wouldn’t be rushing to head upstairs anymore, for her resolve had already begun to falter.

“I’m afraid I don’t have the time.” Heather felt like time was ticking rapidly. There were still many things waiting to be done, and it wasn’t right for her to be in a relationship now. Thus, she simply couldn’t agree to be with him.

“I have a lifetime ahead of me, so why would you be short on time?” Matthias could easily refute her every claim. He’d been taking control of the situation since the start of it, and Heather found herself unable to counter his unyielding attitude.

“Why do you have to be so stubborn? In this day and age, a lifetime of happiness isn’t possible in a relationship anymore…” Heather was pessimistic all the way.

Matthias didn’t want to hear her carry on, so he interrupted her immediately and said, “I’ll do my best to give you a lifetime of happiness.”

After all, it wasn’t easy to convince Heather with just a few touching words. She glared at Matthias fiercely while hiding the sliver of delight she felt from his words—she didn’t want to let him know that she was feeling that way.

“Do you know the current situation in Bradfort, Matthias?” Heather went all business-like all of a sudden.

Her change in attitude told him that she was giving him a chance. He replied calmly, “Yes, I do. In fact, I know everything—I know that Bradfort is in a mess right now. I even know that Myra has been kidnapped and that Tony is being threatened.”

Sure enough, Matthias knew everything—it was just as he said, but Heather was surprised. She didn’t expect him to know this much. It turned out that he was only pretending to be oblivious, for he certainly knew more than Heather had imagined.

“Since you know everything, you should also know that we Langstons are the heart of the storm. I can’t promise you that I’ll be able to leave everything behind.” Heather had long since accepted the truth;

since she was already being hunted down, there was a huge possibility that her family’s name wasn’t the only thing on the line this time. Hence, she had to put her life on the line as well.

“I know. I know that you’re in a horrible situation right now, and you must be feeling awful inside too.

However, I’m willing to face it all with you even if I have to put my life and the Locke Group at stake,”

Matthias said firmly. He gave Heather full confidence that he would protect her at all costs.

“It’s not worth it—I’m not worthy of such kindness from you,” Heather replied miserably. The more Matthias was being kind to her, the more she felt lowly and inferior. How could someone as heartless and impatient as her deserve such compassion and tolerance from him?

“It’s up to me to decide whether or not you’re worth my efforts and not anyone else—that’s including you.” Matthias stood up abruptly. As he used his taller stature to his advantage, he stared down at Heather. Despite that, his eyes remained soft and affectionate.

Heather looked up at him, and she was dumbfounded. Since he had already put it this way, she was now stuck in a dead end with no way out. However, she still couldn’t say yes to him.

Meanwhile, Matthias felt that he was almost there—he knew that he was just one step away from victory, but the final step was a tough one to cross. Nevertheless, he patiently waited for Heather’s response. He was positive that he’d be able to get through to her, for he knew that the woman had a soft heart.