While Chandler and Asa continued with their conversation in the bedroom, Erin was already on her way to meet Holly, as the latter insisted on seeing her. Needless to say, she had the shock of her life when she read Erin's message the previous night.Nervously, Erin went to meet her. Besides Chandler, Asa, and Cherry, Holly was the person that she cared about the most. Erin felt very guilty for keeping her whereabouts a secret from her best friend for the past seven years. Nevertheless, she couldn't muster up her courage to see Holly when her face was ruined back then.Holly asked her to meet at a cafe near her magazine company. She booked a private room just for the two of them.…About an hour later, Erin walked into the cafe with a bouquet of white roses she bought from a florist on the way there. A woman passed by Erin as she entered, and she turned to look at Erin. It was Matthew's ex-girlfriend, Claire. She'd become even more attractive over the years. She quit the entertain
In the private room of the cafe, Erin told Holly about everything that had happened to her in the past seven years. Holly had already used up three packets of tissues. Her eyes were all swollen, yet she couldn't stop crying. Erin tried to comfort her several times but to no avail."Just let me cry, Erin. Do you know why I booked a private room? I knew I would cry my heart out. I actually started crying last night after receiving your message. You know, I wanted to see you last night, but your phone was turned off."Handing her another tissue, Erin said apologetically, "I had too much to drink last night. After sending out the message, I knew some of you might have a strong reaction. I wasn't ready to face any of you yet, so I switched off my phone."Holly continued to hold her hand. Their palms were sweaty, but she refused to let go."When I saw your message last night, I thought I wasn't worthy of being your friend because you never reached out to me. I was overwhelmed and called
Simon was dressed in a suit, and he was holding a briefcase as if he'd just finished a meeting. He'd called Erin three times, but she never answered. Then, he called Holly and was surprised to see her location was at a karaoke bar that was familiar to him. In fact, he was the one who brought Holly here."Did you two get too excited at reuniting and decide to ignore everyone else?" Simon walked over to the sofa, sat down, and put his briefcase beside him.Holly had paused the song they'd just selected. She walked over to Simon with unsteady steps. Erin, who was still sober, helped her over to the sofa. The man Holly missed dearly suddenly appeared before her without warning. Holly, who was drunk, sat down next to him uncontrollably.With flushed cheeks and a smiling face, she asked, "How did you know that I was here?"Impassively, Simon glanced at Erin, then at Holly. In the next moment, he took out his phone from his pocket and held it up, shaking it a little. He replied calmly, "P
Before Simon could finish what he was saying, Erin gave him another backhanded slap with a cold glare. The contract that he'd just picked up fell to the floor.Some of his hair fell in front of his eyes from the force. This slap finally elicited a response from him. Suppressing his fury, he asked hoarsely, "Are you done hitting me?"Erin closed her eyes and reined in the strong urge to swear. She tried to ask as calmly as possible, "Simon, do you know what you're doing?"Simon's delicately handsome face was slightly reddened by the slap. He replied expressionlessly, "I'm a lawyer. Of course, I know what I'm doing.""Why?" Erin thought of many things within that short amount of time, but she couldn't fathom Simon's thought process.Hearing her question, Simon, who appeared to be calm, suddenly laughed out loud uncontrollably. His laughter sounded distressing and melancholic to Erin. What kind of a laugh was that? From Simon's laughter, Erin could detect deep despair and helplessnes
What Erin said before she left gave Simon some comfort. She said that if she hadn't met Chandler, perhaps she could have fallen for Simon. However, no one could know these things for sure.Although Simon wasn't Erin's type, that didn't discount the fact that he was in a very tough predicament. He was just asking a hypothetical question to salvage what was left of his bruised male ego; Erin thought she shouldn't be too harsh to deny him a comforting answer.In fact, Simon understood more than anyone that her answer held little to no meaning.…After Erin walked out of Simon's law firm, she got into the Lehman sisters' jeep.The moment she got into the back seat, she asked Calla, "Did you follow me all night?"Calla answered, "Yes, Mrs. Frost. We were just following orders.""Don't call me Mrs. Frost. I'm not even married to Chandler yet."Right then, Candra replied from the passenger seat, "Please don't make things difficult for us, Mrs. Frost. We were just following orders."H
Erin realized with a jolt that she'd just touched Chandler's face. She quickly retracted her hand and looked down to avoid his gaze. She stammered, "Alright, let's sleep now. I-I saw something on your face just now … So, good night!"With her face flushed, she turned around so that he wouldn't see her face. However, her face continued to heat up rapidly after she turned to the other side. Erin was so red she looked like a cooked lobster. She bit her lips to calm herself down; her scalp was tingling intensely. Her whole body heat up like she was running a fever. Chandler didn't fare much better either."You little minx … You really know how to drive a man crazy. I was really going to let you off, but there's no way I can do that now!" He lowered his head and rained kisses on Erin.Faced with such an unexpected development, Erin had brain fog and was slow to react. She was at Chandler's mercy now. Soon, their bodies became completely entangled.Chandler panted heavily as beads of swe
An hour later, Erin was led into a quiet room to sign a document. She was blindfolded the entire time. Every time she tried to remove the eye mask, Chandler would stop her. Finally, when a round of enthusiastic applause erupted in the room all around her, Erin reached up to remove the eye mask instinctively. The moment she took it off, she saw Chandler kneeling on one knee beside her. He was holding a sparkling diamond ring that looked massive in his hands.Shocked beyond words, Erin took one step backward. Asa was standing not far away. Erin quickly scanned her surroundings and saw three other people in the room besides her son. They were Quentin, Cherry, and Holly."You … This is …" Erin couldn't form a coherent sentence.With tears in her eyes, Cherry urged excitedly, "Erin, say yes to Chandler!""Put on that diamond right now! You hear me?" Holly was so anxious she had half a mind to go over and put it on Erin herself.Even Quentin joined in. "Dear daughter-in-law, Chandler'
Because of the little prank she played on Chandler in the car, Erin paid the price dearly in their bedroom for the next three days. She never expected that Chandler would hold a grudge against her and make her beg for his forgiveness in the bedroom for three consecutive nights.Well, she had to reap what she sowed—Chandler didn't find her joke funny. In those three days, Chandler dragged her into their bedroom and made her pay with her body no matter if it was day or night. Tending to her sore body, Erin gave Chandler an ultimatum saying that if he carried on with his beastly ways, she would run away from home and never return. The threat was very effective and put a temporary end to Chandler's voracious appetite in the bedroom. He was deeply traumatized—in the seven years Erin was gone, she'd held out and not contacted him at all throughout the six years she was free and perfectly able to get in touch with him. He didn't want her to pull off something like that again.After much