Bumpkin’s Rich Handsome Husband novel Chapter 274

It was true that what Veronica said at the hospital had been hurtful, but she started to reevaluate her relationship with Matthew after he cut off all her business ties at Encounters which even led Julius Atelier to call off the endorsement deal.

As it turned out, her business' success pivoted on her amicable relationship with Matthew, and it took one sour turn to reveal to her just how fragile such a dynamic was. She had been painfully reminded of how powerful he was, so much so that he could flip her life around with just a snap of his fingers. She could be soaring high in the sky one day and be brought crashing down the next.

He was a man who could manipulate her life and death like they were components of a Rubik's cube in his hand. He was dangerous—deadly even. Veronica would need nerves of steel if she insisted on staying friends with him, let alone date him.

Nonetheless, she was still Elizabeth's god-granddaughter. Matthew wasn't her only pillar of support, and she knew she could always turn to Elizabeth for help in desperate times. This was the reason why no one in Bloomstead dared touch her even though they knew about her fallout with Matthew.

Presently, Matthew cast Veronica a sideways glance when she did not respond, then frowned in exasperation. Just then, his phone rang, and he fished out his phone with one hand while keeping the other on the wheel. When he saw Ruka's name flashing on the screen, he set the phone aside instead of picking it up.

On the other end, Ruka had been waiting for Matthew in the hotel lounge, but he never showed up. She didn't know that he had already left the resort with Veronica.

"The number you have dialed, can't be reached..." She tried calling him again and again, but none of the phone calls got through.

Back in the car, Veronica was listening to the ringtone of the third phone call drone on and on. She glanced at the number on the screen, then at Matthew, who was unbothered and seemingly intended on leaving Ruka hanging. For some reason, she wanted to wince at this man in disgust. He had told her how much she liked her a mere months ago, but he was now hooking up with another woman in the blink of an eye.

Veronica silently thanked the heavens that she had not been gullible enough to fall for his sugar-coated lies, because in some alternate universe, she could be in Ruka's position right now. Whew, dodged a silver bullet there, she thought.

At last, Matthew's patience ran out, and he was evidently annoyed as he picked up the ringing phone. "What?" he snapped icily. There was a pause, then he continued, "Yes, she has an emergency back home, and I'm dropping her off right now. See if you can hitch a ride with Uncle Conrad. Yeah, okay, bye."

Veronica had no idea what Ruka had said on the other line, but Matthew's tone was so frigid that he could turn someone to ice, and that was how she knew he was a heartless jerk.

Suddenly, she felt a rush of sympathy for Tiffany and Ruka. Both of them are so head over heels for the bastard that they've become masochists.

Marriage d'Amour was playing in the car. The piano ballad was an old arrangement, but Veronica had a soft spot for it. She closed her eyes and let the music wash over her, imagining the emotions packed into each note. It was therapeutic, and it didn't take long for her to feel better.

The rest of the world had only just begun to melt away when something abruptly fell onto her torso. She opened her eyes in mild alarm and looked down to see a throw had been tossed over her.

"It's cold outside. Take care so that you don't catch a chill," Matthew said with forced patience, tipping his head to one side to indicate that he was talking to her.

She relished the warmth that came with the throw, nestling further back into her seat in bliss. The heater had been turned on, but it did little to keep out the cold.

Just as she was pulling the throw closer to herself, she caught the faint fragrance that lingered on it. It smelled like Ruka.

At once, she bundled up the throw, hurled it into the backseat, and stated, "I don't need this, thank you. I'm not cold at all."

She was not fussy by any means, but that didn't mean she wanted to use someone else's stuff.

"The throw is new," Matthew pointed out like he had read her mind. Then again, she had made her aversion to using the throw very obvious.