Chapter 13: She Knew the Language of A Country
Dolores froze on the spot. Sampson had never hugged her before, and it was a total surprise to her. Once she got over her
shock, she tried to wriggle out of his embrace.
From Matthew’s perspective, they looked like a couple who were cuddling each other. His brows knitted together as he frowned.
Helen commented nonchalantly. “I would never have expected she had a boyfriend.”
Matthew suddenly felt very restless. He stomped on the pedal and the car sped away.
Helen pursed her lips. “Are you angry about that woman and her boyfriend?”
Matthew snickered coldly. “Why should I be angry?”
She had been pregnant, so it was obvious she was intimate with another man.
He was only getting flustered for no reason at all after seeing her with other guys.
Soon, the car stopped in front of Helen’s residence. She didn’t get out of the car immediately as she stared longingly at Matthew.
“Don’t you want to come in for a while?”
Worried he would say no, she added. “Matthew, I have everything to make your favorite food—”
“Helen,” Matthew interrupted her.
His frustration confused him at the moment.
He caressed her hair and smiled softly. “I will not come in today. Please, get some rest.”
“But...” Helen didn’t finish her sentence and instead obediently climbed out of the car.
“Please drive safely.”
Matthew mumbled a response before speeding away.
He hadn’t realized how fast he was driving until he got home far faster than he expected. He got out of his car and wasn’t
surprised Dolores wasn’t home yet.
Matthew unbuttoned his jacket and turned to Coral as she entered. “What time did she go out?”
“She went out at noon.” Coral took his coat from him and smiled. “Do you want to have dinner now?”
“Later.” He didn’t have an appetite at the moment.
He undid the top two buttons on his shirt and no longer felt suffocated by his collar. However, that didn’t reduce the restlessness
in his heart. It was an unfamiliar feeling and made him incredibly uneasy.
Matthew pushed open the door to his study. Dolores’ note was still lying on the desk. He picked it up and let out a cold laugh.
“You’re a really good actor. On one hand, you’re acting extremely pitiful in front of me, but behind my back, you’re fooling around
with another man. Dolores, you really are something!”
He angrily crumpled the note and tossed it in the trash.
*****
Dolores took a taxi back home. Sampson insisted he get her a ride home, but she didn’t want him to know about her
arrangement with Matthew. So, she kindly rejected his offer.
It was Coral who greeted her when she got home and the rest of the house was quiet, so Dolores thought Matthew hadn’t
returned yet. She felt herself relax considerably.
Coral noticed Dolores’ good mood, so she asked her about it. “What has you in such a good mood?”
Dolores smiled brightly, thinking that there was nothing particularly amiss happening. “I feel more at ease without Matthew at
home.”
Coral didn’t know how to answer her.
“Do you mean I shouldn’t be here?”
Matthew’s long and slender figure appeared in the doorway of his study. He leaned lazily against the frame, and his tone was
both mocking and indifferent.
‘That voice...’ Dolores slowly turned around and her eyes landed on Matthew leaning against the door frame. Hie face was
clouded with disgust.
‘Why was he already home?’ There had been no sign of him being home, no jacket or shoes lying around, so Dolores assumed
he hadn’t gotten home yet. Had she known, she wouldn’t have talked so nonchalantly.
“I—”
She wanted to explain herself, but Matthew just brushed past her and headed toward the dining room. He called out to Coral,
asking her to serve dinner.
Dolores followed him in and quietly settled into her seat at the dining table. She tried to explain what she meant several times,
but nothing came out when she tried to speak.
Matthew never once cast a glance in her direction during dinner, speaking only to Coral. However, when he finished his meal, he
stared at her.
“Come with me to the study.”
Dolores immediately put down her fork and followed him into the study. Not really hungry anyway.
Matthew sat behind his desk and placed the stack of her translated papers in front of her. He glanced at her curiously.
“You know the language of A Country ?”
Dolores nodded earnestly.
That fact intrigued Matthew. “Why did you learn this language? There are very few people in the world that speak it except for
those who do live there.”
The language was from the place where she had spent eight years of her life. There was too much unspoken pain hidden deep
inside her heart. The worst of it was that no one could ever understand her pain. Only she knew how belittled and despicable she
felt was during that time. She didn’t want to reveal her weakness to anyone, let alone him.
With a faint but forced smile on her face, she lied to him. “I learned it because I like it.”
Matthew couldn’t help but frown at her response. Despite her cheerful facade, he could tell there was a fleeting expression of
pain beneath her eyes. ‘What is she trying to hide?’
“Come here,” he said in a low voice.
Dolores hesitated, not liking his tone and remembering what happened the last time they were in the study together. Plus, she
did not know what Matthew was thinking. However, she didn’t want to anger him either. She took a deep breath and inched
closer to him.
Matthew placed a document in front of her on the desk. “Since you know the language, translate this document for me.”
Dolores looked down at the document and noticed “WY Group” printed on the stationary.
She was so busy translating the content she wasn’t comprehending the meaning of them.
She couldn’t help raising her head and ask. “Aren’t you looking to hire a translator?”
Matthew raised his eyebrows slightly.
Dolores took over the document and continued in a low voice. “I went to your company for an interview for the translator position.
It seemed they wanted me for the job. Then, later on, for some reason, they called back and told me I wasn’t qualified for the
job.”
“Did this really happen?” His expression and tone were completely unreadable.
Dolores mumbled and nodded in response. There wasn’t any point for her to lie about that fact.
“I can translate this document for you, but...” Dolores wasn’t usually the type to only think about the benefits she could gain from
things. She desperately needed her luck to change since she had struggled for so long. She had to secure the job even though
she wasn’t qualified for it.
Matthew studied her carefully and dashed her hopes before she could suggest anything. “If you’re thinking about involving the
Repulse Bay in this, I have to say no. The Flores family can’t acquire the land for now.”
Dolores was indeed going to broach the subject of the land, but she was going to ask for it for herself instead of letting Randolph
own it. That way, she could finally secure the bargaining chip to enable her to speak on equal grounds with Randolph.
Unfortunately, her idea had been rejected even before she could bring it up. Of course a measly translation job wouldn’t be able
to get her the leverage to gain a piece of land for herself. Since she couldn’t take back her mother’s dowry, for now, she had to
earn more money so her mother could live her life comfortably. And, soon enough, she would have her baby. She needed a lot of
money to ensure their future was a bright one.
Dolores flipped through the pages of the document and counted the pages. There were twenty pages in total. “I will charge
fifteen dollars for each page I translate. That’s a pretty fair deal if you ask me.”
Matthew continued to stare at her in silence. ‘Is the Flores family really so short on money?’
Dolores’ behavior was getting more and more confusing, to say the least.
Matthew didn’t respond, so Dolores thought he was reluctant to give her so much for the work, “The amount I just mentioned isn’t
that much, you know. If you think it’s a bit too much, I could ... reduce my price?”
“There’s no need for that. I’ll pay you what you asked.”
“Alright then.” Dolores grabbed the document and stood up. “I need some time to translate them completely. I’ll do it in my room
and bring them back here after I’ve finished.”
“Wait a minute.”
“Yes?” Dolores stared at him with doubt in her eyes.
He spoke in a tone of warning. “I want you to understand something.”