Chapter 5

Sasha’s house was situated in Eastbury, a rather dilapidated and old area of Eastcliff. In Eastcliff, the Cunninghams were considered a small family with a net worth of not more than a billion.

Sasha’s father, James Cunningham, was once the most powerful competitor in the Cunningham Family. However, he only had two daughters and no sons, so he lost the right to fight for the position as head of the family.

Later on, his younger brother, Jason Cunningham, wanted to seize the remaining of the Cunningham’s wealth from James’ hands. So, when their father, Old Master Cunningham, got severely ill, he came up with the excuse of getting Sasha a live-in son-in-law to ward off bad luck, forcing her to marry as she happened to have reached a marriageable age.

Back then, Sasha was known as the most beautiful woman in Eastcliff and when the news got out, countless men came forward for the spot. In the end, she chose an honest-looking Matthew whose family background she knew nothing about, solely because she never planned to have any physical contact with this man. A modest person who would submit to her was the most suitable choice as compared to other men who were ambitious.

As it turned out, after Matthew got married into the family, Old Master Cunningham’s health improved.

However, Jason took advantage of the situation and attacked James again, this time claiming that the wealth under James’ name would fall into the hands of another family since Sasha was now married.

And so, James and his family took a hard fall when Old Master Cunningham took back the Cunningham’s properties under James’ name. The big and spacious house which they were living in was then given to Jason’s son, who would be the future heir to the Cunningham Family. As a result, James’s family had no choice but to move to this old area instead, living in a three-bedroom flat which was a mere hundred square foot, a dramatic difference compared to what they used to have.

Under these circumstances, Matthew became the thorn in their flesh and they blamed him for the state of their family. In addition, Matthew’s cowardice made them the laughing stock in the whole of Eastcliff.

As Helen always said, “If it wasn’t for Matthew that useless scum, Sasha would have been married to a rich family and achieve great heights!”

For the past three years, Matthew had been like a babysitter who humbly took care of the family, but they never once allowed Natalie to step into the house. They even kept all of his salary for the past three years and refused to fork out a single cent when Natalie was sick. Moreover, Sasha had now betrayed him. How could anyone undergo all of this treatment?

When he finally reached the entrance of their community, Matthew tried his best to calm down. Though he was raging mad, he still needed to find out just what Sasha had done and what was on her mind!

This old community didn’t have wide roads and he couldn’t drive the car in, so he parked it outside and went on foot into the area. When he was about to go up the staircase, two figures appeared at the top of the stairway; they were none other than James and Helen.

At the sight of Matthew, James’s face turned sullen and he jerked his head to the side, while Helen had an infuriated look on her face and shouted at him, “Matthew, where have you been the whole day? You didn’t cook or do the laundry. What are you planning to do?”

Matthew’s brows knitted together but they relaxed again after a second. Before he could find out exactly what Sasha had done, he didn’t want to fall out completely with the Cunninghams. “I’ll clean up right away,” he said meekly.

“Save it!” she shouted. “Sasha will be disembarking soon. I won’t let you off if we are late to pick her up!”

Matthew lowered his head; he was used to these remarks after these years.

“Where is the car that I asked you to loan?” she snapped impatiently while going down the staircase.

“I—”

Just as Matthew opened his mouth to speak, Helen began chiding him again, “Did you rent another car again? Could you be more considerate for Sasha’s sake? She’s a senior management in her company after all, and every time she returns from a business trip, you’re always picking her up in a rental car.

Did you even give any thought about her reputation? My goodness, Matthew, you’re the most worthless wrench I’ve ever met in my life! Can’t you let Sasha appear proper for once? Forget it. It’s only a matter of time before I die from the frustration of dealing with you. I’ve already given your brother-in-law, Liam, a call. He’ll be here shortly in his Accord. And don’t forget to say something nice to Liam when you see him later. Aren’t you ashamed of troubling him like this all the time?” Helen’s words went off like a machine gun and spouted everything without giving Matthew the chance to say anything at all.

Matthew decided not to speak any further, as he had already gotten used to this kind of treatment all these years. Soon, they reached the entrance to their community and saw a Honda Accord driving toward them. Helen immediately waved at it, gesturing for the car to drive over, but it drove past them and stopped on the other side instead.

“What’s going on? Didn’t he see us?” Helen asked in surprise.

Next to them, Joseph’s car was parked right there and James said softly as he stared at it, “It wasn’t because he didn’t see us, but he was only driving past this car!”

“He’s driving past the car? Why?” Helen asked, curious.

“That’s a Maybach with a V12 engine at a starting price of three million. Besides, this vehicle is obviously modified. Taking all these into account, it wouldn’t cost any less than five million. With just a light scratch, he will not be able to pay for it even if he sells off his Accord.”

While he was explaining it to Helen, James’ eyes were gleaming with anticipation. Old Master Cunningham’s car was also a Maybach, yet there was a significant difference compared to this one here!

Even Helen had a startled look on her face. “I didn’t think that someone could afford this luxurious automobile in our community!”

“This may not belong to someone living here. It could be one of their acquaintances.” James paused for a second before saying in a hushed voice, “But, for someone to be an acquaintance of a person who drives this luxurious car, he is by no means a simple person as well!”

Just then, a man with a buzzcut stepped out of the Accord; he was the brother-in-law of Matthew, Liam Hayes. Helen immediately flashed him a smile, saying, “Liam, I’m so sorry to trouble you again!”

Throwing an envious look at the Maybach, Liam turned to look at them with a proud face; even if he couldn’t afford such an expensive car, he was still much better off than Matthew!

“Mom, what are you talking about? We’re a family, so there’s no reason to be so courteous!” Liam then shot a bantering look at Matthew and continued, “Matthew, you can just give me a call if you need to use the car. Why are you always troubling Mom for this?”

Matthew hung his head low and didn’t say a word. Liam was a thug-turned-businessman after he started working with a new employer.

Even though he was married to Sasha’s younger sister, Demi, every time he looked at Sasha, his eyes were filled with an evil glint. Privately, he had much more insults for Matthew as compared to other people. Every time when there was a family gathering, he would do his best to showcase his superiority to mock Matthew, besides deliberately showing off in front of Sasha. How could Matthew bring himself to ask for a favor from such a person?

Seeing Matthew’s silence, Helen was exasperated as though he was a huge disappointment. “Why are you quiet rather than thanking Liam?”

Liam gave Matthew a gleeful look, who returned it with a frown instead as he said softly, “Mom, I have a car, so I don’t need to thank him.”

“W-What kind of car do you have?” Taken aback, Helen then snapped at him angrily, “You should use a better car to pick Sasha up from the airport. Did you get another cheap car again? Could you please be more considerate toward Sasha?”

Even Liam snickered. “That’s right, Matthew. After all, Sasha is a senior management in the company.

Why don’t you grit your teeth and just buy one? You can’t keep bringing Sasha home in another man’s car!”

Matthew’s face turned cold and replied solemnly, “Don’t you worry about that. From now on, she doesn’t need to ride in another man’s car!”

Chuckling, Liam sneered at him, “Anyone can brag, but the point is whether you have the ability!”

Slapping his own Accord, he laughed. “Although it’s not expensive to buy a car, you still need at least two hundred to three hundred grand. Matthew, I heard that you only need three hundred grand to save your sister’s life. So do you want to buy a car or a life now?”

“You’re such a disappointment, Matthew. You’re still bragging despite being useless. Forget it. I won’t pin my hopes on you this time!” Disappointed, she turned to Liam and said, “Liam, let’s go to the airport now to pick up Sasha!”

“Alright!” Liam was overjoyed because he wanted to have more opportunities to associate with Sasha.

It was at this moment that Matthew walked to the Maybach, opened the door and looked toward Helen.

“Mom, it’s better if I go instead!”