Chapter 12

Tessa gave Randall a thumbs-up. "Impressive! You got it done in 20 minutes." Randall smirked, feeling a hint of pride. "What's a challenge for others is a piece of cake for me." In reality, he didn't even know Larry personally. He had reached out to Larry through a friend. Being wealthy, Randall had given Larry a lighter worth 4,000 dollars, which had sealed the deal. Placing a finger to his lips, Randall whispered, "Shh, let me talk to Larry. Stay quiet." Tessa nodded and sipped her coffee quietly. Randall answered the call and switched to speaker mode so Tessa could hear everything clearly. "Hello?" Larry's voice came through the phone. "Hi, did you confirm the meeting time with Ms. Carter?" Randall asked with a smile. Larry's voice crackled with anger. "I got fired! How the heck am I supposed to arrange a meeting? Randall, you've wrecked my career!" Randall's expression changed. "What happened? You seemed fine when I left." Larry shouted furiously, "It was all because of you! You told me to mess with that Matthew guy, and now I've lost my job. Do you have any idea who he is?" Still clueless, Randall shrugged nonchalantly. "Isn't he just an ex-convict and a divorced loser with a kid?" Larry's fury intensified. "You're still full of lies! I believed you, and now I'm paying for it. Matthew is our president's boyfriend! I got fired because of your damn schemes. What are you going to do about this?" "What?" Randall and Tessa gasped in disbelief. Matthew was Rachel's boyfriend? How could that be true? It seemed more absurd than the idea of the sun rising in the west. Randall coughed, trying to regain composure. "Come on, Mr. Scott, you must be kidding. Matthew just got out of prison. It's hard to imagine him dating anyone, let alone your gorgeous president." Tessa chimed in, "Yeah! I divorced him because he wasn't good enough. How could someone like Ms. Carter possibly be interested in an ex-convict?" Tessa would rather believe the sun rose at night than accept that Matthew could be with Rachel. The difference in their social standing was too vast. Rachel, whom Tessa had seen before, was breathtakingly beautiful, like an angelic presence. On top of that, she was the president of a company worth billions of dollars. Even standing next to Rachel made Tessa feel utterly insignificant. She was convinced that a woman of Rachel's caliber could never be with someone like Matthew. Larry was fuming, with nowhere to vent his anger. "I saw it all with my own eyes! Why would I lie to you? "I didn't do anything wrong, did I? Why did you guys tell me to provoke Matthew for no reason? Now I'm out of a job. What now?" Tessa, still in disbelief, asked, "Are you absolutely sure? You saw this yourself? Could there have been a mistake?" Larry almost exploded with frustration. He snapped, "I got fired, along with the head of security and two guards. How could I have made a mistake?" Tessa and Randall were stunned into silence. Larry's frustration grew when he didn't get a response. He raised his voice and demanded compensation before hanging up angrily. Tessa's face had turned ashen by now. "This is disastrous. If Matthew is really dating Ms. Carter, our deal is gone, and Evergreen Group won't survive in Lambda City. "How did this happen? How did that worthless scoundrel manage to rise so high?" Randall's expression darkened as he glanced at Tessa, with uncertainty clouding his eyes. If Matthew was indeed with Rachel now, it would be risky for Randall to marry Tessa. He couldn't afford to antagonize Matthew; the Young family couldn't handle such an enemy. Suddenly, Tessa's eyes lit up with an idea. "What if Matthew is deceiving Ms. Carter? Otherwise, there's no way he could be connected with the Carter family." Randall's eyes widened in realization, and he slammed his hand on the table. "That must be it! He's probably hiding his past as an ex-convict and his previous marriage. He must've come up with a false identity. Maybe he's pretending to be a wealthy heir or a political elite!" Tessa nodded eagerly. "Yes, let's go expose him to Ms. Carter. She'll be grateful, and our deal will be back on track." Randall stood up decisively. "Let's go now. We can't let that jerk get away with this." … At lunchtime, Matthew was dining at a restaurant when his phone rang. It was Rachel calling. "Where are you?" After swallowing the food, he asked, mindful of his role as her driver, "Do you need the car?" Rachel hesitated. "I want to invite you to lunch. We had a misunderstanding the first time we met. Let's start over." Rachel wanted to get to know him better. If he turned out to be a good match, she might as well follow Fred's wishes. Matthew felt it wasn't the right moment. "Sorry, I'm eating right now." Rachel was taken aback by the rejection. She was beyond frustrated. What an idiot! Couldn't he lie sometimes? Then, she offered an alternative. "How about coffee after your meal, then? Or tea, if you like." Concerned about facing rejection again, Rachel offered another option besides coffee. Matthew checked the time. "I'm afraid I don't have time today. Maybe next time." Rachel felt humiliated. She had never been turned down before, and this was her first time making the first move. After processing it for a while, she struggled to find the right words. "Can you at least tell me why?" She was curious about Matthew's reasons for turning her down. Matthew scratched his head. "The century-old eldernroot will arrive in about an hour. I need to treat your grandfather. He didn't want me to inform you." Rachel frowned, understanding Fred's temperament. But now that she knew, she needed to be with Fred. "Where are you eating? I'll come pick you up," she asked. Matthew had just finished his meal. "I'm heading back to the office. You can pick me up there." Rachel hung up, grabbed her bag, and headed to the elevator. As Matthew left the restaurant and walked to Wealthwave Group's building, he spotted two familiar faces—Tessa and Randall. He frowned, wondering why they seemed to be haunting him. Tessa and Randall spent a long time at the gate talking to the security guards, but they still couldn't get a chance to see Rachel. Spotting Matthew, Tessa shouted accusatorily, "Matthew, I've finally caught you! You're finished. I'm going to expose you to Ms. Carter. "An ex-convict like you will never date her, let alone become part of the Carter family! Dream on!" Matthew felt his anger boiling. Even though they had divorced and gone their separate ways, he hadn't held Tessa accountable for her mistakes. Yet, she still had the audacity to interfere in his life. "Tessa, I'm busy and don't have time for this. But I'm warning you—don't push your luck." Tessa misinterpreted Matthew's words as a sign of fear and assumed she had the upper hand. She declared triumphantly, "You're done for! I'll make sure Ms. Carter learns everything about you." Just then, a luxury car pulled up beside Matthew, and the door opened automatically. Rachel called out to him, "Get in."