Chapter 97
Since the chief had already said so, Veronica could only accept the fact calmly.
After all, this was not the city where they had plenty of choices to choose from.
She took out her towel and body wash from her luggage and proceeded to head out to the pond by the entrance with a flashlight. Sitting on the stone used for washing clothes, Veronica dipped her foot in the cool water before swinging her legs, making the water splash about.
Ribbit, ribbit, ribbit.
The sound of the frogs croaking paired with the grasshoppers chirping made for a relaxing scene.
Suddenly, small balls of green light appeared in the dark, to which Veronica looked at dazily.
When she was young, fireflies were a common sight. However, now that she was an adult, she rarely saw them again, so she didn‘t expect such a large number of them here.
Splash.
Veronica jumped into the pond and took a satisfying bath since there was nobody around in the dead of night. –
The pond at the entrance was deep with cobblestones underneath while its water all came from the mountain.
After swimming for a while, she took a bath as she sat on the washing stone with soaked clothes before washing her hair. Basking in the night wind, she felt a tad bit cold yet she wasn‘t drowsy at all and didn‘t want to sleep either.
Crack.
The sound caused Veronica to turn her head behind as she saw a man lighting a cigarette. From the dim light illuminated by the lighter, she recognized at once that the man was Matthew.
“When did you arrive?”
Was he actually peeping on her when she was taking a bath?
Although she was wearing activewear that consisted of a pair of shorts and a T–shirt, she didn‘t accidentally reveal anything. Rather, it was because he already knew that she was there and still chose to linger around.
What a shameless man.
Matthew leaned against a tree as he silently took a puff from his cigarette; the sight of his cigarette becoming dark before lighting up again made it seem like there was a glowing red firefly there.
Matthew‘s silence merely notified Veronica that he was annoyed about her scolding him earlier in the day.
However, she didn‘t care enough to coax him; she merely stood up to return to her
room,
After shutting the door, she changed into another set of clothes and lay on the bed.
An insomniac Melissa saw her lying down and closed in to ask, “So, you‘re my brother‘s girlfriend. I heard from Dad that you intentionally made yourself look ugly. What was that all about? Was it because you looked like Tiffany‘s doppelganger?”
The Larsons, who had exposed Veronica‘s identity, repeatedly claimed multiple times in front of the media that they were going to bring her back to the Larson Residence as one of them.
So, it wasn‘t strange that the Crawfords knew about her identity.
Acting like a gossipy middle–aged woman, Melissa continued to ask enigmatically, “Why did the Larson Family abandon you back then? Was there something wrong with you?”
“I don‘t know whether my body is ill or not, but what I do know is that something‘s wrong with your brain!” Veronica retorted angrily as she raised her head.
“Wow, Roni. You‘re so fierce.”
Now that she was resting face down on the bed, Melissa swung her legs and propped her face up with her hands to look at Veronica. “No wonder my brother likes you so much. I fancy your personality too, but I prefer Matthew. Hey, I also heard that you have saved Old Mrs. Kings before. She wants to recognize you as her god granddaughter, is that right?”
The seldom happenings in the upper echelon would often spread like wildfire.
“Why are you asking something that you know the answer to?”
Veronica wasn‘t really in the mood to humor Melissa.
“So, it‘s real?”
The moment she heard Veronica‘s words, Melissa tugged on her elbows and probed, “That‘s great news! Can you tell me more about Matthew?”
A blunt Veronica replied, “You‘re not paying, so why should I?”
“Oh, money. That I have. Hehe, I don‘t have much in life except money.” Then, Melissa pulled her mobile out and continued, “I‘ll add you on Whatsapp then and transfer the money to you. Oh right, there‘s no signal here. Wait for a short while, please.”
As if she was mumbling to herself, she took a bag by the corner of the bedside and handed a wad of cash to Veronica after digging through it. “Here, this is for you. So, can you now tell me the things that I want to know about Matthew?”
The cash in question all came in new notes and wrapped with a white paper strip.
Staring at the character printed on the note, a baffled Veronica asked, “Why did you bring so much cash to Almeida County?”
“I heard that there would be no signal here and we can only use cash here. So, I brought a hundred thousand in cash with me.” Melissa breathed in deeply in the midst of her explanation. “If I had known that this god–forsaken place would not even have a supermarket, I would not have brought it along. It nearly killed me, carrying all that money.”
All the words that she mumbled were heard by Veronica, whose eyes sparkled upon realizing that a deal could be made.
Melissa suddenly looked extra pleasant in Veronica‘s eyes. “Everything‘s up for negotiation, actually. This includes me telling you all about him. Heck, I could even arrange a date with him for you, if you so wish. The only problem is…”
Veronica trailed off as she reached out to rub her thumb and index finger together.
The gesture was basically self–explanatory.
“Really? Can you really set up a date for me and Matthew?”
Melissa‘s eyes glimmered brightly upon hearing this.
“Of course I can.”
Thumping her chest, Veronica looked extremely confident.
Apart from other matters, it was a piece of cake for her to ask Matthew out.
Thinking of this, Veronica was suddenly reminded of something, “Didn‘t you know that Matthew is already engaged to Tiffany?”
“Hmph, so what? Even married couples can divorce, so them being engaged is not an obstacle for me.” As Melissa waved her hand, she looked like a spoiled brat who had no idea of how the world worked.
Veronica, who raised her right eyebrow; had the glimmer of stars in her eyes. “Deal. So, what do you want to know?”
She then picks up the note of ten thousand before folding it in a ninety degree angle before her fingernails brushed against it. The sound of the notes was music to her ears. This ten thousand has made me realize that this trip was not a waste.
Reality was hinting at her that there was more to be profited from this encounter.
“Tell me about Matthew and Tiffany then,” Melissa requested as she lay beside Veronica.
“There‘s nothing to talk about her. How about you increase the price and I‘ll help to arrange a meeting between you and Matthew. Isn‘t that more worthwhile?”
Veronica was thinking about how best she could profit from this.
“Hmm, that‘s a good plan too. If you can help me arrange a date with Matthew, I‘ll give you…”
Melissa then proceeded to produce twenty thousand from the wads of cash she had in her hand. “Here‘s another twenty thousand, so help me arrange a meeting with him.”
“Are you giving me thirty thousand in one shot?”
“Is that not enough? I can add on another twenty thousand.”
“I‘m… Hahaba, it‘s enough.”
A wealthy friend was always a good friend, so Veronica had decided to befriend the naive and innocent Melissa. “It‘s our first time doing business, so as an act of sincerity on my part, I‘ll help to arrange for a second date for free.”
“Oh my God, Veronica, you‘re too nice!” An excited Melissa hugged her with twinkling eyes. “I love you so much. Tell you what, I‘m going to tell my dad all about you tomorrow. I‘ll say that you‘re kind, stunningly beautiful, wise, capable, intelligent, calm, honest and—“.
“Stop. Stop. Stop!”
Veronica was someone who never felt guilty about the barrage of compliments, but she now had a migraine from dealing with Melissa sounded like a gatling gun. “I‘ll help you set up a meeting now, so just–wait here.”
