"Look, I know that she hurt you, but women are women…" Lenox said. "She's grieving for her mother. She's currently thinking about the fees for the surgery and her tuition."
Matthew only nodded before shoving food into his mouth. Currently, he is 18, but he is a bit on the shorter side. He is only five foot eight, while Lenox is already five foot nine. And because Matthew was on the leaner side, he looked like a twig. He needed to eat more, he thought.
He had to look after his health this time. People can have a hundred problems, until they get sick, then they only have one. Matthew couldn't remember who said that, but now, he decided to live by it.
"Matt, are you listening to me?" Lenox said.
He nodded in response.
"Right, since it's about time for the final exams, the people are already paying their tuition. Do you still want me pay her tuition in secret?" Lenox asked.
Matthew looked at Lenox—really looked at him. The man was shameless since they were younger. The fact that Lenox rescued Matthew when he was 12 was the reason why Matthew's father agreed to still keep him around Matthew and treat him as his real son. However, he never thought that Lenox would start taking credit for everything that he does for Catherine.
"What's wrong?" Lenox blinked his large blue eyes. "Do I have dirt on my face?" he asked.
"There's nothing," Matthew said flatly, picking up his iced tea. "I'm just wondering… do you like Catherine?" he asked.
"What?" Lenox looked surprised. "Why would you ask something like that?"
"You seem to be very close," Matthew said.
"Well, I am just trying to help you. If you don't want me to— "
"It's fine," Matthew interrupted him. "Don't worry about it."
"Then— Then what about the tuition money?" Lenox asked but Matthew just kept chewing.
"I'll think about the tuition thing," Matthew added after a pause.
Lenox frowned. "Think about it? What are you talking about? You've been paying for it since last year. Why would you stop now?"
Matthew wiped his mouth with a napkin. "As you can see, she doesn't like me back. Why would I keep paying for someone who hates me?"
Lenox blinked. "Wait, what's going on with you?"
Matthew stood, picked up his tray, and said, "I'm done eating. I have things to do." He didn't wait for a reply and walked off, leaving Lenox sitting alone at the table.
Not even a minute passed before May, Elisa, and Catherine made their way over.
"What's wrong with Matthew?" May asked, immediately sitting across from Lenox.
"He looked like someone stole his wallet," Elisa added.
Lenox leaned back. "He's probably just angry." The Matthew that he knew would get angry for a few hours but would start pestering Catherine the very next day.
"Angry?" May scoffed. "He embarrassed us earlier and now he's angry? Cathy, you really shouldn't forgive him."
Catherine shook her head slightly. "Let's not make it worse. He's probably going through something."
May rolled her eyes. "You're being too nice. He tried to throw money at you and now he's acting like the victim. What even is that?"
"Seriously," Elisa agreed. "And what was with that tray full of food? He's never eaten that much in his life."
"He's probably just… I don't know," Lenox said. "It's Matthew. He's probably planning something."
May narrowed her eyes. "Planning what?"
Lenox shrugged. "The Matthew I know wouldn't give up that easily. Maybe he's preparing something bigger. Something for Catherine."
May and Elisa exchanged a quick look.
"Like what?" Elisa asked, leaning forward.
"Yeah, what do you mean by 'something bigger'?" May added.
Lenox tapped his fingers on the table. "I don't know. A surprise maybe? You know how crazy he is about Catherine. He's been slapped before and still didn't give up. Why would today be any different?"
At that, a small shift passed over Catherine's face. Just for a second, something flickered in her eyes before she looked away.
Lenox didn't miss it.
He smirked inwardly. Whatever was going on in Matthew's head, he was sure of one thing– he wouldn't go down without trying to impress her one more time.
And if he knew Matthew at all, it wouldn't be something small.
However, what they didn't know was that Matthew immediately went home after his lunch and canceled everything that he planned for Catherine.
"Young Master…" Cristoff, the head butler, quickly greeted him when he walked inside the house.
"Prepare the car. I am going somewhere," Matthew said. "Right… move my things out of this mansion. Put it in the Villa. Ask Father to—" Matthew paused. He turned toward Cristoff, who looked like he heard something so surprising. "Right… my father," Matthew said, sighing. "Forget about what I just said. Just the car. Right… I need the car."
With that, he rushed back toward his bedroom and made sure to close the door. Inside, he quickly took a notebook and started listing the events around this time. It's still 2025. He can still make a lot of changes.
First was to his family.
Matthew grabbed a pen and flipped to a blank page. Sitting down, he started writing.
"Right. Priority one… Father," he mumbled.
He tapped the pen against the paper.
"In the past, he let Lenox stay because of that damn incident," he muttered. When he was twelve years old, he was kidnapped like some idiot… and tied up in a basement for two days. Then Lenox shows up and plays the hero.
He scratched a line under the word Father.
"Since then, I was the one who insisted Lenox stay. Told him to treat Lenox like a brother. Told him to let him live in the mansion." His old man started treating as such because of Matthew. He even agreed to change Lenox's last name into Lindberg. However, when he asked his father to adopt Lenox, his old man refused.
Matthew paused. He leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling.
"Told me he wasn't adopting anyone. That the family doesn't owe anyone anything."
His fingers clenched the pen tightly.
"That was the start of everything. After that, I stopped listening to him. I got cold. He got colder. We stopped talking. Now look where that got us."
He looked down at the page again and wrote:
Reconciliation.
"Before that thing happens… before that whole mess starts again, I need to fix it with him. I need him on my side this time."
He tapped the page again, then continued writing.
Get rid of Lenox.Get rid of Catherine.Restructure Lindberg Holdings. Strengthen investments.Secure offshore accounts before the Q3 leak.Approve Cristoff's transfer plan early.Contact Collins before he signs that deal with Lenox.
He mumbled each line as he wrote it. Some items came back in bursts, tied to memories he thought were long buried.
"Collins... yeah, he screwed us over in 2026. Lenox pulled him in."
"Cristoff wanted to retire early. I told him no. He left the next year. It's too late for me to help him when I discovered his secrets. Should've said yes."
"The Q3 leak... that destroyed our stocks. But I remember the board meeting... if I cut ties with Warner now, we can avoid it."
He kept writing.
Liquidate unused properties. "Especially that apartment in Chicago. No one ever used it."Bring back the Zurich account.Audit the Foundation's books—start in April.
"Right, let's stop this for now. I need to get to that place first," he got up. Took some lighter from a drawer and burned the paper in his bathtub, making sure that no one else could read it.
He then changed his clothes and grabbed his phone before he walked out of the mansion, where Cristoff was waiting. Looking at the old man now, Matthew smiled. At least Cristoff was still alive, he thought inwardly.
"Right, this is Ottep. He will be your driver for today," Cristoff introduced him to a man who looked as skinny as Matthew.
"Ottep, is it?" Matthew smiled. Ottep. Yes, this was the same Ottep from his past. The one that died while saving him.
"Yes, Young Master. Ottep here is going to be your new driver. The previous one is still sick. Of course, if you don't want to—"
"No," Matthew smiled and looked at Ottep. "I am leaving. Don't tell anyone where I'm at."
This immediately surprised Cristoff. "Does it include Young Master Lenox?"
"Yes. Right… I want to eat something delicious for dinner. Keep all of my favorites safe. No need to cook it for some other people. Cancel all celebrations that I told you about last week," Matthew said as he stepped into the car. He didn't wait for Cristoff's response, just gave him a quick glance. "You know what to do. Don't disappoint me."