"My goddess!"

Against her will, Erica's hand went to her heart. He might as well have shot her.

Hating herself for even that momentary show of weakness, she steeled herself and told her husband, “Fine! Didn't you say once that you didn't care about the silly trifles between women? Then you will have to turn a blind eye to what I'm going to do. What do you think of that?"

“What do I think?" Matthew raised his eyebrows.

“What makes you confident enough to bargain with me after you've beaten me?" Her arrogance astounded him

Erica held her chin up, her smile full of pride and happiness.

“Well, I was born into a rich family. I've been this confident since I was a child!" There was nothing in her life she was more proud of than knowing herself to be the daughter of Blair and Wesley

Matthew lowered his head in a partial effort to hide the smirk on his lips. When he finally looked up, his face was blank again.

"I suppose

I'll just wait and see."

“Wait for what?"

He gave a little shrug.

“See how you are going to deal with Phoebe.”

Erica began, “My plan is simple. First, you have to get her pregnant again."

“What?" That was a far cry from what Matthew would have guessed. What was on this woman's mind? He had dealt with many bizarre and complicated problems in his life, but Erica's weird logic was something else.

"Now, why should I do that?" he asked.

"Shouldn't I be having children with you?"

“Yes, and you will. But you have to make her pregnant too, so that I can push her to the ground in front of you. You will see how I give her a miscarriage, just like she's accused me. Otherwise, I would be wronged!"

Matthew was usually calm in the face of danger and big events, but here, now, he was utterly flustered and furious. Trying to regain his composure, he sputtered, "Don't you mind if I make her pregnant?"

“Oh, yes, that reminds me," she said spitefully.

"I don't want to share a man with others. How about this? You find another man to make her pregnant, and then I'll push her down. How about that?"

“Absolutely not! An unborn baby is also a life!" In the back of

Matthew's mind, it struck him as bizarre that he was now the one trying to talk his wife into having a heart. Not only was this an awful idea, but he really had always believed her innocent of what she was accused.

But then again, if Erica insisted on getting Phoebe pregnant again,

Matthew would ultimately find someone to do it, though that someone would never be Matthew himself