Fumbling, she put the camera away and smiled apologetically.

“Oh,

Matthew, you know I'm poor—" she began.

“Poor you may be, but you still have enough money to pay for the photos!" Matthew observed.

"Oh, honey..." Sweetening her voice, Erica left the camera case on the desk, drew near, and hugged him. It was best for her to be a flirt now.

Erica wouldn't dare to act this way in front of her father or brother; if she tried, they would think she'd lost her mind and probably have her committed. However, she'd begun to think that acting more coquettish with her husband would work to her advantage.

Yet she failed to notice the slight smile that it put on Matthew's face. Not only was this woman becoming more comfortable around him, but she also called him “honey” more often than before. More importantly, it was sounding Less forced on her part.

“Honey," Erica said again, "we are a married couple. And I just spent one hundred thousand dollars today—" She stopped as though cut off by the noise of a gunshot. Quite against her original intent, she had let the cat out of the bag already.

To his credit, Matthew didn't look terrible concerned-or surprised.

“Oh, really. What did you buy today?" he asked.

“Well, I didn't exactly buy anything..." Erica fumbled over the words.

Technically they were true; she had bribed the maid of the Campbell family. But that, of course, would be rather difficult to explain to him.

In general, Matthew didn't care much what Erica spent his money on, but he seemed to find a trace of guilt on her face. This aroused his curiosity.

He pulled from Erica-not roughly, though-and looked her up and down. He saw a hole in her trousers.

Staying casual, he asked, "Where did you go today?"

Erica's eyes avoided his. Nervously, she scratched the back of her head, then indicated the camera on the desk.

"I went to school after waking up. After class, I came to see you because I missed you!"

‘Missed me, huh?' Matthew thought. He was silent for a while, then asked, "Do you want me to reimburse you ten times over for what you spent today?"

‘Ten times? Then it will be one million dollars!' Erica's eyes lit up.

“Of course! I-I mean, no...no need for that." It was extraordinary to see: One instant she was all excited and then, mid-sentence, she was back to being her mild, undemanding self. It wasn't for nothing; if

Matthew reimbursed her, he would definitely want to know what she had spent the one hundred thousand dollars on. The only way to keep it under wraps would be to just move on, like it hadn't happened.

As Erica inwardly grappled with this, she failed to notice that her behavior had made Matthew even more suspicious than before; now he was certain that something unusual was going on. Turning and strolling toward his desk, he said, “Did you come here for anything at all in particular?"

“Oh no, nothing. I just wanted to ask what you would like to eat tonight. Do you have any appointment for dinner?" She was afraid that

Phoebe would call him for comfort, so she wanted to occupy his time first.

"Yes," he said.