Chapter 69. Criminal

"No one in this world wants to be treated like a criminal."

"Who's treating you like a criminal?" Matthew furrowed his brows.

"Isn't it you?" Flora stifled her annoyance, struggling to maintain an unruffled dialogue: "Your people have been surveilling me 24/7, I hardly have the luxury of freedom…"

"Without freedom, you nearly fell into another man's arms. If you were free, what else would you do?" Matthew blurted these words out without much thought.

It was only when Flora's brown eyes welled up with glittering tears, as she turned and fled, that he felt his heart wrench.

With each step she took, his heart seemed to fracture, as if a parched land long devoid of rain began to crack. He regretted it, but it was too late.

The door slammed shut in front of him, he reached out then lowered his hand, knowing she would never open the door unless he left.

A shrill screech of the car brakes shattered the tranquil night. Matthew, distressed, slammed h