Clarissa suddenly felt embarrassed as her face paled slightly over what she said.
What was there to fear?
She hooked up with someone, refused to tell me, but she’s scared as well?
What kind of boyfriend would elicit such a response?
Clarissa rarely had a reason to come to D City. She didn’t even know that many people in the area, aside from her friends and family. Perhaps there were others like her colleagues or her maternal family members.
But it was not the case.
So the man was ten years older with a decent social standing and did not want her to know of his relationship with Clarissa.
Ellie said nothing and only stood there in silence. She understood.
Instead, she clenched her fists and looked at Clarissa.
“Well, Clarissa. When you first moved into the Tyson Corporation staff hostels, I remember running into my uncle,” said Ellie sarcastically. “If I recall correctly, you walked out of the elevator with him. At the time, I even made that joke about him keeping a mistress.”
The joke she made Clarissa deeply uncomfortable.
Clarissa was about to refute her when Ellie waved her aside. She had managed to reflect on everything and eventually filled in the gaps on what she thought was strange before, all on her own.
“I also remember him showing up at the film studio. Not to catch up with me or anything, but he went there because something happened to you. It was you he went to see.”
“You came back to your old place. You came back to D City for Uncle Matt’s sake, I assume?”
“You moved from the apartment your mother gave you to your old place, which was then handled by my Uncle Matt. Later, you claimed to be living with your boyfriend. Or rather, you were living in… Zen Highlands? I think that’s where Uncle Matt lives most of the time.”
“When there was that incident on the internet, both Uncle Matt and Mr. Justin came forth to help you personally. It wasn’t because I had asked or that it was to do me a favor. It was because both you and Uncle Matt were seeing each other!”
“You had gotten in the way of blows meant for me. Uncle Matt went to the police station to sort this out, also because it was you who had gotten injured. It wasn’t because he cared about me, but he felt sorry that you got hurt.”
“And the most recent bit? Helen’s wedding? She knew that you were dating Uncle Matt and tried to curry favor with you.”
With each sentence, Clarissa’s heart sank further as she grew even paler in the face of Ellie’s tirade.
It did not take long for Clarissa to feel the weight of her guilt. Ellie’s sneering only added insult to injury.
Clarissa wanted to say something, but nothing came out.
Instead, she could only mouth two words.
“I’m sorry.”
“Did you just apologize?”
The apology sounded even more absurd to Ellie. She looked at Clarissa, her gaze a convoluted mess of emotions that ranged from sadness, disappointment, and a hard chill.
Clarissa hurriedly went over hoping to hold Ellie’s hand, but she sidestepped it before Clarissa could even approach her.
“Don’t touch me. Clarissa, you were my best friend. I trusted you!”
Ellie choked back tears and glared at Clarissa. The pair seemed to sport the same, red-rimmed eyes.
“He is my uncle, Clarissa! You disgust me!”
After that, Ellie quickly got up and left. Clarissa nearly fainted.
When Matthew returned to the Tyson residence, it was there that he found out about Shermaine’s return to D City.
His stern face frowned slightly when he saw her standing there in conversation with Old Mrs. Tyson.
The old lady could not help but say something when she caught a glimpse of her son’s expression. “What is the frown for? I can’t ask you to come home every now and then and keep us company? Do you dislike your own parents now?”
It was an accusation too large for even Matthew to refute, out of concern of disrespect.
As such, he could only sit down as Matthias shot his brother a look of sympathy.
With Shermaine there, Matthew would not be the main subject of ire for too long. However, he only spoke to Matthias and his father about current issues and politics and did not really engage personally with Shermaine.
Old Mrs. Tyson could not tolerate this and took the old man away. She then winked at her eldest son and daughter-in-law as their cue to leave the scene.
Finally, only Matthew and Shermaine remained, in spite of the pair’s silence.
“Matt, have I given you a negative impression or something? I know I’m not perfect enough, but I do like you. Won’t you give me a chance?”
Matthew’s cold gaze lingered on her briefly as he picked up the teacup with his fingers and took a sip.
“Shermaine, my relationship with you is like what I share with Ellie. Familial, or even professional, really.”
“Maybe my age is off-putting, but I’m already a grown woman. I understand if you dislike me, but you haven’t even given me a chance. We’ve barely said a word to each other, and that isn’t fair to me at all. After all, how am I any different from the strangers you’ve dated?”
Matthew was silent for a moment, but his voice remained as ruthless and impassive as ever.
“That’s enough, Shermaine.”
This humiliated and saddened Shermaine. She clenched her fists, and tears fell onto her face. It was truly a pitiful sight.
Matthew, however, remained unmoved.
Old Mrs. Tyson, who had been spying on them from the side all this while, decided to make an entrance. “Don’t cry, Shermaine. Let me tell Matthew off for your sake.”
Shortly after, she directed her anger at Matthew.
“Matthew Tyson, you are not a child anymore. Not settling down is one thing, but do you have to be so cruel to Shermaine? Give her a chance! If things don’t work out, you can just call things off. But you have to at last try! Shermaine isn’t a stranger. She is someone you’ve known since you were both young, so why is it so hard to accept? Let me just say this. I’m calling the shots tonight and demanding that you go out with her for half a year. I don’t care if you agree or not. Just try it out!”
“Mother!”
Matthew would have said more, but she was not listening to him at all. Instead, Old Mrs. Tyson was coaxing an upset Shermaine, determined to interfere in Matthew’s personal affairs.
Shermaine was delighted, of course. However, she knew that Matthew would all but accept his mother’s interference.
All she could do was wipe away her tears and apologize. “Don’t force him, Mrs. Tyson. This isn’t what I want at all. I’m sorry, Matt.”
“Why are you apologizing? To tell you the truth, you have nothing to apologize for. Especially since you’ve given him so much of your affection and time, all these years.”
Old Mrs. Tyson had her back turned to Matthew the entire time as she focused on Shermaine.
The old woman’s opinion was that her son had been too content with his solitude that she doubted the possibility of him falling in love with anyone at all. This was probably the only way to force him to get alone with Shermaine.
How could she accept that her son was going to be a bachelor for the rest of his life?
“Alright, I think we’re done here for now. It has been decided, so let’s have dinner. You don’t have to say a word, Shermaine. I’ll back you up.”
Just like this, the matter was decided on by Old Mrs. Tyson.
Nobody breathed a word about this over dinner. Since they were not directly involved, most of them felt that it was not something they could address.
Matthew had every intention of fighting back but to no avail. Old Mrs. Tyson had managed to maneuver out of all his attempts at broaching the subject.
Just then, Ellie suddenly barged into the house. Despite her hatred for Shermaine, she barely spared the woman a glance. Instead, her anger and loathing were directed at Matthew.
The intensity of Ellie’s glare confused Matthew, who furrowed his brows and returned her gaze.
“What’s the matter?”
When Yuliana saw her daughter looking like this, she was a little worried.
Ellie seemed to be unable to hold back her emotions as well. She stared at the group with red, teary eyes.
She had every intention of questioning Matthew, but she could not say the exact words.
“You’ve crossed a line, Uncle Matt. Do you know how disappointed I am in you?”
The words rang loud and clear in the dining hall. Pin drop silence followed, and all eyes were glued onto the pair.
He stood up and walked towards Ellie with a frown.
“You found out.”
“You make me sick!”
A hint of emotion flickered in Matthew’s eyes before he sighed audibly. “This is my fault.”
Even now, Matthew was still protecting Clarissa, which upset Ellie even further. Since she could not articulate her exact emotions, she stormed upstairs and shut herself inside her room.
Nobody in the family understood what had just happened between the two of them.
“Matthew, what’s going on?”
Since Yuliana had gotten up to console her daughter, Old Mrs. Tyson posed the question at him instead.
Without saying a word, Matthew merely got up and left the house.
The Old Mrs. Tyson yelled after him, but she was powerless to stop his departure. She tried asking her eldest son, but he could not give her an answer either.
After all, how could he know? All he had were guesses, but he was barely certain if they were viable.
Matthew rushed back to Zen Highlands as soon as he could. He stormed in and pushed open the bedroom door but felt relief wash over him when he spotted the small figure of a woman huddled near the sofa. The lights were off.
He then turned on the lights and noticed that Clarissa was there, sobbing with her head between her legs.
He silently thanked the heavens that Clarissa did not make a run for it this time.
Matthew let out the breath he had been holding and loosened his necktie before unbuttoning his shirt slightly. He walked to her side and took her into his arms, then gently stroked the top of her head in an attempt to comfort her.
“Please don’t cry, Clare.”
However, the more he tried to comfort her, the louder she sobbed.
“It was Ellie, wasn’t it?” asked Matthew with a low growl.
At the mention of her name, Clarissa started crying even more.
Matthew sighed gently. “This is my fault and has nothing to do with you. Ellie just doesn’t understand. I’ll try to explain everything so that she stops blaming you too.”
“Ellie…she was s-so angry! She said that I d-disgusted her. It was so harsh, so painful t-to hear. I know t-that I’m at f-fault too…”
Clarissa choked out her apology between sobs and heavy sighs.
“We shouldn’t have treated her like this. She was so good to me, and we were the best of friends. I let her down! I’m a horrible person—”
“Doesn’t that make me worse though?
Matthew took it upon himself to shoulder this burden, which was not particularly important. He didn’t think it was particularly important to explain himself to Ellie either. However, due to Clarissa’s concerns, he could not just leave things as they were. He’d sooner not say anything than admit he was somehow at fault.
Because all in all, he did nothing wrong.
All he did was fall in love with a woman. What’s so wrong with that?
