Those who knew the things that had occurred between the duo couldn’t wait to figure out Clarissa’s response.
Meanwhile, Yaala noticed the odd responses from the bigshots around her ever since Clarissa showed up and joined them.
Therefore, she was shocked because Clarissa seemed to be acquainted with the powerful figures. As a matter of fact, they seemed to be close acquaintances.
Evidently, it was a challenge from Jeremy. He wanted to force Clarissa into submission and confronted her in front of others.
Matthew cast an indifferent gaze at Clarissa with his abysmal pair of eyes that seemed to hold an entire universe in it. He behaved nonchalantly in anticipation of her reply.
“Ms. Zaha, can you introduce me to the celebrity over there? I have always been a huge fan of his! Can you please get him to take a photo with me?” Clarissa beamed and diverted Yaala’s attention.
Yaala was taken aback by the non-relevant request. Seconds after she snapped out of confusion, she stated, “O-Okay… S-Sure…”
Before she could grasp the situation, Clarissa had dragged Yaala along with her and made their way over to the celebrity’s side. Clarissa ended up behaving timidly like an embarrassed child.
Jeremy and the rest of his party were left behind, rendered speechless by Clarissa’s response.
That’s it? Is she going to ignore him and pretend he isn’t here?
Cough!
Jeremy couldn’t handle the awkwardness due to Clarissa’s unexpected response—it was beyond his expectation for Clarissa to think out of the box. She actually ignored the question that was directed at her.
He was intimidated and dared not look in Matthew’s direction.
Yarick had long departed with the influencers he had brought along with him. He knew it would be better to stay away from Matthew for the time being. To be precise, it would be wise to neglect Matthew until the conflict he had with Clarissa was resolved.
Jeremy caressed his nose embarrassedly and said, “Matt, I think the celebrity they’re talking about is the on-the-rise actor. However, he’s way younger than Clarissa. He’s nothing more than a brat, so you don’t have to be worried.”
In short, Jeremy implied the celebrity wasn’t a match for Matthew in multiple different aspects. Clarissa had merely approached him to have some fun.
In the end, Clarissa started wrapping her arm around the celebrity’s shoulders in front of others with a bright grin. Her glistering pair of eyes gleamed in excitement because she was head over heels for him.
Things had gotten inexplicably awkward.
Jeremy dared not say anything else because he was afraid things would spiral out of his control soon.
He found Yarick’s statement accurate. Clarissa was a cold-hearted woman. In fact, cold-hearted might not be enough to justify her cruelty.
I guess I’ll have to leave the rest to Matt and stop being a busybody!
Jeremy glanced at Matthew and noticed the latter almost crushed the goblet. Although he had been trying his best to suppress his emotions, he couldn’t stop himself from emanating a menacing aura, intimidating those around him. Jeremy couldn’t take it anymore and headed elsewhere with his partner.
He secretly prayed Matthew wouldn’t lose his cool and went berserk in front of others. After all, Jeremy was the one who had requested Yaala to conduct the birthday banquet. If things headed South, he would have a hard time explaining himself.
“William, I’m impressed by your role as the prince! You have no idea how good-looking you are! Most importantly, your acting is spot on! Forgive me for being frank, but you look so much more handsome in person! I’m a huge fan of yours!”
Clarissa started behaving like a hardcore fan of William. She felt a strong urge to cradle the handsome man in her arms.
On the other hand, William was fond of Clarissa due to her gentle temperament. He complimented Clarissa for a job well done as the screenwriter.
Occasionally, Yaala would join the duo’s conversation, but she noticed the most attractive man of the banquet wouldn’t stop looking in their direction.
To be precise, he couldn’t move his eyes away from Clarissa.
When Yaala recalled Clarissa had neglected Matthew on purpose, she was certain something fishy was going on between the duo.
Nonetheless, she couldn’t figure out the sort of relationship the duo had with one another.
Matthew is Shermaine’s fiancé, whereas Clarissa is merely a trivial screenwriter. She’s nothing more than a close friend of Justin, isn’t she? Could it be…
Yaala started ruling out the possibilities in her mind. Judging by the passionate gaze the man had when the woman showed up in front of him, she knew something was off.
Tsk! Tsk! This is getting increasingly interesting!
After a short while, William excused himself and engaged in a conversation with others. Clarissa felt embarrassed because she had been keeping him to herself for such a long time. When she turned around and caught the odd look of Yaala, she responded with a sheepish grin.
“Ms. Zaha, what’s wrong? Is there something on my face? Has my make-up smudged?”
Yaala shook her head and started sizing Clarissa up over from head to toe. A few seconds later, she turned around and looked at Matthew, who was quite a distance away.
Clarissa decided to play dumb and asked, “Ms. Zaha, your birthday is quite some time away, isn’t it? Aren’t we at least a few weeks away from your actual date of birth?”
“Well, can’t we celebrate in advance? Since we’re going to be occupied with different things soon. I thought it would be better to hold a birthday banquet when everyone had a relatively free schedule! I gotta make the most out of the banquet, aye?” Yaala dead-panned her reply.
“H-Haha… You’re being pretty humorous tonight, Ms. Zaha.”
“Actually, it’s the truth. I’m able to generate a fortune by holding this birthday banquet.”
Jeremy was the one who insisted on holding the birthday banquet. Apart from financial gains, she managed to do Jeremy a favor and get him to owe her once.
Indirectly, she had secured an opportunity in a lifetime for herself, and all she had to do was to play along with the man with deep pockets.
She finally figured out the reason he brought up the request to hold the birthday banquet out of the blue.
It turned out Clarissa’s relationship with Matthew was the sole reason the grand birthday banquet was held in the first place.
Clarissa’s values in life were completely ruined when she heard Yaala’s realistic statement.
“You’re not shocked, are you? If I’m getting married in the future, I’ll throw another grand wedding ceremony to generate a fortune! You know what? This is easy cash, easier than spending our time producing movies!” Yaala added with a smirk.
Clarissa showed Yaala a big thumbs up.
When Yaala was about to say something, she was dragged away by someone. Since Clarissa had nothing to do, she started drinking and savoring the dishes that were served. Throughout the entire session, she could feel the man’s gaze. Although most of the guests weren’t aware of Matthew’s actual identity, they knew he must be an influential figure since Jeremy and Yarick had to take him seriously.
Since the mysterious figure wouldn’t move his eyes away from an unknown yet ethereal-looking woman, the guests noticed Clarissa’s presence and started imagining things.
To get herself out of the embarrassing situation, she walked out of the banquet hall. Otherwise, things would get to the point of no return should he keep staring at her.
Holding on to the train of her evening gown, she made her way past the guests and strode in the direction of the balcony. The moment she walked out of the heater-equipped hall, she started shivering when she felt the chilling breeze.
Even though she couldn’t stop shivering, she felt afresh like never before. She finally had a chance to take a breather and collect her thoughts.
She would always overthink things in the evening. It took her a lot of effort to restrain herself from being overwhelmed by the tidal waves of emotions associated with her relationship with Matthew. Clarissa had been having it tough, pretending to be an indifferent woman around Matthew.
The gorgeous scenery of stars shining bright in the pitch-black sky seemed so surreal as though it was a painting.
Achoo!
Clarissa caressed her nose after she started sneezing. She thought it would be better for her to leave the balcony.
However, she could feel a warming sensation on her shoulders and neck when that particular thought crossed her mind. She caught a whiff of an awfully familiar scent.
She was startled for a short while. When she turned around, her eyes came into contact with Matthew’s abysmal pair of eyes.
For the first time over the past few hours, she decided to stop avoiding his gaze.
Clarissa removed the man’s jacket and handed it back to him. “Thanks, Mr. Tyson, but that won’t be necessary. I’ll be leaving soon.”
Things got awkward because he refused to take it back when she tried to hand it back to him.
Smirking, Clarissa cast the jacket in Matthew’s direction.
He had no intention to take it back. As a result, it slid down his body and fell to the ground.
Clarissa couldn’t be bothered by it at all. When she wanted to return to the banquet hall, she walked past Matthew and stepped on his dinner jacket. It seemed to be unintentional, but she paused for a few seconds before stepping forward.
She had made up her mind to leave, but she wouldn’t get to leave because of the man behind her.
When she was a step away from the hall, Matthew wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her backward, causing her to fall in between his arms.
Clarissa’s face puckered. As a result of the man’s powerful grip on her wrist, she almost coughed up the food she had savored.
They were in an intimate posture as Matthew supported her back, causing her to start squeezing the muscles of her inner thighs, back, and buttocks.
He leaned over and ran his lips across her ears. However, he remained silent throughout the entire session. All she could feel was the man’s heavy breath by her ear.
Clarissa mustered her strength to shrug Matthew off, but she was merely a powerless woman as compared to the strong man.
She had to give up. A few seconds of silence later, her heart skipped a beat when she heard the man’s hoarse and seductive voice.
“Finally decided to stop struggling?”
Her legs almost turned to jelly, but she tried her best to get a grip on herself. She refused to be vulnerable in front of him.
She put on a strong front and demanded, “Mr. Tyson, if you don’t move away from me, I’m afraid I’ll have to shout for help.”
“Why don’t you go ahead and give it a try?”
She took a deep breath and asked, “Mr. Tyson, do you think things will turn out differently? Aren’t you afraid the guests will tell your fiancée you’re holding another in between your arms? I have nothing to lose.”
“I’m so sorry to share this with you, but I don’t have one as of now.”
“Are you going to pretend Shermaine is dead?”
“She’s alive and kicking, but I’m telling you I don’t have a fiancée.”
“Are you trying to deceive me again?” Clarissa got infuriated and raised her volume, confronting the man.
“It’s not my fault if you fall for words, isn’t it?” Matthew replied nonchalantly and made himself clear in a serious manner.
“Ha!” Clarissa responded with a scornful look.
She retaliated against the man and pinched his arms with the nails she had been keeping for some time without holding back. The infuriated woman wished she possessed the impregnable nails of a vampire, capable of ripping the man behind her into pieces within seconds.
Perhaps it was due to the nature of her job as a screenwriter. She started imagining the blood and gore scenes of the movies she used to produce some time ago. Immediately after she snapped out of confusion, she stopped herself and slightly unfastened her grip.
“Please let go of me, Mr. Tyson! Although I’m not a smart woman, I won’t allow you to mess with me and treat me like a child! I will never go back against my words! Since we have broken up, it’s over between us! Please stay away from me in the future! How many times do I have to repeat myself, Matthew?”
Clarissa wasn’t aware of the changes in Matthew’s expression since he was behind her. However, she could feel his heavy breath as he started panting heavily.
She paid no heed to the man’s odd behavior and tried to shrug him off once again. Since he didn’t even budge, she started pinching and punching him, going berserk to express her suppressed frustration, behaving like a maniac.
