Matthew felt his heart sank into despair.
His face clouded over, but he refused to let her go.
He let out a ragged breath. “Clare, that will never happen again.”
Alas, Clarissa ignored and refused to believe him.
She started struggling to free herself again. “Let me go. I said, let me go!” She screamed. “I don’t want to see you! What do you want from me?”
Matthew couldn’t believe how stubborn she was.
He had to cave in and give her a ride back home.
Clarissa proceeded to lock him outside the minute she reached home.
Left outside alone, Matthew leaned against the wall and lit up a cigarette in frustration.
Meanwhile, Clarissa finally quietened down in her house. She sprawled on the sofa lazily and started sobbing without a sound. As her mind was in a stupor, she gradually fell asleep in a battered heap.
The next morning, naturally, Clarissa woke up with a stiff neck. Her nose was blocked, and she was suffering from a splitting headache from last night’s events.
After all, she had drunk her heart out, caught a cold, and fell asleep on the sofa accidentally. She sat up unwillingly and prepared a heat pack for herself while cursing Matthew inwardly. It was all his fault!
She cursed him from head to toe silently before feeling much better.
As Clarissa was lazy to prepare lunch, she decided to order delivery food. Soon, her delivery food was here.
“Ms. Quigley, your food is here.”
Hesitantly, Clarissa took the delivery from him. It wasn’t until she had closed the door that she realized something. “Wait. I haven’t even ordered anything yet!”
Confused, she glanced at her phone and confirmed that she hadn’t placed her order.
The food delivery she had just received was packed nicely with Skylight Restaurant’s logo on it.
Clarissa’s lips twitched in annoyance. It was clear who had placed this order for her.
Right then, her phone rang with a call from an unknown number. After she blocked Matthew’s number, he’d use different numbers to call her every time.
As Clarissa was afraid of missing out on other calls, she had to answer every single time.
“Who is it?” she demanded irritatedly.
Matthew’s gentle voice sounded over the phone. “Clare, I’ve ordered your favorite dishes. I just want to confirm that you’ve received the delivery.”
“What delivery?”
“You didn’t receive anything? I’ll ask them to make another delivery.”
Clarissa was no match for him.
She replied unhappily, “Stop teasing me. I received the delivery. Bye!”
After cutting the line, Clarissa wolfed down the food like the wimp she was. She couldn’t waste the food, could she?
For the next few days, as Clarissa remained at home, she received the same treatment from the man.
By then, she couldn’t help but suspect that Matthew was keeping an eye on her.
Even so, she refused to talk to him or give him a call. He’s that patient, huh? Let’s see who gives in first.
The first one to give up will be the loser in the game.
After returning from the film studio, Justin met up with Clarissa.
Besides him, Yaala, Quentin, the assistant director, and the screenwriter joined them as well.
It wasn’t easy for everyone to gather, so Clarissa was excited.
“Director Yates, can I come to visit during the post-production stage?”
Clarissa was interested in film production, including post-production.
“Of course. You can come anytime.”
Quentin joked, “Director Yates, you obviously favor Clarissa over us!”
Yaala knew the reason behind this. “He’s favoring talent. Clarissa, are you seriously planning to be a director yourself? You don’t have to worry about the script. Of course, you can assemble a team yourself and learn everything from Director Yates. When you’ve made up your mind, remember to inform me!”
“Ms. Zaha, you made it seem really easy. It’s too difficult for me. I’m just being curious. Perhaps I can write a novel about directing a film in the near future. Anything can be writing material for me. I’m just an author, nothing else.”
Clarissa wasn’t about to venture into the directing business. She was just curious.
Throughout dinner, everyone chatted merrily. Yaala and Quentin spilled out the complaints they had about the director in a teasing manner. Soon, everyone followed suit and voiced their complaints. Justin was no longer stern like he was during filming. He merely grinned and accepted their criticisms humbly.
Later, they started gossiping and discussing recent popular celebrities. As the older generation in showbiz, they lamented how the younger generation was lacking in potential.
After dinner, Clarissa spotted the familiar black vehicle at the entrance of the restaurant. She immediately frowned.
When Matthew got off the car, Yaala raised a brow knowingly.
Justin greeted him with a smile. “Matt, fancy running into you here.”
Those who heard him would surely be able to read between the lines.
Matthew’s icy gaze softened when it landed on Clarissa.
Quentin, however, was puzzled by their interaction.
“Mm. It’s not a coincidence,” uttered Matthew in a low voice.
He had come here purposely to pick her up.
Chuckling, Justin returned. “Matt, are you that free? Jeremy told me you rarely show up at work recently.”
“Everyone, I’ll take my leave now.”
Clarissa bade goodbye to everyone hastily, preparing to leave.
Justin shrugged as Clarissa rushed to hail a cab.
An affectionate smile appeared on Matthew’s face as he caught up to her.
The rest watched silently as Matthew and Clarissa were involved in a tug of war. In the end, Matthew resorted to force. He carried her on his shoulders and brought her into his vehicle before speeding away.
Those who were in the know were laughing silently. But of course, they were also concerned. Those who didn’t know anything before this finally understood what was going on.
Especially Quentin, who thought Justin favored Clarissa because the former wanted something from her. Seeing this sight, he stopped making wild guesses. Turns out he was nice to her because of Mr. Tyson.
In the car, Clarissa was about to fly into a fit of rage but tamped down her irritation. She remained silent the entire journey back home.
Her strange reaction caught Matthew by surprise. He thought she would be kicking up a fuss by now. The sudden silence caused his heart to thud uneasily.
When they arrived at her house, instead of leaving immediately, Clarissa spoke calmly, “Matthew, will this go anywhere?”
“Yes,” came Matthew’s reply.
“I don’t think so.”
Clarissa put up a serious front and met Matthew’s gaze.
Matthew felt himself being transported back to the day where she rejected him harshly at the airport. No, she seemed harsher and calmer today.
“You want us to get back together? Sure. I can do that. We’ll break up for the third time and reconcile again. But, what’s the point of doing that? I no longer love you. Even if we get back together, I won’t fall back in love with you.” Her voice held steely resolve. “Why won’t you believe me? I know you want to change my mind, but I don’t have the courage to go back to you. I remained in D City because of my mother and work. I’ve promised her that I would start over again and meet other men.”
Keeping her cool, Clarissa continued, “I hope you’ll stop coming after me. I believe you have a reason for everything you did. Perhaps I did misunderstand you after reading the groundless rumors and news, but everything is in the clear now. I can’t restore my feelings just like that. I’ve fallen out of love with you. If you force me to be with you, and I fake my feelings just to achieve that, what’s the purpose?”
As Matthew’s expression hardened, Clarissa cast her gaze down.
“Matthew, it’s over for real. I wasn’t playing hard to get. I sincerely hope you can meet someone better than me. It might not be Shermaine, but you have plenty of choices. I’ll also meet someone who shares the same passion as me. Please, just set me free.”
Matthew fell silent for a long while.
As a heavy silence hung in the air, Clarissa waited patiently for his answer.
“You’ve fallen out of love with me? You want me to set you free so you can pick another man?”
When Matthew finally spoke, his voice was so icy that Clarissa felt a chill creep down her spine. As his sharp and oppressive gaze landed on her, she nearly stopped breathing.
Slowly, she forced out a reply. “Yes.”
Silence resumed.
Deep down, Clarissa sighed silently. She knew she’d anger Matthew this way, but she didn’t want to drag things out.
Clarissa was telling the truth when she said she wasn’t trying to play hard to get. After what had happened, she was terrified, and no longer wanted to keep things ambiguous with Matthew.
Hence, even though she was forced to lie, she held back her feelings and made a clean break.
She was determined to cut all ties with him.
As Matthew said nothing, she pressed on.
“Matthew, besides knowing that you’re rich and handsome, I know nothing else about you. I don’t think that’s true love. You’re bossy and horny, so we never really talked about our feelings. To think of it, I agreed to be your girlfriend to feed my vanity. That isn’t true love.”
Clarissa was on the verge of giving up when Matthew finally answered, “As you wish.”
