After Clarissa woke up and went down for breakfast, Matthew had not left for work yet. To her surprise, he was also seated at the dining table at the moment.
However, instead of greeting her with his usual gentle smile, there was a grim look on his face. It was as if someone had owed him a large sum of money. The whole dining hall was obviously shrouded by an unusually tense atmosphere.
Clarissa pursed her lips and scoffed silently. How ridiculous! So he’s still feeling irritated now?
There was pin-drop silence in the dining hall as she started eating her garlic bread silently in displeasure. With her head lowered, she avoided having any eye contact with the man.
“Clare…” Matthew broke the silence by calling her name.
As both of them were still feeling displeased with each other, Clarissa could not feel the usual intimacy when he addressed her name.
She raised her head instinctively to look at him. Smeared with the oil from the garlic bread, her lips looked exceptionally alluring with a seductive glint. At the sight of her lustrous lips, Matthew forgot about what he wanted to say initially. In an instant, his frustration was eased as well.
Brushing Clarissa’s lips affectionately with his long fingers, he leaned closer and gave her a peck on her lips.
“What are you doing? There’s a strong garlic smell in my mouth! You’re not angry with me anymore?”
Matthew chuckled, “How cruel of you. Knowing that I’m angry, you didn’t even say anything to console me.”
Clarissa furrowed her brows and refuted, “Why’re you angry? It’s not my fault too. This is something out of my control. You take it too seriously. It’s actually something optional and flexible. Your life won’t be at risk too if we don’t do it so often…”
“Clare, my life won’t be at risk. Yet I’ll be suffocated if my lust for you is not fulfilled!”
Clarissa was speechless and did not know how to react for quite a while.
Her cheeks were flushed red when she finally asked, “But why you’re not bothered by this previously?”
“It’s because I haven’t met you previously!”
Upon hearing his words, Clarissa could not help rolling her eyes and twitching her lips. He was apparently good at playing with words and flattering!
She pushed Matthew with the back of her hand, as there was a garlic smell on both of her palms.
“Stay away from me now. It’s better that we don’t see each other this whole week so you won’t be suffocated and blame me on that. How about I go back to W City and accompany my Grandma?”
“No way! You’re not going anywhere!” Matthew snapped at once.
Clarissa had just taken another bite of the garlic bread. Upon hearing Matthew’s rejection, she glared at him with puffy cheeks. Before she could open her mouth to speak again, she had to quickly chew and swallow the mouthful of garlic bread first. At that very moment, she looked exactly like a hamster.
Matthew really loved to see her comical look at the moment. How can my Clare be so adorable? She really can do magic to cheer me up at any time!
His lips lifted into a smile as he comforted her, “Take it easy, Clare. You’re just back for a few days. Besides, your Grandma surely won’t need you to keep her company as she is having a lot of fun with her friends and dance partners every day. She’s occupied and won’t have much time for you either. Yet I will be all by myself when you’re away. Do you have the heart to leave me alone here?”
“But I can’t fulfill your special need now.”
“Don’t get me wrong. It’s not solely on fulfilling me physically. It’s even more important for the needs of my soul to be fulfilled.”
Clarissa could not help bursting into laughter. “Will you feel contented with just the fulfillment of your soul?”
Matthew gave her a meaningful smile as he asked, “What say you?”
Clarissa snorted and continued to take her breakfast.
Matthew smiled and stroked her hair, causing Clarissa to growl instantly, “Matthew Tyson, you wiped my mouth with your finger just now, and now you stroke my hair with your hand. How can you be so unhygienic? My hair surely smells like garlic bread now! You’re disgusting!”
Instead of being enraged by her words, Matthew was feeling amused and laughed heartily. These daily bickering sessions with Clarissa really brightened up his day!
Leaning closer to Clarissa, he pinched her delicate chin and kissed her passionately on her lips. Licking his own lips, he said mischievously, “Mmm, the taste is not bad. Mrs. Lawson, I want garlic bread for breakfast tomorrow as well.”
Before Clarissa could say anything, he strode away and left for work.
Clarissa’s cheeks were flushed red, and she did not dare to look at Mrs. Lawson.
To avoid being teased by her, she quickly finished her breakfast and darted upstairs to wash her hair.
At the same time, she could not stop grumbling that her hair smelt of garlic bread because of Matthew.
Sienna had to accept the fact that she did not succeed in shaking Clarissa’s confidence at all. Furthermore, she herself was feeling discouraged as her own pride and confidence were greatly challenged.
Initially, she thought that Clarissa would easily feel inferior since she was just from normal family background. Hence, she just needed to inflict her fingers on her vulnerable self-esteem in order to trigger her anxiety and upset her.
Unexpectedly, Clarissa seemed to become mighty within such a short span of time till she was feeling threatened by her.
Sienna was doubtful of the sudden change in Clarissa. She would never expect that Matthew’s unlimited love for Clarissa was the main contributor in boosting her confidence.
A woman’s confidence was not solely built by herself but was also from her man’s unlimited support and love.
Was Clarissa feeling inferior?
Of course, she could not help feeling inferior. If not, she would not be having conflicts with Matthew numerous times previously and even thinking of breaking up with him at any time.
Even Clarissa herself was still not aware that the everlasting love and affection from Matthew had gradually convinced her into trusting him. As a result, she was becoming more and more confident with their relationship. Hence, she was not easily affected by Sienna’s words and had no problem retaliating any of her provocations.
Sienna was overwhelmed and really doubted how Clarissa suddenly became so confident and courageous.
The Tysons apparently had no idea that both Matthew and Clarissa were currently in a relationship. Sienna had put on a show in front of Matthew that she would keep mum about their relationship. However, deep in her heart, she was actually being manipulative so their relationship would be exposed in broad daylight one day.
Nevertheless, if their relationship was revealed at the moment, Matthew would surely know that she was the culprit. Therefore, she could only hold herself back temporarily and wait patiently for an ideal time to strike again.
Anyway, it did not matter if she could continue to hold herself back any longer.
Since Shermaine was back in D City again, she could foresee there would be dramatic moments soon.
Shermaine was really jealous upon hearing the news that Sienna was getting along well with Matthew at the moment, and had even stepped into his office. Even though she was also doubting how true the rumors were, she could not help feeling anxious about the current extreme circumstance.
Someone might have exaggerated when spreading the rumors, and it even sounded as if Matthew was getting married to Sienna the following day!
Because of this, Shermaine became restless and was on emergency leaves for two days. She could barely wait to be back in D City at once in order to take prompt action to hinder Matthew from getting closer with Sienna.
Once her flight touched down at the airport, she assigned her personal assistant to send her luggage home and headed straight for the Tyson residence.
Since they had not met for such a long time, Margaret softened and was willing to welcome her again.
After handing the presents to Margaret, Shermaine begged for her forgiveness in tears with her persuasive eyes. Margaret was touched by Shermaine’s sincerity and could not resist seeing her tears. They were on good terms again after embracing each other and shedding their tears. It was as if the previous conflict and unhappiness were thoroughly washed off by their tears.
Later, when they were having a chat, Shermaine brought up the topic of Matthew again.
“Mrs. Tyson, I know that Matt will not forgive me, and I really regret my foolish act earlier. I don’t dare to even think of winning his heart again. However, I really hope that I will still be given a chance to be by his side. Do I still have the chance?”
She totally did not mention Sienna, pretending that she had not heard anything about her at all.
Margaret said gently to her, “Shermaine, I’ve always liked you and treated you like my own daughter. It’ll be great if you’re willing to be my daughter! As for Matthew, to be honest with you, he’s currently seeing the youngest daughter of the Grandes. Looks like both of them are getting along well with each other. Anyway, I’ve made up my mind not to interfere with his decision on his marriage anymore. You’re a pretty girl with a good temperament. I’m sure there are many other more ideal candidates for you.”
Shermaine smiled bitterly at Margaret; her eyes were welling up with tears again.
Even though Margaret could not help sympathizing with her, she knew that she had to be rational. No doubt Shermaine had better qualifications than other women, yet she was still incomparable to Sienna. Her son deserved the best among all the women.
Margaret did not comfort Sermaine further so she would not continue to stay hopeful to be with Matthew again. Meanwhile, Shermaine could sense that Margaret really liked Sienna a lot and seemed to treat Sienna as her future daughter-in-law.
A sense of hatred crept into Shermaine’s heart. Margaret had convinced her earlier on that she was the only person qualified to be Matthew’s wife, and she would not take any other women into consideration.
Yet Margaret broke her words unexpectedly without any explanation and did not even bother to give her any words of comfort.
Trying to suppress the great displeasure within herself, Shermaine squeezed a smile and said, “Mrs. Tyson, I truly understand about it. It’s solely my own fault to ruin everything. I sincerely wish that Matt can meet an ideal woman who will be by his side for the rest of his lifetime. I have actually heard a lot about Ms. Grande. She’s indeed a nice person and will surely be a perfect match for Matt.”
Margaret was on cloud nine instantaneously. She could not help smiling and said, “Yeah, you’re right. Sienna is demure and capable. She’s also your sister-in-law’s colleague in the same department.”
Margaret continued to compliment Sienna and was totally unaware that Shermaine was feeling upset. Shermaine could only hold back the growing rage and wrath within herself. In order to please Margaret, she even forced herself to nod in acknowledgment and commented, “Oh! Is it? It’s really great. She’s really a perfect match for Matt…”
Out of a sudden, something came into Shermaine’s mind. Her eyes lit up as she said abruptly, “Mrs. Tyson, since I’m back at the moment, how about you invite Sienna for a meal? With this, you can grab the opportunity to monitor how well she is getting along with Matt at the moment. Even though it’s fated that I can’t be Matt’s partner, I’m thankful that I can still be your daughter. As Matt’s sister, I can help him to judge his future wife as well. What do you think?”
“It’s a great idea. I’m actually desperate to know how they are getting along with each other now. However, I’ve promised Matthew and his dad earlier that I’d not get involved with his love life anymore. I guess he really needs privacy to develop his relationship with Sienna.”
Shermaine was dumbfounded and felt uneasy with her words. I never expect that Matt would request his parents not to interfere with the relationship between him and Sienna!
It seems he’s really fallen for her!
As rage surged within her, Shermaine’s fingernails sank deep into her palm. Lowering her head with gritted teeth, she tried to conceal the ferocity and coldness in her eyes.
Without hesitation, Margaret contacted Yuliana and asked her to invite Sienna for a meal on her behalf.
At night, Yuliana reached the Tyson residence with Sienna on time. The moment Yuliana saw Shermaine chatting jubilantly with Margaret, her smile froze. She was displeased to see Shermaine there. My goodness! I wonder why Mom still invites Sienna for dinner when Shermaine is around!
How can Mom forgive her easily for what she has done previously?
Isn’t Mom worried that Matthew would be infuriated?
Nonetheless, Yuliana did not express her feelings. When Shermaine greeted her courteously, she just responded indifferently. She led Sienna to sit next to Margaret and said tactfully, “Mom, now that Shermaine is back, I hope you won’t neglect Sienna.”
Yuliana hinted at Margaret intentionally by emphasizing that Shermaine was just a daughter, and could never be her daughter-in-law.
Shermaine’s face became stiff momentarily, and there was a change in her expression.
“Ms. Grande, I heard from Mrs. Tyson about your relationship with Matt. Really good to hear that.”
Yet Sienna could sense the hidden bitterness behind her smile.
Smiling placidly at Shermaine, she replied, “Ms. Smallwood, nice to meet you. I’ve also heard from Mrs. Tyson and Yuliana about you.”
Even though she did not mention clearly what she had heard from both of them, Shermaine felt that Sienna was sneering indirectly at her.
