“I…”
Hilary paused for a while before she continued, “It’s not that I disagree but it would be very insincere to just inform me of your wedding in such a way. Of course I would be upset and reluctant to agree to it.”
Clarissa heaved a sigh and frowned.
“What you said isn’t really what I meant. Why are you so anxious? It’s not even decided yet. Besides, even when the time comes, the marriage proposal will be discussed with Grandma and not you.”
“Clarrisa, are you disregarding me? I’m your mom. I have the final say on your marriage. What an ungrateful sod. Is it because you have a man to back you up now so I’m nothing to you anymore? Is that what you’re thinking?”
Hilary’s voice turned increasingly piercing from the other end of the phone. She seemed to be exasperated.
Meanwhile, Clarissa held the phone farther from her ear and suppressed her anger. Nevertheless, Hilary was still running on over the phone.
“Don’t you ever think that you’re terrific now because you’ve found Matthew. Yes, he’s well-off and he comes from an affluent family. However, do you think a man like him wouldn’t have other women? What can you get by marrying Matthew? You stood out among other women now because of novelty but you’ll only have a regrettable ending when he grew weary of you. Besides, you haven’t even got married yet and you’re already treating me in such a terrible way. Would you even recognize me as your mom after getting married?”
Listening to Hilary’s words, Clarissa got more and more bewildered.
Initially, Clarissa was of the opinion that Hilary would be the happiest person to know of the news of her marriage with Matthew.
Hilary had always wanted her daughter to marry a man from a prominent family to make her proud and strengthen her footing in the Garretts so that it would also benefit Jonathan in the future.
But Hilary is actually telling me about the banes of marrying a man with a prominent background now?
Clarissa almost laughed aloud. When does Hilary become so level-headed?
As soon as Hilary finished talking, Clarissa asked her in a very frank manner in return, “Mom, other things aside, I’m very surprised this time. You actually said that it’s not good to marry a man with a well-off background?”
Hilary seemed to be troubled by the inconsistency in her own attitude as well. She replied only after pausing for a moment, “I’m not saying that it’s not good but I still want you to be happy. Wasn’t it you who said that you didn’t want to marry someone from a prominent family but only wanted to lead a peaceful life with a dependable man? I’ve thought it through now and I don’t want to force you into doing things that you’re against. To be honest, marrying Matthew isn’t as good as it seems especially when the Tysons also oppose your marriage.
“How did you know that the Tysons opposed our marriage?”
“Well, regarding this… I heard it from a friend of mine. Old Mrs. Tyson even fell sick because of this, didn’t she? That’s also why I’m calling you. It’s for your own good. If his family doesn’t welcome you, you won’t be able to have a pleasant post-wedding life. Clary, let’s forget about marrying Matthew, alright? You’re such a beauty. You can always find someone else. Why do you have to pick an aged man whose entire family objects to your marriage? I can help to introduce some—”
“Mom!” Clarissa returned in a deep tone.
Something isn’t right for sure.
Hilary’s attitude is perceptibly strange.
Clarissa asked, “Mom, what are you trying to do? Weren’t you thrilled that I was going to marry Matthew? Why are you persuading me to be with someone else now? Is it you or is it something wrong with my hearing? Are you plotting some conspiracy?”
“You— what are you talking about, Clary? What conspiracy? Am I that kind of a person?”
Without a doubt!
Clarissa could no longer trust Hilary. That was exactly what she thought about her.
Hilary must have some ulterior motive. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have made such a request out of the blue.
“Mom, Matthew and I are truly in love with each other. It doesn’t matter if he’s from a wealthy family or not. The objection of the Tysons is not a problem either, so, what else do you want to say?”
“You…”
Hilary was at a loss for words. She mulled it over before replying, “Clary, do you still regard me as your mom?”
“That depends on your actions.”
“W-What do you mean?”
“I should be the one asking you that. Let’s be frank. What is it that you’re trying to imply? Let me tell you this. If you really want me to be happy, marrying Matthew is the right thing to do. What else do you have to say?”
Hilary fell silent while Clarissa was greatly disheartened.
Before Hilary could say anything else, Clarissa spoke her mind, “I’m going to marry him irrespective of your stance. Also, I won’t insist if you decide to stop being my mom. After all, you gave up on that many years ago.”
With that, Clarissa ended the call promptly, leaving no chance at all for Hilary to react.
However, the matter was undoubtedly peculiar to Clarissa. She became very suspicious as to why there was such a huge change in Hilary’s attitude. What is she trying to do? What is the conspiracy behind this?
Clarissa found Gina and asked her about it.
“Can you help me find out if my mom is up to anything unusual recently?”
Gina thought for a while and without any investigation, she replied directly, “Your mother meets up quite frequently with Shermaine these days.”
Clarissa’s heart sank and she couldn’t help but cuss silently.
It’s Shermaine again! How did she even get involved with Hilary?
Is Shermaine coming against me deliberately with Hilary’s help?
Be that as it may, is Hilary empty-headed? One is an idol whom she adores while the other is her own daughter. Shermaine is just an outsider who was sowing discord among us and yet, Hilary trusted her completely? Is Hilary such a simpleton?
Undoubtedly, it was Shermaine’s idea to instigate Hilary to stir up troubles for her. Of course, Clarissa wouldn’t listen to Hilary’s words at all. She would never give up on Matthew just because of some harsh words spurted out by Hilary which resulted from Shermaine’s persuasion.
Clarrisa sneered as she couldn’t decide who was dumber between Shermaine and Hilary.
None of them was good anyway.
“What’s Shermaine up to lately?”
If it wasn’t because the name “Shermaine” was being brought up, Clarissa might have even forgotten about her existence. But then, her curiosity was aroused as to what this woman was doing in recent days.
According to Gina, Shermaine’s latest actions were exceedingly plain. Other than meeting with Hilary, she spent most of her time at home. Apart from that, she was summoned by the authority for cooperation with the cases’ investigation.
She seemed to have stayed tractable without rocking the boat.
Clarissa stroked her chin as she pondered about whether it was because Shermaine’s reputation had been tarnished or she was actually behind something else that she was so well-behaved.
“Gina, is she plotting something secretly?”
Gina shook her head at that question.
“Well then, did she contact anyone unusual? Has the culprit of the road accident and the assault in the valley last time been caught?”
Gina responded, “The police have identified a target and he was the leader of a mob. He managed to escape when the police went to arrest him.”
“What? Why didn’t you tell me earlier? Is he related to Shermaine in any way? Will this discovery lead the investigation to her?”
“Not at the moment. From what we’ve gathered, he’s not related to Shermaine.”
That means Shermaine will still not be convicted.
Clarissa gritted her teeth. What should I do to let Shermaine reveal her true colors and bring her to justice?
“You’re still keeping watch on her, right?”
Gina nodded.
Clarissa thought for a moment before she added, “Good. Continue to keep her under surveillance. I’m worried she might be up to no good again.”
Meanwhile, Shermaine had the slightest idea that she had been kept under watch.
She had just finished talking to Hilary over the phone and was preparing to meet her in person.
However, after hanging up the phone, Shermaine tossed the glass of water beside her again. The maids at home were already used to seeing her in such a way.
For a month, since Shermaine stopped working and just stayed at home, her temper had been getting worse by the day. In addition to that, she was being investigated, which contributed to her losing her temper at any point in time.
But someone like her could be really gentle and kind when there were outsiders around. After all, she was an actress with fabulous acting skills. Nevertheless, her maids had long been familiar with her hypocrisy and they wouldn’t be surprised at all to know that Shermaine had committed all those offenses. By judging her temper and the inconsistency in her comportment when outsiders were present, none of them would regard her as a kind person.
After Shermaine vented her anger, she changed and went out again.
The place where Shermaine and Hilary met frequently in recent days was a private lounge. The reason Shermaine gave was that she didn’t want to be filmed by the paparazzi. Other than that, she wanted to keep her meeting with Hilary a secret to others, especially the content of their conversations which was much more important.
Every time she met with Hilary, Shermaine would put on all kinds of pitiable and distressed expressions.
Hilary’s impression of her was always a piteous wry smile which was exactly what Hilary would fall for. Seeing the pained expression of Shermaine would inflict a similar sensation within Hilary and she would feel sorry for her. Therefore, every time when Shermaine talked about how she couldn’t be with Matthew no matter how much she loved him, even when Shermaine didn’t explicitly ask for anything, Hilary would be desperate to fulfill her wish.
That was why Hilary was against Clarissa’s marriage.
However, her objection was nothing to Clarissa and she was even rebuked by Clarissa in return.
And when Hilary showed up in front of Shermaine this time, even before she could say anything, Shermaine hugged her tightly and started tearing up.
“Ms. Hilary, sob… Why must I suffer all these? All these slanders made no sense at all. Not only that but even Matt was stolen by someone else now. Ms. Hilary, I know that Clarissa is your daughter and I don’t blame you for that but Clarissa is so pretty. She’s even prettier than I am. She would definitely be able to find a better man. Why does she have to take Matt away from me? I love him so much. Without him, I’ll die. Sob…”
Hilary was stirred by Shermaine’s wailing and she started tearing up as well.
After a long while, seeing that Shermaine was still wearing her depressive look, Hilary grasped her hand decisively.
“Shermaine, that daughter of mine was unworthy of Mr. Tyson, not to mention that the Tysons were unsupportive of their marriage. They wouldn’t be happy together. Hence, I’ll definitely make my daughter leave Mr. Tyson. She wasn’t even half as good as you who was a perfect match for Mr. Tyson.”
“T-That’s not true, Ms. Hilary. You can’t be sacrificing your relationship with your daughter for me.”
“That’s not a sacrifice. I— I’m also doing this for my daughter. It’s for her own good and happiness.”
Shermaine was so moved she didn’t speak in a long while.
