Since Catherine left in Ryler’s car, Clarissa went to Tyson Corporation in her own car.
Of course, she didn’t go there empty-handed.
Holding a little box in her hand, Clarissa took the elevator and headed to the president’s office. Then she politely knocked on the door.
But there was no response.
Clarissa knocked again. Still, there was not a single sound inside.
Annoyed, she opened the door and tilted her head to peek inside. As soon as she stepped into the room, someone pulled her in with force. Before she could make a sound, the man pressed her against the door and leaned closer to her. From his familiar scent, Clarissa had no doubt that it was Matthew.
While he wrapped his hands around her slim waist, Clarissa looked up at the man who just pulled a prank on her.
“You scared me!”
Matthew’s warm breath gently brushed past her ear as he chuckled, then he kissed her earlobe.
Clarissa shivered as she grabbed his collar tightly. “Matthew, I’ve brought you a gift,” she whispered coyly.
He hummed in response as he sucked her soft earlobe. However, he didn’t intend to let go of her.
While Clarissa’s body heated up at his seduction, she glared at him and pinched his arm.
“Do you want it or not? If you don’t, I’ll just throw it away then.”
Matthew paused for a few seconds before he loosened his arms and touched her forehead with his own.
Letting out a sigh, he tried to regain his composure. After that, he kissed her on her forehead and held her hands which were holding a small, exquisite box.
Matthew took the box and raised his brows. “Cake?” he asked.
Chuckling, Clarissa asked, “Why? Don’t you like it?”
Matthew fell silent for a few seconds. I can’t say no, can I?
But seeing the woman staring at him with her bright eyes in anticipation, he smiled and answered, “I like it!”
Clarissa burst into laughter, then she pushed him away and took a seat on the sofa. As she tilted her head and scrutinized Matthew’s expression, she easily saw through him.
“You’re lying. Forget about it. I was just being nice. Actually, I bought the cake for myself. Give me the cake. Hurry up!”
Having said that, she stretched out her porcelain hand and beckoned Matthew to bring the cake over, holding her chin up smugly like a princess.
“Hurry up!” Clarissa urged him.
Instead of being pissed off with her attitude, he gave her an adoring smile.
He walked toward her but didn’t hand the cake over immediately. Crouching down, he opened the box before handing the cake and a small fork to her. Clarissa was pleased by his thoughtfulness.
She squinted her eyes with satisfaction as she tasted the delicious cake while Matthew stared at her lovingly. It seemed he was destined to spoil her.
After taking a few bites, she fed him a spoonful of the cake.
“Try this.”
She said in a coquettish voice, sending a tingling sensation to his heart, which made him unable to reject her.
He gazed at the beautiful woman before him as he tasted the cake, enjoying the blissful moment very much.
Looking at his satisfied expression, Clarissa flashed a big grin. She enjoyed eating the cake as much as she liked looking at the man before her.
Matthew handed her a piece of tissue paper before he asked, “I thought you were accompanying Grandma. Why did you come over?”
Clarissa wiped her mouth and stared at him. “Well, there’s a childish man who got jealous. If I don’t come over, who knows whether he’ll throw a tantrum? It’ll be so embarrassing if the public finds out that Matthew Tyson is such a petty man!”
Matthew wasn’t infuriated by her words. Instead, he chuckled and gazed at Clarissa affectionately.
“Clare, does that mean you’re here because you missed me?”
Speechless, she nodded her head bashfully.
“Yes. I missed you, Matthew.”
“Call me Hubby.”
Clarissa giggled as she blushed. “Why do you like hearing that so much? It’s nothing special since many women call their men ‘Hubby’. I like calling you by your name instead. Matthew Tyson… Every time I say your name, it feels like you belong to me.”
Her sudden confession tugged at Matthew’s heartstrings, and his heart melted when she uttered his name.
Clarissa barely gave him sweet talk. But when she did, she said the most beautiful words he had ever heard. All he wanted was to show her how much he loved her.
The next second, Matthew did exactly that. He hugged his woman tightly and gave her a deep kiss.
When the kiss ended, Clarissa shoved him away. “I don’t want to interrupt your work. I’ll go downstairs to look for Yael. There are some work-related issues I want to discuss with her.”
Reluctantly, Matthew let go of her and sent her off.
It turned out that the main reason Clarissa came here was work.
She had a new idea, and it was bolder than her previous one. Not only was she going to write it out, but she also planned to picturise it.
She wanted to write the story out herself and adapt it into a film.
Of course, it was merely her wild imagination for now. She was not confident of executing the plan yet. Therefore, she had to discuss with Yael.
“What is the story about?”
Feeling embarrassed, Clarissa showed Yael the draft of her story, which included the plot and setting.
“Yael, I’m not sure whether anyone will be interested in this kind of story. Besides, I have no idea whether it’s going to be a profitable project. I just want to fulfill one of my dreams. What do you think about this?”
Yael nodded before she replied, “You’re a screenwriter. I believe you know the market’s demand better than anyone else. I can guarantee that your story’s going to be a hit. Besides, with your reputation, this project will most probably turn out to be a great commercial film. So, I think it’s workable.”
Clarissa’s eyes shone upon hearing that. “Really? That’s great!”
“You can write the story first, publish it, then adapt it into a script. But you don’t have to rush through everything. After all, you have to get ready for the wedding, don’t you?”
“Yes. The filming part can wait. I want to finish the writing first. I’ve let my readers have a sneak peek. It seems that they like my story. To be honest, I’ve never written a love story like this.”
Yael laughed. “It would be a piece of cake since you experienced the story yourself.”
Clarissa cast a shy smile. However, she was more determined to work it out upon receiving Yael’s recognition. Moreover, Clarissa had learned a lot from Justin. Surely, she had to develop her knowledge and skills before she could produce her own film. She had no intention to become a director, though. Nevertheless, it was still too early to tell if she could make her dream come true.
After all, she was merely a screenwriter without any resources. Once she started executing her project, she would have to worry about securing resources such as investors, directors, actors, film crew, and so on. However, those were tomorrow’s problems. Right now, she just wanted to finish writing her story. It was a wedding gift for Matthew—a gift of love.
She felt bad about receiving an island from Matthew but not giving him something of equivalent value. Since she couldn’t afford a luxurious gift, she wanted to gift him something unique, and given that she was good at writing, she decided to tell him the story of her life.
…
At night, Matthew ran into Ryler at Zen Highlands when the latter sent Catherine home.
However, the atmosphere between the two men was rather tense.
Afterward, Clarissa poked Matthew’s shoulder and questioned, “I thought the two of you have become closer with each other since you had a drink together and chatted happily the other day. Why are you being so cold to him now? Did you fall out with Ryler?”
“Become closer? I’ve never been close with him.”
Clarissa pouted. “Alright then. But you shouldn’t give him the cold shoulder anyway. Even Grandma could tell that you’re upset, and she asked me about it.”
Matthew refused to admit that he was being petty. Although the two of them had actually drunk a little too much the other day, Ryler seemed to have better alcohol tolerance compared to Matthew. Moreover, Ryler brought up how close he was with Clarissa during their childhood.
Although Ryler was talking about their childhood, Matthew believed that he purposely mentioned it to his face, and there was no way he would respond to such provocation with magnanimity.
Since Ryler initiated the attack first, the latter decided to pay Ryler back in his own coin.
With that, the two of them ended up getting on each other’s nerves.
But of course, Matthew was not about to tell Clarissa the truth. He had his own ways to distract her, and the best way for him was to get some action with her.
Especially now that he was hoping to have a child of their own.
The next morning, Matthew’s phone rang out as the first rays of sunlight poured through the windows of the bedroom. Upon picking up the phone, his face darkened. After glancing at Clarissa who was sleeping soundly, he discreetly got out of the bed and sneaked out of the room. Once the door was closed, he answered Donnie, “Keep a lid on the rumor immediately! Put an end to it now!”
Right after Matthew finished his sentence, a thought flashed across his mind.
“Forget about it. It’ll look even more suspicious if we put a lid on the rumor now. I’ll contact Ryler.”
Having said that, Matthew quickly called Ryler who just received the news as well.
The two of them were not on good terms, yet they had an unswerving stance when it came to protecting Clarissa. As far as they were concerned, Clarissa’s well-being was more important than anything else.
“My manager’s handling it. I’ll issue a statement of clarification instead of covering it up. What do you think, Mr. Tyson?”
“Alright. Let me have a look at the statement before you release it.”
“Sure.”
Ryler paused for a few seconds before he continued, “I’m sorry that I dragged Clare into this.”
“Tell her that yourself.”
The two men wasted no time and sprang into action once they were done with the discussion.
Shortly after the rumor of Ryler rendezvousing his girlfriend and future grandparent-in-law went viral, he issued the statement of clarification personally.
The statement was brief yet straightforward. It explained that the woman he met up with was his sister and the elderly woman was their grandmother. Both of them were taking their grandmother out for a meal, and the rumor was merely a groundless assumption.
The statement clarified the relationship between Ryler and the woman, clearly stating that the latter was not Ryler’s girlfriend and that it was all a misunderstanding.
However, just when they thought they had set things straight with the clarification statement, someone posted another batch of pictures.
In the pictures, Ryler was hugging Clarissa, and their suggestive posture looked as if the two of them were kissing.
The woman in the picture was whom Ryler referred to as “sister.”
