The moment Clarissa hung up the phone, the enthusiasm on her face faded away.
She threw herself into Matthew’s embrace like a little girl.
Then, she yawned with her hand over her mouth, looking exhausted as though she just came back from a war. As she thought of the reason she was so tired, she could not help but pinch Matthew’s arm to vent her anger.
“It’s all your fault.”
By that time of the day, she was still feeling dizzy. How I wish I could get back to sleep right now. But I need to get home this afternoon, so I must book the flight.
Matthew was stroking her face gently with his big hand while trying to comfort her.
“Get some more sleep.”
Ignoring his suggestion, she reached out for her phone. After setting the alarm, she started searching for the next flight. Just when she was about to complete her booking, Matthew snatched her phone away.
“Are you really leaving today?”
Clarissa replied languidly, “Yup, I’ve promised my darling.”
His lips twitched. “So he’s your darling, and I’m not?”
Looks like someone’s jealous.
The corners of Clarissa’s lips drooped to form a frown as she snatched back her phone. “Don’t be such a child. I have to keep my promise. He’s expecting me to be back by today, so I can’t let him down. Besides, he’s more important than you.”
At that instant, Matthew was lost for words.
Holding her tightly in his arms, Matthew let out a long sigh as he realized his domineering charisma was starting to lose its effect on this woman.
She obviously cares more about the little guy than me. Matthew had not expected that one day, he would have to compete with another guy for her. And there was no doubt that he was the loser in this competition.
“Clarissa!”
The look in his eyes grew cold and grim.
However, Clarissa ignored him completely while she went on to book her flight. After that, she set the alarm and jumped right into her nap.
Matthew was beyond exasperated by her attitude, but he could only watch as she dozed off in a blink of an eye.
Forget it. At least I can still feel her in my arms right now. This is way better than those days when I could only meet her in my imagination.
Matthew hugged Clarissa tightly and slowly drifted into sleep as well.
A few hours later, the alarm rang. But before it could wake Clarissa up, Matthew jolted out of bed and swiftly turned it off.
Staring at Clarissa, who was still sound asleep, Matthew let out a cunning smile. He left a gentle kiss on her forehead while he pulled out his arm from under her head. Without making any sound, he got out of the bed and headed into the bathroom.
Right after he freshened up, Donnie arrived at the door to deliver some clean clothes. After exchanging a brief conversation with Matthew, he left.
With that, Matthew got changed and sat down before the desk in the room, trying to accomplish some work before Clarissa woke up.
He occasionally lifted his head to check on his woman, who was still in bed. For some reason, she had cut her long hair short, but still, she was as lovely as before.
Matthew could spend the whole day staring at her.
As the day started to get dark outside, Clarissa’s phone rang all of a sudden. Reflexively, she reached for the phone and answered it.
At that instant, the voice from the other end flushed away all her dizziness.
She started explaining nervously as to why she was not yet home by that time.
“I’m so sorry, Darling. Something urgent came up suddenly. Don’t be mad, alright? Of course. I promise I’ll bring you to play when I get back. Anywhere you want to go. Yes, I’ll buy you a toy too, but you can only pick one…”
Clarissa was utilizing all her available tactics to comfort the angry child on the phone.
In the end, the comforting and persuading lasted for more than half an hour.
Matthew sat there the entire time without moving an inch, overwhelmed with jealousy and displeasure.
While on the phone, Clarissa lifted her head and spotted the upset look on Matthew’s face.
With a sneer, she shot him a glare.
“Did you shut off my alarm?” she asked as soon as she ended the call.
Matthew denied in a composed tone, “Nope. You didn’t hear your own alarm.”
“That’s not possible.”
“Why not? You were so tired that you were snoring. How could you hear your alarm when you were sleeping so soundly?”
Upon hearing that, the vein on Clarissa’s temple throbbed, and she did not question him further. Matthew’s explanation sounded pretty reasonable, and there was no way for her to prove otherwise.
Her expression turned awkward as she could not come up with anything to retort back.
However, she was still extremely mad.
“Then, why didn’t you wake me up?”
“Why should I?”
“You… You’re playing dirty!”
Clarissa pouted at Matthew huffily, and the latter seemed to accept her accusation willingly.
With that, a staredown between them kicked off. Eventually, Clarissa’s glare was defeated by the smile plastered on Matthew’s face. With a pout, she got out of bed and went to take a shower.
By the time she walked out of the bathroom, she was already dressed in a simple knitted dress. She looked extraordinarily sexy in that piece, and her figure was much more shapely compared to three years ago. Gazing at the alluring sight before him, a flame of desire burned within Matthew.
Matthew rose from his seat, abandoning his work. Then he approached her and wrapped his arms around her waist while trying to kiss her. Unexpectantly, Clarrisa pushed him away at once.
“Don’t even think about it! I am still mad at you.”
Matthew let out a helpless laugh. “Clare, please try to understand. How much time did I have with you in the past three years? I believe we’ve not even met more than ten times. Compared to the time you spent with that kid, I don’t think I’m asking too much, am I? Besides, he knew you were meeting me, yet he deliberately urged you to go back. Clearly, he’s going against me.”
“Can you stop calling him that kid? This is preposterous. He’s not even three years old. How could he possibly be that smart? He knows nothing.”
Matthew chuckled softly. “Yeah, right. The only thing he knows is how to compete with me.”
Out of words, Clarissa rolled her eyes inwardly.
Alright. I admit that my boy does surprise me sometimes. He can even say, “I love you, Mommy,” while hugging me at such a young age. And ever since he learned about his daddy’s existence, the latter has become the person he despises the most.
Whenever Clarissa went on a business trip, he would assume she was meeting up with his daddy. No matter how hard she explained, he would not believe her.
Hence, Clarissa could only go on business trips behind his back.
As expected, when he found out that Clarissa was on another business trip, he cried for a long time on the phone, accusing his daddy of stealing her again. In his mind, it was all Matthew’s fault that Clarissa could not spend time with him.
“He’s still young, and he has never been separated from me. So can you stop acting so petty?”
“No, I can’t!”
“You…”
Clarissa’s face flushed red with fury. “Please! You’re already over forty…”
Before she could finish her sentence, she got cut off by his intense kiss, which lasted for quite a while. And after that, Matthew did not forget to mention, “Clarissa, I’m only thirty-nine, not forty.”
“Pfft…”
I don’t think there will be another man who’s fussy as you.
At that thought, Clarissa could not suppress her laughter while she poked Matthew’s chin mischievously. “Uncle Matthew, people often say, men age like wine and become more sophisticated with time. But look at you, why are you still so childish like a little boy?”
Matthew grabbed her finger swiftly and said in an earnest tone, “Do I look that old?”
Look at him being petty again!
Despite feeling annoyed, she started comforting him, “Not at all. Look at your fit body. Thanks to your habit of going to the gym, I bet others will think of you as a thirty-year-old man! Just one year older than me.”
She did not mind lying at all in order to keep him happy.
Just like what she expected, Matthew seemed satisfied with her explanation. He let out a genuine smile while pulling her hand to his lips and kissed it.
“Are you hungry? Let’s go out for dinner. And how about staying at Zen Highlands tonight?”
“No, thanks. I’ll just stay in the hotel,” Clarissa rejected without hesitation.
Clarissa stood her ground, refusing to enter the Tyson residence, including Zen Highlands.
Feeling helpless, Matthew hugged her and complained in a low voice, “You’re a hard woman to please. If you don’t like Zen Highlands, we can find another place. You know I am even willing to buy a new house for you. But you won’t accept it, will you?”
She pouted like a stubborn child. “I’ve always been like this. You should know that.”
“Yes, I know. What if you buy one for yourself?”
Clarissa blinked in disbelief. “Please… You know I can’t afford it.”
“I could lend you the money first.”
“No way!”
She says that all the time. All Matthew had been getting from her all these years was rejection. And now that she was finally earning more money, she used it to pay the office’s rent instead of getting her own house.
She was so stubborn that he would have believed she was trying to break up with him if it weren’t for the assurance she gave him.
“Alright, alright.”
Once again, Matthew could only give in.
“Then let’s head out for dinner and come back here after that.”
Clarissa finally agreed after Matthew compromised. But as soon as they stepped out of the hotel, Clarissa’s phone rang; it was Ellie asking to meet her.
Soon, they arrived at the restaurant mentioned by Ellie. But Matthew noticed that there were other people besides Ellie in the private lounge, and he raised his brow in irritation.
Give me a break.
“Clarissa, why are you with Matt?”
Jeremy was the first to break the silence, addressing the elephant in the room.
With that, Clarissa responded indifferently, “We met at the entrance. We are not close.”
Right at that moment, the whole room fell into an awkward silence, and everyone burst into laughter seconds later.
Yarick acted as blunt as he had always been. “Well, what’s so funny? Honestly, I’m not close with some of my hookups too.”
