Everyone in the room was stunned momentarily by his insensitive comment.
With that, everyone burst into a fit of laughter again.
“Hahaha…”
Jeremy’s laughter was the loudest among the group, and he made no attempt to hold it in.
The others who were laughing slowly quietened down as they spotted the menacing glint flashing across Clarissa’s eyes.
Jeremy was the last one to stop laughing, but his eyes were still filled with mockery. He knew that he couldn’t tease Clarissa and Matthew directly. Thus, he patted Yarick’s shoulder and joked, “Yarick, that’s not a very good habit. Having sex with someone you’re not close to? Sounds morally inappropriate to me!”
Surprisingly but reasonably, Yarick was offended by Jeremy’s joke, and his expression darkened while he flung Jeremy’s hand away. “Your hookups are way more than mine. Who’re you to lecture me? Moreover, it’s just sex, isn’t it?”
Upon saying that, Yarick cast a meaningful glance at Matthew and Clarissa, implying that they were the same as him.
At that moment, Clarissa’s heart skipped a beat, but she tried to act calm. “Mr. Payne, why are you looking at me? I won’t be able to answer for you since I’ve never done what you and Mr. Smallwood do.”
“Hold on a second. Clarissa, why are you involving me in this? I’m totally different from Yarick. I know my partner really well, okay?”
Jeremy responded with a blatant lie, and Clarissa showed no interest in entertaining them anymore.
The next moment, she sat down beside Ellie and started chatting with her.
Meanwhile, Matthew chose the seat beside Clarissa, but Jeremy was determined not to let him off the hook. “Come on, Matt. Clarissa has insisted that she’s not close to you, so come sit over here and chat with us.”
Matthew shot him a stone-cold look to warn him off, to which Jeremy responded with a shrug.
Rolling her eyes inwardly, Clarissa refused to respond to Jeremy’s teasing.
“Ellie, why isn’t Shawn here?”
Ellie snorted, apparently mad at him.
Eventually, she quoted Clarissa, “I’m not close to him.”
Clarissa’s face was devoid of expression, but Ellie continued to explain, “I’m not trying to tease you, but I’m really not close to him. We only meet up occasionally.”
Clarissa chuckled while shaking her head. The two of them are more like foes.
However, she was aware that it was not her place to advise Ellie, as she could not even handle her own personal matters.
“Alright, let’s stop talking about people we’re not close to. I should be on my way home now, but I missed my flight. I need to head back to W City latest by tomorrow. Since we’ve not met for so long, why don’t I stay at your place tonight and we can chat till morning? Maybe you can tell me the story of that man you’re not close to.”
She tried to keep her volume down, but still, her words were overheard by Matthew.
He interrupted abruptly, “No!”
Her last night was supposed to belong to him. Thus, he would not allow anyone to snatch her away from him.
Clarissa blurted out, “You have no say in this. We’re not close.”
Matthew felt as though a knife had stabbed through his heart as he could not comprehend why Clarissa kept going against him.
He reached out his hand to grab Clarissa’s firmly even though the latter had insisted that they were not close.
Eventually, Ellie chose to give in as she pitied Matthew.
“Clare, maybe next time. I have another plan tonight, so I’ve got to leave right after dinner.”
Clarissa glared daggers at Ellie but received merely an awkward grin from her.
Matthew was satisfied with Ellie’s response, but he did not realize that the other men were sneering at him.
Both of them had been through quite a journey in the past three years, and their relationship had become more complicated than before.
Indeed, everyone had their fair share of worries and struggles in life.
Henry, who was silent the entire time, suddenly asked, “Clarissa, have you seen Yaala?”
Hearing his words, Clarissa rolled her eyes.
Here’s another troublesome couple.
Clarissa had no intention to be courteous. “Mr. Jackson, I’ve met her the previous night. But honestly, she did not speak of you. In fact, if you hadn’t mentioned her, I wouldn’t have known that you guys are acquainted.”
With that, a dark expression loomed over Henry’s face.
“Ms. Zaha is a cruel woman,” Jeremy could not help commenting. “Even crueler than Clarissa.”
Ignoring Clarissa’s cold glance, Jeremy let out a chuckle. “In fact, I could say all women are cruel. Of course, men could also be cruel at times. But I’m the exception as I always have a soft heart for women.”
Yarick snorted out of nowhere, apparently disagreeing with Jeremy’s words.
Meanwhile, Henry poured himself a glass of wine and began drinking.
Clarissa refused to stick her nose into Yaala’s business as she figured love was not a matter that others could intervene in. Furthermore, she did not think that Yaala had any true feelings for Henry.
Men are mostly jerks. Henry was the one who wronged Yaala in the first place. Why would he pursue Yaala again if he chose to dump her back then? What a joke.
In fact, Matthew is the only guy here who’s relatively loyal and affectionate.
At that thought, Clarissa cast a sweet smile in Matthew’s direction.
Matthew was somewhat surprised by this unexpected smile, oblivious to the fact that Clarissa only appreciated him after comparing him to the other men.
Somewhere around the second half of the dinner, Justin suddenly arrived at the restaurant.
Without beating around the bush, he brought up Clarissa’s new movie. The production of the film was fully sponsored by Tyson Corporation and would commence soon.
“Have you confirmed the director and the actors? And where will the filming take place?”
His series of questions rendered Clarissa speechless.
Right then, she looked to Matthew for help, and the latter tacitly responded, “These are not decided yet, but we will provide the best resources we have.”
Justin pointed out directly, “You’re spending big to buy this woman’s heart. Of course, I admit that Clarissa’s work is good and will surely earn back the money you invested. Anyway, it just so happens that I have a candidate in mind for the director. He’s young but extremely talented. What do you think?”
“I’m sure whoever Director Yates recommends is the best.”
Clarissa did not have a single doubt about Justin’s choice.
They continued to discuss some work-related issues. The more they talked, the more congenial they became to each other’s tastes.
On the other hand, Matthew, who was sitting at the side, started running out of patience. The clock is ticking. How could these bunch of people eat for so long? Especially Director Yates, when will he stop talking to Clarissa?
He was worried that the night would be over before he realized it.
Eventually, he failed to suppress his impatience as he cut off their conversation abruptly. He put Clarissa’s coat on her and grabbed her hand.
“We’ve got to go. You guys have fun.”
Before Clarissa could react, she was dragged out of the private lounge.
The rest in the room were also stunned by their sudden departure but soon smiled in amusement.
Since Matthew had left, they could finally gossip without holding back.
“I was wondering how long Matt could endure. Just as what I expected, his patience only lasted ninety minutes.”
“We can’t blame him. I thought that they were already over three years ago. If I hadn’t discovered that they went to the hotel in secret, I would have been fooled by them.”
Yarick was the first witness who saw Matthew and Clarissa going into the hotel together. To think that I even hesitated to bring women along whenever I went to meet him for fear that it would make him sad. Looks like I was overthinking.
Indeed, no matter how they insisted they were not close, the truth was the contrary.
“I, on the other hand, never believed that they actually broke up. If that were true, I’m afraid Matt would have killed Clarissa before ending his own life. But of course, I doubt he would resort to doing that.”
Even though Jeremy’s prediction sounded exaggerating, it was undeniably some truth in it.
Ellie chimed in, “During the first year, they did not contact each other at all. Even I failed to meet her although I went to W City numerous times. Her grandma wouldn’t let her out. So I thought it was really over between them.”
Jeremy stroked his chin, seemingly lost in contemplation.
Right then, a thought struck him, and a sharp glint flashed across his eyes.
He added, “I remember that when Clarissa came to D City for the award ceremony during the second year, she seemed to have gained some weight. Don’t you think it’s strange since they had broken up?”
“What’s the problem with that? Do you expect everyone to lose weight after breaking up?” Ellie retorted right away.
Jeremy let out a smile, shaking his head. “I was thinking about something else. Forget it then. Since they have left, we should finish eating too. I still need to find my unfamiliar friend later and spend the night with her.”
Everyone burst into laughter, while Ellie frowned in silence.
Those two words made her think of Shawn. Right. He’s just an unfamiliar friend.
Clarissa spent a long, intimate night with Matthew before she headed back to W City the following day.
The moment she opened the door to her house while holding onto her luggage, the kid who was playing in the living room rushed to her and hugged her leg tightly.
“Mommy, you’re finally back! I missed you so much! To the point that I didn’t even have the appetite to eat.”
What a little sweet talker.
Clarissa felt amused and moved at the same time.
She squatted down and hugged him while she planted kisses all over his face.
“Darling, it was the same for me. I missed you so much that I forgot to eat. Look at me. I’ve lost weight, haven’t I?”
Indeed, the chubby little kid was the perfect combination of his parents. He had big eyes with long lashes, an expressive face, and pinkish lips that kept spitting out sweet words.
At that moment, he used his tiny hands to hold Clarissa’s face while his obsidian black eyes studied her earnestly.
He left a gentle kiss on his mother’s forehead and coaxed, “Yes, you’ve lost some weight. I’m heartbroken.”
Clarissa’s heart melted upon hearing his words.
