Clarissa had never felt that she showed particular care or attention to Matthew.
However, when she got a clearer look at the man next to Shermaine, she could tell almost immediately that it was Matthew himself.
Clarissa couldn’t help but feel a little chagrined at herself—being sharp was a good thing, but this wasn’t the sort of mental acuity she wanted!
“Ms. Quigley, I didn’t know you were so interested in celebrity gossip, too!”
One of the supporting actresses from the same film set, Jamie, had just finished shooting one of her scenes. She came and sat down next to Clarissa and struck up a conversation with her.
She was a university student majoring in performing arts, and she had been selected for this role through an open audition. Thus, both her looks and her acting skills were considered passable by industry standards.
Because of their small age gap, Clarissa had found her relatively easy to talk to.
Right now, everyone on set was probably discussing the hottest news of today—Shermaine’s new rumor!
Clarissa closed the webpage she had been looking at and smiled up at Jamie. “I just happened to come across it on my news feed, that’s all. I heard the diva herself arrived last night. Is she filming something today?”
“How would I know?” Jamie replied sulkily. “Shermaine Smallwood is oh-so-important. If she still hasn’t shown up by now, I suppose we’ll have to push everyone’s schedule back to accommodate her.”
Clarissa shot a look at Jamie. “Are you not fond of her?”
Jamie pursed her lips as she considered her question. “I don’t have much of an opinion on her. Are you a fan of hers, Ms. Quigley?”
“I would say so, yes.”
“Well, her acting skills are pretty average, in my opinion. She was just lucky that she got movie scripts that suited her. Besides, haven’t you noticed that she hasn’t been acting in any movies for the past few years? She’s still relevant now only because she is capitalizing on her past fame.”
Clarissa smiled warmly. “I don’t know much about acting, so I can’t speak for her acting skills. However, I’ve watched that award-winning film of hers, and I found it to be pretty good. The reason I like her is because she has the image of a strong, independent woman. It isn’t just because she graduated from a prestigious university—rather than relying on her family connections, she managed to make a name for herself in the industry by taking up lots of supporting roles at the beginning. Even if this is just an image her PR team created for her, she’s still a very bright girl who’s loved by many people. What about you? Do you dislike her?”
Jamie shrugged nonchalantly. “I suppose I’m just slightly jealous of her.”
“Haha…you’re quite honest, aren’t you?”
“Of course! She comes from a good family, has a smooth-flowing career, and is young and pretty to boot. Her future is limitless—she’ll probably catch a hotter and more successful man in the future, too. It’s natural for me to be jealous of her. Ask around the industry, and you won’t find a single girl who isn’t. Not all of us are as kind and generous as you are, Ms. Quigley.”
“I’m not kind and generous. I’ve never had an argument with her before, that’s all.”
“That’s true. You aren’t exactly from the entertainment industry. Besides, your screenwriting is well-regarded in the film industry—she has to act according to your scripts. Doesn’t that give you a sense of achievement?”
Clarissa found that funny. She shook her head and was just about to say something when there was a commotion at the entrance. When she looked over, she realized that all the film directors had rushed over to the entrance.
From the looks of it, Shermaine had probably arrived.
Since everyone was crowding out over there, Clarissa decided that she might as well get up to take a look too.
Shermaine was very beautiful. As a renowned beauty in D City, her features were exquisite and delicate beyond words. Besides, a different sort of aura radiated from her—she performed every movement with grace and dignity.
However, the media must have exaggerated when they described Shermaine as a woman with a warm and good-natured smile. In truth, Clarissa observed that her expression was rather cold and aloof—while she greeted the director and Ryler politely, her smile was nowhere to be seen for most of the time.
Afterward, she made her way to her private dressing room to get her makeup and hair ready. While she was inside, everyone discussed about her excitedly.
Hoping that she might get an autograph from Shermaine, Clarissa had already gotten her pen and notebook ready. However, her hopes seemed to have been dashed.
“Do you want Ms. Smallwood’s autograph?”
Ryler walked over to Clarissa, attired in a nobleman’s clothes. His outfit made him seem even more elegant and refined than he usually was.
“Yes, I do. But doesn’t Ms. Smallwood look a little tired today?”
“Come on, I’ll bring you over to her.”
“No, it’s alright. I think I’d better…”
As she protested, however, Ryler had already dragged her into Shermaine’s dressing room.
“Ryler, is that you?”
Shermaine looked a little startled, but she continued to gaze at him with a smile.
“Shermaine, this is the original screenwriter for this drama, Ms. Clarissa Quigley. She’s a huge fan of yours, and she wants an autograph from you. She felt too embarrassed to come here by herself, so I brought her here with me.”
“Is that so? The pleasure is all mine—thanks for being my fan, Ms. Quigley. Here, pass the pen and paper to me.”
While she was addressing Clarissa, however, Shermaine’s eyes remained fixated on her phone screen as she typed furiously away. She seemed rather distracted.
Clarissa felt a little awkward. She passed the pen and paper to her and mumbled, “Thanks, Ms. Smallwood.”
Without even looking up at her, Shermaine took the stationery from Clarissa and signed her signature on the piece of paper. After that, she passed the pen and paper to her assistant, who handed them back to Clarissa.
An awkward silence fell over the room. Feeling rather embarrassed, Clarissa shot a look of panic at Ryler.
“Alright, we won’t disturb you anymore, Ms. Smallwood.”
Clarissa and Ryler crept silently to the door. At that moment, Shermaine received a phone call.
“Why are you only returning my call now, Matt?”
Her tone had suddenly become rather coquettish. She was probably conversing with the man she liked.
“Why are you zoning out?”
Clarissa felt a sharp pain as Ryler rapped her on the head. She held in a yelp and grabbed her head, shooting him an acrimonious look.
“What the hell’s wrong with you?”
“That’s what I wanted to ask you! Look how blank you look. Aren’t you happy now that you got your hands on Shermaine Smallwood’s signature?”
For some reason, Clarissa was in a rather bad mood. She felt rather stuffy all of a sudden.
However, she couldn’t tell anyone about her secret.
Clarissa forced a smile onto her face. When she saw someone coming over, she quickly put some distance between Ryler and herself. “We’d better be more careful. If anyone sees us and decides to start a rumor about us, neither of us might be able to defend ourselves.”
Seeing how Clarissa was trying to dissociate herself from him, Ryler smiled in amusement.
“Defend ourselves? We grew up together. Even if someone tried to make up a rumor about us, what’s there to be afraid of? We’ve known each other for years.”
“I still don’t think that’s a good idea. I don’t like having my personal life exposed. Ryler, you know how I’m like.”
Ryler sighed, looking at her both adoringly and helplessly.
“Alright, I got it. Do you think I would just ignore your feelings? Don’t worry, I’ll make sure there won’t be any rumors of you. Have a rest, I’ll be heading back to the set first.”
Clarissa watched him leave with a thoughtful expression on her face. She found a quiet corner and sat down to write another screenplay.
To celebrate Shermaine’s arrival, probably, the directors wrapped up the shooting way earlier than usual. The entire production crew went for dinner together.
Clarissa went along with them. Because she didn’t like socializing and didn’t want to join the rest of the crew, she chose a seat in a corner of the room. She decided to scarf down her food as quickly as she could and return to her room immediately.
The others had probably joined this dinner party for the sake of making connections. Clarissa was the only one who was here solely because she wanted to have dinner.
After she finished eating, she wondered if she should quietly take her leave now.
To her surprise, Shermaine suddenly stood up. With a rather strange smile on her face, she said to the directors, “Excuse me, but I have a friend who has arrived to see me. I’ll go and say hello to him first.”
With that, she turned to leave. To her surprise, the door flew open, and the man she had been clamoring after the whole day stood in the doorway.
“Matt?”
Matthew stood in the doorway, clothed entirely in black. He was unusually tall and handsome, and his stiff suit accentuated the air of frightening coldness he carried around him.
However, Shermaine acted like a schoolgirl who had just spotted her crush. Her aloof expression vanished in an instant, and was replaced by a brilliant smile.
“Matt, please wait a while. I was just getting ready to leave! Why don’t we…”
“There’s no need for that.”
Matthew stepped into the room.
Shermaine felt a little stunned. However, since this drama was being funded by a film company under the Tyson Corporation, she didn’t think too much about it.
She looped her arm around Matthew’s and wheeled him towards the director.
“Directors, this is my friend, Mr. Tyson. The film company that invested in our drama is actually just a subsidiary of his corporation.”
Everyone in the room fell silent in shock. They realized immediately that Mr. Tyson here wasn’t just an ordinary CEO.
They all turned to look at Matthew, including Clarissa herself.
However, one glance at him was enough to make her heart start beating with terror. As she bowed her head, she couldn’t help but feel a little pathetic.
Matthew was probably here to pay a visit to Shermaine, the industry big-shot. Clarissa was quite willing to bet that he had completely forgotten about her.
Courteously, someone ushered him to a seat next to Shermaine. Her expression took on a hint of pride and surprise.
“Matt, I didn’t think you would give me such a big surprise!” she purred. “I’m simply delighted.”
Matthew replied something to her in a low voice. His cool, sharp gaze swept across the entire room, eventually landing on a girl who was trying her best to escape inconspicuously.
His eyes narrowed into a thin line.
Suddenly, he said, “I heard the original screenwriter of the drama is present too.”
“Oh, yes, yes! Hey, Clarissa, Clarissa!”
The directors’ urgent voices sent everyone gazing in Clarissa’s direction.
She froze, looking like a deer caught in a pair of headlights. The directors’ voices got even louder and more insistent, urging her to come back quickly.
Clarissa had no choice but to turn around slowly and walk back towards them with the most reluctant look on her face.
Shermaine glanced over at her curiously, too—she had yet to meet the screenwriter for herself. The moment she lay her eyes on Clarissa, her eyes narrowed in wariness and resentment.
How could a screenwriter be so pretty?
Besides, she couldn’t help but feel as though she had met this screenwriter before.
Shermaine shot a glance at Matthew. His eyes were fixated on Clarissa as she walked towards them, a strange but unreadable expression in his dark eyes.
Ryler had noticed this as well. His brows knitted into a frown.
Clarissa stood in front of them awkwardly with a smile plastered onto her face. Pretending as though she didn’t recognize Matthew, she turned to the directors and murmured, “Were you looking for me?”
“Here, Clarissa. This is Mr. Matthew Tyson, the primary investor of our drama. Why don’t you give him a toast?”
Clarissa smiled warmly. When she turned to Matthew, her expression turned cold and aloof again.
“How do you do, Mr. Tyson. It’s a great pleasure to meet you. Unfortunately, I can’t stomach alcohol very well. Why don’t I toast you with a warm cup of tea instead?”
Here, she turned to look for a clean cup. However, Ryler stopped her and pushed his own cup into her hands.
“Here, I haven’t used it yet.”
In an unusually polite tone, she replied, “Thank you, Mr. Cooper.”
She turned to Matthew and swallowed the entire cup of tea in one gulp.
As she beamed at him with what she hoped was a warm smile, Matthew, who remained seated in his chair, continued to gaze at her with an unsmiling face. His eyes raked over her, dull and emotionless.
Just as Clarissa’s cheeks were beginning to feel sore, Matthew finally spoke up.
“We meet again, Ms. Quigley.”
