Catherine sounded like she was in a dilemma over the phone.
“Clare, actually, it’s your Aunt Gloria who needs your help. Even though I don’t want to see her as well, it is a matter of life and death, so…”
Before Catherine could finish her sentence, Clarissa could already hear Gloria bawling on the other end of the line.
“Oh! My poor daughter! Clary, I’ll kneel down to you if you would save my daughter. Please save Mimi! Please forgive me and help me this once…”
Clarissa frowned. Even without seeing her in person, Clarissa could imagine the way Gloria was kicking up a fuss.
Clarissa said to her grandmother, “Did she force you to do this? If you don’t feel comfortable telling me now, just get Jenny to chase her away. I will let Jenny know. But if you really feel like helping her, you can let me know as well. As long as it is within my means, I will definitely help.”
Catherine understood what Clarissa meant and let out a sigh.
“Clare, let’s just help her if it’s possible. However, I am quite certain that she did not tell me the whole truth. So, if in the midst of helping her, you realize something does not seem right, you can stop anytime. Feel free to exercise your own judgment.”
“Sure. Pass the phone to her and let her tell me what exactly happened, then.”
Catherine passed the phone to Gloria immediately. When Gloria took over the phone and was about to start crying again, Clarissa shut her up with one sentence before she could do that.
“If you start crying, I might not have the patience to listen to your story.”
Gloria kept quiet at once after hearing that.
“Just get straight to the point.”
Sounding slightly timid, Gloria started speaking softly, “Mimi was captured but she’s innocent! Even though she can be quite selfish, she does not have any malicious intent…”
“Be clear. Who captured her?”
A sense of guilt rose in Gloria’s chest and she answered in an even weaker voice, “The p-police.”
“What did you say?”
“The p-police.”
Clarissa sighed when she heard what her aunt said.
Gloria rushed to explain, “Clary, I’m sure the police made a mistake. My dear Mimi would never commit any crimes. I’m sure of that. She’s such a good kid, she won’t…”
“If you’re so sure that she’s innocent, why should you be afraid? The police won’t wrongly accuse anyone. You should just wait for them to investigate.”
“No no, Clary, Mimi is definitely innocent. But the people in there will hurt her. Besides, she… she…”
Just then, Clarissa saw Matthew carrying Damian downstairs. Apparently, the father-son pair had already finished talking about their secret.
Running out of patience, she said straightforwardly, “If you want me to save Mimi, you have to tell me the truth. Otherwise, I have no time to waste with you.”
Gloria hesitated and did not speak for a long time. As such, Clarissa ended the call without waiting for her any longer.
“Mommy… Mommy… Are you upset?”
Damian wriggled out of his father’s arms and ran toward Clarissa, who was sitting on the couch. Climbing onto the sofa and into his mother’s arms, the boy stroked Clarissa’s face lovingly.
Clarissa smiled and pouted before complaining, “Yeah, I’m upset. Because my darling didn’t share his secret with me. I feel so left out. That’s why I’m upset.”
Damian felt bad at once and patted Clarissa’s shoulders gently before putting his chubby arms around her neck.
“Mommy, don’t be angry,” the boy said before planting a kiss on her cheeks in a perfunctory manner, acting just like a teenager.
“There, I’ll give you a kiss so you can’t be upset anymore.”
In the end, Damian still did not let Clarissa in on the secret.
Clarissa looked toward Matthew, but the smile on the man’s face clearly told her that he had no intention of getting involved.
As such, Clarissa had no choice but to give up knowing. She hugged her son tightly and gave him a forceful kiss on his cheek. The boy chuckled and started playing with her.
“Daddy, Daddy! Help! Help me…”
Clarissa pretended to be a witch and started teasing Damian while Damian pretended to be really frightened and started screaming for help. He even started giving instructions to Clarissa on what to say and telling her how he would react. Not only was he engrossed in playing his part as an actor, but the boy was also trying to be a director, briefing the adults on what to do.
However, after just a while, the family’s play was interrupted as Clarissa’s phone rang again.
She took a glance at the number and picked up.
It was Catherine on the line as Gloria had probably known that Clarissa would not be willing to answer her call, given the way their previous conversation ended.
“Clary, I’ve managed to find out what happened. It was Mimi’s boyfriend who was suspected of committing the crime. She was also under suspicion and arrested only because she was close to him. Mimi doesn’t really know anything about it. Perhaps, she is really innocent, so…”
Clarissa understood what her grandmother wanted to say and replied, “I’ll get Matthew to ask around.”
Catherine kept quiet at the mention of Matthew. Since the man was brought into the conversation, Catherine knew that she should not speak any further.
In fact, all of them knew very well what the truth was.
“If she’s really innocent, this will be the last time we are helping her. However, if it turns out that she’s guilty, we won’t bother about her anymore.”
Clarissa let out a sigh after the call ended. Then, she rested her chin casually on the couch’s armrest and looked at Matthew. Imitating his mother, Damian also let out a sigh and rested on Clarissa.
Matthew, who was seated across the mother-son pair, smiled affectionately at his family.
“Hubby… I need your help.”
“Hubby… I need your help.” Damian echoed her words cheekily.
Amused, Clarissa let out a chuckle before turning around to face her son and said, “He’s my hubby, not yours.”
Damian giggled and said, ““He’s my hubby, not yours.”
“You little rascal!”
“You little rascal!”
Clarissa immediately turned around, and wearing a pitiful expression, she threw herself into Matthew’s arms. “Hubby, Damian is bullying me,” she whined.
Damian rushed toward his father in small steps and ran into his arms as well, saying, “Hubby, Mommy is bullying me.”
Speechless, Matthew hugged them in one arm each and looked at the two people he loved most before planting consecutive kisses on their cheeks.
Clarissa smiled as she and Matthew locked eyes.
Finally, that was a moment that could not be interrupted by Damian.
The boy could only stare with his big eyes while his parents exchange loving glances at each other. Of course, he did not fully understand how romantic love between adults was like yet.
As such, he did not hesitate to disrupt their loving moment.
“Mommy, was it great-grandma who called just now? I miss her so much.”
Clarissa stroked her son’s face and replied, “Just wait for a while more. We will visit her during the festive season.”
“Can’t we go see her now?”
“Haven’t you been video calling great-grandma?”
“But I like it when great-grandma hold me in her arms.”
Clarissa gave a peck on the boy’s forehead and replied, “The festive season is coming real soon. Alright now, let’s go wash up and prepare to go to bed. I have a new story to tell you…”
After getting up from Matthew’s arms, Clarissa carried Damian upstairs.
When Clarissa finally went back to her room after the boy fell asleep, Matthew was already laying on the bed. Seeing that, Clarissa climbed onto the bed at once and settled in Matthew’s arms.
He stroked her cheeks gently while asking in his deep and husky voice, “Is there something you want to tell me?”
“Yup, Mimi was arrested by the police because of her association with a man who has committed a crime. He’s probably her lover. As for whether she was personally involved in the crime, I’m not sure. But at least, it’s possible that she wasn’t.”
Clearly, Clarissa was not very willing to take a stand. She pursed her lips and continued, “But I’m quite sure that given Mimi’s character, it’s highly unlikely that she’s completely kept in the dark about the crime. After all, she’s greedy, vain, enjoys stirring up trouble…”
It was a rare occasion to hear Clarissa speaking ill of others.
Matthew found her behavior rather adorable as he had never expected her to badmouth anyone.
“Why are you smiling?” Feeling puzzled, Clarissa asked when she noticed the strange smile on Matthew’s face.
“It’s nothing. I just think that my dear Clare is too adorable.”
After he replied, he lowered his head and kissed Clarissa on her lips. The two of them were intertwined in a deep kiss for a while before Clarissa pushed him away as she had serious matters to talk to him about.
“Grandma wants me to help. If Mimi is really innocent, let’s just help with her release as soon as possible. If she’s indeed guilty, we will wash our hands of it. So, Hubby, can I entrust this task to you? Please?”
Matthew let out a deep chuckle and replied, “Sure. I’ll do anything my wife asks me to do.”
After the matter was settled, the two of them wasted no time doing the thing couples usually did in bed at night.
Matthew was highly efficient in handling the matter which Clarissa had asked him to help with, making progress the next day.
Clarissa arrived at Tyson Corporation after leaving the publisher’s premises.
Just as she reached the underground parking lot and was about to head upstairs, she saw Avery, who was ashen-faced. The woman was carrying a box filled with her belongings and seemed like she had been fired from the company.
Even though Clarissa was rather shocked, she did not ask any questions. She merely walked past Avery, keeping an indifferent expression, and entered the lift.
As for Avery, she stood outside the lift, looking even worse than a while ago.
She was furious and jealous at the same time. Avery was so full of hatred that she wished she could vent her frustrations on Clarissa. However, she understood that Clarissa was Matthew’s wife and one word from that woman would be enough to destroy her future anywhere else. If that was what Avery wanted, she would not hesitate to take revenge on Clarissa.
Obviously, Avery did not dare to do that.
No matter how resentful she was, the truth was that she was an employee who was easily dispensable.
Meanwhile, when Clarissa reached the top floor, she saw Matthew, who told her what he found out about Mimi.
Not surprised by what she heard, Clarissa replied, “She brought all these upon herself. Even though she did not take part in the crime, taking drugs is also a serious offense. We shouldn’t bother ourselves with helping her anymore.”
After that, she took a look at Matthew, who was looking nonchalant. Suddenly, Clarissa let out a chuckle and walked over to him coquettishly before leaning on his table and said, “Matthew, should I give you a reward?”
The man cocked his brows and replied, “Why?”
Clarissa blinked her eyes playfully and replied, “I guess it’s because you love me so much…”
