The act of Matthew bringing his son to look for his wife seemed heartwarmingly pitiful yet needy and insecure at the same time.
They were seated all the way at the back of the hall. When the host had begun to tease Clarissa, Matthew had found it highly amusing.
In actual fact, he really did not plan for all of that to happen, especially the part about Clarissa thinking that he appeared submissive on purpose.
Even worse, he did not expect their little spat to be the subject of a nationwide gossip.
After his sneeze, Matthew knew what was in store for him when the night ended. With a forced smile down at his son who was watching him closely, Matthew was already debating the ergonomic factors between a keyboard and a washboard for his knees.
“Daddy, I saw Mommy!” Damian said excitedly, standing on Matthew’s thigh. His curious little eyes swept the front row as they caught sight of Clarissa, though it was only her silhouette.
“Over there!” Damian pointed, his voice rising in his excitement. Matthew hastily shushed him.
“Shh, keep your voice down. If Mommy sees you, our plan to surprise her would be ruined.”
Damian covered his mouth, his eyes narrowing with glee.
Though they were seated in the shadows, the father and son outstandingly good looks had attracted a second glance of some people in front of them.
Within seconds, the entire row in front of them glanced back at Matthew and Damian incessantly.
“What a handsome man! And what a good-looking boy, too! I wonder who this celebrity is?”
“I don’t think he’s a celebrity, though I can’t deny that he looks oddly familiar. I can’t recall where I’ve seen him before…”
“Wait a minute, I think he’s… Is he?”
“Who? Who do you think it is?”
The ones who had recognized Matthew stared hard at him. As they shifted their gaze to Damian, the boy’s large innocent eyes had rendered them starstruck.
Bloody hell, the son is even more handsome than the father!
How cute!
Damian grinned toothily at the crowd, quite oblivious to the nature of their attention, though enjoying it nonetheless. Armed with just a smile, he had managed to enchant all of them into a blubbering mess.
“Aww, how I wish I could kidnap him!” a voice gushed.
“Stop daydreaming. Do you know who they are or not?”
“That’s… that’s Mr. Tyson!”
“Oh!” came an excited little scream.
As they were in a formal event, the girls seated on the row in front of Matthew worked hard to contain their excitement. However, that little scream was enough to gain momentum.
As more and more people turned to look toward the back, Clarissa who was at the front row had noticed the ripple of movement. Following the direction of the crowd’s interest, her expression froze when she saw the unmistakable figure of Damian waving at her.
Did they do this on purpose? Clarissa fumed.
They sure as hell did.
“Seems like there’s nowhere for you to run off to now! He even brought the boy!” Yael cackled.
Clarissa gritted her teeth. “Yael, nobody’s gonna mistake you for a mute even if you don’t speak.”
“How are you going to get out of this, I wonder?”
Clarissa had no witty retort at her disposal, which further incensed Yael’s maniacal laughter.
With a forced smile, she turned her attention back to the stage. However, Matthew and Damian’s presence in the crowd had soon become common knowledge. In a frighteningly short amount of time, Clarissa met the amused stares of the other attendees wherever she turned to. The smile frozen on her face had the air of a trapped deer. Clarissa had wanted nothing more than to cover her face with her shawl to spare herself from the embarrassment.
Through some quick communication between the organizers and the attendees, they managed to move Matthew and Damian to the front of the hall to be seated next to Clarissa.
Even the people around her willingly gave up their seats for her husband and son. Clarissa, who felt that she could not endure the embarrassment for much longer, doggedly avoided their gaze.
When he was close enough, Damian ran to hug his mother and pecked her on the cheek.
“Mommy, I missed you so much, so I asked Daddy to bring me here. Are you surprised?”
“Oh yes, very much so! But I still have to work. So please sit quietly, okay? It’ll be over soon and we can head back home. If you’re good, I’ll reward you when we get back. Deal?”
Damian nodded obediently. “Deal. I’ll be good.”
Clarissa stroked Damian’s hair affectionately. Matthew had come prepared; he had dressed Damian up in a stylish coat of wool. His other motive, aside from keeping his son warm, was to mollify his wife who would undoubtedly be furious at him for embarrassing her like that. He was confident that by seeing how handsome her son looked, her anger would not be as severe as it could be.
Clarissa chose to completely ignore Matthew, who was standing beside them.
Damian climbed up onto the seat. His short legs swung idly as his sharp little eyes surveyed the stage with interest, to the delight of the host.
With Matthew’s appearance, he became even more relentless in his torment.
“Pfft! I’m sorry, ladies and gentlemen. It’s not that I’m not a professional, I just couldn’t help laughing at how accurate my prediction was. A certain CEO is with us tonight with his son. It seems like he couldn’t bear to have his wife out of sight for too long. What a pity that our viewers at home can’t see what I’m seeing. All I can say is what a good-looking couple they are! Even their son is so handsome that I’m seriously fighting the impulse to kidnap him.”
Damian smiled back at the host who was floored by the boy’s charm.
“My God,” he exclaimed, clutching his chest. “It should be illegal to be this adorable.”
In his excitement at all the sudden attention, Damian had quite forgotten his promise to Clarissa.
“Mister, are you teasing me?” he called out in a crisp, childish voice.
Clarissa jumped in alarm, but it was too late to cover the boy’s mouth. The host grimaced in mock hurt.
“Who are you calling Mister? My boy, I’m barely older than you.”
“Ha ha, you’re funny!”
“Little boy, would you like to come up on stage?”
Damian was about to jump off his seat but Clarissa held him still, flashing an awkward smile in the direction of the stage. “I’m afraid that our dear guests would not be able to see the boy,” the host said remorsefully. “However, seeing such a cute child tonight has made me want to get married and have one of my own by next year. Oh, that’s right. We have here with us another talent who had just become a father himself…”
As was his habit, the host had diverted the crowd’s attention to somebody else abruptly.
The night was shaping up to be the most eventful one the city had seen in a long time, due in part to the outspoken nature of the host. With more and more people tuning in, the numbers soon climbed to unprecedented proportions as the public was driven mad with anticipation on whether or not the family of three will be exposed that night. It would appear that the Tysons’ secrecy had stoked the public’s imagination on Clarissa’s beauty and of Damian’s charm. Some had even gone to the lengths of studying photographs of Matthew to assess what Damian might look like.
It was not the intention of the organizers to derail their entire program for the sake of the Tysons, though they were overjoyed at how popular their show had become thanks to them.
it was a brilliant move to have extended an invitation to Clarissa.
During the main event, the actress that had gone up on stage to present the awards could not resist chiming in about Clarissa and her family. “Oh, I see the Tysons! They really are a stunning-looking family. And the kid! What an adorable kid!”
Every single person that had gone up on stage after her made similar comments as well.
Just like that, the Tysons had become the trending topic of the night. Their acquaintances on Twitter helped raise their popularity even further by circulating news regarding them.
“I know them,” someone boasted. “But I’m not going to tell you how good-looking they are in real life.”
“I do, too,” another chimed in. “But I won’t tell you how attractive they really are.”
“Not telling you…”
The stakeholders in the showbiz industry were having the time of their lives that night living vicariously through the Tysons’ fame, to the envy of the public who was emotionally invested in their drama.
When Clarissa got into the car after enduring a night of humiliation, all she saw on her phone was the trending #NotTellingYou and headlines such as “The Mysterious Tysons” and “The Biggest Game of Tag in the History of Showbusiness”.
What the f*ck!
Clarissa was drained.
Even before arriving home, she had already been bombarded with countless phone calls and text messages, all teasing her and her family.
I really don’t want to become famous this way, Clarissa thought desperately. How the hell did all of this happen?
With Damian smiling widely up at her, delighted with the night of fun he had, Clarissa could not bear to spoil it by showing her resentment in front of him.
Matthew, too, was smiling at her in the same fashion as Damian did, which Clarissa ignored.
“Matthew!”
“Yes, Clare?”
Matthew sat expectantly, able to deduce that Clarissa sounded different than her usual self. I guess I’ll take the washboard.
“You…” Clarissa choked.
“Yes?” Matthew leaned forward.
“You got me!” she finished, unable to find the words in her fury.
At that, she turned her attention back to her phone where the number of calls and texts were becoming alarmingly large.
Back at Zen Highlands, Clarissa flung her phone onto the bed and took a much-needed shower without regard for her husband and son who stood in her wake.
Damian and Matthew exchanged glances. “Son, I’ll give you a bath and a bedtime story, on the condition that you tuck into bed like a good boy. Deal?”
“Deal, Daddy,” said Damian obligingly. He was already aware that his mother was in a foul mood.
I’d better get off to bed before she starts yelling at me, too.
Matthew busied himself downstairs with odd chores after putting Damian to bed. When he trudged back upstairs, Clarissa was already cleaned and sitting up in bed, still replying to the messages that hounded her.
Though she definitely heard Matthew’s entrance, she did not even deign to look up.
Clarissa did not hear any sign of movement from Matthew until a loud thud made her jump.
Glancing up at the sound of that noise, she saw a washboard on the floor. Matthew had not even changed out of his suit. With just the top two buttons on his shirt undone, he rolled up his sleeves. His pants remained neat and straight, showing off his strong and shapely legs underneath.
He still looks good despite being in the ludicrous position of preparing to kneel, was the first thought that flashed into Clarissa’s mind
