Yarick thought he had said something smart, so he laughed heartily after he finished.
In response, Clarissa simply kept quiet.
Sitting beside her, Damian suddenly clapped his little hands excitedly, “Mommy, I want to drive, too…”
The group burst out laughing when they heard this.
How Clarissa wished she could get rid of the snickering bunch. Facing her innocent son, she forced herself to smile. “Damian, you’re still young and you won’t be able to get a driver’s license until you’re eighteen years old. Didn’t I tell you? You have to wait until you’re a grown-up before you can really drive.”
She was rather embarrassed by these people and thinking the word “driving” made her feel really awkward.
Nonetheless, Clarissa acted normally. She replied accordingly to Damian’s understanding lest the boy gets his view warped by the raunchy group.
Damian was not appeased. “But when will I grow up?”
“Very soon. If you sleep well and eat properly, you will grow up quickly, alright?”
“Alright…”
Clarissa wiped away the imaginary sweat from her brow and as she looked up, she found herself looking directly into Matthew’s dark, thoughtful eyes.
She frowned, feeling puzzled.
Matthew whispered, “After we touch down, you can drive whichever way you wish, I’ll definitely play along.”
A few snickers and snorts sounded out at that.
Evidently, in this huge cabin with so few of them, Matthew’s soft whisper was not soft enough because the rowdy bunch behind had heard him.
They laughed aloud without any modesty as if urging the couple on.
Clarissa rolled her eyes at Matthew, feeling shame and resentment as she blushed and gritted her teeth to admonish him.
“You want to kneel on the washboard again, don’t you?”
Matthew smiled innocently before turning his eyes back on the computer. He continued working as if he had not said anything at all.
Clarissa was so embarrassed that she was fidgeting in her seat as they laughed at her openly.
In the end, she decided to go to the bathroom to get away from it for a while.
Somebody said something and she heard everybody laugh again.
She waited for a while in the bathroom to calm herself down before coming out to find everyone looking at her as if she was some noble heroine.
What came next was everyone giving her the thumbs up. With the corners of her lips twitching, Clarissa looked at Matthew in puzzlement only to see the man himself was looking rather glum.
What on earth happened?
After getting off the plane, Clarissa learned from Yaala that they had heard something about a washboard remark and how Damian had innocently told them that there was a new washboard at home.
Obviously, everyone knew that washboards were no longer used to wash clothes.
Instead, these days, washboards were used for men to kneel on as punishment. As such, it was quite obvious that Matthew had been punished.
This was precisely the reason why they gave Clarissa the thumbs up earlier to express their “respect” for her.
“Haha… Clarissa, you’re awesome. I’ve decided that you’re my idol from now onwards.”
Clarissa gave a dry chuckle before turning around to look at Matthew, whose expression had darkened even further.
This is bad… He just lost his pride and dignity. Will he strangle me when we get home?
Yaala probably saw through Clarissa’s worry, for she quickly gave her a thumbs up, saying, “Clarissa, fear not! If Mr. Tyson dares to do anything, just make him kneel on the washboard till it breaks.”
Clarissa was rendered speechless.
She doubt she would have the guts to do so. Besides, she loved the man too much to do that.
When the group arrived at the hotel, Matthew passed his son to Ellie before scooping Clarissa into his arms and going into his room amidst the laughter and cheering of their friends.
No matter how Clarissa struggled or begged for mercy, no one came to her rescue. In the end, after the plane ride, she had to go for another ride…
She went for a few rides.
On their first day in Jeradus, Clarissa’s activities were all done in bed.
She never even got to use the hot springs that were built into each room.
The following days, Clarissa got her wish of soaking herself in the hot springs after missing out the first day. However, her experience at the hot springs was one that would sear into her mind for the rest of her life, causing her knees to go weak whenever she saw places that had some relation to hot springs such as bathtubs and pools.
“I will never soak in a hot spring ever again!”
“Yes, you will.”
Clarissa was laying by the side of the pool as she complained weakly but Matthew paid her no mind, dragging her into his arms and refused to let her leave the pool.
“Let’s make a visit to the hot springs more often in the future.”
“Hah! I refuse. Over my dead body.”
Matthew chuckled. “Hmm… but I did go over your body and multiple times at that…”
“Ahh…”
Clarissa could not help but yelp even though she no longer had the strength nor stamina to do so. Nonetheless, she felt the need to show her defiance, her unwillingness, and her refusal.
However, her protests went unheeded.
In all the time that Clarissa was in Jeradus, she did not have the opportunity to admire the scenery, experience the snow, taste any delicacies nor go shopping anywhere.
Instead, she spent her time in the hotel, or to be precise, in bed in the room. It was frustrating.
Fortunately, Matthew was not totally inhuman, or else, she would have to punish him again by making him kneel on the washboard.
After changing, Clarissa went out to meet her son, whom she had not seen for a “long” time. The mother-son pair hugged each other, displaying a dramatic and touching scene of reunion.
“Mommy, I missed you so, so much.
“Damian, I missed you, too. Daddy is so mean. He wouldn’t let me see you. I missed you so much that I could not eat nor sleep.”
“Hehe… Mrs. Tyson, are you sure it wasn’t because of Matt that you could not eat or sleep?”
Clarrisa had the urge to stuff Yarick’s mouth with something for his cheeky words.
Those around them were snickering as she gave Yarick a venomous glare before picking up her son and turning to leave, ignoring their teasing.
“Damian, I’m taking you out to eat some yummy food. I’ve heard there are all types of nice food here…”
“Yeah, Mommy, Ms. Ellie brought me there. There are so many different types. There’s fish…”
Damian seemed to have been everywhere. He told Clarissa what he had enjoyed and what food he had eaten. The boy’s words almost brought his mother to tears, for she wanted to eat those, too.
Behind them, Matthew was being teased by his group of buddies.
“Matt, soaking too much in the hot springs will wrinkle your skin… haha…” Jeremy’s words were still rather reserved.
“Matt, going on a ride for too much will sap your body of vitality… haha…”
Yarick thought he was being funny but Matthew glared at him and retorted, “Yarick, the same goes for you since too many women will sap you dry…”
Yarick was dumbfounded.
He swiped at the imaginary tears at the corner of his eyes upon his buddy’s caustic remark.
Matthew quickly caught up with his wife and son to carry out normal family activities while his group of buddies kept laughing hysterically.
Time passed quickly.
After soaking in the hot springs for a few days, they decided to leave even though they had not eaten nor gone sightseeing much.
Now that it was nearing the end of the year, Matthew was constantly busy to the point that even when he was on vacation, his phone would ring incessantly. Clarissa wanted him to return home on his own and she would continue to have fun with her son but he was not willing to.
The reason was that wherever she went, men would try to chat her up. Even when Matthew went to make a call or visit the bathroom, some men would take the opportunity to flirt with her.
The men were all enamored by Clarissa and when she brought Damian along, even young ladies and elderly women would show their liking for the little boy.
She’s already garnered so much attention in Jeradus. If she was in a romantic country like Ferropene, she’ll definitely get taken away by some amorous male.
With that thought in mind, Matthew decided that he could not leave his wife on her own in some foreign country. As for Clarissa, she obediently followed him home, feeling sorry for him because of his hectic work schedule.
The moment they alighted from the plane, the smog of D City engulfed them. Clarissa was helpless while Damian winced unhappily.
“Mommy, let’s go and visit great-grandma!”
The expression on the boy’s face showed that he disliked this city. Even though his father was here and there were more toys for him to play with, he still did not like it.
Clarissa turned around and looked at Matthew. “Shall I take him directly to W City?”
There was no need for them to go home as they could just take another flight.
Matthew scoffed and hugged his wife. Then, looking at his son in his arms, he said, “I’ll get someone to take you to W City to visit great-grandma. Can you go alone?”
Damian was rendered speechless.
Clarissa rolled her eyes. “Matthew, how can you bully a child? Don’t you feel shameful?”
“But he’s the one that said he wanted to visit great-grandma.”
Damian reacted immediately, “I want to be with Mommy. Mommy… I don’t want to be away from you…”
The boy proceeded to act out a dramatic and touching scene that he had watched before from a drama.
Clarissa giggled as she pulled her son from Matthew’s arms. “Alright, Daddy was only joking with you. He’s a meanie. So let’s ignore him.”
Damian held his mother tightly and said innocently, “Daddy, Mommy has been playing with you for the past few days, so you can’t fight with me for her now.”
Snickers and giggles could be heard from the passers-by at the airport.
Not only were they not ashamed for eavesdropping, but they were even laughing outrightly at the family of three, amused by the lovely couple and their adorable son.
Noticing that their conversation was heard, Clarissa had the urge to bury herself in the ground.
Exasperated, she passed her son to Matthew, lowered her head, and put on her hat. Then, she walked forward quickly, pretending she did not know the father and son pair at all.
Damian looked at his father, dumbfounded, while Matthew put on a wide toothy smile.
“Damian, if need be, feel free to borrow my washboard.”
