When Clarissa brought Damian to the hospital, she encountered Sandra who was there to visit George on Jacque’s behalf.
Thus, she greeted Sandra with a nod and a smile instead of making her way back to the car as she thought it would be rude to leave.
Truth be told, Clarissa thought Sandra was a friendly woman. She wasn’t particularly against the idea of having Sandra around.
Instead of returning the favor and responding with a nod, Sandra initiated a conversation and greeted Clarrisa, “Mrs. Tyson, it’s nice to see you again.”
Sandra behaved as if she wanted to establish some sort of relationship with Clarissa and took Clarissa by surprise.
Nonetheless, Clarissa did a great job keeping her emotions to herself and greeted Sandra with a smile, “Hello, Mrs. Wynter.”
“What a pleasant surprise to run into you here! Speaking of which, allow me to express my utmost apology on behalf of my sister-in-law and her husband for the incident that has occurred. They can’t really behave themselves. Please don’t take them seriously.”
Once again, Sandra’s statements took Clarissa by surprise as she didn’t bring up the reason Clarissa hadn’t made her way upstairs to visit George.
On top of that, she showed no signs of siding with the Smallwoods and expressed her irritation over their attitudes.
In other words, Sandra had indicated she felt bad on Clarissa’s behalf. Clarissa got increasingly confused as they were, by no means, acquainted with one another.
Sandra responded with a smile as if she had figured out the things Clarissa had in mind. She wasn’t particularly bothered by Clarissa’s response.
Instead, she broke the silence, explaining herself in a gentle tone, “I think it has something to do with you being an amiable young woman. On top of that, my sister-in-law and her husband were the ones at fault.”
Clarissa smiled in return. As she couldn’t think of anything else to keep the conversation going on, she asserted, “Thank you so much for your kind words.”
At the end of the day, we’re not really closely acquainted with one another. It’s going to take more than a positive remark from her for us to establish a genuine friendship.
Sandra noticed Clarissa wasn’t in a hurry to leave. Thus, she carried on with the conversation and asked, “Mrs. Tyson, do you mind if I address you by your first name?”
“Sure.”
“Speaking of which, I think the fact you resemble my mother-in-law a lot in terms of look is the reason I find you amiable. On the other hand, my sister-in-law, who’s supposed to be her biological daughter, barely resembles her. If others aren’t aware of the truth, they’re going to misperceive you’re a member of the family.” Sandra chuckled after she finished her sentence.
Meanwhile, the joke took Clarissa by surprise. She responded with a sheepish grin and wondered if Sandra had figured out anything.
Unable to figure out the things Sandra was up to, Clarissa knew she couldn’t afford to let her guard down.
Confused by Clarissa’s odd response, Sandra asked, “Why? What’s wrong, Clarissa? Is there anything on my face?”
Clarissa shook her head and answered, “I-It’s nothing, Mrs. Wynter! I’m so sorry, but I have to leave as there’s something I need to tend to!”
Immediately after she bade farewell to Sandra, Clarissa strode her way to the parking lot as though she couldn’t wait to flee the scene.
Staring at the fleeing Clarissa, Sandra had her fair share of doubts, but she paid no heed to it and departed as well.
Sandra saw her son the moment she returned to the Wynters’ place. Jackson was the person in charge of a multimedia company. He had established the company with a few of his friends when he was still in his freshman years.
“Mom, aren’t you working today?”
Jackson placed his phone aside and started serving his mother an orange.
Sandra shook her head and said, “I encountered Matthew’s wife when I dropped by the hospital to visit Mr. Tyson. We caught up for a short while.”
“Are you talking about the screenwriter who has made it to the headlines? She’s the talk of the town and the person Matthew cares about the most. I have once seen her photos in Damon’s album.”
“I’m aware she’s a friend of Damon as he once approached me to do him a favor for her sake.”
Sandra told her son everything she had in mind. She would share the things she had to keep from her husband with her son.
Her son would side with her while her husband would side with her mother-in-law for most of the time.
Meanwhile, Jackson burst into laughter when he heard the things his mother shared with him.
His mother asked, “What’s so funny?”
“Don’t you think it’s interesting? It feels like she’s related to the Wynters or something! What if Mrs. Tyson is the illegitimate child of the family or something?”
Sandra nudged her son and responded with a sheepish grin. “What sort of nonsense are you talking about?”
Jackson couldn’t stop laughing as he had fun making fun of the adults of the family.
“What’s the matter? It’s not like Grandma’s going to find out we’re talking behind her!”
Sandra shook her head and warned her son to mind his manners, “No! You need to learn to respect your grandmother and others in general! Stop making fun of them!”
Halfway through her speech, her eyes widened in disbelief as she recalled something out of the blue.
“Mom? You’re not taking it seriously, aren’t you? I’m just trying to pull your leg! Those are the typical plot twists of fictional soap operas! There’s no way she’s a member of the family!”
Sandra brushed her son off with a smile and asserted, “Well, I think you’re right.”
I hope he’s right!
As she continued losing herself in the train of thoughts, Jackson brought himself up and made his way back to his room.
All of a sudden, Sandra recalled something and started searching high and low for her mother-in-law’s photo again.
She continued losing herself in the process of thoughts after she saw the photos.
When Jacque showed up, he asked, “What’s wrong? Is something bothering you?”
She finally returned to her senses when she noticed her husband had been nudging her. “H-Huh? C-Come again?”
“Why are you spacing out in the middle of the day?”
“O-Oh! I-It’s nothing!”
Sandra refused to share the things she had in mind with her husband. In the evening, she asked her husband, who was still in the middle of work, after tucking herself in bed, “Don’t you think Matthew’s wife, Clarissa, resembles Mom?”
A few seconds after Jacque gave it a thought, he answered, “She does seem like the young version of Mom.”
“Is it possible she’s a member of the family?”
Jacque shook his head and asked, “What sort of joke is that? She’s originally from W City, and for the record, none of us is from W City.”
“Well, I guess you’re right!”
Sandra thought she had been driven away by Jackson’s joke. At the end of the day, it wouldn’t be much of a surprise to run into a person or two who resembled one another.
…
Meanwhile, Clarissa’s mind was all over the place after the conversation she had with Sandra in the hospital.
After she brought her son back with her, she told him to keep himself entertained and returned to Matthew’s side immediately.
She repeated the content of the conversation she had with Sandra and asked, “Has Mrs. Wynter figured out something? Why has she mentioned that I resemble Hannah? Is she trying to lure me out of hiding?”
Matthew couldn’t resist the urge to pinch his wife’s cheeks when he caught a glimpse of her scrunched-up face.
“Are you concerned?”
“Of course!”
“You need to take it easy because it doesn’t really matter if they have figured it out or not when you’re not the one at fault. Clare, they’re the ones who are supposed to be afraid.”
Arching her brows with her head tilted, she looked at the man next to her and exclaimed, “Hey, that actually makes sense!”
A few seconds later, she added with her lips pursed, “No! I want to keep them in the dark! I don’t want to be affiliated with the Wynters!”
“Nobody asked you to!”
Matthew teased Clarissa and held her firmly in between his arms. He kissed her on the forehead and assured her, “You need to take it easy since there’s nothing else you can do as of now. I think Mrs. Wynter has brought it up merely because you resemble her mother-in-law a lot. They won’t get to force you into submission against your will.”
Clarissa rolled her eyes and rebuked, “Stop making it sound as if it’s not a big deal when you’re not in my shoes! You’ll never get it! Urgh! It’s so irritating!”
Matthew stopped Clarissa from complaining with an amorous kiss. The session lasted for a few minutes until she regained her composure and returned to her calm and collected self.
However, when he caught a glimpse of her glistering pair of eyes, he couldn’t suppress the urge to kiss her again.
On the other hand, once Clarissa was set free, she reached over and stopped Matthew from kissing her. “That’s enough!”
Matthew cast an affectionate gaze at her and denoted, “You need to stop overthinking things for now and give yourself a break.”
“What else am I supposed to do?”
“We’ll continue with the session we have started!”
Once Clarissa figured out the things he had brought up, she turned him down and yelled, “Stay away from me!”
Matthew asked with an aggrieved look, “What are we supposed to do with Damian’s younger sibling?”
“W-We need to take it easy instead of rushing things through! Have you consumed anything weird over the past few days? Can’t you keep your lust in check?”
Unsure of the things to talk about, the man leaned over and licked her ears. As a result, Clarissa felt her temperature rising. She flushed and shot daggers at Matthew. However, Matthew refused to set her free and burst into laughter in return.
Damian was clueless about the things his parents had been talking about, but he thought they were in the middle of something fun. He catapulted himself in their direction and lay in between his parents. “Daddy, Mommy, what are you guys talking about? You’re not supposed to leave me out!”
Clarissa was embarrassed by their son’s question. She stuttered, “I-It’s nothing.”
Unable to have his queries resolved, Damian turned around and looked at his father in an attempt to get to the bottom of the things his parents had brought up.
Matthew had never once turned down their son. Thus, he asserted, “We’re talking about a scientific experiment that involves two adults.”
Seconds after Clarissa heard Matthew, she flushed again.
On the other hand, Damian couldn’t fathom the sort of experiment Matthew had brought up.
