Clarissa removed the facial sheet and showed Matthew her proud grin while running her fingers across his face in an arrogant manner.
“I guess it’s time to tell you the truth since things have gotten to the point of no return! I had a series of plastic surgery back in the day! That was the reason behind my timeless beauty! In the middle of the night, I’ll sneak my way to a hidden chamber when you’re in a deep slumber to make sure everything is fine! You have never seen me, and never will you get to see the vulnerable me! Hahaha! As long as you listen to me, I’ll always be the gorgeous wife of yours!”
Clarissa wrapped up her orated speech with a vicious grin and laughter.
On the other hand, Matthew responded to her seemingly hilarious joke with a stern look. He started sizing her up with his brows arched and asked in a callous tone, “If that’s the case, what’s wrong with the things you have here? Has the surgical operation failed or something?”
He started fondling Clarissa’s busty figures with his fingers as he finished his sarcastic remarks.
Clarissa was taken aback by the man’s response as it was nothing close to the ones she had in mind.
She then glared at him and asked, “Are you indicating I’m not able to please you with these?”
Startled by the question, Matthew immediately responded with a satisfied beam and reassured Clarissa, “N-No! I-I think they’re of the right sizes!”
She was considered above average after giving birth to Damian. The thing he had brought up was merely something to pull her leg.
Nonetheless, things had gotten to the point of no return. Clarissa instructed in a callous tone, “Get out of my sight!”
She shrugged him off and turned around, indicating she was irked for real as he had failed to play along with her when she did her best to pull off the act.
Has he just indicated I’m not a match for the average women out there? What the heck? How dare he pick on me when he’s aware that’s a taboo topic? He needs to be mindful of his choice of words in the future!
In an attempt to please the infuriated Clarissa, Matthew repeated himself with an aggrieved look, “Clare, I’m just playing along with you and trying to pull your leg! You’re not supposed to take that seriously!”
“Ha! Who knows if you’re disguising your frustration with an attempt to pull my leg? I can’t figure out if it’s just another joke or not!”
“No! I’m just joking!”
“That’s enough! The more you try to explain yourself, the more suspicious you seem!”
“No! Allow me to explain my—”
“Nope! If you’re trying to explain yourself, it means you’re trying to hide something from me! In other words, you’re not going to tell me the truth!”
Matthew was rendered speechless as he couldn’t seem to talk any senses into Clarissa. She could easily rebuke his statement and made it sound as though he was the one at fault.
Is this the reason others have always warned men to stop picking on a woman? I guess she’s also a woman who knows her way around the words, huh?
After a few minutes of silence, Matthew thought it wouldn’t be wise to stir things up more than he had. Otherwise, he would get himself into another nasty situation.
In the end, he got out of bed and made his way to the study. Once he returned to the room after he had everything sorted out, he noticed Clarissa was seated upright on the bed, staring in the direction of the entrance.
What’s going on again? Have I done anything wrong? Have I said anything I’m not supposed to? Has anything occurred when I’m away?
Clarissa was irked because he left her alone in the middle of the fight when she had been anticipating him to explain himself.
It was the worst option to leave a woman alone when they were infuriated. There was a huge tendency they would overthink things. Unfortunately, Matthew thought things were supposed to work the other way round.
Immediately after he figured out his mistakes, he joined her in bed and tried everything he could just to please her.
Once they were roused from sleep the next day, Clarissa behaved as though the conflict had never occurred.
She carried on with the topic and asked, “Why won’t Mrs. Wynter stop getting gathering my information? Has she started to be suspicious?”
Matthew beamed in satisfaction as he was impressed Clarissa could keep a straight face in spite of the fight they had last night.
“I think that’s most probably the case.”
“Huh? What am I supposed to do? If she’s aware of my identity, she’s definitely going to make a fuss out of it! Worst of all, I might have to deal with those from the Smallwoods! Hubby, you need to help me!” Clarissa finished her sentence in a coquettish manner.
Matthew couldn’t stand Clarissa’s mellifluous voice. He looked at her in the eyes and announced with a bright grin, “Just ignore them!”
Clarissa turned around and started behaving like Damian. She announced with her arms tucked and her chest held high, “Hey! I’m going to be mad for real!”
Chuckling, Matthew approached her and held her firmly in between his arms. He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, assuring her in a hushed voice, “You’ll get to live your life as usual! Can they do anything to force you into submission when I’m around? If they try anything silly, I’ll teach them a lesson on your behalf!”
Clarissa was well aware it was one of Matthew’s attempts to flirt with her. She inched away from him as she was afraid of letting loose of herself.
She covered her ears and stopped herself from being teased. “You better keep your promise in mind and rush over to my side when I need you!”
“Huh? Can you have a little faith in me?”
“I-I’m just fooling around with you,” Clarissa answered with her lips pursed.
She then leaned over to kiss him. When she tried to inch away after the kiss, he stopped her and returned the favor with an amorous kiss.
Damian, who had just roused from his sleep, made his way down the stairs with the nanny and saw his parents kissing early in the morning. However, he seemed to have gotten used to it.
He yawned and requested, “Mommy, can you get me something to eat?”
Damian’s voice snapped Clarissa out of the session. She pushed Matthew away and brought herself up, making her way to the kitchen and disguised her embarrassment with a question. “I’ll make you your favorite meal right away!”
“Sure, Mommy! Thank you so much! I love you!”
What’s wrong with my son? Is he trying to assert dominance over me? Is he indicating he’s superior to me in the family?
…
Clarissa thought it was too much of a coincidence as she wouldn’t stop running into Sandra ever since the conversation at the hospital.
She encountered Hannah and Sandra when she was merely on a day out with her son.
To make things worse, Sandra insisted on showing Hannah the way over to greet the mother and son duo.
Standing next to Hannah, Sandra asked, “Mom, haven’t I told you she’s the younger version of you? She resembles you so much!”
Hannah was taken aback when she saw Clarissa in person. Having a hard time snapping out of bewilderment, she went dead silent for a short while.
Startled, Hannah stuttered, “Y-Yes! S-She resembles the young me so much! How is that even possible?”
“Well, I think fate must have brought us together! On the day I saw her, something about her made me feel at ease!”
“Indeed, she’s quite a gorgeous woman!”
“Mom, are you trying to compliment yourself in disguise?”
Hannah ended up chuckling when she thought she would despise the woman who had hit on the man who was supposed to be his grandson-in-law. To her surprise, she had grown fond of Clarissa and started feeling guilty for being skeptical in the first place.
Soon, the session was brought to a halt by a bored Damian. He nudged Clarissa and told her he wanted to leave. Clarissa was glad Damian had done her a huge favor and bought him a lot of sweets on their way back.
On the other hand, Hannah lost herself in a train of thoughts after Clarissa departed with Damian.
“Mom, are you going to believe me yet? She’s not as vicious as Kayla and Shermaine have proclaimed! You need to keep the judgmental side of yours to yourself until you meet her in person to verify if they have been telling you the truth!”
Sandra couldn’t stop herself from being sarcastic when she recalled Hannah had been pretty judgmental in the first place.
Most of the time, she was the filial daughter-in-law of the Wynters, but she was just another woman at the end of the day. She couldn’t forget the loss the Wynters had sustained due to Hannah’s rash decision.
Hannah’s frustration was written all over her face, but for once, she went dead silent instead of picking on her daughter-in-law.
“Speaking of which, Clarissa shares the exact same birthdate as Shermaine! It’s such a great coincidence!”
Hannah was unable to contain her astonishment to herself anymore. She asked open-mouthed, “Are you serious?”
“Of course! I can’t help but wonder if they had been given birth at the same hospital! Where has Kayla given birth to Shermaine back in the day? They once ventured out of D City, hadn’t they? Could they have made their way to W City?”
“Sandra, what exactly are you trying to tell me?”
Smiling, Sandra answered with an innocent front, “What do you mean, Mom? I’m just curious! Is there anything wrong?”
Hannah stared at her daughter-in-law in the eyes and kept the rest of her concerns to herself.
With that being said, Hannah soon summoned Kayla to meet her at the Wynters’ place.
Sandra happened to be around. Whenever Kayla showed up, she would bring up the miseries she had gone through in life and tell others her daughter was innocent.
Hannah wasn’t particularly irked for the first few times. However, they couldn’t stand it anymore after listening to the same thing over and over again. Kayla wouldn’t stop sharing the unfortunate series of events in her life with others.
Irritated, Hannah bellowed, “Can you stop weeping just for once? I know you’re having it tough, but don’t you think that’s too much? I can literally repeat the things you have told me over and over again! Don’t you have anything happy to share?”
Kayla was at a loss for words as her mother had yelled at her in the face for the first time in forever.
“W-What sort of happy things am I supposed to share with you?”
“Can’t you think of something that brings joy to your life? What about the time you left D City when you were pregnant? Weren’t you glad you had given birth to Shermaine?”
