As soon as Clarissa returned home, she received a call from Matthew and found out it was a video call session.
She handed Damian the phone and started reading next to him. Thus, she could vividly hear the conversation the father and son duo had.
“Damian, I’m currently at W City! I’ll drop by and visit you tomorrow! What do you think?”
“Great! Hurry up and join us!”
“Why don’t you ask Mommy to bring us around tomorrow?”
Once again, Matthew got Clarissa involved in their conversation. Therefore, Damian looked at Clarissa with his head tilted and asked, “Mommy, where shall we visit tomorrow?”
“There’s nothing much going on since everyone’s away for the holiday.”
Damian then asked, “If that’s the case, shall we get Daddy over to keep us company?”
“That’s not really a great idea.”
“Why? Isn’t that the right thing to do as a family during festive seasons?”
Has Matthew told Damian something without informing me? Otherwise, Damian wouldn’t have brought this up!
Clarissa gave her son’s question a thought and answered, “Your great-grandmother doesn’t really want Daddy anywhere near her.”
The little boy stared at his mother with his abysmal pair of eyes glistering in confusion and asked, “Why?”
His mother was rendered speechless by his question.
The little boy’s father then broke the silence when he heard their conversation. Matthew said, “Damian, it’s because of a mistake I made back in the day.”
“Have you apologized, Daddy?”
“No.”
“Why don’t you go ahead and say sorry? I’m sure she’s going to forgive you as long as you’re sincere! If that’s the case, you’ll get to join us!”
Matthew was also rendered speechless by their son’s innocent remark.
Damian, who was a little boy, thought a simple apology was all it would take to resolve the sort of grudges the adults held against one another.
Unfortunately, the wasn’t the case as it would take more than a simple apology to resolve the issue that had been around for years.
“Damian, it’s time to call it a day! I’ll see you tomorrow!”
When Damian reluctantly returned the phone to Clarissa, she accidentally caught a glimpse of Matthew’s abysmal pair of eyes.
A few seconds after she hung up the call and wrapped up the session, she held her son in her arms and started reading him a bedtime story.
Clarissa mentioned nothing about meeting Matthew when she made her way out the next day. However, Catherine could easily figure out her granddaughter’s destination since it was New Year’s eve.
The moment they reached the entrance, they noticed Matthew had long pulled over and alighted from the car, waiting for them in the cold.
The man dressed in black couldn’t be bothered by the cold at all. When he caught a glimpse of the mother and son duo, he beamed in satisfaction.
He then rushed over to welcome them and lifted their son in his arms. After he had enough of kissing their son, he leaned over to kiss Clarissa as he knew she would never turn him down in front of their son.
Matthew, who had finally achieved his goal, asked with a smirk, “Damian, where do you wish to head over today?”
When he caught their son looking in the direction of Clarissa, Matthew turned around and had his eyes glued to Clarissa in a similar manner.
Clarissa announced, “We’ll just head out and see if there are any ongoing events. If there’s nothing else, we’ll head over to the hotel and spend a day there. It’s way too cold to aimlessly wander on the streets.”
“Alright, we’ll head over to Daddy’s place!”
Once they made up their minds, the family of three made their way to the hotel and spent the rest of their time doing nothing.
Clarissa had Matthew keep Damian company and started indulging in mobile games. Halfway through her game, she received a call from an anonymous number.
After much hesitation, she picked it up and heard a woman announcing, “Clarissa, it’s me.”
As soon as she heard Jolene’s voice, she hung up the call without a second thought.
Meanwhile, Jolene, who had announced she would be able to get Clarissa to spend a night with Johnny, was dumbfounded when her call was hung up the moment it was picked up.
What the heck? Is she not going to listen to the things I have in store for her?
After a few seconds, Jolene made another call. However, no longer could she get through to Clarissa. It was safe to assume Clarissa had blocked her contact number.
Irked, she then glared at her phone in silence. Johnny, who had just made his way out of the bathroom, asked, “How’s it going? Did you manage to reach her yet?”
The vicious plan Jolene had prepared beforehand couldn’t be of much use as Clarissa refused to listen to her.
Unfortunately, they ran out of ideas to get in touch with Clarissa as Clarissa’s contact number was the only thing they had been made aware of.
At that, Jolene cast her phone aside and cursed, “This foolish woman actually blocks me without figuring out the things I have in store for her! I-It’s just—”
As she let loose of herself in front of Johnny, she was no longer the flirtatious woman he had always known.
Johnny, who was in a bathrobe, took a seat next to Jolene and looked at her with a scowl.
It turned out he had encountered women with different attitudes ever since he made it in life. He had yet to start a family because he couldn’t meet someone who would genuinely care about him.
Throughout his life, Clarissa was the only one who never failed to stay true to her indifferent self.
Meanwhile, Jolene was not much different from the pretentious woman who had approached him with different ulterior goals. He had never taken them seriously and deemed them nothing more than friends with benefits.
“Is that your so-called plan? Why don’t you just give up? Clarissa is different from all of you—she has been and will always be the one and only Clarissa.”
Overwhelmed by jealousy, Jolene asserted, “I guess she’s always the ideal better half of yours, huh? You think she’s superior to the rest of us just because you’re not aware of the things she has been doing behind everyone’s back! She’s just another slut!”
Johnny couldn’t stand others picking on Clarissa in front of him. He raised his volume and instructed, “Shut up and get out of my sight at once! I’ll be making my way back as well!”
“No! Can you at least keep me company today? I don’t wish to spend New Year’s eve alone!”
“I won’t repeat myself for another time! Also, you’ll never be a household member of my family!”
As Johnny started tidying himself, Jolene had no choice but to dress herself up and make her way out of the hotel.
Coincidentally, the moment the conflicting duo were about to make their way out of the hotel, they encountered Clarissa on the corridor as Clarissa had just made her way out of the room.
The duo was equally baffled by Clarissa’s presence. Johnny tried to shrug Jolene’s arms off his, but Jolene insisted on wrapping her arms around his.
Johnny initiated a conversation and asked, “Clarissa, what are you doing here?”
Jolene remarked sarcastically with a smirk, “What do you mean what’s she doing here? What else can she do when she’s here? I wonder if she’s here with her so-called husband or another man!”
“You need to mind your words!”
Johnny had no intention to clarify the sort of relationship he had with Jolene since Clarissa was around.
On the other hand, Clarissa paid no heed to the duo and dismissed everything coming from them. She made her way past the duo and was about to walk away.
Johnny immediately went after Clarissa. In the meantime, Jolene rushed in the opposite direction and knocked on the door of the room Clarissa had just made her way out of. She couldn’t wait to figure out the identity of the man inside the room.
“Hey! Open the door immediately!”
Clarissa turned around and caught a glimpse of Jolene pulling a face at her, behaving as though she couldn’t wait to gloat over Clarissa’s misfortune.
It was then Matthew answered the door with Damian in between his arms.
“Mommy, have you forgotten your—”
Halfway through his question, the little boy found out his mother wasn’t the one at the doorstep. As a result, he started blinking his eyes in confusion.
On the other hand, Matthew furrowed his brows the moment he saw Jolene. Overwhelmed by the traumatizing near-death experience she had last night, she took a few steps back and collapsed to the ground.
“Damian, I’ll be heading downstairs later.”
Clarissa changed her mind and made her way back to her husband and son.
Looking at the scene in front of him, Johnny had upset written all over his face. When he exchanged glances with Matthew, he could feel his limbs stiffening.
Nonetheless, the family of three couldn’t be bothered by the duo’s presence. They headed into the room and ignored the duo without a second thought.
Meanwhile, Johnny glared at the pathetic Jolene in the eyes and marched his way down the corridor immediately.
Clarissa, who had joined her husband and her son in the room, showed no signs of sharing her past with them.
Matthew, on the other hand, knew she wasn’t really on good terms with them.
Out of nowhere, Clarissa received a call from Catherine. She headed over to the balcony and picked it up. “Grandma?”
Catherine asserted in a hushed voice, “If he’s not heading back to join his family, get him over and join us for the night. I’m doing this for my beloved Damian.”
Clarissa turned around and looked at Matthew in disbelief.
Her husband arched his brows in return when he saw her gaping at him. Clarissa then expressed her gratitude over the phone, “Alright, we’ll be back soon.”
After she hung up the call, she returned to Matthew’s side and took a seat next to him. She said, “Grandma wants you to spend a night at her place if you’re not making your way back to your family. She wants you to know she’s merely doing Damian a favor.”
Damian turned around and looked at Matthew with his eyes gleaming when he heard the great news.
Matthew responded with a bright grin and announced, “I guess I’m indebted to our son, huh? Thank you so much, Damian!”
Unsure of the things going on, Damian answered with a bright grin since Matthew had expressed his gratitude in a sincere manner, “You’re welcome, Daddy!”
As a result of their interaction, Clarissa’s heart melted. She then urged the father and son duo, “Alright, we need to get ourselves ready and make our way back! We need to help Grandma get everything for lunch and dinner ready!”
She started packing Matthew’s stuff on his behalf. Matthew could no longer pull himself together as he had been longing to spend some quality time with them during the festive season.
It had been years since he started imagining the way things would turn out. He couldn’t believe he was merely a few hours away from the things he had in mind.
Thrilled by the presence of his little family, he was unable to keep his excitement to himself anymore. He carried Damian on his back and started messing around with him.
“Damian, it’s time to go home!”
Damian had a great time messing around with his father and ended up chuckling.
On the other hand, Clarissa felt awful when she noticed he had been behaving differently. She was overwhelmed by a sense of guilt.
Maybe we’re going to get ourselves in countless similar conflicts in the future, but he’s the one and only I have in mind! It hurts me to take things out on him! I guess it’s time to reflect upon my actions!
