When Matthew and Clarissa arrived back in D City, George caught wind of it and immediately headed over to Zen Highlands.
Clarissa was at a loss when she found out that George was coming. She knew that things were serious if George was coming personally. That said, Matthew told her to just stay at home and that he would meet George alone.
Zen Highlands was Matthew’s territory—it was a place to keep his woman and child safe from harm.
After all, he did not want it to become a traumatic experience for Clarissa.
“Huh? Are we not letting them in? I can just bring Damian somewhere.”
Isn’t it a bit harsh to not let your own father in?
It was true that Clarissa did not want to see the Tysons, but she could have just taken their son outside or gone shopping.
“No,” Matthew refused. “It won’t take long. You’re all exhausted from traveling anyway. Take Damian to rest. We’ll head to the Wynters in the afternoon.”
With that, Clarissa had nothing more to say. It was not her father, after all.
“Damian, come on. Let’s head upstairs and take a nap.”
“Can I watch a few episodes of cartoons before we sleep, Mommy?”
“You’re only allowed one episode.”
“But…”
“No buts.”
The two were having a heartwarming conversation as they went up hand in hand while Matthew just watched. As soon as they disappeared around the corner, his smile disappeared, and his gaze turned cold.
He proceeded to pick up his coat and headed for the car.
Outside Zen Highlands, Matthew winded down his car window and looked toward the car with George and Matthias inside.
“Let’s talk back home.”
“Where’s she?”
George was upset to see that there was no one besides Matthew in the car.
He did not concern himself with the women Matthew was involved with back then, but it did not mean George could overlook the situation with the heir to the family.
Damian was cute, and it wasn’t hard for George to love him, but he just had to make sure.
“She doesn’t need to be here. I’ll do the talking.” Matthew looked at them with a cold stare.
“You? What do you think I could do to her? I’m just here to clear things up. I’m not here to hurt her. Are you trying to shoulder this on your own?”
“Let’s go back.”
George still had things to say, but it seemed to him that it was going nowhere with Matthew, so he decided to comply.
“We’re going back!” Upon his order, the driver followed behind Matthew’s car back to the Tyson residence.
After they arrived, Margaret was infuriated when she saw Matthew, whom she had not seen for so long. She wanted to scold him, but the urge seemed to die down as soon as he came in. Hence, she merely stayed quiet and put up a stern expression.
Nevertheless, Matthew ignored her.
After everyone sat down, the atmosphere became a little chilly.
“If you don’t believe the test result, so be it.” George was the first to speak up. “But I’ve made sure to confirm that the result is real.”
Even so, Matthew showed no signs of reaction after hearing that.
“If you don’t trust me. We can do the test again. You can oversee everything…”
“There’s no need to!”
Matthew raised his hand and stopped George from continuing, his legs crossed in a leisurely manner. It was obvious that he was not bothered with the matter at hand.
“Whatever you guys want and whatever you need to see is your problem, not mine. But don’t you dare bother Clare about this. What you think doesn’t matter to me. You have no right to interfere with our lives, and I’m not going to bring Damian here ever again.”
“You!”
George stamped his cane on the floor, and the impact echoed through the halls. He was obviously infuriated.
Yet, there was nothing he could do.
“Are you sure you could raise someone else’s child so willingly? Aren’t you mad that she cheated on you?”
“As I said, you can keep your opinions. But Clare and I are still the same as before; nothing has changed.”
After Matthew finished, he no longer wanted to dwell on the subject.
“I’ll be leaving now.” He stood up.
With that, the Tysons got nothing out of their plan to get Matthew there—no explanations nor answers.
Matthew, on the other hand, was not affected in the slightest. After all, the test result meant nothing to him.
After he left, the Tyson residence fell in silence.
The silence broke when Margaret started crying. It was not just tears of frustration as she had mixed feelings about what went down.
She was upset that her own son was seduced by a woman to the point where he would disregard his family. That he would still live with her, even if the woman had a child with another man. Moreover, he was treating the child like his own. It was like Clarissa was exacting her revenge on them and taking Matthew away.
It seemed like Clarissa’s sole purpose of existence was to torture the Tysons.
“How on earth could there be such a devilish woman?”
At that moment, Margaret was filled with regret. She regretted accepting her into the family, which caused the latter to bring misfortune upon the family.
Things were not the same three years ago. Right now, she could not just send some men over and threaten Clarissa.
So, this is it? Our son is gone?
“That’s enough.”
George could not bear seeing his wife cry and let out a deep sigh. “What are you crying for? From the look on his face, he never trusted the test result.”
“Dad, Mom,” Matthias spoke, “things won’t change just from letting Matthew whether Damian belongs to him. After all, he treasures them dearly. So even if Clarissa betrayed him and even if Damian wasn’t his, I still doubt Matthew would leave them. We’ll just be going around in a circle.”
“But…”
“Matthew won’t mind Damian not being his. To him, they’re still a family.”
That meant that no matter what the Tysons did, it would all be in vain.
That was the root of the problem.
They could either pretend like this whole thing never happened and go back to normal. Or they could brood over it while Matthew continued on with his life, unaffected.
“That’s right. What else can we do?” George sighed.
Maybe sighing was the only thing they could do.
When Matthew got back, it was as though nothing had happened. Clarissa came down in her pajamas right when he walked in.
“Is everything okay?”
Clarissa just got out of bed, so she had a messy bedhead. She was slightly dazed still.
Matthew quickly went to her and smiled when he saw her, helping Clarissa tidy up her hair.
Her hair was much longer than how it was, but Clarissa seemed to like having short hair, so she kept on wanting to get a haircut. She wanted to make it as short as possible.
She had the looks, so any sort of hairstyle would look good on her.
Matthew lowered his head and kissed her. “Go wake Damian up, maybe? Let’s go to the Wynters.”
But Clarissa was still leaning on him sleepily with her arm around his waist.
She rubbed her face on his chest, her speech slurred, “I… really don’t feel like going… I don’t even… know them that well.”
Right then, Clarissa was like a little girl, whining about how she wanted to go back to sleep.
The urge to pamper her welled up within Matthew, and he placed his hand on her head.
“Maybe we’ll go another day then? Or we could make up an excuse and just not go.”
“Ugh… forget it. It’s better to get it over with as soon as possible.”
Clarissa’s comment was true to a fault, so Matthew had nothing more to say.
However, despite saying they should go, Clarissa did not budge, and the two remained on the stairs in each other’s arms.
“Umm.”
Right then, Julia came out and was puzzled when she saw the two on the stairs, so she smiled.
However, she actually came out for a reason.
Hence, she had no choice but to interrupt the couple. “Mr. and Mrs. Tyson, the gifts are ready. Do you need anything else?”
“That’s all.” Matthew gestured for her to leave.
Julia was quick to catch on and immediately left the scene. It was then that Clarissa finally decided to speak again. “Go and wake Damian up.”
Instead of doing so, Matthew picked her up and carried her over to the couch. He then placed her on his lap and started kissing her.
Clarissa was reluctant, but Matthew kept going. Eventually, both of them started laughing.
“How are you feeling now? Are you awake? If you’re not, I still have some tricks up my sleeve… “
“Matthew Tyson!”
Clarissa shoved his face away unhappily, but her lips were still slightly curled. She gave the man a side-eye stare.
“I’m awake now, so you can stop. Go get Damian, while I’ll get ready. He’s a lazy kid, so you’d better hurry. That kid’s your son, so he’s your responsibility.”
“Okay, I got it.” He grinned. “But you’re my wife. Which means you’re also my responsibility.”
“What are you responsible for?”
“Helping you change?”
“Dream on!”
Clarissa rapped on Matthew’s head petulantly. “Can you be a little more serious in broad daylight?”
“In front of you?” Matthew shook his head. “With how beautiful you look, I can never be serious. What should I do?”
He looked at Clarissa, and she stared back at him.
Eventually, Clarissa could not hold it in and burst into laughter.
“Quit messing around!”
After the fun was over, she got down from Matthew’s lap.
She stretched for a bit and turned around, winking at him.
“Mr. Tyson,” she said it in the most flirtatious tone possible, but her order that followed afterward was stern.
“Go wake your son up. Right now. Instantly.”
“Yes, my queen!” Matthew smiled.
