Many loving couples felt the compulsion to announce their love to the entire world.
They just couldn’t suppress the surge of emotions within them because they were so happy in each other’s company.
Clarissa understood how Matthew felt but disagreed with his need to be that extravagant.
She smiled helplessly. “Well then, you’ve got what you wanted. Now everybody knows. Please stop photos like this from being circulated anymore, will you? I’m not used to situations like this. Besides, people may think that we are doing it on purpose to stoke the hype.”
Matthew remained engrossed in his task as he listened intently to Clarissa over the phone.
“Why should we care about what anyone thinks?” he argued in a haughty tone of voice.
Clarissa remained silent as she considered his point. He’s right, we shouldn’t care about what others think of us. However, the one thing that every person shared was the fact that none of them could escape from the judgment and eyes of the world.
She felt much better. Clarissa would only fret even more about the opinions of the public if she remained fixated on it.
“You win,” said Clarissa with a sigh. “Let’s drop this matter, shall we? Carry on with your day, I’m hanging up.”
Matthew stopped her before she could do so. “Clare, it’s not that I want to win an argument with you. This was the right thing to do because it was me who did it.”
Is he praising himself?
Clarissa failed to suppress a chortle. “Why do you sound so pleased with yourself? What did you do exactly?”
“Honey, I don’t dare claim credit for anything. I just want you to cheer up, that’s all.”
His humility pleased Clarissa.
He achieved what he set out for, yet he’s still pretending to be obliging.
“Mission accomplished, Matthew. I do feel much better. However, please discuss something like that with me beforehand, will you?”
It was in this way that she had comforted him.
A hint of pride remained in Matthew’s voice.
“Okay then.”
He felt that way because Clarissa was coaxing him in a gentle voice.
After she hung up, Clarissa succumbed to peals of laughter.
At that moment, Hilary sat unseen in the corner of a cafe alone. She was browsing her phone while her coffee cooled. Her anger simmered with no outlet as all she saw online was the news of Clarissa’s success.
It’s so unfair that my daughter is doing so well whereas I’m here rotting away in filth.
Is it because I treated her viciously when she was young? Now that she’s leading a good life, why can’t she forgive me and give me something as repayment?
I have raised Clarissa. Shouldn’t she give me something in return as a gesture of appreciation?
Hilary felt mutinous. All she yearned for was Clarissa’s repayment. She felt that Clarissa should give her something as it was due to Hilary’s sacrifices as a mother that had enabled Clarissa to live in comfort.
She is now Mrs. Tyson. I’m sure she has more money than she would ever need, anyway.
Just as she was stewing in anger, a man sat down across from her. He was clad in a neat suit and held a briefcase in looking businesslike.
“Mrs. Garrett.”
Hilary jumped at his sudden appearance. “How did it go? Did you find anything?” she demanded in impatience, setting down her phone at the prospect of hearing something promising.
The man nodded sternly. “Regarding Mr. Zach Garrett’s company. When the Stitts girl was married over to the Garretts back then, a large sum of money was given as dowry, which was in turn used to develop Garrett Group to what it is today. The largest shareholder of the company is Yvonne’s mother, Madam Stitt. Before she passed away, with the help from the Stitt family, Zach had signed an agreement stating that Yvonne would be the sole heir of Garrett Group. He did not have the authority to revise the agreement because the Stitt family’s influence in Garrett Group was still immense.”
“I knew that the scumbag was out to lie to me,” Hilary yelled vehemently at the news. “I have been lied to for so many years by that asshole.”
The man across from her remained impassive. This reaction was not unfamiliar to him in his line of work. As compared to others that he had encountered, Hilary’s temper was nothing.
He allowed her to rant until she grew tired before continuing. “Mrs. Garrett, I have found out everything that you’ve asked for. If you intend to fight to exercise your rights, I could introduce a lawyer to you.”
This man was enterprising and had the foresight to turn a one-time consulting service into a legal battle.
Hilary shook her head at once, obviously anxious to be alone. “No need for that. Here are your fees. Now get lost.”
Though the man seemed crestfallen about not being able to contract a subsequent service, he was happy enough to have been paid. Departing quickly, he hastened home for a celebration.
How meaningless it is for rich people to fight over their property.
To Hilary, she associated her fate to endure poverty with the Garrett Group. Biding her time by Zach’s side for years, she had clung to the hope of becoming Mrs. Garrett one day and for her son to take over Garrett Group one day.
However, after enduring for half her life, it was revealed that she would not be able to get a single thing after all.
Hilary was maddened with rage.
Everybody seemed repulsive to her as she stewed in pessimism over her own fate.
All I want is a better life for myself, is that too much to ask?
No, it’s not. God is just unfair.
Hilary was beautiful for as long as she could remember. She could have been born into a rich family and married into another.
However, she had not met good men throughout her life. In her youth, she had poor judgment and subsequently dated one scumbag after another. Then, she met Clarissa’s father who was an honest man. He had treated Hilary well when they first started dating. Though they lived modestly, those were pleasant years for her.
That did not last long. After meeting James, Hilary became convinced that he was the perfect man, even while she was pregnant with another man’s child. She lusted for him and schemed to make her his, only for her infatuation to be turned into hate by her failure of seducing him.
Clarissa’s father had died early. Instead of grieving, Hilary felt liberated instead. God had given her the opportunity to rewrite the course of her life again. With that hopeful notion, she had left her small town behind for D City and met several men there. However, they were either pretending to be lavish, or they were dirt poor. She had no use for them despite them being in love with her.
Since God had finally given her an opportunity, she was determined to make the most of it. As Zach’s wife lay dying, she saw it as the opportunity of a lifetime and held on to a few years before becoming his second wife.
Her son was already in his teens. Though she had succeeded in her goal of becoming Mrs. Garrett, the price to pay for it was to endure Yvonne’s cruel ridicule and Zach’s violent temper throughout her son’s entire life.
As she had just discovered, Zach had been lying to her the entire time. My son is not the heir of the company. What’s the point of enduring anymore?
Zach’s mistress?
Or the insults and assault from him and Yvonne?
Or the fact that Zach is trying to gain Clarissa’s favor?
Why should I endure?
Since Hilary would get nothing, she had no more reason to subject herself to shame and ridicule.
Since the company was not willed to her, she would find a way to snatch back what was rightfully hers. If she was not able to, she was going to bring Zach down with her at the very least.
As for Clarissa, the ungrateful brat, she needed to be taught a lesson for forgetting her roots.
Isn’t she Mrs. Tyson?
Her popularity must be off the charts, wouldn’t it?
That was good. The more popular she was, the happier it made Hilary. She was relying on Clarissa’s fame for her scheme to succeed.
It was by scheming that Hilary had managed to compose herself. Finishing up her coffee, she shopped a little before heading home.
Back at home, she stayed just long enough to put away all of her newly acquired jewelry before heading out again.
Hilary remained busy over the next few days. The Garretts had no idea what she was up to.
On the day that Clarissa had decided on casting Roxanne as the female lead amongst other roles, she was supposed to publicly announce the cast. However, before she could commence filming, Clarissa’s reputation had taken a severe hit from the emergence of an interview with Hilary about how Clarissa had forgotten her roots after being successful.
During the interview, Hilary displayed exceptional acting skills as she sobbed and wept. Portraying herself as a pitiful mother being cast aside by a greedy and ambitious daughter, she spoke at length about how Clarissa did not treat her well and how she disrespected her. Clarissa’s voice had always dripped with malice whenever she threatened Hilary. Clarissa’s huge fanbase had suffered an unpleasant shock as Hilary’s interview proved to be a sharp contrast to Clarissa’s public persona.
Hilary had described in great detail Clarissa’s disobedience and rebelliousness when she was young. Her father had died on his way to buy her an expensive dress to placate her when she was in one of her tempers. After his demise, Hilary had become a single mother. She met a man who loved her who she wanted to be Clarissa’s stepfather, but Clarissa was indifferent to a mother’s pain by becoming even more disagreeable than ever. At last, Hilary was forced to leave her hometown. Though Clarissa had held a grudge against her, Hilary had always cared for her daughter. However, this effort was never repaid.
When Clarissa had grown up, she had never accepted her mother after she had become successful. Aside from that, Clarissa had harassed her mother and had various run-ins with her mother’s family.
According to Hilary, Clarissa had also relied on her mother’s connections in D City to curry the favor of the wealthy. After eliminating one suitor after another, she finally latched on to Matthew, an obviously superior specimen.
Unexpectedly, after her marriage to Matthew, she had pretended not to know her mother, even going all out to deny their kinship.
Hilary had also insinuated that the Tysons had never accepted Clarissa who they deemed as an opportunistic and manipulative daughter-in-law.
Hilary was painted as a victim in the interview, essentially destroying Clarissa’s reputation. The veracity of the interview was not called into question as it was words spoken by her birth mother. The first impression that it had left on viewers was that Clarissa was in the wrong for treating her mother in the way it was described.
That damning clip was circulated with such vigor that it had soon made headlines within minutes after its release.
Everybody who had seen it was animatedly discussing if Clarissa was as bad as her mother made her out to be.
The morality of it was brought into question when some hinted at the possibility of a battle between mother and daughter.
