She’s right! Clarissa, who’s a renowned screenwriter and the wife of a tycoon, possesses the fortune I need to achieve the carefree lifestyle I seek! In other words, she’s the only one I can rely on!
There’s nothing much she can do to sever ties with me for the time being since she’s such a filial granddaughter! However, what am I supposed to do if I can’t threaten her using that old hag in the future?
What if she comes after me without holding back once the old hag passes on? Isn’t it a matter of time until the day my life is a mess again?
When Hilary lost herself in a train of thoughts, Shermaine added, “Can’t you think of something else apart from trying to coerce her into submission? You need to establish some sort of relationship with Clarissa.”
“Are you serious? Aren’t you aware of the grudges she’s holding against me?”
“She’s holding a grudge against you but not your son, isn’t she?”
Hilary finally snapped out of bewilderment and exclaimed, “You’re right! She will never leave Jonathan alone if he needs her!”
“See? Just leverage on the relationship she has with your son.”
“You’re right, Shermaine!”
Shermaine is spot on once again! There’s no way Clarissa will leave her beloved brother alone! She’ll definitely take care of Jonathan in spite of the grudges she holds against me!
I have such wonderful children! They’re actually contributing to my ambitious goal of living a carefree life one way or another!
Only a mere few were involved in the saga of Hilary and Clarissa. Apart from the onlookers, the only ones concerned about the progress of the incident were a pair of husband and wife.
“How are we supposed to get our money from Hilary if she’s no longer affiliated with her daughter and her husband?”
Judy was concerned about their son’s future as she thought of acquiring the fees he needed to further his education from Hilary.
She thought those involved might have figured out the things going on since Clarissa no longer seemed to deem Hilary her mother.
Concerned, Judy asked her husband, “What if they have figured out the truth? If that’s the case, we won’t get another cent from them in the future! What are we supposed to do?”
“Stop overthinking things and freaking yourself out! Since we’re running out of cash, it’s almost time to get in touch with Hilary and figure out the things going on!”
“Is she going to come after us if she no longer needs us to keep her secret safe?”
Judy got increasingly unease as she was afraid Hilary would take them out after repetitively threatening her with the same thing throughout the years.
Her husband reassured her, “Why are you afraid of someone who does not have a backing? She’s not even on good terms with her husband and her daughter anymore! Who else is going to defend her? There’s no way she’s able to defeat us if it comes to a fight! We’ll just see how it goes!”
As soon as the call got through, they carried on with the conversation in speaker mode. Hilary, who was on the other end of the call, reprimanded the shameless duo without holding back.
The shameless duo was upset as they could no longer acquire any money from Hilary since someone had let the cat out of the bag.
Judy, who thought they would get to live a carefree life for the rest of their lives with Hilary’s secret, started wailing when she figured out the truth.
“Why are you crying when we can try our luck with Ms. Smallwood? Since she has returned to the Smallwoods, I’m sure she’s having the best time of her life again! Maybe the Smallwoods aren’t aware of the truth just yet! We’ll just get in touch with her and see if we can get anything from her! Hurry up and get in touch with her!”
When Judy heard her husband’s suggestion, she stopped wailing as that was a great alternative.
Thus, she regained her composure and got in touch with Shermaine as her husband suggested.
Meanwhile, Shermaine seemed to be anticipating the call from the shameless duo ever since a long time ago.
She told them it wouldn’t be necessary for them to meet in person and agreed to give them a fortune as requested. Judy and her husband were on cloud nine since Shermaine didn’t even hesitate and transferred the requested sum within a few minutes.
“See? I’m sure she’s afraid we’re going to expose her dirty little secrets! Hilary isn’t of much use, but not her smart daughter! Judging by her response, it’s safe to assume the Smallwoods aren’t aware of the truth just yet!”
As much as they were thrilled, Judy’s husband had his fair share of doubts.
He asked, “Have we missed anything? Don’t you think we’re getting the things we seek way too easily? Is it possible for Hilary’s daughter to keep everyone in the dark when Hilary has been exposed?”
“Well, she’s either doing a great job keeping her secrets safe, or she’s doing a great job keeping the Smallwoods happy! Maybe they have made up their mind to accept her as a member of the family! After all, they had spent the past two decades together! They’re not going to abandon her over the night just because she’s not their daughter.”
“If that’s the case, why has she given us such a huge fortune? Don’t you think something fishy is going on?”
Judy felt uneasy when she heard her husband’s analysis. However, she thought it wouldn’t be a big deal as they could always flee if anything were to happen.
After much considerations, they made up their minds to flee D City with the fortune they had acquired over the night.
They thought they would be safe as soon as they returned to W City as Shermaine might not go to the hassle of pursuing them.
…
A few days after Hilary got her hands on the fortune, she met the attorney of Tyson Corporation in person to talk about her divorce from Zach. The attorney told her there was nothing they could do to acquire the ownership over the company due to the agreement Zach had with his ex-spouse. However, they could try to get him to compensate her for her loss.
“Huh? The ownership of the company is the only thing I’m going after! What about my son? Can’t we do anything about it with his identity as the legal heir of the company?”
“To begin with, your husband was never the owner of the company. He’s merely managing the company on behalf of others. In other words, it’s impossible since Yvonne is the sole heiress of the company.”
“Huh? If that’s the case, why am I wasting my time with you and your bunch of good-for-nothings?”
Hilary started reprimanding the attorney of Tyson Corporation. Although the attorney’s frustration was written all over his face, he kept his emotions to himself and continued discussing their next best course of action.
Stop getting so cocky in front of us! If it weren’t because of Mr. Tyson’s instructions, we would have long left!
At the end of the session, Hilary thought the attorney couldn’t be of much help. Hence, she made up her mind to confront Zach instead of relying on others.
At first, Hilary was intimidated by Zach as he warned and cussed her for the things she had done. However, when she recalled she had the backing of Tyson Corporation, she thought Zach wasn’t much of a threat.
She yelled at him in return and warned him, “Zach, I’ll forgive you for being mean towards me throughout the years! I’ll also forgive you for neglecting our son, but at the very least, I need to ensure you’re not forsaking his sake for your daughter! As long as you transfer the shares that belong to you to our son, I’ll let you off the hook!”
“In your dreams!”
“You need to stop pushing your luck! You don’t think I’m not aware of the filthy things you have done back in the day, do you? I’m conscious of the things you have done over the years, especially the casualties of that particular project a few years ago!”
“H-How did you figure that out? Ha! It turns out you have been plotting against me behind my back, huh?”
“Well, your secrets will remain safe with me as long you take our son’s future into consideration. Unfortunately, you have been deceiving me over the past decade. Up until now, you’re still trying to lure me into another trap. Zach, you better take my warning seriously if you don’t wish to spend the rest of your life behind bars!”
Hilary started panting heavily immediately after she hung up the call. She caressed her chest in an attempt to calm herself.
A few minutes after she regained her composure, she burst out laughing hysterically as she couldn’t contain her joy anymore.
It was the first time in her life she had the sweet taste of victory. In fact, she couldn’t believe she had the chance to ruin Zach and Clarissa’s lives.
On the other hand, Clarissa was against the idea of announcing she had patched things up with Hilary. She thought she would drag it on for as long as possible.
Similarly, Hilary, who was thrilled by the presence of the fortune she had acquired, couldn’t be bothered by the netizens’ comments anymore.
As Hilary stopped bothering Clarissa, Clarissa completely forgot about it as she had better things to do.
Immediately after the novel was launched, the production for the movie based on Clarissa & Matthew would soon take place.
After the uproar Hilary had caused, Clarissa merely had a few journalists over to officiate the production of the movie. She wasn’t there on the day of the press conference. The rest of the production crew had conducted the press conference on her behalf.
A few fearless journalists tried to poke their nose into Clarissa’s lawsuit against Hilary, but they were forced to focus on Ryler and Roxanne since Clarissa was nowhere to be seen.
Roxanne was a rookie in the industry. Her manager had published a series of her photos to ride the wave of success. Meanwhile, as the male protagonist, others wondered if Ryler could successfully portray Matthew’s indifferent image.
Clarissa kept everything regarding the production confidential. It would be impossible to keep everything from the public, but the crew involved in the production had signed a non-disclosure agreement.
It was an attempt to keep their progress confidential and Clarissa safe. After all, nothing could intrigue the paparazzi more than Clarissa’s news.
The only great news Clarissa had was the outstanding achievement of the published novel. It received a lot of positive remarks from the readers, especially amongst females. They wouldn’t stop sharing their feedback with her. Most of them mentioned they couldn’t wait for the movie.
Clarissa, who had been through all sorts of ups and downs over the past few weeks, felt as if a heavy boulder was lifted off her shoulders. She hoped things would progress as planned soon.
