It was evident that Ellie would be going against Shawn, and this choice of hers was not made lightly.
Her heart ached for Clarissa and Damian.
That was the reason she decided to disturb Shawn no matter the cost.
The duo had a direct face-off, and the tension grew palpable. Shawn was the first to break his stance. As he raised his hand, Ellie immediately made a fuss. “What? Are you succumbing to hitting people now, Shawn? Help! Police brutality and maltreatm- Mmn!”
Before Ellie could finish, Shawn cut her off with a sudden kiss. Harmon and the rest began cheering and whistling at the show.
Breaking of the kiss, Shawn growled in a low tone, “Mind your business!”
“Pfft, hahaha…”
Despite Shawn’s warning, Harmon could not help but burst out laughing, earning a murderous glare from Ellie.
After a while, the atmosphere turned serious enough to begin the interrogation.
Embarrassed by the kiss earlier, Ellie stood at the side in silent as they interrogated Matthew. However, once it was over, she could no longer hold her tongue.
“You really can’t meet Clare. She’s with Damian upstairs. The poor boy was startled so badly that he is now clinging onto Clare and refusing to let go. To be honest, Clare will just be telling you the same thing Uncle Matt just told you. Must you interrogate her personally? After all, she’s either with Uncle Matt or the crew all the time…”
Even though Shawn believed that Clarissa was innocent, it was still protocol to take her alibi as well.
Just then, Matthew interrupted, “I’ll go upstairs to check on them. Please wait for a moment…”
In the room, the first sight that greeted Matthew was the mother-and-son pair wrapped in each other’s arms. At the sight of Matthew, Damian finally broke the silence.
“Daddy.” Damian’s childish voice called out softly.
Matthew smiled warmly and rubbed Damian’s head affectionately. “Hey Damian, Mr. Shawn is downstairs. Would you like to go see him?”
Clarissa looked up, exchanging glances with Matthew. The latter gave a reassuring nod.
On the other hand, Damian seemed to have recovered from his initial shock. A look of concentration showed on his face as he contemplated whether or not he should go downstairs.
“Mr. Shawn and the police officers are still here. Some of the police are even wearing their uniforms. They look very smart and handsome. Don’t you want to see them?” persuaded Matthew.
Swayed by his words, Damian raised his head to look at Clarissa. “Can you go with me, Mommy?”
“Of course I will go will you!” Clarissa smiled.
“Okay!”
After Damian’s prompt agreement, the three of them made their way downstairs.
Unlike his usual reaction, Damian was not overcome with excitement to see Shawn. He kept clinging onto Clarissa, not daring to let go. Even so, a polite smile still hung on his lips as he nodded towards Shawn and the police officers.
“Mr. Shawn, Mr. Harmon…”
As a jokester, Harmon walked up to tease Damian by making funny faces, encouraging Damian to loosen up as clear giggles filled the room. For a while, no one in the room brought up the investigation, allowing the atmosphere to be lightened by Damian’s laughter.
However, as Matthew went forward to bring Damian to the side, it was clear that the boy was still shaken as he continued to hold onto Clarissa tightly.
Feeling her heart squeezed, Clarissa stroked Damian’s head gently to calm him before turning to Shawn.
“Let’s just settle the interrogation this way.”
Shawn nodded in response. During the interrogation, Ellie and Harmon were tasked to distract Damian. In spite of the fact that two different conversations were going on simultaneously, they managed to handle the situation so skillfully that neither of those conversations disrupted the other.
“The last time I talked to her was last night over the phone, around nine,” Clarissa recalled. “My husband and I were attending Damian’s school performance. After the event, we went out for dinner. There should be surveillance cameras in the restaurant that can prove my statement. After dinner, we went home. It should be around nine in the evening when she called. In the call, her voice was muffled. She sounded like she was crying for help, followed by a series of blood-curling moans, as if her mouth was being covered. Terrified, I dialed her number again after she was cut off, but no one picked up, so my husband and I immediately went to the hotel she was staying only to find no one there…”
Clarissa’s recount of the happenings of the previous night was identical to Matthew’s. There was nothing suspicious with Clarissa’s story.
Due to the fact that both parties of the interrogation knew each other personally, the process was carried out smoothly and courteously without a hitch.
Not long after, Shawn and the team left Zen Highlands.
“Shawn, there’s this gossip website that my wife is obsessed with. She told me some time ago that Hilary seemed to be a rotten apple. Anyone could tell that she’s mean and heartless just by looking at her. Mrs. Tyson, on the other hand, was nothing but a poor thing. After all, someone that caught Mr. Tyson’s eye couldn’t possibly be that terrible.”
“Wow, Darryl. Since when have you started solving cases based on looks and impression? I didn’t know your missus was so good at reading people. Why didn’t you say so earlier? I would have asked her to help predict my love life,” Shawn replied.
“Sheesh, easy with the sarcasm. What I mean is, what if it was one of Hilary’s enemies who had done this? With that personality of hers, she must have offended a lot of people,” retorted Darryl.
“Thanks for stating the obvious, Sherlock.”
Sighing, Darryl changed the subject. “Say Shawn, do you think the team sent to interrogate the Garretts would discover anything?”
Just as his question was thrown out in the open, Shawn’s phone began to rang. “Alright, noted,” said Shawn after listening to what the caller had to say.
“What happened?” inquired Darryl.
“The Garretts are causing trouble.”
Without hesitation, the team got into their cars and drove to the station in an accelerating speed.
Hilary was dead. Throughout the entire day, Clarissa was in a daze, stunned by all the interviews by reporters. For the rest of the day, she stayed next to Damian. Only after she had put him to sleep did Clarissa start to digest the horrifying situation.
Hilary is dead? She’s dead?
It was true that Clarissa hated Hilary, even to the point of death. Yet when Hilary was found dead, Clarissa found herself lost, unsure of how she should react.
Everything feels so surreal… Could it be that I’m not fully conscious? Is that why this feels like a dream?
Just then, Matthew pushed the door open. Upon seeing Clarissa staring mindlessly into space, he knew immediately that Clarissa was overthinking.
Matthew took a seat by the bedside and interlocked Clarissa’s hand with his, stroking her skin gently with his thumb.
“Come on. Let’s go rest in our bedroom.”
Clarissa instantly shook her head in response, glancing over at the child sleeping soundly before whispering, “I’m afraid that he’ll get scared again if he can’t find me once he wakes up. I’m probably going to sleep with him for the next few days.”
Matthew did not object, but stayed seated.
“Don’t overthink it. It has already happened. It’s not your fault.”
Unexpectedly, Clarissa remained cool and collected. “I’m not overthinking, and I won’t blame myself either. I’ve grown numb towards her. It’s just that… I find it hard to believe that she’s… dead.”
Not to mention that she’s murdered…
Clarissa was taken aback by the unpredictability of life. She had never expected that being murdered would be Hilary’s fate.
Did she deserve that ending?
Probably not.
Was she completely innocent?
That did not seem like the case either. If anything, having Hilary alive seemed to be a scourge.
Someone like Hilary would always be self-centered, thinking the world revolved around themselves. Even at the door of death, she had still hoped to gain some of Clarissa’s wealth, possibly even having a more malicious intent. Even so, all that had ended so abruptly.
It had ended before Clarissa could even find a way to teach Hilary a lesson.
Deep down in her heart, Clarissa lamented.
“Hmm, as long as you don’t blame yourself. Just think of her as a stranger, someone that has no connection with you whatsoever. Besides, she never had any connections with you since the beginning anyways. Don’t go to the set these few days, alright? Justin can handle the work. Just stay at home with Damian, and don’t go online either, okay?” Matthew gazed at Clarissa.
With a heavy sigh, Clarissa responded, “I wouldn’t even if you hadn’t told me. There will definitely be no good news from the internet. I won’t torment myself by reading the comments. Whatever the netizens want to say is their choice. I’m too lazy to bother. Besides, even if the police managed to solve the case and prove my innocence, I have no doubt that some people will still spread rumors about me. Don’t worry, I am mentally prepared. I won’t go diving into it.”
With a smile, Matthew stood up and planted a kiss on her forehead. “Good.”
Since Clarissa wanted to accompany Damian, Matthew naturally wanted to tag along. However, due to the fact that Damian’s bed was not big enough to fit three people, Matthew decided to carry his son to the master bedroom. With the family of three sharing a bed, security felt like a warm blanket.
The next day, Clarissa woke up at the crack of dawn. She continued to lie on the bed until Damian was awake. Only then did they make their way downstairs together.
On that day, Matthew stayed home as well.
However, his phone rang multiple times during that day.
Clarissa had completely switched off her phone. Therefore, those who knew the couple started calling Matthew to gain information and to comfort her.
Among those people were Jacque and Sandra. Ever since they saw Clarissa being bullied by Hilary, they had wanted to speak up against Hilary. Only because Clarissa wanted them to keep it under wraps did they not act rashly.
Never would they have expected to find out about Hilary’s death over the news headlines. Once they heard about the news, their initial response was to worry for Clarissa, anxious that she would be dragged into the mess. To no one’s surprise, the netizens had not been kind to Clarissa, despite the fact that she was innocent. Every finger was pointed at her, saying that she was the murderess who forced Hilary into death. There were other theories and rumors saying that Clarissa finally had enough of Hilary’s control over her life and decided to kill her biological mother.
Some of them even went the extra mile to badmouth Clarissa and boycott all her works, ranging from her novels to her films.
Whatever negative outcome that one could think of had befallen Clarissa. In a short span of a day, Clarissa became the most vicious woman to ever roam the earth.
Jacque and Sandra were worried for Clarissa. They wanted even more for Clarissa to announce all the horrible things Hilary had done to her, in hopes that the hatred towards her would subdue.
However, since they could not get a hold of Clarissa, their hopes turned towards Matthew.
Nevertheless, Matthew disagreed with their idea. Hilary’s death was currently the biggest talk in town. Publicizing Hilary’s maltreatment towards Clarissa would just add fuel to the fire.
It would make things worse.
The Wynters were all worried for Clarissa. Similarly, the Tysons were all worried for Matthew.
Even Matthias had contacted Matthew for details regarding the case, but Matthew did not reveal much to his brother.
Other friends of Clarissa would only heave a sigh of relief after they had learned the situation from Ellie or Matthew.
As for Catherine, Matthew had long prepared for the mess. He had sent people over to W City to escort Catherine away for the time being to hide from the public’s scrutiny.
The best thing they could do for the time being was staying put and letting the police to their work.
After answering endless phone calls, Matthew returned to Clarissa and sat next to her.
A wry smile appeared on Clarissa’s lips. “The gods must really not want me to shoot this movie. Did I do that bad of a job for the heavens to stop me again and again? There have been wave after wave of troubles, so much so that I am starting to have a hard time holding my ground… The heavens must be rejoicing now that I won’t be able to shoot the movie anymore…”
Even if the case is solved, I doubt that I can have a break.
Matthew smiled in response in order to lighten the mood. “Is it such a bad thing to stay home with your son?”
Damian raised his head to look at Clarissa as well. “Mommy, once I grow up, I will let you continue shooting the movie.”
Clarissa broke out into a soft chuckle. “Once you grow up, I’ll be old. How will I still be able to shoot a movie?”
“Mommy is not old. Mommy will never be old…”
Clarissa grinned even wider. No mother on earth would be able to resist the compliment.
She leaned forward to kiss Damian on the cheek. In return, Matthew kissed her back on the lips, surprising her. His low voice mumbled in her ear, “My dear Clare, you will be forever youthful in my heart…”
