Chapter 465 I Am Well Aware
Clarissa stopped Damian from bringing up something else. She said, “It’s time for me to stop keeping you in the dark since things have turned out this way. I encountered Stella before you brought her home and introduced her to us. I thought it wouldn’t be wise to tell you the truth since she was your first love, but it turned out I was wrong. You ended up being hurt for more than once.”
Damian went dead silent as Clarissa started sharing the things she had been keeping to herself with him.
“Your father and I ran into Stella on our random night out—she was on her way into a hotel with a man who was at least twenty years older than her. We encountered her again in the morning and found out she spent the night with the man. I kept my worry to myself as I thought it might have something to do with her situation. I had no intention to poke my nose into her business until you fell in love with her.”
Damian was relatively indifferent. It seemed as if he couldn’t care less. Thus, she thought her son might have moved on from Stella.
Therefore, she heaved a sigh of relief and added, “I knew she was the girl the moment you introduced her to us. Since she wasn’t aware of our past encounter, I tried my best to carry myself courteously and treated her as a friend of yours. To be honest, I thought she might be different since she was the one you were head over heels in love with. Therefore, I sent someone to gather information about her as soon as she left. Unfortunately, it turned out I had gotten my hopes high again.” Halfway through her orated speech, Clarissa paused and looked at her son in the eyes. She murmured, “She had gotten herself engaged in similar activities for more than once. However, none of your peers were aware since she had just gotten herself enrolled. Soon, she started hitting on you and got herself into a relationship with you. Although she didn’t come from a well-off family, money was never a concern since her parents could afford the expenses she needed and she studied on a scholarship too. In other words, she had voluntarily gotten herself engaged in such filthy activities.”
Shortly after Clarissa took a deep breath to gather her thoughts, she remarked, “I thought of telling you the truth, but I was afraid of hurting you. I guess it was my fault for being overly protective. When I asked her out for a conversation in person, she started playing the victim. The moment I showed her the things I had gathered, she went dead silent. I thought those were more than enough to chase her away from you, but the shameless woman sowed discord between us. I tried to stop you from getting yourself into a relationship with her because I was certain she had lied to you.” In an attempt to wrap up the conversation, Clarissa made up her mind to share the truth with her son. “In the end, she told me she was pregnant with your child and threatened me not to tell you the truth. Otherwise, she would haunt you if I were to tell you the truth. However, she promised to leave you alone as long as I could do her a favor and send her abroad to further her studies in a top-notch university.”
In other words, Stella was given a chance to further her study abroad because of Clarissa.
Stella threatened Clarissa and forced her into submission since she was aware that Clarissa would never put her son’s wellbeing at stake.
As infuriated as Clarissa might be, there was nothing much she could do to turn the tables around. Thus, she gave in to Stella’s request and thought that was the end of everything.
She had no intention to pick on Stella as she thought the shameless woman might be having the best time of her life abroad after making a name out of herself.
When Clarissa thought it was over, Stella returned and started getting in Damian’s way again.
Afraid of hurting Damian, Clarissa had been keeping him in the dark throughout the years. She finally figured out her actions had brought upon her son’s undoing.
Thus, in an attempt to turn the tables around, she chose to open up and share the truth with her son. She had faith in Damian and thought he would never allow himself to spiral down the vicious cycle of despair.
“Damian, can you tell me the things you have in mind now that you’re aware of the truth?”
“Mom, I’m not particularly shocked because I’m well aware of her true colors,” Damian answered after letting out a long sight.
“H-Huh? Are you telling me you’re aware of the things she’s up to all this while? Since when have you figured out the truth?”
“It was a few weeks prior to her trip abroad.”
“H-Huh?”
Clarissa’s mind was all over the place when she found out her effort to keep her son in the dark over the years was futile.
“Hold on a second! If you’re aware of the truth, what’s wrong with you over the years? Wasn’t this woman the reason you had a hard time pulling yourself together?”
Damian was as speechless as his mother was. He answered while shrugging his shoulders, “Haven’t I mentioned it’s already over for us?”
“If it’s over, what’s wrong with you over the years?”
“I-I’m just guilty.”
“What sort of things are you guilty about?”
Damian gaped at his mother’s question and responded with a sheepish grin once he snapped out of bewilderment.
“Mom, you have always been proud of me ever since I was young because I was always an independent son. I once thought my relationship would turn out like yours and Dad’s. When I found out she was just a shameless woman, I was ashamed of myself and thought it wouldn’t be wise to show up in front of anyone. I felt guilty because I had picked on you more than once over her. It felt awful since I failed to carry out the duty of a son. Soon, I found out I was just an ordinary man—I wasn’t capable of pulling myself together when another woman was around.”
Are those the reasons he has always been sulking over the years? He had no intention to strike up a conversation with others apart from his friends and sister!
Hold on a second! Have we kept him in the dark for nothing when he couldn’t care less about Stella over the years?
“Y-You-”
Damian got increasingly guilty since he wasn’t aware of his mother’s concerns throughout the years.
“Mom, I’m so sorry for letting you down again.”
“It’s time for us to sort things out once and for all. If Stella isn’t the one getting in your way, why are you still keeping in touch with her and ignoring Wren? Why hadn’t you done anything to stop Stella from showing up at Wren’s school when you were aware of the things she was up to?”
“Mom, have I not made myself clear Stella is a business partner of mine? Also, stop making it sound as if I’m going to fall for Wren just because nothing’s going on between Stella and me.”
Clarissa gave it a thought and found out she was the simple-minded one.
“Well, you’re not allowing Stella to pick on Wren for nothing, are you?”
“I’m aware of your concerns, Mom. There’s nothing I can do for the time being.”
Things had turned out this way since Wrenna couldn’t stand Stella. Unfortunately, it was impossible for Damian to fall for Wrenna over the night as well.
In short, there was no viable solution for the trio’s problems.
“If that’s the case, I’ll do something to keep Wren safe. With that being said, you need to do something about it since she has been deeply in love with you for such a long time.”
Clarissa knew that was the only viable solution for the time being. Truth be told, she had given her consent to their marriage since she was fond of Wrenna.
She wasn’t against the idea of them getting married to one another when they weren’t even in love since she thought things would work out just fine.
At the end of the day, she was just another selfish mother who wished nothing but the best for her son.
I’m afraid Wren will give up on Damian if he doesn’t reciprocate the affection she has for him soon! Hopefully, that won’t be the case since it’s the worst possible outcome!
The moment Clarissa thought of her son and daughter, she started heaving a long sigh since things were chaotic on their ends.
His sister is also a brilliant woman! Why has she fallen for someone unworthy of her time just like her brother? Just what on earth is wrong with them?
“Speaking of which, how did you find out Stella’s true colors?”
Clarissa couldn’t believe her son had long figured out Stella’s true nature since Damian warned her to stop accusing Stella when she tried telling him the truth.
Damian announced with a self-deprecating smirk, “It was a coincidence.”
He was against the idea of returning home for quite a long time when Clarissa made herself clear she wouldn’t acknowledge Stella.
It was then he spent most of his time at his friends’ places or the hotel. When the thought of eloping with Stella crossed his mind, he climbed his way to Stella’s room and heard the conversation Stella had with someone.
“Are you sure we can get our hands on a fortune from the Tysons? What are we supposed to do if they try to come after us?”
Stella replied in a contemptuous tone, “Just take it easy! I’m sure they won’t try anything as vicious as that! Otherwise, there’s no way he’s going to fall for me! Has his mother not known my past, I wouldn’t have resorted to this! It’s only a matter of time until I’m Mrs. Tyson! Oh, well…”
