Thinking that she finally had a day for herself to have some good rest after being away from Matthew, Clarissa was dragged into the studio for a live broadcast by Ellie as she had promised her earlier. Since it was her first time doing a live broadcast, Clarissa wasn’t too comfortable with it, not to mention that she was expected to model the clothes, which was even more awkward for her. Under Ellie’s guidance, she gathered her courage and was ready to begin.
Apart from Clarissa, another model named Kendall was in the studio too.
Among the three of them, Kendall and Clarissa were in charge of changing and modeling the clothes while Ellie was the narrator. Clarissa wasn’t good with words, so she only smiled the entire time.
“The new girl is really pretty, what’s her name?”
“Hi nice to meet you, pretty girl!”
Following that, many people greeted Clarissa as well. They were captivated by her beautiful looks right away and started liking every single piece of clothes that she had worn. They even wanted to know where she did her hair or purchased the bracelet that was hanging around her wrist. It was as if they wanted to buy everything Clarissa was showing.
Ellie snickered from within, knowing that she had found the right person to be her model. Ah… It such a waste for a beautiful face like Clarissa to not enter showbiz.
“This is our new member in the studio, Clare. Clare, come over here and greet everyone!”
Clarissa gave a coy smile that instantly mesmerized everyone watching.
“Hi everyone, I’m Clare.”
“Oh my, this pretty girl’s voice is so sweet, I can’t help but be captivated.”
“Ms. Clare, are you a celebrity?”
“She is stunning! I want whatever she’s wearing…”
Even though they had just started the broadcast, the response they got was rolling in abundance. Ellie was even more certain that she had found the right person for this.
Business had been slowing down lately, so it’s definitely the right move for me to involve Clare.
Following that, Clarissa tried on each set of clothes several times patiently as requested by the girls who were watching the live broadcast. It lasted for hours from afternoon till night and by the end of it, Clarissa was exhausted.
After the live broadcast ended, Ellie was serving her tea and giving her massages while planning on the next live broadcast already.
“Clare, don’t write your novels anymore and just do live broadcasts with me! I guarantee that it’ll be more relaxing than writing an article. Even though there’s no guarantee for a lot of money, you can dress up and look beautiful every day! After you’ve gained some fame, you might even be able to enter showbiz and earn even more money.”
Clarissa didn’t even hesitate and rejected her best friend in a low voice.
“I don’t want to.”
“Then how about you take this as a part-time job and come do live broadcasting here? Look at how well my business is doing today, I’ll share with you some of the profit, alright? I mean, look at how much you’ve helped me with my sales the moment you’ve joined? So, help me again, alright? Please, Clare.”
“Ms. Tyson, can you let me have my meal first? How will there be a next time if I were to starve to death now?”
After a moment of realization, Ellie instantly dragged Clarissa and a few other colleagues out for a meal.
There was not much sound in Skylight Restaurant’s private lounge other than the sound of constant chewing and swallowing.
It wasn’t until they had eaten enough and filled their tummies that the bunch of them felt alive again.
The few people in the studio knew that their boss was a socialite from a rich family. Therefore, none of them were too surprised about having their meal at Skylight Restaurant as it wasn’t their first time being there.
Ellie was thrilled because the live broadcast was a success that day. After the meal, she announced, “Since it’s a good day, let’s go have fun instead of going home. I’ll pay for everything.”
The bunch of them were excited upon hearing that. All except for Clarissa who just wanted to go home and get some rest.
Ellie wasn’t going to let her go that easily, though, and the few of them dragged Clarissa out the door.
“Come on, I don’t want to join. I want to go home and sleep…”
Clarissa dragged her feet deliberately because she didn’t want to join them. In the next moment, Ellie roared like a lioness, “Drag her into the car!”
It was quite a scene as the bunch of them started pulling, dragging, and laughing with one another. People who were passing by couldn’t help but stare as well.
Shermaine happened to see that when she walked out with her manager, Lizzie.
It was an inevitable moment between rivals and Ellie fell silent almost instantly.
After seeing Shermaine, Clarissa straightened her body and was ready to walk away without greeting them.
“Ellie? What a coincidence. Are you having a meal with your friends?”
Ellie scoffed, “What’s the matter?”
Shermaine kept a smile on her face while a few of Ellie’s staff looked over their shoulders curiously. To their surprise, it was the award-winning actress, Shermaine.
However, they could tell that Shermaine’s relationship with their boss wasn’t too good.
“It’s been a long time since we last met. I’ve just returned from the film studio tonight. Oh right, I’ll be going over to the Tyson residence tomorrow since I was thinking of visiting Mr. Tyson and Mrs. Tyson. I even brought some presents for you.”
“Huh! I don’t want it.” Ellie turned around and stormed off. Shermaine didn’t stop her but smile instead at the sight of her leaving.
The colleagues left silently right after since no one was in the mood for fun anymore.
While sitting in Ellie’s car, the woman started ranting to Clarissa.
“Does she think that I’m not aware of what she’s planning? She told me about going to the Tyson residence on purpose and knew that I wouldn’t be happy about that so I would leave them alone. Without my interruption, she’ll be able to mingle with the Tysons happily and freely.”
“So are you still going out tomorrow?”
“I’m not going to let her have it her way! But, it doesn’t really matter if I’m there or not. I’m afraid that my grandma has already acknowledged her as my aunt.”
Clarissa’s heart sank upon hearing that.
She turned around and looked out the window. She could see the reflection of her face and her brows that were furrowed tightly.
Upon arriving at Clarissa’s apartment, Ellie did not return home and decided to stay the night there.
Ellie’s frustration had quickly dissipated but Clarissa remained silent.
“What’s wrong? Clare, are you exhausted? Should we go for a massage?”
Clarissa shook her head and smiled. “It’s late, we better not go out.”
“It’s not too late. Come on, let’s go. My heart aches seeing you like that. It’s my fault you’re so exhausted, after all.”
Ellie dragged Clarissa straight to the beauty parlor.
Because it was late, a few attendants went over to serve them and they were provided with comfortable massages. After chatting with Ellie for a while, Clarissa fell asleep.
It wasn’t until Ellie woke her up and said, “It looks like you’re really exhausted. Let’s go. We’ll have you rejuvenated tomorrow and I’ve already signed up a card for you. Just come here for massages from now on since you’re staring at the computer every day. You might even get minor illness because of that, so be more cautious about that.”
Clarissa took the card and wasn’t sure how much it had cost. However, she knew that the places Ellie frequented wouldn’t be cheap.”
“How much?”
“Hey, you don’t have to talk money with me. Since you’ve joined the broadcast, my business is booming. I haven’t even thanked you for that. Furthermore, we’re besties. Let’s go, and stop talking about money, otherwise, I’ll be really angry. If you’re not keen about it still, just come and model for me more often. That way, you’ll earn it back in no time.”
Upon hearing that, Clarissa could only accept it dutifully and be her model again after a few days.
Just when they felt more relaxed and were ready to leave, they bumped into Shermaine again unexpectedly.
D*mn it!
Ellie couldn’t care less and cursed under her breath. What kind of twisted fate is this?
“Ellie? We really are fated, haha…”
“Who wants to be fated with you?”
Ellie scoffed, “Clare, let’s go!”
Shermaine glanced at Clarissa. It wasn’t because she did not notice Clarissa’s presence that night but it was the fact that she didn’t take a small scriptwriter into account, so she deliberately ignored her.
That time when she dealt with Clarissa at the film studio, she was jealous of that gorgeous face that was constantly appearing in front of her. Now that they had returned to D City, it was best for Clarissa to know her place and not appear in front of her. Otherwise, Shermaine would definitely mess with her out of spite.
“Ellie, are you leaving now? Why don’t you wait for a while and go back with me since I’ve called Matt to pick me up?”
Ellie was infuriated once more. Is she trying to act like my aunt deliberately?
Just when she was about to lash out, Clarissa held her back.
Ellie stared at Clarissa for a moment before she decided to let go of the matter. She ignored Shermaine’s provocations and left with Clarissa in the car immediately.
After their car had left, it wasn’t too long until someone arrived to pick up Shermaine.
“Ms. Smallwood, Mr. Tyson told me to send you home safely. Please get into the car.”
Donnie uttered politely. However, Shermaine was seemingly disappointed.
“Where’s Matt? Why didn’t he come?”
“Mr. Tyson isn’t free to pick you up because he has a video conference with Moranta this evening. However, you don’t have to worry as I’ll definitely send you home safely.”
After Shermaine got into the car, she uttered to Donnie, “Just send me to Zen Highlands then. I haven’t seen Matt in such a long time.”
“I’m sorry, Ms. Smallwood. But without Mr. Tyson’s permission, no one is allowed to enter Zen Highlands. Furthermore, Mr. Tyson will be very busy this evening and wouldn’t have the time to accompany you, so it’s better for you to head home first.”
Shermaine’s face darkened. Even though she wasn’t willing to adhere to that, she knew she wasn’t an exception and wouldn’t be allowed to enter Zen Highlands no matter what. She clenched her fist and lowered her eyes in reluctance.
Early next morning.
By the time Clarissa woke up, Ellie was already on her phone.
“Darn it.”
Clarissa’s head was aching mildly as she didn’t manage to get a good night’s sleep. “Who are you cursing at this early in the morning?”
“Who else?”
Ellie passed her phone to Clarissa. She took a glance at it and saw that it was a photo of Shermaine being picked up by a mysterious car. The news broke out like wildfire on the internet.
“Don’t you think it’s weird that someone is still following Shermaine that late in the night? I think she must have deliberately asked someone to do that. Otherwise, why aren’t there photos of her doing something else? It’s usually when Uncle Matt shows up that everyone on the internet would start talking about her. I suspect there must be something fishy going on here. What do you think? Could it be that Shermaine had deliberately found someone to take these photos and sensationalize them by posting them on the internet?”
Clarissa sat up and got out of bed. Then, she rubbed her forehead and went into the bathroom.
Ellie continued, “Besides, I don’t see Uncle Matt in the photo, it’s only Donnie. They blurred the photo on purpose to make it seem otherwise. This woman is really manipulative.”
Clarissa did not pay any attention to what Ellie was saying after that. She stared into the mirror and glanced at her own reflection for quite some time before flashing a self-deprecating smile.
