Clarissa just stood there, staring at Matthew as he fiddled with the glass in his hand.
The atmosphere became incredibly tense with his silence, but nobody dared say a word.
Unable to contain her curiosity any longer, Ellie asked, “What are you doing, Uncle Matt?”
“It’s my fault.” Clarissa was quick to cut her off before she could say anything further.
She then poured herself another glass and held it up to Matthew as she continued, “Uncle Matthew, thank you for helping me and caring for me all this while. I hope you’ll forgive me for the mistakes I’ve made.”
It wasn’t until she downed the entire glass that he slowly looked up at her, and the two of them made eye contact.
This time, Clarissa maintained eye contact. She stared long and hard at him as if she was trying to stand up for herself.
With neither of them backing down, the tension was rising through the roof.
“I helped too, you know? See, I even shared it on Twitter!” Jeremy attempted to defuse the situation.
“Thank you.” Clarissa made a toast to him as well and downed another glass, much to Ellie’s surprise.
What the hell? Did she unlock the ability to hold her liquor after her trip home or something?
Fortunately, the tension was gone, and Clarissa sat back down in her chair. As Justin was talking to her about the film adaptations, Jeremy butted into the conversation. “Yates, you’re making a movie? Let me sponsor you, eh? I want to make myself some money out of the entertainment industry too! With us sponsoring you, your movie will definitely be a big hit worldwide, Clary!”
Yarick chimed in as well. “He’s right, Clary! With a little help from Yates, I’m sure you’ll make a fine lead actress! I mean, look at Shermaine…”
He stopped himself the moment he realized he had misspoke again, but it was too late. Everyone in the room had already heard what he said.
He then lowered his head to avoid their angry stares and went back to eating.
Stuffing his mouth with food was the only surefire way for him to keep it shut, and that was probably why he was so fat.
“Heh… Yarick is right, though. You certainly have it in you to surpass all those other actresses out there, Clary! Isn’t that right, Yates?”
“She has good looks, but looks aren’t everything, you know? I’m very strict when it comes to acting skills!” Justin said with a chuckle.
“Yeah, you’re right. I’ve never been to a drama school of any sort, so I think I’ll refrain from ruining Director Yates’ amazing work and just stick to writing!”
Ellie gave her a playful nudge. “No, that simply won’t do! With that pretty face of yours, you should at least consider being a model or something! Remember the pictures we took the other day? They’ve brought in quite a lot of customers to my shop lately, so why don’t you consider working for me as a model?”
“What pictures?” Clarissa asked.
Ellie whipped out her phone and showed them the pictures she had taken of Clarissa, much to the latter’s embarrassment.
At that moment, Matthew stood up all of a sudden, plunging the room into silence once again.
“What is it, Matt?”
“I’m going out for a bit.”
Ellie waited until he had left the room before going on a rant. “What’s gotten into Uncle Matt lately? He’s so gloomy and scary! Jeremy, you’ve been around him a lot, right? Do you know what’s going on?”
“Hey, what do you mean by that? I’ve got other things to do too, you know?”
“You mean your string of girlfriends? Honestly, if it weren’t for you being such a playboy, Grandma would’ve thought you and Uncle Matt are a couple!”
“How uncouth! While I don’t really mind it, you’d better not let Matt hear you say that!”
Ellie quickly shut up and stuck her tongue out mischievously while Jeremy flashed Clarissa a smile.
“Better watch your distance with Clary there, Yates! I know you value her talents and all, but others might think you have ulterior motives or something! Come on, let’s have a chat. Did you get any action with hot chicks while you were overseas? I hear they’re…”
He deliberately cut them off, and Clarissa took advantage of that window of opportunity to excuse herself to the bathroom.
Ellie was about to follow her, but Jeremy stopped her the moment she stood up.
“Oh, no, you’re not going anywhere! I’ve got lots of questions for you too!”
Contrary to what Jeremy had thought, Clarissa was actually going to the bathroom instead of seeing Matthew in private.
Ever since Matthew had been cold to her the moment he saw her, Clarissa didn’t even dare go anywhere near him.
She froze in her tracks when she made a turn at the end of the corridor and saw Matthew smoking by the window.
The dim lighting highlighted his tall figure and made the air around him seem a lot colder.
She could’ve just turned around and went straight back to the room, but her body refused to move, so she just stood there and watched as he puffed away.
After quite a while, Matthew put the cigarette out, turned around, and came face to face with her.
There was a look of panic and guilt on her face, but he simply walked right past her.
Clarissa quickly turned around and grabbed hold of his sleeve with her head held low.
Matthew turned to look at her, expecting her to say something, but she remained silent.
“Let go!” A court order.
His tone sounded even colder than the time they first met, sending a shiver down her spine as she slowly let go of him.
As Matthew was about to continue walking, Clarissa reached out again and grabbed him by the wrist instead.
He spun around and shot her a cold glare, causing her to panic as she tried to explain herself, “I-It’s not me! M-My hand just a-acted on its own!”
She realized how stupid she sounded, but she held on to him instead of letting go this time.
Matthew simply snorted sarcastically at her. “Heh!”
Whatever courage she had vanished at that point. All she could do was apologize while avoiding eye contact.
“I’m sorry.”
“Just what are you sorry for, Ms. Quigley?”
“I shouldn’t have been so rude to you the other day.”
“Which day? I don’t remember. Now, let go.”
Despite how much it hurt her to hear him say that, Clarissa refused to let him go. She wrapped her arms tightly around his waist instead.
“Please don’t be angry, I…”
Before she could finish, Matthew had brushed her arms off him and walked straight back to the room.
The heartache and disappointment were so overwhelming that she wanted to cry on the spot.
“Hahahaha…” An ear-piercing laughter came from behind.
Clarissa spun around and saw Yvonne smiling sarcastically at her.
“So much for acting all high and mighty, only to end up throwing yourself at a man! You’re just like your mother! No. Actually, your mother had it better! At least my father took pity on her and married her. But that man right there looks like he’s just dumped you! How are you so shameless that you’d still try to hug him after that?”
Not wanting to argue with her, Clarissa ignored her insults and walked straight ahead.
Instead of going after Clarissa, Yvonne simply shouted from behind her, “Aww, you poor thing! I can’t even imagine how much of a b*tch you must be for a man to reject you even after throwing yourself at him! Hahahaha…”
She took great pleasure in seeing Clarissa trying to avoid her like that.
Upon returning to the room, Clarissa glanced at Matthew and pouted when she saw that he was still being cold towards her.
“What’s wrong, Clare? What took you so long? Wait… Is it just me or do you look unhappy?”
“Mhmm…”
Ellie was shocked to hear her admission. “Seriously? What happened?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. I just ran into a really petty person, that’s all.”
“A petty person? Who? Is it that boyfriend of yours? What did he do? The worst type of men is those who cheat and those who are petty, so you’d better break up with him as soon as possible! Gosh, I hate petty men so much! They could go on and on all day about something you did wrong, and might even bring it up in future arguments!”
Ellie’s words got the attention of everyone in the room, and they all looked towards Clarissa.
Clarissa shot Matthew a glance, but he showed no response.
The other guys there, however, were quick to join in the conversation.
“She’s right! A man who is petty like that is no gentleman at all! I suggest you reconsider your choices, Clary,” Justin said with a chuckle.
“Pettiness, eh? It’s true that petty men can be a real pain to deal with. Is he your boyfriend, Clary?” Jeremy asked.
Clarissa nodded.
“Tsk tsk… In that case, you really should break up with him!”
Yarick felt a chill down his spine as he watched the three of them egging her on like that. Their bravery really is something…
“Matt, don’t you have anything to say? Are you really going to just let her break up with him like that?”
All eyes were fixated on Matthew.
