The next day, the pain in Clarissa’s body was even more pronounced, so much so that she didn’t dare to move a muscle.
Since lying on her belly felt more uncomfortable, she got down from the bed and stood still, which eased the pain slightly.
Ellie came to visit her early in the morning and even brought along some breakfast.
However, she was taken aback upon spying the lunchbox on the coffee table.
“Who brought this for you?”
Just as Clarissa was racking her brain for an answer, Ellie came up with one all on her own.
“Was it your boyfriend? Did he come over? Why didn’t he stay longer? I’m curious about what he looks like. Anyway, did he come here last night?”
Clarissa fumbled for words before squeaking out, “Mm… He did. He has to work today, so he left early. Besides, I’m not that badly injured. There’s no need for him to stay too long.”
“Hmph! That’s not the point. It’s the thought that counts. Anyway, let me tell you, even though I haven’t met this boyfriend of yours, I already don’t have a good impression of him.”
Ellie bluntly announced her standing, not bothering to sugar coat her words.
As for Clarissa, she could only smile wryly because there was nothing she could do.
Later in the morning, two people visited Clarissa in her ward.
It was Donnie and a police officer.
Ellie was puzzled, as she thought the incident last night had already been resolved.
“Ms. Tyson, this officer has a few questions for you. It’s about the girl named Lucy.”
“Lucy?”
Ellie was bewildered.
“Ms. Tyson, how long have you known Lucy?”
“Uh… Less than a month, I think?”
The officer glanced at Donnie, then continued asking Ellie a few questions about Lucy.
Seeing Ellie’s confusion, Donnie walked her through the details after the interrogation was over.
It turned out that Lucy had shown withdrawal symptoms at the police station last night and was caught by them. Perhaps it was coincidental, or perhaps Lucy had run into a bout of bad luck. Due to the heavy discomfort she felt from being unable to relieve the symptoms, she had begged and rambled on about many things in the end. Among those things was the fact that she had approached Ellie on purpose.
At that time, it was thanks to their captain, Shawn Hayes, that they caught the important details after a brief analysis. Later on, they also got Lucy to confess the reason she had deliberately approached Ellie.
“Ms. Tyson, this Lucy girl approached you because someone gave her the idea. They told her that if she wanted to break up with her current abusive boyfriend, she needed to get you to intervene and the breakup would be a success.”
“Even if that’s the case, she was the one who wanted to break up. What difference does it make that I had a hand in it? I could never stand men who hit women anyway.”
The police officer explained, “That’s the problem. After Captain Hayes analyzed the situation, he found that breaking up was only one of the goals. Lucy’s boyfriend has a tendency to beat people up whenever he gets upset. Previously, he had beaten up some rich people in his drunken state and suffered rather severe consequences. So Ms. Tyson, if he knew you were the one who urged Lucy to break up, it was inevitable that he’d go after you. This was the ultimate goal.”
Clarissa gasped in surprise at that. “You mean, their goal was to beat Ellie up?”
“It’s a possibility we can’t rule out. We also interrogated Lucy, and she said she doesn’t know the person who gave her the idea. It was just a girl she met at a bar and exchanged a few words with.”
“Bullsh*t! You’re saying someone wanted to beat me up and even went through all this hassle to do it? Is that Captain Hayes or whatever his name is delusional? Isn’t he exhausted from coming up with such a complicated theory?”
The police officer’s mouth arched into a helpless smile. “Captain Hayes has many years of experience in solving cases. His instincts are usually spot on.”
“Hmph! I don’t believe that, not for one second!”
Ellie remained skeptical, but since the officer had said everything that needed to be said, Donnie sent him off soon after.
In the room, Ellie’s face was sullen, while Clarissa’s features were lined with worry.
“Ellie, there must be some truth since it’s what the police said. Maybe there really is someone holding a grudge against you, but just like you said, why go through all the hassle instead of just confronting you? Besides, getting someone to beat you up doesn’t mean they’d succeed.”
As Ellie fell into deep contemplation, Clarissa worriedly gnawed her lip.
“Can you think of anyone who’d hold a grudge against you? It’s probably not that big of a grudge…”
Ellie shook her head. “There are indeed many people who I have conflicts with; some rivals from work and the occasional random people I offend. There are too many to count. It’s impossible to root them out. Whoever played this trick on me is a coward, so there’s nothing for me to be afraid of.”
“I know you’re not afraid, but they might harbor more bad intentions. You have to be more careful.”
Ellie’s lips quirked into a smile when she saw Clarissa’s bunched up brows.
“Look at you. You’re turning into an old lady. Don’t worry, I’m not that stupid. I’ll be careful.”
Clarissa wasn’t reassured, but worrying about it was useless. They still had to get the police to catch the culprit.
Ellie wanted to stay to accompany Clarissa, but the latter persuaded her to leave since she had a job to keep. In fact, Clarissa could be discharged today, but they had insisted that she stay.
In the afternoon, she walked about for a bit before taking a nap. After that, she sat by the window with her laptop propped on her knees, working on her script. For certain parts, she had to communicate and consult with a Ms. Mayer from Justin Yates Studio.
Matthew opened the door and entered just then. The first thing he saw was a serious-looking Clarissa sitting by the window. The sunlight filtered in and illuminated her figure. Her long hair was tied up into a messy ponytail, leaving stray strands of hair framing her face. Gazing at the way her beautiful face glowed under the sun, he gradually fell under a spell.
Matthew’s fingers twitched and his throat tightened at the alluring sight of her. For a long time, he stood there and watched her, trapped in a trance.
In the end, Clarissa was the one who had unwittingly looked up and saw him.
“Eh? When did you get here? Why are you always so quiet on your feet?”
Clarissa got up and reached out to grab a cup, but before she could, a hiss of pain escaped her lips.
Matthew swiftly walked over and took the cup for her, then wrapped an arm around her waist to hug her close to him.
After Clarissa finished drinking the water, Matthew stared hungrily at her lips. Unable to resist her natural appeal, he lowered his head to lock lips with her.
Why does he kiss me whenever we meet? Is he that desperate?
Being kissed so passionately by Matthew, Clarissa gasped for air before shoving him away. She showed no affection for him whatsoever as her mind was completely focused on Ellie’s wellbeing.
“You probably know, right? Is someone really targeting Ellie? Can they find out who this person is?”
Matthew’s eyes flashed icily. “Mm, they’re investigating.”
“I really don’t understand. How messed up does a person’s mind have to be to come up with a trick like this to harm her? It’s probably because she’s scared of being sniffed out and scared of Ellie finding out her identity. Since she’s so scared, it could mean that Ellie knows her. Or maybe she’s just a coward who used underhanded methods. Ugh, pathetic.”
Matthew lowered his head and pinched her chin, cocking a brow at her.
“My, such logical conspiracy theories. You should just become a private investigator.”
Clarissa giggled. “Nah, this was nothing. I’m sure anyone with half a brain could’ve come up with these deductions. And I’m serious about what I said. As her uncle, shouldn’t you be worried about her?”
“Mm. I’m sure her dear Aunt Clare worries about her enough for the two of us.”
“Tsk. Don’t spout nonsense!”
Clarissa pushed him away. With a face as red as a tomato, she shuffled away and sat down to look at her laptop, feigning calmness.
Despite that, Matthew didn’t expose her facade. He went over to sit with her, keeping his eyes trained on her the whole time.
Clarissa could never handle the weight of his gaze. She fidgeted in her seat, feeling awkward and shy.
When she couldn’t take it anymore, she blurted out, “You should go now. I’m really fine on my own. Or I could just get discharged, so that you don’t have to keep coming here. It’s too risky.”
“Risky?”
Clarissa immediately steered the topic away. “The point is, I don’t wanna stay here anymore. Besides, I’m fine. I just have to take some medication and I’ll be as good as new. I wanna go home.”
Home.
Matthew’s mood seemed to improve vastly after hearing this word.
“Alright. Let’s go home then.”
He readily agreed to her request and settled the discharge procedure before bringing her back to Zen Highlands.
In truth, Clarissa had already guessed that he would take her back there. Hence, she didn’t bother objecting.
Many said that it was easy to grow accustomed to a life of luxury. Indeed, Clarissa felt comfortable living in Zen Highlands. For someone as lazy as her, it was a dream come true not having to lift a finger. All she had to do was eat, write, sleep, and repeat. In addition, the view at Zen Highlands was beautiful, which could also significantly lifted her spirits.
Forgive me for allowing my pure heart to be tainted by the lavish ways of a capitalist.
Oh, well. I’m technically a patient now, so I’ll allow myself to enjoy this bit of luxury, just for now.
Clarissa sent a message to Ellie, telling the latter that she had gone home. She even straight up said that she was at her boyfriend’s house and told Ellie not to worry about her.
“Didn’t you say that he doesn’t care about me? Hate to break it to you, but he actually cares, and quite a lot too. Anyway, don’t worry, I’ll focus on recovering and go visit you soon. I’ll make sure to fatten up before seeing you, okay?”
“Hmph! I just can’t figure out why you’re being so secretive about it. Fine, I won’t ask. If I find out that you’ve lost weight or something, don’t blame me for checking up on that guy.”
“Alright, alright. Relax, he’s a very good person. You, on the other hand, have to be more careful. Beware of crazy plots from now on.”
After ending the call, Clarissa could finally relax. She stayed in Zen Highlands for a few days to recover properly as well as focus on writing her script.
By the time her injuries were completely healed, her script was almost done too. Without a moment’s delay, she sent it to Justin Yates Studio. Except for some minor details which she had overlooked, there weren’t many issues with the script.
The studio had also already made the necessary preparations for filming.
After that, Clarissa met up with Justin a few times to discuss various matters ranging from the scenes to the costumes, and to the tiniest of details in the script. Justin held her in high regards and respected her opinions. Hence, he let her join in on the discussions. First, it was because she was the original screenwriter, and second, he wanted to offer Clarissa the opportunity to fully participate in this film adaptation, unlike the previous crew who had only wanted her script.
Even though Clarissa started as a writer, she slowly gained an abundance of knowledge from Justin, which inevitably made her respect and admire him all the more.
