Clarissa knew that look in his eyes all too well. Hence, she quickly reached out and pushed against his face that was moving closer to hers.
“Hey, cut it out! We still need to head back to the office, you know? I’ll head home right now if you don’t stop fooling around!”
Matthew let out a sigh and leaned against his seat as he tried to calm himself down.
After a brief pause, he grabbed her hand and gave it a kiss before driving back to the office.
Feeling bored, Clarissa went to take a nap in Matthew’s break room.
She was then later woken up by a shrill voice from outside.
Still in a bit of a daze, Clarissa sat upright and stared at the door as she listened to what the woman was saying.
“Now I see why you were immune to all my efforts throughout those years… You disappoint me, Matthew… Acting all coquettish with that pretty face of hers is all she can do! I can’t believe you would date someone like that!”
“That’s my business, Michelle. You’re crossing the line here.”
“Honestly, I’m feeling a sense of relief along with my disappointment in you. I used to think that I wasn’t good enough for you, but now I know it’s your taste in women that’s the problem. I think I’m able to move on now, Matthew.”
Matthew kept quiet while Clarissa held a hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing out loud.
Michelle might’ve been rude to me and all, but she doesn’t seem that bad of a person now that I think about it… I mean, at least she isn’t shamelessly clinging to Matthew!
“Still, could you tell me what you like about such women? Is it because they make you feel great in bed? All that sexual gratification is temporary, Matthew! It won’t last long! Don’t tell me you’ve already had several girlfriends like her…”
There was a strong hint of disappointment and confusion in Michelle’s tone when she said that.
I bet Michelle must be visualizing images of Matthew sleeping with other women right now! Clarissa thought to herself.
“I’ll take your silence as a yes, then… As much as I am disappointed in your choices, you are still an undeniably excellent person when it comes to your work. I shall remain in the company, but I will keep everything strictly professional from here on.”
“Very well,” Matthew replied coldly.
The room fell silent, and Clarissa thought Michelle was about to leave his office, but she spoke up again all of a sudden, “Mr. Tyson, as your subordinate, I advise you to put an end to this unhealthy obsession of yours. You’re not a young man anymore, remember? While I won’t comment on your personal kinks, you really should pull yourself together for the sake of the company! Don’t want you to end up…”
However, Matthew cut her off before she could finish, “That’s enough, Michelle.”
“I just hope you understand what I said, Mr. Tyson,” Michelle said after a brief pause.
Right then, Clarissa came out of the break room when she heard Michelle leave.
Matthew looked at her and noticed that she was desperately holding back her laughter.
With Michelle gone, Clarissa no longer had to hold it in and burst out laughing in his face. “Pffft… Hahahahahaha…”
Oh, how the tables have turned! Matthew was just laughing at me before we came back to the office earlier, and now I’m the one laughing at him instead!
She made no attempts to control herself and laughed so hard that she ended up kneeling on the floor, clutching her aching tummy with one hand and smacking the floor with the other.
Meanwhile, Matthew could only frown at her helplessly as he watched from behind his desk.
Had it not been for her aching tummy, he would’ve ignored her completely.
Eventually, he couldn’t stand seeing her in pain and scooped her into his arms. “Is it really that funny? It’s your man that she’s insulting, you know?”
“Haha… I… Hahaha…”
Clarissa was laughing so hard that she couldn’t even talk.
“Hey, stop laughing already! Isn’t it a good thing that she’s backing off on her own?” Matthew said while patting her on the back.
Clarissa mustered all of her might to keep her laughing under control as she wiped the tears from her eyes.
“You’d better watch out, Mr. Tyson! Don’t want you to end up dying from doing it too much now!”
That was what Michelle had intended to say earlier before she got cut off.
Matthew frowned. This woman is getting bolder and bolder with each day… Looks like I’ll have to punish her a little!
“Cut it out!” he shouted while giving her a hard smack on the butt.
Clarissa stuck her tongue out and snorted at him before bursting into another fit of laughter.
“You know, I think Michelle is actually quite an interesting woman! The advice she gave you was for your own good too, so you really should listen to your subordinates, Mr. Tyson!”
Upon that, Matthew shot her a cold glare and grabbed her by the chin as he warned her, “Not another word if you know what’s best for you!”
“Okay, not another word!” Clarissa stuck her tongue out at him and said.
She even made a zipping motion near her mouth for emphasis, but there was no hiding that grin on her face.
Naturally, Matthew wasn’t happy about her attitude, but there wasn’t much he could do to her in the office.
Later that evening, the two of them were in the car and about to leave when Clarissa saw Amanda walking out of the office angrily with a box of her belongings in hand.
“Amanda’s been fired?” Clarissa asked in surprise.
Matthew arched an eyebrow at her. “Who?”
“The one who got into a fight with me.”
“Oh, I don’t know. Why do you ask?”
Clarissa gave it some thought. Even if Matthew didn’t order for her to be fired, there’s no way the company would let her stay anyway. Either that or she resigned on her own as she knows how hard things would be for her if she stayed. Well, knowing her, I doubt she’s the type who would resign, so she’s most likely fired. I mean, that angry look on her face says it all! But man… I don’t know how I feel about this…
After a while, Matthew looked up from his notebook when he noticed her staring at him and asked, “What’s the matter, Clare? Do you want me to kiss you?”
Clarissa snickered. “Oh, so looking at you means I want a kiss from you now?”
“The look in your eyes tells me you wanted a kiss,” Matthew said with a chuckle.
“Cut it out already!”
Ignoring her, Matthew pulled her into his arms and lifted her chin before planting a kiss on her lips.
“What were you thinking about?”
Clarissa said after a brief pause, “I was just thinking about how being rich and powerful feels like having a superpower. I mean, a single frown from you is all it takes for your subordinates to do your bidding! It’s no wonder your mom wants you to marry an equally rich and powerful woman. That way, you’d be a lot more powerful with both your wealth combined!”
She didn’t actually think that far ahead at first, but the words just came out of her mouth as she went on.
Nonetheless, Matthew wasn’t happy to hear that and shot her a piercing gaze as he said, “Is that what you think of me, Clare? You think I have to rely on women to gain more wealth and power?”
Oh, boy… Did I just leave a huge dent in his ego and pride as a man?
Being accused of relying on women was bad enough for Matthew, and hearing it from Clarissa simply added insult to injury.
Seeing how upset he was, Clarissa wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the corner of his lips to comfort him.
“Of course not! Do you think I don’t know my man well enough? I’m saying – that’s what your mom thinks! There’s no way a successful man like yourself would ever need to rely on women for anything!”
Feeling satisfied with her explanation, Matthew flashed her a smile and pinched her on the cheek. “You sure have a way with words.”
Clarissa winked at him. “You think so?”
“Oh, yes…” Matthew said with a chuckle before pressing his lips against hers.
Clarissa was just ranting a little, so I suppose I could just forget what she said. Besides, with the way our relationship is right now, there’s nothing that could possibly come between us! It doesn’t matter if she isn’t from a wealthy family, because I can provide for her what no one else can!
