Clarissa waited for Avery to leave before walking out.
Obviously, Matthew heard her phone ringing too.
Was it really a coincidence for her to be there? But… why didn’t we hear her footsteps?
The moment Clarissa entered the car, Matthew pulled her into his embrace. Lifting her chin with his fingers, he leaned in and gave her a thoughtful look.
“Tell me, how long have you been watching? Hmm?”
Clarissa blinked innocently, using a technique she had picked up from Damian. “What are you talking about? What do you mean how long?”
Matthew smiled with his eyes and gave her lips a gentle peck.
“Stop denying it! Why did you hide?”
She sighed before saying, “I really don’t know what you’re talking about. What do you mean by me hiding? By the way, I saw a figure walk past just now. Who was it? Was it a lady? Where did she come from?”
Matthew was stumped by her questions as it was obvious that she was trying to turn the situation around.
Finally, Clarissa pressed her advantage. Widening her eyes, she grabbed onto his collar as if she had caught him with another woman.
“Tell me, was it a woman? What did you do with her just now?”
Matthew raised his hands to surrender.
“Clare, stop messing around.”
Furrowing her eyebrows, she snorted with displeasure.
“Hmph! Matthew, how dare you accuse me of making a fuss? Do you not love me anymore? Let me make something clear. I’m not messing around at all. Obviously, you are the one that’s heartless, cold, cruel…”
Matthew was lost for words at her accusation.
When she saw the blank look on his face, Clarissa couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
Reaching out, she stroked his pitiful-looking face before comforting him by kissing him on the lips.
“Come on; I’m just pulling your leg. Alright, I’ll stop. You should see the look on your face right now. You really look like Damian.”
Matthew’s eyes sparkled in amusement. “Hmm, enjoying yourself, I see? Have you had enough?”
The woman nodded with a grin. “It’s not too bad. However, I wasn’t really hiding on purpose. I just wanted to see what Avery was up to.”
“Mmm-hmm. Now that you have seen it, what do you think?”
“You did well!”
By acting as if he didn’t know her at all, Matthew drove Avery up the wall.
Raising his eyebrows, he poked his finger on her chest. “You really are full of schemes.”
“Of course not. Anyway, since you did well today, why don’t I cook for you as a reward? Tell me, what do you like to eat?”
Matthew smiled. “Why are you treating me like a child by rewarding me with food?”
“What else do you want then?”
He leaned closer to bite her ear before whispering something in it.
Blushing instantly, Clarissa pushed him away bashfully. “Give it a rest!”
Smiling, he stared at her embarrassed expression as he gently ran his fingers down her cheeks.
Clarissa shot him a glance. “Stop it.”
Ignoring her, Matthew bit onto her cheeks, causing her to yelp in surprise. He was still laughing in delight when she pushed him away.
“Mmm-hmm. It tastes really sweet.”
“Matthew! You’re crazy!”
He simply responded with a hearty laughter.
In the evening, Ellie refused to leave Zen Highlands for she adored Damian too much to want to part with the boy.
“Clare, it’s a good sign that my family hasn’t caused any trouble yet. Can I take Damian along with me when I go out with my friends? I want to show off this adorable cousin of mine to them.”
Clarissa was aware that Ellie had waited for a long time to ask her about it. After all, she knew Ellie was worried that she might object.
Since the Tysons didn’t care, Clarissa realized she could afford some flexibility.
“Alright. Go ahead and invite Damon out. As for the other gatherings, I’ll bring him along whenever I’m free.”
“No problem!”
Ellie was visibly excited. She couldn’t wait to plan out an itinerary and inform Damon of the gathering.
Furthermore, she was excited by the opportunity to show Damian off. As she had taken tons of photos of him, she chose one that was blurry to share on her social media account.
It garnered a lot of likes very quickly, and her friends started asking if she had given birth in secret.
While Ellie was busying replying to them, she even shared what was going on with Damian. Both of them looked happy as they enjoyed each other’s company.
Meanwhile, Clarissa reminded herself to accept that Damian was no longer the child whom she had kept hidden all to herself.
Meanwhile, Hilary had been feeling nervous recently. After paying Judy off, she hardly had any money left.
After what happened three years ago, Zach was no longer as generous to her as before. The allowance he gave her gradually decreased. If not for the fact that she had some savings from her earlier years, she would have already been broke.
Now, she had to endure Zach’s temper and scoldings whenever she asked him for money. Even then, she might not necessarily get anything.
Therefore, Hilary hated Judy and her husband to the bone. She really wanted to escape from their clutches but had no idea how to. Hence, she had no choice but to endure.
But that day, Zach came home surprisingly early just when Hilary had prepared dinner. Smiling, he asked Hilary the moment he entered, “Why are you cooking? Where’s the maid? Hill, stop working. You must be really tired…”
Zach’s change in attitude caused Hilary to feel a mix of emotions.
Instead of expressing her surprise, she responded with a faint smile.
“It’s alright, Zach. I’m willing to do anything for our family. You must be tired from work too, so cooking for you is not a big deal at all.”
Both of them were understanding of each other and looked as if they were very much in love.
When they sat down together for dinner, their interaction was polite despite the conflicting emotions.
That evening, Hilary didn’t utter a single word of complaint. Smiling gently, she felt appreciated by Zach. Later in the night, he whispered sweet nothings to her as they spent a passionate night together.
The next day, when Hilary was helping Zach with his tie, he finally revealed his agenda.
“Hill, at the end of the day, Clarissa is still your daughter. Furthermore, she has a son now, and it isn’t easy raising one. Now that you’re a grandmother, you should visit your grandson whenever you’re free. Perhaps, you can lighten her burden by helping her take care of her son.”
When Zach saw how shocked she was, he added, “How can you, as the grandmother, not know about him? Clarissa’s son is already pretty big. You should drop by for a visit when you’re free.”
After he left, Hilary asked around and finally confirmed that the news she had just found out was true.
The rumor she heard was that Matthew had a son. But, not many people knew who the mother was. However, anyone in the know could easily guess correctly.
The child isn’t even three yet. Hence, he must be Clarissa’s.
When she found out that Clarissa quietly had a son, Hilary quickly realized why Zach had changed his attitude toward her.
Even if Clarissa doesn’t marry into the Tyson family, having a son undeniably elevates her status.
Hilary clearly understood the difference in power a mother wielded compared to a woman who was just a lover.
Despite not officially recognized as Mrs. Tyson, her son will likely inherit Tyson Corporation in the future. Even if he doesn’t get everything, he will receive at least half of it. Furthermore, as Matthew hasn’t remarried, they still have a chance. After all, isn’t he a faithful man?
In fact, he doesn’t want to be with anyone else his entire life. Therefore, Clarissa is the winner in this situation.
Suddenly, Hilary felt as if she had hope. She no longer needed to suffer the humiliation showed to her by Zach and Yvonne. After all, she was now grandmother to the Tyson Corporation heir.
With that thought in mind, Hilary was filled with excitement.
It didn’t matter if Clarissa acknowledged her. As long as she could somehow leverage her daughter’s influence to bolster her standing in the Garrett family, it would be enough. One way was to help take care of the child.
After all, she was Clarissa’s mother.
As for Shermaine, Hilary had long forgotten about her as she was of no help from prison.
Being someone realistic, Hilary began to dress up. But, she quickly decided against it as looking haggard without makeup seemed to be the better strategy. With that, she headed to Tyson Corporation.
She wanted to see Clarissa there. In the event she couldn’t, Hilary would then look for Matthew.
After all, her plan was to leech herself onto them.
Unfortunately, she had naively underestimated the difficulty of executing her plan.
When Clarissa heard that Hilary was looking for her over the past few days, she went to Tyson Corporation as usual and ignored Hilary instead.
Given how extremely selfish and unreasonable Hilary was, Clarissa had no intention of acknowledging her as her own mother.
However, Clarissa was still puzzled as to what caused Hilary’s change in attitude three years ago.
She had gotten Matthew to investigate the matter, but they hadn’t managed to find anything.
When she went through the results of his investigations, she asked Matthew, “What do you think is the reason she sacrificed her own daughter for the sake of her ex’s daughter?”
The documents showed Hilary’s relationship with James, which Catherine had told her before. At that time, Hilary had fallen for James, who was rich. As she was also pregnant, she wanted to be together with James. However, James had remained loyal to his wife; he didn’t succumb to Hilary’s seduction.
Therefore, Clarissa didn’t understand why Hilary had sacrificed her for Shermaine’s sake.
“In that case, why did she pay off the nurse every year? Mr. Graham told us the last time that the nurse’s family was extorting her. Didn’t they find out why?”
Matthew hugged Clarissa and reassured her, “I’ll send someone to get them to talk. We’ll know soon enough.”
“I have a feeling the answer is exceptionally simple. I just didn’t think of it.”
Clarissa didn’t express what had just come to her mind.
