With her ceaseless cries, one could only imagine the next move that Gloria would make was to hang herself. Of course, she was doing all that just to get Catherine to come out from her room.
Clarissa was rather disgusted by her behavior.
“Aunt Gloria, enough is enough. Your daughter has committed theft, and it doesn’t seem that she wants to change for the better. She looks rather angry at me right now.”
Feeling triggered, Mimi turned her wretched face to look at Matthew. “Clare, watch your attitude. Matthew is still here. You’re ruining your own image. I’m like a sister to you, and my mother is an elder who should be respected. Hmph. Matthew, don’t you think she’s a bit much?”
Clarissa pursed her lips and turned to Matthew. “Do you think I’m being cruel?”
Matthew gazed at her lovingly and pecked her cheeks. “Clare, how can someone call you cruel? I think you’re super cute.”
Eyeing Mimi with disdain, Clarissa sneered with a proud look on her face.
Meanwhile, Mimi’s face was turning darker and darker by the second. Unable to keep up her act anymore, she retort…”Hah! What else can I expect? You’re just a loser who relies on his wife…”
“Shut it!”
Unable to stand the ruckus, Catherine had come out of her room. Upon hearing Mimi’s insults, she finally lost her temper.
Gloria quickly went up to her, holding her arm and pleading to her with a creaky voice.
“Mom, look at her! This granddaughter of yours is trying to end us all! Why is she so spiteful and cruel? I’m her aunt and your daughter!”
Catherine ignored Gloria’s pleas, shook her off, and sat down beside Clarissa.
As Gloria’s bawling persisted, Catherine frowned and remained quiet. Noticing that, Jacob gave his wife a nudge.
“Catherine, Mimi has admitted to her mistakes. I promise that such things would never happen again. Would you forgive us, aren’t we family?” he said.
Catherine squinted her eyes at Mimi. “Admitted to her mistakes? Back when Clary had yet to come home, I’ve already warned you that you need to return her things. But what did you do? You refused to do it and denied that you have taken her things. Hah! Clary has already reported the case to the police now. It’s too late.”
“Grandma! How can you do this to me? I’m your granddaughter. Why are you treating me like this? Are you on Clare’s side now just because she’s more well-off? I’ll be much richer than her in the future, and I’ll treat you even better than she does!” Mimi cried.
“Yes! When Mimi becomes a celebrity in the future and makes the big bucks, she would definitely treat you well. She’s taking her college entrance exams very soon. If you let Clary report her to the police now, her future would be ruined!” Gloria placed a hand on her chest as if struggling to breathe…”Mimi has had it tough from a young age in such a family. Oh, and now her dreams of rising to stardom have been crushed by her own family. Mimi, I’m so sorry…”
And with that, Gloria burst into tears once more, not to mention that she was pushing more and more of the blame onto Clarissa.
Clarissa rolled her eyes. Hmph. Your tears won’t work here.
She looked down at her hands that were intertwined with Matthew, tuning out to the noise in the living room.
Catherine also looked rather annoyed by her daughter’s whining.
“Enough! You’re crying as if I’m on my deathbed.”
With Catherine’s thundering voice, the room finally quietened down.
Looking at her daughter and son-in-law with a serious expression, Catherine said, “So, you have admitted that Mimi has taken Clary’s belongings?”
Gloria nodded. “Yes, but Mimi simply borrowed them, with the plan to return them after some time!”
“What? Say that again?”
“No… I mean… Mother, yes, Mimi took those items. But… but it’s my fault. I saw that Clary wasn’t really using her things and thought it would be a waste to let them collect dust at home, so I…” Gloria’s excuses were becoming more preposterous by the moment.
“What Clary does with her things is none of your business! Even if it were a needle, if you were to take it without telling her, it’s considered as theft!” Catherine thundered.
Mimi still seemed displeased with how things were unfolding. Catherine ignored her.
“Since you guys have done the deed, you should all apologize to her in proper!”
“Didn’t I already do it?” Mimi spluttered.
“Alright then. There’s no need to force yourself to do it. After all, what you face is simply some time in jail.”
“No…”
Gloria immediately nudged her daughter and said under her breath, “Mimi, apologize to Clary. Now!”
However, Mimi did not seem to budge. Without even looking at Clarissa, she mumbl…”Yeah… I… I…”
“What did you say?”
Clarissa raised her voice. “I can’t hear you!”
“I’m sorry! Is that enough?” Mimi yelled.
Clarissa laughed coldly, “Hmph. I’m not accepting that for an apology.”
“You…”
Mimi looked infuriated. Her burning gaze was so strong as if she would lose control and tear down Clarissa any moment. However, she had to control her expressions in front of Catherine.
Looking solemnly at her granddaughter, Catherine said, “Clary, I’ll make sure that this is the last time I ever nose into your business. I’ve done enough for their sake and won’t ever help them out again, so can you spare Mimi just this once? Matthew is also here to witness my oath.”
In her heart, Clarissa also did not want to put Mimi in jail. Moreover, now that her grandmother was also pleading with her, she wanted to respect her request.
However, she knew that she must not settle the incident just like that. Turning to the Lesters, she said, “I can do as Grandma says but on one condition.”
“What is it?”
“Though you guys always talk about wanting to be filial toward Grandma, I can’t be sure what tricks you guys may pull in the name of that. Let me tell you this. If you try to do anything to harm Grandma, I’ll send Mimi to jail right away. I have all my evidence ready,” Clarissa replied calmly.
“Hah… Clary, did you hear your own words? Your grandmother is my mother! Why would I harm her in any way?”
Gloria put on an awkward smile on her face but still looked shaky out of the fear that Clarissa would go back on her words at any moment.
“Whatever. As long as you do as you say. Otherwise, I’ll file another case for mistreating your old mother!”
“Hah… Of course we would…”
The Lesters were well-aware of the way they had treated Catherine all that while.
For the past few years, the Lesters had never cared about Catherine at all. Clarissa had not called them out for it knowing that it would be a pointless thing to do, but that did not mean that hatred was not building up from within her.
Catherine gladly accepted Clarissa’s decision. Under the expectant gazes from the Lesters, Clarissa took them to the police station. Matthew also tagged along.
After settling the case at the police station, Mimi pouted her lips and smirked at Matthew.
“Hmph. You two are truly a good match!”
With that, she left with her parents.
Clearly, she did not mean her words literally.
However, Matthew was unbothered. Chuckling lightly, he said, “Clare, it seems like she isn’t completely blind. We are a true match made in heaven indeed!”
Clarissa raised an eyebrow. “She totally did not mean that.”
Matthew laughed, “Is that so? I couldn’t tell.”
Gosh, he’s acting dumb. It’s pretty cute, though.
Afterward, they went back home. Catherine had been waiting for them.
“Clare, you’re not mad at me, are you?” Catherine felt bad about making Clarissa go through all of that without giving Mimi and the Lesters the punishment they deserved.
On the other hand, Clarissa was a little startled by her words. “Grandma, why would you think that? I could never be mad at you.”
“But you’ve lost so many precious items…”
“Grandma, I had also intended to give them a scare rather than actual capital punishment. Your words were also in my favor. Moreover, Aunt Gloria is your dear daughter. I can’t really be too harsh on her no matter how horrible of a person she is,” Clarissa replied gently.
Clarissa’s words brought tears to Catherine’s eyes. “Clare, you’re such a good girl. I’m so lucky to have you as my granddaughter. I… I’ve completely given up on that daughter of mine after all these years. If they repeat their mistakes, I will not butt in! I promise!”
Catherine did not expect much from her daughter even before the incident. She knew her daughter too well.
At first, the Lesters had showered her with flowery words and acted as if they wanted to set things right and treat her better from then. However, as things turned out, all they did was instruct Mimi to plunder the things in her house. Worse still, they tried talking Catherine into taking Clarissa’s money in the name of helping Clarissa stay away from men who were after her money. They even made it clear that they wanted Clarissa to break up with Matthew.
The Lesters had not expected that though Catherine was an elderly woman, she had a sharp mind and could see through their schemes right away. Catherine left their house right away upon listening to their nonsense.
However, Catherine wanted to keep those unpleasant words to herself. She did not want Clarissa or Matthew to feel hurt.
And so, Catherine decided to hide that secret in her heart, thinking that the Lesters would not go out of line after that incident.
Due to her grandmother’s physical condition, Clarissa chose not to return to D City with Matthew.
Of course, it took a lot of time and heartfelt words to convince Matthew to leave without her.
The night before Matthew left for D City, the two of them made love all night long. Fearing that her grandmother might find out about them, Clarissa dared not make too much noise, so they could not even use the bed. As a result, she caught a slight cold the next morning.
At the airport, Clarissa was still complaining about how he had caused her to fall sick.
“Hmph. It’s all your fault. If it weren’t for you…”
Matthew chuckled and pulled her into an embrace.
“Clare, if you can get a new bed that doesn’t creak like the one right now, then everything would work out. You won’t have to worry about the noise, nor would you catch a cold, am I right?”
“…”
How is my bed the main problem? He’s totally messing around with me.
Clarissa rolled her eyes and said, “Hmph. Why should I get another bed? The problem is with you!”
“Gosh… Yeah… yeah, it’s my problem. I went too hard on you…”
Before Clarissa could even react, Matthew leaned over for a kiss. Clarissa’s face turned as red as a tomato, and she stared at him with her big, sparkly eyes as if trying to give him a warning.
“You… you’d better get going now!”
Feeling embarrassed, Clarissa tried pushing him away. Gosh, why is he always saying those things? I’ve hardly heard him say anything serious.
Matthew covered her small hands with his and said gently, “Clare, how about a goodbye kiss?”
Clarissa shook her head.
Matthew grinned. “Alright then, I’ll do it myself.”
With that, he bent down for the goodbye kiss that he yearned for.
