Clarissa felt goosebumps form all over when Matthew called her ‘my little sister’.
She blushed and looked at Matthew coyly.
However, Matthew raised a brow and smiled instead of being awkward.
“What’s wrong, my little sister?” he asked in a low-pitched, husky voice.
Clarissa turned beet red. “Stop it.”
“Is there a problem?”
He’s doing this on purpose.
In the end, Clarissa ignored him and turned to focus on the game. However, everyone had their eyes on the duo by now as they started teasing her.
“Tsk, you guys can even flirt on the poker table now. Get a room.”
Everyone around the table laughed at that. Clarissa felt so embarrassed that she wanted to dig a hole in the ground to bury herself.
In fact, Clarissa turned so red she felt like she might explode with embarrassment.
She shot up from her seat. There was no way she could continue playing the game anymore. “I’m leaving the table. You guys enjoy yourselves.”
“Don’t, we’ll stop. Hahaha… Are you embarrassed? Look at how thick-skinned Matt is. He didn’t even react to any of the jokes.”
Clarissa could only use her husband-to-be as her punching bag since she couldn’t vent her anger at anyone else.
She glared at Matthew but he smiled dotingly at her instead. He didn’t seem to mind what others said about him as he pulled her back down and kissed her cheeks.
In the end, Clarissa gave in as everyone cheered them on. Matthew finally stopped and glared warningly at his friends when she almost got mad.
They quietened down and watched as Matthew displayed his affection publicly. He pulled Clarissa into his arms, guided her hand to draw a card and let her lean on his chest. It was painful to watch the two of them.
However, nobody dared tease them again after Matt’s warning glare.
Clarissa couldn’t help but blushed as everyone gave her a knowing smile when their eyes met.
Shortly after, Ellie arrived. She wanted so badly to kiss Clarissa when she saw her being so shy.
“Clare, you’re so cute. Come here, give me a hug…”
Ellie dropped her hands when she met Matthew’s cold gaze. Then, she sat herself down on the sofa, twitched her lips and turned to face Jeremy.
“Mr. Jeremy, don’t you think he’s being unreasonable? He wouldn’t have met Clare without me. Yet, he is acting so cold. Besides, Clare is my best friend first before she became his fiancée. Don’t you think it’s normal for us to kiss and hug?”
Jeremy watched Matthew’s and Clarissa’s intimate behavior. They just couldn’t take their eyes off each other.
Tsk. I really can’t understand love.
As the most eligible bachelor in D City, Matthew never had any girlfriends. One would think he was leading an ascetic life, but to be more precise, he was simply a cold and heartless man.
Who would have thought he would fall head over heels in love with a woman one day?
Jeremy kept this to himself as he brooded over the subject.
He would never get the chance to experience the power of love anyways.
“Mr. Jeremy, do you know about their engagement?” Ellie leaned in and said in a low voice.
Jeremy patted the girl beside him. The girl got his hint and left them alone.
“I know.”
Ellie nodded. “This is good, right? But my family still knows nothing about it. Surely things will turn chaotic once they find out, but Uncle Matt didn’t look the least bit worried. Mr. Jeremy, do you think anything bad will happen? My family will have to attend the wedding if it happens. It will make Clare look bad if they don’t.”
Jeremy rubbed his chin as he gave it some thought.
“I think…”
“What?”
“It’s not a big deal.”
“Huh?”
Jeremy’s answer completely caught Ellie by surprise.
No big deal?
Jeremy chuckled. It was easy for women to fall for him when he smiles, what more with his unruly hair and amorous eyes.
Of course, it was just some women.
Ellie was dumbfounded. “How is this not a big deal? Mr. Jeremy, stop joking. You don’t know how important this is since you have never been married. How can they get married without their parents around?”
Jeremy scoffed at that. “Do their parents need to be around when they got their marriage certificate? Ellie, Matt is thirty six this year, not sixteen nor twenty-six. He’s old enough to shoulder the responsibility. Why would he need his parent’s consent?”
Ellie contemplated the idea for a while. “This makes sense. But still, it feels like something is missing without any parents attending the wedding.”
Jeremy simply smiled and didn’t comment any further.
Ellie turned her attention to Clarissa and saw that she was beaming with joy as if she had just won some money. Matthew never took his eyes off her all this while.
Ellie smiled. Ok fine. They’re not the least bit worried. So why should I be?
She trust that Uncle Matt would take good care of Clare.
Yarick was displeased that Clarissa had won several rounds in a row. Hence, he stopped playing.
He had never won a game for tonight.
“How could you guys bully me like that? Do you think it’s fair to me when you’re so rich?”
Clarissa couldn’t help but laughed when she saw the look on Yarick’s face.
“Come on, Yarick. You’re pretty well off yourself. Stop trying to change the subject. You have lost, so just pay up.”
Clarissa reached out and asked for money.
Justin chuckled. “Come on, Yarick, don’t be so petty. How can you deny her when she finally won herself some pocket money?”
Henry chimed in, “That’s right, Yarick. Didn’t you just open up a chain hotel? Gift it to Clarissa if you’re not going to pay.”
“I’ll pay, ok?”
Yarick wrote a check and placed it on the table. Clarissa couldn’t believe her eyes when she picked up the check out of curiosity. Just how many zeros are written here?
“There must be a mistake here.”
Why is he paying with a check? It’s just poker.
Clarissa twitched her lips and mumbled, “Poverty has restricted my imagination.”
“What?”
Clarissa quickly shook her head and turned to Matthew. However, he caressed her hair affectionately and said, “Just take it, it’s yours now. Use it as your pocket money.”
Clarissa was at a loss for words.
She was afraid she would expose how ‘poor’ she actually was the moment she opened her mouth to speak.
In the end, she thanked Yarick awkwardly.
“Hehe, thank you.”
Soon after, Matthew and Clarissa chatted over drinks with their friends. Matthew paid constant close attention to Clarissa even under the relaxed atmosphere. He would stare at her, hold her hand and hug her throughout the session.
His gaze even lingered on the door when she went to the washroom.
Everyone else in the room exchanged looks. Henry finally spoke up, “Matt, when is the wedding? Have you decided on the date? Is it going to be a Western wedding or something with an Oriental theme?”
Matthew withdrew his gaze. “Any suggestions?”
“Mix both elements together. Let’s do it outside the country since it’s too cold here. Find someplace warm.”
“Or you can rent a castle.”
“Why rent when you can just buy one? Or you can buy an island and go there for vacation.”
“This is a great idea.”
Clarissa would have mumbled about how poverty had restricted her imagination if she heard their conversation.
“Oh, Matt. Shermaine didn’t cause any more trouble, did she?”
Henry was aware of Shermaine’s plans since she worked under his company.
She was coming back just for Matthew.
However, Yarick curled his lips in disdain. “Tsk, how dare she? Doesn’t she ever learn? Who does she think Matt is? She needs to be taught a lesson.”
“What’s there to talk about, Henry?”
Henry shook his head. “You don’t know how vindictive women can be.”
“Oh, you mean like the award winning actress? The one who came to you for revenge after you dumped her?”
“Shut up, Jeremy.”
Henry turned pale as Jeremy had hit his soft spot.
Jeremy gave a deliberate smile whereas Justin gasped in shock. “Oh, no wonder she looked familiar…”
“That’s enough!”
Henry cut them off as the rest burst out laughing.
As for Matthew, he didn’t care much about Henry’s joke as he suddenly got up and left.
Clarissa and Ellie went to the washroom together. They ran into Jamie the moment they walked out the door.
Jamie didn’t look too good. Her eyes were bloodshot when she met Clarissa.
“Jamie, what happened?”
“Oh, it’s nothing, Ms. Quigley. I’ll be taking my leave now as I have something else to attend to.”
It seemed like Jamie was trying to steer clear of Clarissa as she avoided eye contact and left in a hurry.
“What’s going on?”
“What else? Everyone has their secrets. Oh right, isn’t she a celebrity who just recently made a name for herself? I saw her at your house party last time. Is she a good friend of yours?”
“Yep, not bad.”
Clarissa pondered on Jamie for a bit, shook her head and decided to let her be.
Matthew was already out the door when they reached the private lounge’s entrance.
“What is it?”
Clarissa was surprised, but Matthew simply smiled and pulled her hand. “What took you so long?”
Ellie had goosebumps all over as she watched them. She rubbed her arms and hastily walked into the room.
As for Matthew and Clarissa, they were making out at the corridor.
Clarissa’s heart was filled with joy as she held on to his finger like a little girl with a beautiful smile on her face.
Something stirred within Matthew as he lowered his head and kissed her on the lips. What they didn’t know was that someone else was watching them coldly from the end of the corridor.
