As Clarissa had mentioned, many people were indeed fond of the persona of a loyal man.
Thus, there were now countless men and women who regarded Matthew as their idol. After all, they yearned to have such a man loving them forevermore in real life.
In fact, Matthew was often brought up by women, especially in comparison with various other men.
When some women met top-notch men on a blind date, they posted it to the Internet and shared it with others, further highlighting Matthew’s goodness.
Conversely, some clamored that women worked themselves to the bone and allowed themselves to be demeaned, only to end up with their unsightly husbands cheating on them. Therefore, Matthew again became the yardstick of an ideal man.
And so, the list went on and on.
Likewise, Matthew had also become the model of a perfect man. In every little thing, women would always lament, “I would give up everything just for Matthew Tyson” or “If my man was Matthew Tyson, I would put up with anything.”
For that reason, when Matthew returned to D City and had a gathering with his best friends, even they wanted to censure him, not to mention every other man out there.
“That isn’t cool of you, Matt. Look, you’ve made us men look really bad now. Just a few days ago, my female companion suddenly said that she was very disappointed in me and broke up with me right away. Matt, never once had a woman ever told me that she was disappointed in me in all my years and among all the women I’ve dated,” Yarick groused.
It wasn’t a joke, for he was really complaining. The look in his eyes as he stared at Matthew was truly a touch chagrined.
Hearing that, Jeremy snorted. “Don’t push the blame on Matt. That woman must have been disappointed in you because she was dissatisfied with your skills! Haha…”
“Hah! What about you, Jeremy Smallwood?” Yarick retorted with a sneer. “Who’s the one who hooked up with a girl a few days ago only to find out that she only got together with you because she heard that you’re acquainted with Matt? Then, she kept pestering you to have a video call with Matt, which made you mad and led to you finally dumping her?”
Jeremy simply smiled after having his embarrassing story brought to the table without feeling too humiliated.
Henry, on the other hand, wore a grim expression and said nothing.
At the sight of his grim expression, Yarick couldn’t help but gloat at his misfortune.
“Ah, Henry, did Ms. Zaha also complain that you’re lagging behind Matt?”
The moment he said those words, Henry’s face darkened even further. He shot a cold look at Yarick, only to be greeted by increasingly deliberate laughter.
“Haha… Henry, why don’t you call Ms. Zaha over now that Matt is here so that she can have a good look at him! Say, you should really learn from Matt. After all, he has been chaste his entire life. As for you… Well, you can’t change your past, so why don’t you repent in your next life? For this lifetime, you should just give Ms. Zaha up. Just regard the entire thing as a star-crossed lovers scenario. It’s better to let her go earlier so that she can find someone better.”
“Zip it, Yarick! No one would take you for a mute even if you were to keep your mouth shut!” Henry warned coldly.
However, Yarick simply bellowed with laughter in response.
Among everyone there, Justin had always been the relatively calm one, so he truly felt that they were making a mountain out of a molehill considering the chaotic situation then.
“Is all this fuss really necessary? Matt’s popularity is indeed at an all-time high recently, but it’ll only persist for a short time. When something new happens after a few days, his popularity would eventually die down. But speaking of that, he could’ve suppressed the news.”
At that, everyone swung their gazes at Matthew. That’s right! He could’ve suppressed the news, so why didn’t he do anything?
They eyed him suspiciously, but Matthew remained unfazed. His handsome countenance was as unruffled as ever, and his jet-black eyes were as profound as always.
To be honest, he knew that he was now very popular, but he had no reason to interfere. In fact, he had his reasons for leaving things as they were.
Clarrisa had been jealous when his loyal persona became one of the trending searches. She became a touch more clingy with him, asking him whether he loved her every so often.
And he truly luxuriated in that, loving the fact that she was jealous and possessive over him.
Of course, he wasn’t planning on having her suffer forever. It was just a temporary phenomenon that he rather enjoyed.
Oh well, I really relish having Clarissa being clingy with me!
This hidden agenda of his was precisely why he didn’t have anyone suppress the news.
At the thought of that, Matthew’s thin lips curved slightly, and a hint of a smile seemingly manifested on his face.
“Tsk-tsk. That’s a crafty smile there, Matt! I can almost guess your motives now. Haha… You didn’t do anything to suppress your popularity because…”
As Jeremy was exceedingly blunt, Matthew immediately put his smile away. Getting to his feet, he walked to the side with his cell phone in hand and gave Clarissa a call.
Meanwhile, the rest of the men snickered.
Nevertheless, all jokes aside, the gathering that day wasn’t merely for empty talk.
“Aha, Matthew is actually capitalizing on his popularity to nettle his wife! Well, he has really changed the landscape of the entertainment industry in the past few days. Here I was, wondering why he took the time to deal with that Old Codger, and it turns out that old pervert offended him. Hah! Serves him right for messing with Clarissa! It was a miracle that Matt didn’t have him bumped off,” Jeremy remarked.
“Exactly! But it’s really a coincidence that someone wanted to expose Old Codger in the first place. It just so happened that Matt acted first, so the other person followed suit. In the end, the incident with Clarissa was just the tip of the iceberg.”
“In my opinion, even if no one had wanted to make a move against that Old Codger, Matt wouldn’t have spared the guy considering how much he loves Clarissa. But it might not have been that easy. This time, it was all thanks to Thomas since it looked like his handiwork to me. That Old Codger must have had designs on his woman as well. Thomas isn’t such a law-abiding citizen, so he’s even more reckless and ruthless compared to us. I think Old Codger would find death more preferable to experiencing his methods.”
At that exact moment, Matthew came back after finishing his phone call. Upon seeing him, Jeremy continued, “Matt, I heard that Old Codger has just been arrested, yet he’s already castrated when he hasn’t even been sentenced? That’s not your handiwork, right? After all, Thomas is the only one who could’ve done that.”
Matthew grunted in assent as a vicious look flashed across his eyes.
“Yeah, he took care of it personally.”
The few of them plunged into silence for a moment.
Subsequently, Henry murmured, “I’ve almost forgotten how brutal Thomas was back then after he had been so docile all these years.”
“Well, summing it up, even heroes have a weakness for the charms of a beautiful woman. That applies to Thomas, and undoubtedly so for Matt.”
With that, they stopped discussing Thomas, and it all seemed rather secretive.
Shortly after, Clarissa arrived with Damian. Shawn came with them as well.
However, he wasn’t here to meet his elders or anything of that sort. Instead, it was because of his involvement in the matter.
While he couldn’t reveal anything to anyone else, he could drop some hints to Matthew and the others.
Nonetheless, Clarissa didn’t want to hear anything about it, nor would she allow Damian to get wind of anything. Thus, she carried her son over to the side for some fruits. At the same time, she ordered him to sing some nursery rhymes on the screen.
Undeniably, the men were truly disciplined to be unbothered by the joyous atmosphere while discussing such a serious subject.
As Damian had been looking forward to his parents’ return, he was particularly clingy with Clarissa in the past few days.
Even as he was singing nursery rhymes, he insisted on sitting in his mother’s lap. Before he had sung a few stanzas, he suddenly blurted, “I love you, Mommy! How blessed am I to have you with me, Mommy…”
His corny declarations were audible to every single person in the private lounge, especially since they were magnified with the microphone. All who heard him couldn’t help feeling envious and amused.
Aw, he’s such a sweet-talker!
Intending to tease him, Yarick questioned, “Damian, do you love your daddy or mommy more?”
Unexpectedly, Damian answered without hesitation, “Mommy!”
“Haha… Matt, seems like your standing in your family is rather iffy, huh?”
Nonetheless, Matthew merely smiled. The look in his slightly squinted eyes as he gazed at his wife and son was threaded with tenderness.
“Let me ask you another question, Damian. Who is more amazing at home? Is it your daddy or mommy?”
Yarick’s question was obviously a trick question, but no one interrupted him. Rather, everyone waited quietly for Damian’s revelation.
But this time, Damian blinked his big eyes cluelessly. Lifting his head, he looked at his mother before shifting his gaze to his father with puzzlement written all over his chubby face.
At that, Jeremy purposely interjected, “Tell me the answer, Damian. If you do, I’ll give you a big toy, okay?”
“Jeremy Smallwood!” Clarissa couldn’t help protesting.
Despite that, Jeremy merely chuckled. “Don’t get so worked up, Clarissa. I was going to give him a gift anyway. Having not seen the kid for some time, he has grown even more adorable!”
Meanwhile, a bright smile bloomed on Damian’s face at once. “Thank you, Mr. Jeremy! Can you tell me what toy it is?”
Instead of answering at once, he inquired about the toy.
Quirking an eyebrow, Jeremy’s smile turned a tad crafty. “It’s your favorite toy car! I’m going to give you one that’s bigger, cooler, and more fun to play with!”
In actual fact, he was describing a real car.
Hearing that, Damian clapped his hands happily. “Can I have a look at my big car now, Mr. Jeremy? I want to play with it!”
“In that case, answer the question first, okay? Who’s the most amazing at home?”
“It’s me, of course!”
The boy’s answer stumped everyone who was watching the show. Meanwhile, Jeremy was rendered speechless to the point that words eluded him.
Damian, however, was all the more insistent on having his present. “Alright, I’ve answered you, so where’s my present? Is it here? If it isn’t here, can you send it to my house tomorrow, Mr. Jeremy? You can have it delivered…”
When his words fell, Clarissa giggled. Haha, he’s very familiar with the concept of delivery since I’ve received plenty of deliveries!
Alas, everyone else didn’t obtain the anticipated answer after Jeremy had been duped.
Well, well… the kid’s even smarter than we’d imagined!
