Matthew laughed out loud at the sight of Clarissa being so bold and stubborn.
She knows I’m right, yet she can still lie through her teeth with such resolve?
Matthew suddenly removed his hand from Clarissa’s mouth and flicked her forehead, causing her to flinch in pain and glare angrily at him.
Unfazed by her reaction, Matthew chuckled softly. After what Clarissa had put him through, he could no longer keep his stern expression.
“You little rascal.”
Clarissa frowned and retorted, “Who are you calling a rascal? Just so we’re clear, you’re the rascal here! Falsely accusing me and being so overly dramatic about it…”
Matthew leaned back into the couch and relaxed his body, watching Clarissa shamelessly denying everything.
“All right, I can’t out-talk you.”
He might have many tricks up his sleeves, but even he knew he was no match to Clarissa’s ability to twist the facts.
“Of course you can’t,” Clarissa replied smugly.
As soon as the words left her mouth, Clarissa realized she had made a mistake and quickly corrected herself. “No, it’s not that you can’t. You were unreasonable in the first place, so you were never going to be able to reason with me.”
Matthew cocked his brows and smirked. “Okay. So? What’s the difference?”
“Of course there is! And things weren’t what you made them out to be. Think about it. Can you blame me for caring about Damian, given the situation at the hospital? I admit I was afraid before you went in, but surely you can understand why I feel that way? You know the kind of attitude your family has toward me. But after you promised me that Damian would be safe, I let you take him, didn’t I? That was me trusting you. And that was a decision I did not, and still do not, regret. When you came back, I was so proud of Damian that I got a little more enthusiastic and rewarded him. After that, you changed to go to work, that’s all normal, isn’t it?”
“Normal? Ever since we left the hospital, till we got home and I changed to leave for work, have you ever looked at me?”
“Of course-”
“No!”
Clarissa was about to rebuke when she realized she was no longer that confident of herself.
Matthew’s right. I don’t think I paid any attention or even looked at him. I don’t even know what time he left.
“Okay… But I was busy playing with our son, wasn’t I?” Clarissa retorted, this time a lot softer and with a twinge of guilt.
“Oh yes… You sure were busy. If you carry on like that, I don’t think you’d need me anymore.”
“Haha… How can that be? I can’t have kids without you, can I?”
“Ah, right. I’m still useful for the time being because we want a daughter. After our second child, I can be tossed away like trash,” Matthew replied flatly.
Clarissa grinned sheepishly and shook her head. “No, no. That won’t be possible…”
Matthew remained quiet as he lazily crossed his legs. Despite looking so casual, Clarissa couldn’t help but feel the weight of his sharp, imposing stare. She was tongue-tied and fidgeted around in her seat, overwhelmed by the awkward tension in the air.
It wasn’t long before she came up with an excuse. “Hubby, I think I hear Damian calling me. I should leave…”
“Weren’t we discussing the problem of me spending the night outside?”
Clarissa instantly stopped in her tracks and turned around, her once guilt-ridden face now stern and angry.
“Right! It’s problematic that you’re spending the night outside. I know you were at the hospital, but the point is, you failed to inform me about it. Are you going to make this a habit? So if you ever end up sleeping in another woman’s bed, you won’t have to inform me either?”
It was now Matthew’s turn to be rendered speechless while Clarissa stood with her arms akimbo, ready to fight any battle.
Her stance reminded Matthew of a shrew who was about to exchange blows with anyone who dared cross her path. The only thing missing, however, was a look of menace.
Then again, Clarissa could never pull off such a look. Instead, her feistiness and domineering arrogance were what Matthew found especially attractive.
“It’s not that I didn’t want to tell you, but you were in the wrong first.”
“What? We’re back to that, aren’t we? So what you’re saying is, you’re staying outside to spite me?”
A smile played on Matthew’s lips. “Really?”
“Why are you directing that at me? I should be the one asking you!”
Clarissa pouted, indignant at having been slighted. She hadn’t even censured Matthew, yet he kept turning the tables to blame her instead,
Matthew reached out his hand, but Clarissa stood her ground, refusing to go near him.
“Clare, I’ve been sleeping at the hospital these few days.”
“It’s too late to say that now.”
“And I’d never, in my whole life, sleep in another woman’s bed.”
Clarissa continued to pout as she silently fumed. Is he trying to explain himself now?
Who will emerge the victor in this fight, though? Him? Or me?
Seeing as how she refused to move, Matthew walked toward her and pulled her into an embrace. With his hand on her waist, he drew her in even closer and rubbed his nose against her face.
“So, Clare, are you going to stay angry? Or shall we make up?”
Clarissa pushed his face away and asked, “Are there conditions?”
Matthew chuckled as he pinched her chin teasingly. “I know our son’s more important than me right now, but Clare, I’m still your husband. You should at least split your time between us, say, fifty-fifty?”
“Fifty-fifty?”
Matthew smirked playfully. “What’s wrong? You find that too little?”
“Damn you…” Clarissa mumbled in displeasure. “You’re always threatening me. If you do this again, I won’t even give you ten percent of my time.”
Instead of getting riled up, Matthew kissed Clarissa on the corner of her lips.
In a somewhat threatening manner, he suggested, “Fine. Let’s start from zero. I’ll slowly accumulate from there.”
“What? How are you going to do that?”
Clarissa was still trying to figure it out when Matthew suddenly lifted her over his shoulders. “Matthew, what are you doing? Let me down now!”
Matthew patted her butt and broke into a wicked grin. “I have to accumulate credit for myself, don’t I? So I shall do it slowly, every night…”
“No! No!”
Clarissa’s protests were futile as Matthew carried her into the bedroom to pleasure her most intimately.
True to his words, he did everything to curry favor with her, slowly but surely.
The next day, Clarissa was still sleeping like a log when she got woken up by Matthew pinching her nose. She glared at him with bloodshot eyes as though she was about to kill him.
Unbothered, Matthew laughed and pinched her flushed cheeks lovingly. “I’m going to work.”
“Get lost, why are you telling me that? I want to sleep.”
“I thought you wanted me to inform you?”
“Go, go, go! Get lost!”
Seeing Clarissa blow her top only made Matthew laugh even more cheerfully. After giving her a kiss, he finally turned and left for work.
It was a lovely afternoon when Clarissa decided to bask in the sun with Damian. Sat in the rocking chair, it was so comfortable that it didn’t take long for them to fall asleep. Clarissa, however, felt herself constantly drifting in and out of it.
The past few days had been torturous for her as Matthew kept using the excuse of getting back into her good books to be intimate with her. Consecutive nights of passionate lovemaking had left Clarissa feeling spent.
Matthew Tyson, you sex-crazed lunatic!
Before Clarissa could continue cussing at Matthew, Damian suddenly twitched in her arms. Patting him on his back, she slowly opened her eyes and gazed at the yard.
The truth was, Clarissa had recently done some self-reflection and realized that she hadn’t handled things well with Matthew at the hospital.
It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Matthew, but at that moment, she wasn’t thinking about him at all. The only people she had on her mind were her son and the rest of the Tysons.
After all, Clarissa knew that if she were to go up against the Tysons, she’d be making life difficult for Matthew.
She didn’t want to make things difficult for Matthew, but neither did she want the Tysons to snatch her son away. All she could do was rely on herself to fight back as much as possible.
Besides, she was fiercely independent in all aspects of her life.
Having endured various hardships from a young age, Clarissa had gotten used to taking matters into her own hands. It was only after meeting Matthew that she learned to depend on him. But even so, she still found it difficult at times.
And then, she became a mother and realized what people said about not underestimating the strength of mothers was true. They were ready to do anything for their children to ensure their well-being, even if it meant going up against the whole world. Clarissa knew that she alone had the strength and courage to protect Damian, which was why Matthew’s presence no longer mattered as much to her.
I suppose I have indeed neglected Matthew a little.
With that thought, Clarissa picked up her phone and sent a text to Matthew: I’m sorry for what I’ve put you through. I’ve learned my lesson too. Hubby, I promise to give you and Damian equal amounts of attention each, deal?
Hopefully, with her text, Matthew no longer had to accumulate more credit with her at night.
Matthew’s reply came only a while later: I see our night activities have paid off well. But if that’s the case, shouldn’t I get seventy percent for my excellent performance?
The corners of Clarissa’s lips twitched as she fired back her reply: Don’t push your luck!
Matthew: Are you sure we can’t increase it to seventy percent?
Clarissa: Fifty is more than enough. Any more, and I’ll leave with Damian and leave you with nothing.
Matthew: Clare, do you love me or not?
Clarissa chuckled out loud at Matthew’s latest text, wondering why he sounded so naive and resentful.
In the end, she decided to go with a cheeky response: Mr. Tyson, if you behave yourself, I’ll love you more. Be good!
Matthew laughed and shook his head as he read her reply. Is she coaxing me as she would with Damian?
However, Matthew did know that in Clarissa’s eyes, Damian was the most important person in her life.
Even with just Damian, he had barely gotten half of Clarissa’s attention. What would it be like if they had even more children in the future?
The more Matthew thought about it, the more he regretted having agreed to a second child.
Is it too late to go back on my word?
If fertilized eggs could talk, the one inside Clarissa would be giving him an unequivocal yes.
