Meeting with Jacque and Sandra was relatively more tolerable for Clarissa.
On the contrary, if it were James and Kayla coming to see her, Clarissa would surely refuse to meet them.
Both couples agreed to meet at a remote tea room where it was more secluded, and when Clarissa and Matthew reached, Jacque and Sandra had waited for a little while.
Clarissa and Matthew weren’t late. In fact, it was Jacque and his wife getting anxious to meet Clarissa.
As soon as they stepped in, Sandra looked at Clarissa with a countenance filled with joy and relief. She was so impassioned that even her eyes were a little reddened and brimmed with tears.
Jacque, on the other hand, seemed more composed, but his expression was rather complicated, as though it still felt incredible to him.
As soon as Clarissa sat down, Sandra held her hands like a family elder. It was like Jean Valjean knowing for the first time that the little girl he just met was Cosette, and Sandra was no different from Jean Valjean who couldn’t hide the tremor in his voice. How she longed to just hold Clarissa and cry all she want.
“Clarissa, I’m sorry for all the sufferings you must have been through all these years. In fact…”
Sandra was exceedingly emotional, and she revealed the fact that Clarissa was in actuality Jacque’s niece.
It didn’t take too long after they sat down for Sandra to spill everything.
It was fortunate that Clarissa had already been aware of that, so she was prepared. Otherwise, if they had been completely kept in the dark, they would have been utterly baffled at that point.
Clarissa wondered how anxious this couple must have been to tell her and Matthew the truth.
Am I so welcomed?
Clarissa felt a little awkward, and Jacque couldn’t help as well but start, “Sandra, let’s slow down and talk while we enjoy the tea. Matthew and Clarissa, I believe you’re already aware of this matter before this, aren’t you? It was mind-boggling to me at first, but since that’s the fact, I think we shouldn’t just stay silent about it. After all, this is something serious, don’t you think?”
Clarissa turned to Matthew, and within his eyes, she saw encouragement and support.
It was then that Clarissa finally spoke, “Mr. and Mrs. Wynter, yes, I’m aware of this matter, but I have no plans to reunite with them, to be honest. I’m doing well in the Quigley family. There are people who love me there, even though I have only Grandma left now. She has aged, and this will be too much for her. Besides, everything is fine for us now, and there’s no reason for me to go back to them.”
Sandra grew agitated at that. She looked at Clarissa and spoke hurriedly, “How can you say that there’s no reason? Plus, we don’t need a reason. The Quigleys aren’t really your family. Your true family is the Smallwoods and us. What reason do you need to come back to your real family?”
Nevertheless, Sandra wasn’t able to change Clarissa’s mind. She shook her head in response. “Mrs. Wynter, think about the enmity between me and Shermaine. Do you really think it’s a good thing for me and Shermaine to return to our birth family after everything that happened?”
Sandra was suddenly at a loss for words. “But…”
There was something else she wanted to say, but Jacque cast his eyes toward her and shook his head.
Sandra was a little displeased, but she didn’t carry on because she thought that her husband might be able to persuade them.
Jacque turned to Clarissa before speaking, as he had noticed that this matter was fully at Clarissa’s discretion.
Hence, he decided not to ask for Matthew’s opinion and directly dealt with Clarissa. “Clarissa, even though a lot of things had happened, and maybe not only you, but it would also take a while for them to be able to accept this, now that we know about it, at least me and my wife, that is, your Uncle Jacque and Aunt Sandra want you to know how much we love you as our niece. We can keep it a secret for the moment, but your Aunt Sandra and I hope that you don’t keep your distance from us. At the very least, there’s nothing wrong between us.”
As he said that, he laughed softly and even brought up something else so that Clarissa wouldn’t be too resistant. “Just treat us as some ordinary elders. You may even get along well slowly with some elderly strangers sometimes, isn’t it? Besides, I know that you and Damon are friends. You may also treat us as the parents of your friends, but just don’t feign unfamiliarity with us.”
Clarissa had to admit that the way Jacque went about it was more acceptable for her.
Despite that, she remained silent, not knowing what to say.
Seeing as such, Sandra soon learned the key to communicating about that matter with Clarissa and quickly seized the opportunity to persuade her, “Clarissa, let’s forget about our biological relations for the moment. Even if we were not related by blood, didn’t we get along pretty well with each other? I feel a sense of familiarity around you, and you don’t despise me as well, do you? Just think of me as an ordinary elder and we can go about this slowly; we can wait until you get close to us and are no longer resistant. Is that okay?”
Clarissa knew very well that if she kept turning them down, they would also be displeased.
Clarissa didn’t really wish for any family affection from the so-called uncle and aunt in front of her, neither did she need it.
It was just that they had made it very clear that they were there with a ‘claiming kin’ intention, and she was reluctant to turn them down either.
Hence, Clarissa nodded.
“Mr. and Mrs. Wynter…”
“You should stop calling us that; that’s too formal. It’s Uncle Jacque and Aunt Sandra,” Sandra corrected her.
However, Clarissa still found it hard to bring herself to address them that way. “I hope you don’t tell anyone about this for the time being. As you said, I may treat you like a friend’s parents, so I’ll go with Jacque and Sandra, alright? In the future… Well, if we really get to that point in the future, then only we switch the address terms. Otherwise, it would be a little awkward.”
“Well…”
Sandra turned to her husband, and Jacque nodded. “Clarissa is right. We’ll do with that for the time being.”
“Alright, at least that’s better than Mr. and Mrs. Wynter.”
Both the family reached an agreement, and Sandra just got closer with Clarissa because of that. She couldn’t help but start chatting with her about other things.
“I’ve noticed how familiar you look when I first met you. It wasn’t until later that I came to know that you look just like your grandma when she was young. You look exactly alike. I was even wondering back then that how did two strangers who don’t know each other look so much alike. And here we are. It’s not two strangers after all; it’s family.”
Clarissa smiled and seemed to have understood something.
Shermaine might have known my blood relationship with the Wynters earlier on. She must have also seen the photos of Hannah when she was young.
“Besides, Shermaine doesn’t feel like a kind person to me. With all those brutal things she committed, she doesn’t really feel like part of our family. It was when I saw you back then that I realized we have been fooled by her. You’re such a kind young lady… Oh, right, it’s almost year-end. You must come over to spend the holiday with us this year. We’re a family…” Sandra continued to ramble on.
She seemed to have a lot to tell Clarissa, but the key message was her expression of fondness for Clarissa and their bond. As with Shermaine, Sandra simply referred to her as a disreputable person.
Even before she knew that Shermaine and Clarissa had been switched, she had had no qualms in voicing her disfavor toward her niece, Shermaine.
Clarissa was exceedingly embarrassed and didn’t know how to react to Sandra’s zest.
Comparatively, Jacque and Matthew appeared much quieter than the two women.
They chatted for a while about the Smallwoods and the current circumstances. Undoubtedly, they didn’t go deep into the subject either.
After their tea session for the entire afternoon, Sandra wanted to have dinner with them. Her geniality was hard to decline, as Clarissa’s rejection would always be dismissed. Hence, she found it hard to turn her down, and so they went for dinner together. It was quite a coincidence for them that day.
They would usually meet one or two acquaintances or friends when they went out for a meal, and that particular restaurant was where Clarissa met the Smallwoods couple for the first time and got into a dispute later. It so happened that the Smallwoods couple had also come to the restaurant that very day.
James and Kayla were treating someone to dinner; someone whom Clarissa didn’t recognize.
That was not the point, though. The point was that when Kayla saw that her brother and sister-in-law were actually having dinner with Clarissa and Matthew and that Sandra even held hands with Clarissa so intimately, it felt like a fatal blow to Kayla.
At that point, Kayla was struck dumb and almost stumbled giddily into her husband’s arms. Tears started streaming down her face almost immediately. Seeing as such, even Clarissa had to admit that she was impressed.
Not even the female leads from those love stories of heartbreak could bring themselves to tears at such a rate that Kayla did, neither would they appear as anguished as Kayla was, and both these qualities were commonly displayed by those female leads who often played a seemingly innocent and naive role.
Her whimpering was ostentatious, and every single cell within her was theatrical at best.
“Jacque, Sandra, how could you… Shermaine is still suffering in prison, yet you’re fraternizing with our enemy behind our back, and you’re so intimate together. Is this how you treat us and Shermaine? It’s totally unfair to us. If Shermaine finds out that her Uncle Jacque and Aunt Sandra who dote on her the most actually do such a thing in her back, how miserable would it be for her?” Clarissa was indifferent all the while, and there was even some aloofness in her eyes.
She was silently watching Kayla’s performance assisted by James at the side who kept comforting her lowly.
What a bummer. Sandra was annoyed, and her displeasure was also shown on her countenance. She didn’t want to entertain them either, so she took Clarissa’s hand and started, “Let’s go in. Jacque, you deal with it.”
That’s his sister, anyway. It had always frustrated Sandra to have to tolerate Sandra and her husband. Now that she was with Clarissa and Matthew, she could finally stop pretending.
Jacque frowned as he found himself in a difficult position. He smiled rather apologetically at Matthew and Clarissa before turning to face his sister and brother-in-law.
“Kayla, let’s talk about this when we’re home.”
“Talk about this at home?”
Kayla didn’t plan to give in so easily; she prepared to badger them. Hence, when she saw Sandra leading them forward into the restaurant, she stopped crying and demanded as she turned to Jacque, “Jacque, what do you mean by this? And Sandra, stop right there. What are you trying to do? My biological daughter and your favorite niece have been framed and jailed by these two people, and she’s still in deep water in the prison. Yet, as her uncle and aunt, you don’t even consider helping her. Instead, here you are, having dinner and associating with this enemy. You… How can you be so heartless and cruel? Aren’t you fear of retribution?”
