All of a sudden, Matthew’s phone rang and interrupted them.
Clarissa looked at her almost naked self and quickly pushed Matthew away to sit up.
As for Matthew, his shirt was unbuttoned. He looked exceptionally sexy with his black eyes hinted with lust.
He was breathing a bit heavily as he lay on his side, looking at Clarissa tidying up with her back against him. After quite a while, he finally picked up the phone.
“Talk!”
Matthew’s voice was low and hoarse, and Donnie could feel his frustration from the other end of the call. So he spoke very cautiously.
“Mr. Tyson, we caught the man. He’d usually be driving a cab around the film studio, and many young women had fallen prey to him. Last night, Ms. Quigley coincidentally got on his cab. No one was behind that. As for the paparazzi at the restaurant, it was a small artiste from the same crew that tipped them off to slander Ms. Quigley.
“Okay, I understand now. You can handle the rest.”
After ending the call, Matthew looked up to find that Clarissa had already left the bedroom and was sitting in the tiny living room provided. Seeing that he was looking at her, she avoided eye contact and poured some water.
That was when Matthew got up, and went to sit with her.
“You know anyone named Carley Fey?”
Hearing that name stumped Clarissa for a second before she nodded. “She’s one of the extras. When she just came in, she had a role as a maid, but I thought the character wasn’t suitable so I told the director. The director swapped her out after that.”
When she finished speaking, it dawned on Clarissa. “So, she was the one that framed me?”
“Yes.”
Clarissa felt slightly perplexed at the discovery and still had some doubts.
It was to be expected I guess. There’s no way Shermaine would leave a trail back to her. There’s also a chance that she was not involved in any of this at all.
However, the things Shermaine did to Jamie and her were in fact, still intentional.
Nevertheless, Clarissa decided to not overthink it and put up a smile.
“I understand now, thank… “
Before she could say her thanks, she realized how funny it was. “What should I do? It seems like I have been saying thank you all the time. Every time you help me, I’d only say a thank you. It really feels like I’m being insincere. How about this? You tell me how I should express my gratitude, and if it’s within my capabilities, I’d do it.”
While she was talking, Matthew pulled out a cigarette and lit the tip.
As the cigarette burned, smoke slowly formed, floated, and dispersed. Through that smoke, Clarissa met the gaze of Matthew’s onyx eyes, and her heart rate accelerated.
All of a sudden, she realized it was a bad idea and regretted letting those words out of her mouth.
“Well, actually, you don’t really lack anything, and you do have people assisting you with your work, why don’t I just bring you some local delicacies after I come back from home?” Clarissa said as she felt awkward under Matthew’s stare.
Matthew simply uttered a response.
With that, Clarissa finally felt relieved, though she still felt bad.
“I’ve taken you away from your work long enough. Seeing that there’s no more problem here, you should head back. I’ll pack up and head home.”
He was indeed held up.
Truth be told, Matthew actually had an important meeting to attend, but he left it behind.
Even he himself did not expect to do something like this for a woman.
Then, Matthew took one last puff from the cigarette before putting it out in the ashtray. As he stood up, he pulled Clarissa into his arms and gave her a passionate kiss.
I’d be suffering an even bigger loss if I don’t get my worth out of this woman.
Matthew only made deals that were beneficial to him.
Eventually, he would need to get back everything that he invested into her.
…
After Shermaine was done with a scene, Ryler’s smile towards the female lead immediately disappeared.
It was obvious that he was not too happy with her, but Shermaine was not bothered by it.
“Someone had pressured the media to retract Clarissa’s news. I heard it was Ryler’s manager.” Lizzie came to report to Shermaine during the night when everything was done.
“Huh? Do you know what’s the relationship between Clarissa and Ryler? If he’s helping her so much, is he her sponsor?”
“That I can’t be sure, but Ryler and Clarissa seem to come from the same hometown. Maybe they already knew each other a long time ago.”
“Is that so? They are really close then.”
Lizzie did not respond, allowing Shermaine to ponder while she applied a face mask.
“Shermaine, maybe we should just let Clarissa off the hook. She’s just a measly screenwriter after all. She’s not in the same league as you. Even back then, she’s just an author. There’s nothing to be bothered about. Moreover, she booked a flight this morning to go back to her hometown. Maybe she’s going to hide in that small town?”
Shermaine did not respond.
After quite a while, Shermaine took off her face mask and patted her cheeks, admiring her youthful face in the mirror.
“Alright, if she just stays in that small town of hers, I’ll let her off the hook.”
“Alright.”
Lizzie felt as though a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders.
Shermaine was a stubborn artiste with a strong background, so Lizzie had always felt aggrieved. Especially so since Shermaine was really petty. The general public might not know what type of person she was, but Lizzie had been by her side for two years. She had seen all that Shermaine had to offer.
Shermaine did a lot of things that Lizzie did not like but she had no choice but to follow her will.
Thankfully, Shermaine decided to hold back this time and did not go all out.
On the other hand, Clarissa finally reached her hometown. After she bought a new phone, she quickly contacted Ellie.
The first thing Ellie did after hearing from Clarissa was to give her a good scolding. Ellie had been looking for her the whole day to no avail. She did not know whether Clarissa had left the film studio, so she waited for Clarissa to contact her up until that point. By then, her tolerance was already well over the limit.
Not only did Ellie scolded Clarissa, but she also reprimanded Shermaine and blamed her for everything that happened.
Nonetheless, Clarissa spoke out in Shermaine’s defense since she knew the truth. “Ellie, I’ve asked my friend to do some investigating. Turns out, Shermaine had nothing to do with any of this. It was an extra that I offended a while ago. She had a grudge against me and so she got people to write about me.”
“No way! You’re the only one that’ll believe in surface-level investigations like this. An extra providing an inside scoop on a screenwriter? Where’s the value in that? And what about those people in the comment’s section, does she even have the money to hire them?”
What Ellie said did in fact cross Clarissa’s mind before, but there was no evidence that pointed towards Shermaine, so it was pointless.
“Ellie, let’s just leave it be. There’s finally some peace and quiet in my life, so that’s it. I’ll be looking after my grandmother for a while. You work hard, okay? Ms. Independent.”
Ellie felt helpless. She knew Clarissa had a big heart. It was like Clarissa had achieved enlightenment somehow, something Ellie could never hope to achieve.
“Yeah, yeah, stop teasing me. Let me ask you, what’s going on between you and Ryler Cooper?”
Ellie was curious since the photos the paparazzi took did in fact show the two of them having physical contact in front of the restaurant.
“Me and Ryler were neighbors when we were still kids.”
“Oh? Childhood sweethearts by any chance?”
“Don’t overthink it. You sounded so romantic there. He’s like a brother figure to me.”
“You… What kind of guy do you actually like? Damon might not be good since he’s a little childish, but Ryler is older than you, and handsome too. He checks all the boxes for an ideal man. What’s not to like about him?”
The topic they were on made Clarissa think of Matthew, and her face flushed. “You should be worried about yourself. We’re the same age here. Stop worrying about me and go find yourself a man.”
“Right, that’s enough of that. Send your grandmother my regards… “ Ellie got scared of the topic and quickly ended the call.
Clarissa smirked and left her room to find her grandmother plucking some vegetables with the nanny, so she decided to join in.
“Ellie sends her regards,” Clarissa said as she sat down. “She really took care of me when I was in D City. Grandma, why don’t we send her family some local delicacies?”
The old lady, Catherine, had white hair with tanned skin but was very energetic.
“Alright. But they are a wealthy household. Would it be too cheap of us to send jerky?”
“Don’t worry. Ellie loves them. She used to fight for them whenever you send some over back when we were in university. Besides, they have everything, sending those is just a form of good gesture.”
“Alright then. I’ll go pack those jerkies up and you can mail it over to her. By the way, I’ve got some fruits from the market that tastes really good, all-natural without preservatives. Do I pack those in too?”
“Sure, why not?”
After Catherine was done with everything, she sat down and asked about Hilary. “Did you and your mom not get along?”
Clarissa did not tell her about how Hilary was going to sell her off to an old man. She knew her grandmother would be frantic if she heard about it.
Therefore, she only gave a simple response. “We never had much of a relationship, to begin with. She has her own family and that doesn’t concern me. We only met once. We’re more like strangers to each other than anything else, to be honest.”
“Your mother really wasn’t a good mum when she was young.” Catherine let out a sigh. “But I’m getting old now. When I’m gone, you’ll be alone and I can’t let that happen. She’s still your mother after all, she… “
“Grandma, I’m an adult now. I don’t need her. Don’t worry, I have everything I need right now and am living a good life. Besides, you’re going to live a healthy and long life.”
Catherine shook her head and smiled. “You’re still missing something.”
“What’s that?”
“A man.” Her Grandma answered. “Did you meet anyone suitable while you’re gone? Oh, by the way, that young man, Ryler, called me the other day. I think he’s a fine lad, you… “
“Grandma, stop, please stop. I beg of you. I’m going to do some work.” This sort of topic had been brought up far too many times, so Clarissa immediately surrendered.
She quickly left the scene, leaving her grandmother shaking her head and sighing.
The nanny on the side smiled. “Ms. Catherine, Ms. Clare is beautiful and talented. There’s definitely a lot of people going after her, don’t you worry. When she finally brings a man back, I’m sure he’ll be the crème de la crème since she’s been choosing really carefully.”
Catherine felt proud hearing her granddaughter being praised like that, but she wanted to stay humble. “What’s there to choose? I just hope she finds someone that cares about her, that’s all.”
Clarissa let out a sigh in her room.
All of a sudden, her phone rang. It was Matthew with his magnetic voice.
