Matthew’s dark eyes gleamed when they landed on Clarissa’s body, as desire emerged within the depths of his gaze.
She was torn between explaining herself and wrapping some clothes around her body first.
However, Matthew snatched the choice out of her hands.
He strode toward her and leaned down, smashing his lips onto hers and running his hands all over her body before she could speak.
Clarissa’s protests were muffled as she tried to resist him, but it only prompted him to tighten his hold on her and become more unrestrained in his actions.
After a long time, her eyes shimmered with unshed tears. Her lips were swollen. All in all, she looked extremely pitiful.
She stared at Matthew with an accusatory glint in her eyes. Unbeknownst to her, the way she looked right now intensified his desire to conquer her.
Leaning down again, his hot breath tickled her lips before he bit down.
He finally relented when the woman whimpered in pain.
Clarissa forcefully shoved him away. Her body was half-exposed, which proved dangerous when within the vicinity of this man. Without a second’s delay, she ran into the room and changed into long-sleeved pajamas.
Naturally, she managed to untangle herself from him only because he allowed it.
When she emerged again, Matthew was sitting lazily on the sofa with his shirt collar wide open and his long legs elegantly crossed. Sensing her presence, he lifted his gaze to her, beckoning her in a rich and seductive voice, “Come here, Clare.”
Clarissa obediently padded over, but sat across from him to create a safe distance between them.
Matthew’s lips tugged upward, and he chuckled softly as his scorching gaze landed on her.
Feeling restless, Clarissa kept fidgeting in her seat. In the end, she snatched up the tablet and held it in front of her, ignoring him altogether.
Besides the sound of the variety show playing on the tablet, silence was their only companion.
Finally, Clarissa could no longer take the weight of his gaze.
She placed the tablet back down and glared daggers at him.
“What exactly are you looking at?”
Matthew smiled cryptically and narrowed his eyes a fraction. With a hand supporting his chin, he answered in a deep voice, “You.”
Yeah, no sh*t.
Of course she knew he was looking at her.
“What I meant was, why are you looking at me like that? What’s so nice to look at?”
He raised his brows as his eyes darkened with amusement.
“Aren’t you nice to look at?”
She was inarticulate for a moment before blurting out, “Lame!”
Blushing furiously, Clarissa shot up from her seat, trying her best to conceal her red cheeks as she swiveled around to go back to the bedroom. Before long, Matthew followed in after her.
She wasn’t naïve to think that he would leave tonight. In fact, she had come to terms with it.
Truth be told, his embrace gave her a sense of security if he didn’t start getting handsy with her.
Given that they were spending the whole night in the same bed, Matthew felt he had to do right by the gorgeous lady in his arms.
In the end, Clarissa couldn’t help but retort, “Just how did you survive the last thirty years or so of your life? People even said that you’re a master of self-control? More like master of hiding your true colors.”
She poked his chest and glared fiercely at him. However, she looked charming and adorable rather than intimidating.
Matthew couldn’t help but admire his self-restraint. With such an appealing woman in his arms, it was a wonder he could still refrain from forcing himself on her.
He ran his hands down her back and said in a husky voice, “I wasn’t hiding my true colors. It’s just that a pretty little vixen like you has never appeared in my life.”
“Pfft… So I’m a vixen now?”
Clarissa couldn’t stifle her laughter. “I’m a good girl, mind you. You’re the shameless one, Uncle Matthew. Back then, I didn’t even think about you that way.”
“Oh, really? Not at all? Then why did you keep showing up in front of me? And dressed so seductively at that too.”
“Se… Seductive? Me? No, wait. That’s not the point. The point is, since when did I show up in front of you? That was all just a coincidence! A coincidence!”
Clarissa emphasized the last word, unable to take this sort of accusation lying down.
“Matthew, you can’t still be thinking that I approached you on purpose, right?”
Clarissa was upset when she thought about this. She sat up in bed, wanting to make things clear once and for all.
Matthew broke into a cryptic smile as he folded his arms behind his head.
“It wasn’t you. I was the one who approached you on purpose.”
He didn’t sound like he meant it at all.
Clarissa wrinkled her nose and curled her lips in anger. After a loud harrumph, she turned around and lay down on the bed again, so that her back was to him.
When he hugged her from behind, she shook his arms away unhappily.
Matthew chuckled and gently kissed the top of her head before drifting off into a deep slumber.
…
Since Clarissa didn’t need to go in for work now, she was free to do whatever she wanted, which included sleeping in.
Unfortunately, she was woken up by Matthew’s continuously teasing early in the morning. She couldn’t go back to sleep after that, no matter how much she wanted to.
By the time she saw him out of the house, she was fully awake. Hence, she powered on her laptop to study the previous copy of her book Princess.
Now that she had completely terminated her contract with Twilight Company, she had to do everything herself.
However, if she were to collaborate with Justin Yates Studio, her priority would be doing a good job in producing the adapted screenplay.
As for the promotional strategies and copyright issues, she had to take her time to find a manager for herself.
In the afternoon, she went to the studio to meet Justin. Neither of them liked beating around the bush, or they wouldn’t have expressed their admiration for each other.
They talked about the script, went over some areas that needed to be revised and others where they had a difference in opinion, with Justin giving Clarissa a definitive answer at the end.
“I’m on board with using this script for my film. Of course, it still needs to be adapted. Since this is your work, I’ll let you run point. Also, what do you think of working together with an editor from my studio? Rest assured, you’ll still be the one calling the shots, but there might be some shooting issues to be addressed, so you’ll need to communicate with someone from my side.”
There was no reason for Clarissa to reject. She was over the moon because if she could be a screenwriter for Justin, her life would be complete.
“Mr. Yates, I’m more than happy to accept your offer. Thank you for giving me this opportunity.”
Justin smiled in return. “We’re both giving each other an opportunity here. I hope we can resolve the issues with the script as soon as possible. There is still much work to be done and of course, money isn’t a problem.”
His smile made Clarissa a little embarrassed.
She even tried to explain. “Mr. Yates, my relationship with Uncle Matthew affects nothing else.”
“I understand, Clarissa. I didn’t mean it like that, but I’m glad that I get to work together with Matthew’s girlfriend.”
“Well, we haven’t made our relationship public yet, Mr. Yates. Anyway, please feel free to call me ‘Clary’.”
Justin was intrigued. It seems like this young lady has her own way of thinking.
“Sure, Clary. I’m not sure how many awards we can bag with this film adaptation, but at least I can assure you that your hard work won’t be destroyed, so thank you for your trusting me. I’ll have someone draft the contract later. Once we’ve signed it, we’ll officially be partners.”
“Alright. Thank you for giving me this opportunity too, Mr. Yates.”
After conveying their gratitude to each other, Clarissa left Justin Yates Studio with excitement bubbling in her.
She habitually shared this piece of good news with Ellie, who offered to throw a celebration.
However, after hanging up the call, Clarissa suddenly thought of Matthew.
There was one more person in her life now, and she had vowed to slowly ease him into her world.
With that thought in mind, Clarissa dialed Matthew’s number.
“Uncle Matthew, I have some good news for you.”
Matthew cocked a brow. “What is it?”
“Director Yates and I are going to sign a contract soon. Awesome, right? Hehe… Even I think I’m awesome. After he produces the film adaptation of my work, I’ll become even more famous. And if he receives an award for it, I might very well go international. Haha! Before long, I’ll be promoted to a manager and get a pay raise, then I’ll be appointed as CEO. I’ll marry my Mr. Perfect and reach the prime of my life… I’m getting excited just thinking about it!”
Matthew chuckled lowly, his rich and deep voice making Clarissa’s body tingle slightly.
She pouted even though he couldn’t see her. “Why are you laughing?”
“Who are you planning to marry?”
Clarissa was rendered speechless.
She stuck her tongue out and retorted, “That was just a joke. I didn’t mean anything by it.”
“Mm, then I’ll have to tell Justin to hurry up.”
“Why?”
“Because once he wraps up filming, you can reach the prime of your life sooner and… marry me sooner?”
Clarissa’s face heated up and she hastily brushed it off. “Hey, I told you that was just a joke.”
He chuckled devilishly on the other end of the line and purred, “I look forward to the day you realize your dreams.”
Clarissa stuck out her tongue again. Who said I wanna marry you? I’m not even sure how long we’ll last. She never expected that they could last until the end, but she wanted to cherish the present and treat each other with sincerity. At least for now.
Clarissa had made dinner plans with Matthew that night. She arrived at the restaurant first, only to run into Ellie’s parents at the entrance.
She was thrown into a frenzy, but after reassuring herself that they probably knew nothing, she went up to greet them with, feeling jittery.
“Mr. and Mrs. Tyson.”
“Oh, Clary? What a coincidence. Are you here for dinner? Is it with Ellie or some other friends?”
“Uhm… It’s with another friend of mine.”
When Yuliana saw the uneasy look on Clarissa’s face and the light blush on her cheeks, she knew the latter was embarrassed to elaborate on this friend of hers.
Hence, Yuliana did not make things difficult for her. After chatting with Clarissa for a while, the husband and wife entered the restaurant.
Clarissa breathed a sigh of relief, grateful that they did not prod further.
Yuliana and Matthias were immediately led to a private lounge upon entering the restaurant. “I think Clary is seeing someone, don’t you think so? Look at her. She’s such a well-behaved and beautiful lady. Now, she has a boyfriend too. And then, there’s our daughter. They are good friends, but look how Ellie is still fooling around outside. When is she going to settle down with a man?”
Matthias laughed softly. “Ellie knows what she’s doing. Why are you so anxious?”
Yuliana sighed in response. “Fine, fine. We won’t talk about Ellie today. Mr. and Mrs. Smallwood probably invited us here for dinner because of Matthew again. What are they expecting from us? It’s not like we can change the fact that he doesn’t like Shermaine. I bet they’re going to threaten or bribe us. Shouldn’t they know better than to do that?”
