Chapter 1 Matthew Tyson

• Splash!
• He splashed Clarissa's feverish body with cold water, waking her up from a moment of stupor.
• She looked up to see the man whom she had latched on to standing right in front of her.
• The man removed his coat and tossed it to the ground. Looking tall and handsome, he was dressed in a white shirt and a pair of black suit pants. He had chiseled features like those of a male model, and his eyes especially looked astute and callous.
• “Sober now?” His voice was extremely cold and stern.
• “I'm sorry,” Clarissa said in embarrassment.
• She had just gotten off the plane to visit her mother whom she hadn't seen for years. Yet never in her wildest dream did she expect her mother to drug and deliver her to the bed of a perverted old man.
• Confused and delirious, she had grabbed hold of a stranger.
• If not for this fine gentleman, she wouldn't dare to imagine what would become of her now.
• Clarissa huddled in the bathtub and lowered her head to hide the pain in her eyes, not realizing how seductive she looked with her dress clinging damply to her skin.
• Matthew squinted his eyes. Is she really not trying to seduce me?
• “Mr. Tyson.” Donnie's voice sounded at the bathroom door. “The doctor and the clothes are here.”
• “Thank you,” Clarissa piped up as she lifted her head. “I'm so sorry for the trouble.”
• There was no need for explanation because they were only strangers to each other. She had noticed the man's inquisitive and derisive gaze, reckoning that he would only misunderstand her for having an ulterior motive if she were to explain herself.
• A female doctor came in just as Matthew was about to leave the bathroom. She put the clothes aside and gave Clarissa a jab before leaving shortly after.
• Outside, the room was already empty by the time Clarissa had changed her clothes and trudged out of the bathroom.
• Hah, what was I thinking?
• After a night of rest at the hotel, she was reluctant to go back to the Garretts', but she had no other choice as she needed to retrieve her belongings.
• “You still have the audacity to come back?”
• Her arrival immediately interrupted the peaceful atmosphere in the living room.
• It was Clarissa's stepsister, Yvonne, who had said that.
• “I'm here to take my stuff.”
• Clarissa walked past the living room, wanting to head back to her room, but Yvonne blocked her way and landed a stinging slap across her face.
• Caught off guard, Clarissa jerked her head up in a rage.
• “You ingrate! What do you think you're doing? How dare you disappear on such an important occasion last night? We were trying to get you a boyfriend. Do you know who that man is? Do you know how much trouble you have caused us? Do you know how humiliating it was for us just because you ran away?” Yvonne let loose a torrent of abuse at Clarissa.
• “If that man is so important, why didn't you take him for yourself?” Clarissa retaliated, cupping her face.
• I will never sleep with a balding and beefy old man in his fifties!
• “Why you—”
• “We're family, Yvonne. Don't get too worked up,” Zach interrupted before his daughter could fly off the handle again.
• Then putting on a calm look, he said to Clarissa, “We're doing this for your own good, Clary. Mr. Jensen has a sizeable net worth and he's still single. Haven't you heard that older men are wiser and they're much gentler towards women? You have nothing to worry about for the rest of your life if you're married into the Jensen family. Your mother has been saying we don't take good care of you so we wanted to make it up by finding you a good man.”
• Clarissa darted Zach and the woman beside him, Hilary—her biological mother—a cold look.
• “I don't need it,” she said, then returned to her room to retrieve her suitcase that was left untouched since yesterday.
• Upon her arrival in D City the day before, the Garetts had taken to a hotel for a meal after reuniting with Hilary. Yet little did she expect to be greeted by a filthy sight.
• “I'm doing this for your own good, Clary.” Hilary had come into her room and was grabbing her by the arm. “You can't just stay in that small city and do nothing for the rest of your life, right? It's a waste of your good looks.”
• Clarissa shook her hand off relentlessly. “Is this why you've abandoned me for twelve years?”
• “I...”
• Clarissa had already walked away before Hilary could finish.
• None of the Garretts stopped her.
• “Don't worry. We were indeed a little too reckless yesterday. I'm Clary's mother. That's a fact. We need to plan and think wisely about this.” Hilary tried to appease her husband and stepdaughter when she saw the dissatisfaction on their faces.
• “Are you sure?” Yvonne snorted. “She's your daughter after all.”
• “She may be my daughter, but I'm very much in love with your father, Yvonne. You know me, don't you, Zach?”
• “Of course,” Zach smiled.
• Clarissa had hailed for a cab, planning to stay at a hotel, when she received a call from her best friend, Ellie.
• “Why didn't you tell me you've arrived in D City? Do you even consider me as your friend? Where are you?”
• Clarissa's heart warmed at her words.
• “I'm on my way to a hotel...”
• “Hotel? You could have just stay at my place.”
• “I don't think that's nice. I...”
• “I won't take no for an answer. Head over to J City Building. I'll pick you up and we can go grab a meal together.”
• Clarissa let out a helpless chuckle at Ellie's domineering behavior. Hanging up the phone, she could only tell the driver to take another route.
• After she alighted from the cab, Clarissa waited under a shade beside J City Building.
• She was playing with her phone when she looked up and saw the silhouette of a man in a white shirt and a pair of suit pants. There was something about that man that made him look imposing as he walked out of the building.
• Followed by a crowd around him, Clarissa wondered what he was saying as the people sent him off with a bow thereafter.
• The driver opened the door, and the man was about to get in when he suddenly looked over in her direction.
• Taken aback, Clarissa quickly lowered her head in embarrassment and feigned ignorance.
• Matthew looked at the young lady through the car window until the car drove away and her figure disappeared from sight.
• “Donnie,” he piped up. “I need you to run a background check on that woman.”
• Donnie naturally understood who he was referring to. What are the odds of meeting the same woman who had thrown herself at Mr. Tyson twice?
• They had never believed in pure coincidence and accident.