Chapter 155 - The Obscene Offer

"I was waiting for my son to leave," Matilde says, stepping into the suite without waiting to be invited. "Because what I intend to tell you isn't for him to hear."

"I…uhh…" Claire stammers. There's nowhere she can hide this time. She cannot hide behind Gabriel or Miguel; she has to face her. And during these times, for some reason she remembers one little trick she learned when she was in college, being a competitive debater: whenever your nerves get to you, just smile your sweetest smile, and it will help calm you down.

So Claire, with everything she's got, smiles to Matilde Tan and offers her a seat. "Would you like some tea, coffee, Ma'am?"

Matilde stares at her from head to foot. "I see you are well-trained as a secretary," she says, not without condescension.

I'm not a secretary, Claire's mind protests. But then again, she was, wasn't she? She did "play" as the executive ȧssistant, and at least in the first few days of serving in Gabriel's employ, she was the errand girl. So.

Matilde walks around the living room, looking around. "Well, this is impressive. At least my son knew how to elevate people of lowly origin to his own level. I ȧssume this was all provided to you, no?"

"Uhh, y-yes, Ma'am," she says.

"How generous of my eldest son," Matilde mutters. She stops and looks at Claire. She even smiles. "I apologize for my behavior earlier, Carol…"

"It's Claire, Ma'am—"

"Claire. Sure. Claire it is. As I was saying, I apologize. I didn't know you. In fact, I still don't. For me, you come across as a highly ambitious young woman who will do anything for a buck. Not that I can't believe that you'd really fall in love with Gabriel—my son's one of this country's most eligible bachelors, and very handsome, no? So falling in love with him is easy. What I've been reacting to, is the unfortunate lack of anything you're bringing to the table."

Claire's brow knits in confusion. "How do you mean?"

"It's simple. For me, marriage is all about partnerships, alliances. Call me old-fashioned, but unless you or your family can match my son's stature, if you have businesses or lands that can somehow offer some benefit to our family, then I don't think you're worth marrying. Because you and Gabriel, young lady, is a terribly imbalanced match."

"But…" Claire tries to speak, but she couldn't find her voice—there are a million things she wants to say right now, and yet, they're all trying to come out of her throat at the same time. In the end, all she manages to say is, "Is wealth the only thing you care about?"

Matilde Tan gazes at her, her face inscrutable. "On the surface, your question seems simple, even perhaps rhetorical. And I'm a bit puzzled—have the words I've just said led you to think I only care about wealth? No, Carol, or Claire, that's quire a narrow way of looking at it. I care about the future. I care about compatibility. I care about growth. I care about you—with your upbringing, cultural and personal background, and everything else that makes you YOU—and whether or not you'd be happy with my son, with everything that makes him the person that he is. Between you and Gabriel is a wide, unbridgeable abyss, Carol or Claire. And whatever you think you're feeling now, whatever dėsɨrė you feel in your loins or longing in your heart, that will be nothing once you're living together and discovering, to your dismay, that you couldn't stand each other." Matilde sighs. "That, and the fact that you're not bringing anything to the table. Yours would be a completely asymmetrical partnership, and such partnership rarely lasts. That's why I am vehemently against it."

"But that's just being human, isn't it? That's being in love. The heart feels what it feels—it doesn't calculate the worth of the one being loved." Claire chokes on her tears. "Didn't you once fall in love, too? Didn't you come from more humble origins? Gabriel said you used to be very poor. Pardon me for saying this, but you're not old money. And the fact that you've succeeded means anyone can succeed—anyone with the passion and determination to do so. How can you not understand what Gabriel and I have, when you used to be in my shoes a long time ago?"

Matilde says nothing. Without a word, she walks over to the glass wall; she gazes at the city's skyline. "Half of these buildings are owned by me. By Tan Holdings. And it wasn't easy. It didn't take only passion and determination—it took me unimaginable sacrifices just to succeed." She turns to Claire. "And looking at you, and the way you're coming into this relationship, I highly doubt you'd have the stomach to do the things I did. You don't have the proper constitution. When I look at you, I see only a pretty face. You even look pretty when you cry. I can see why my son is so smitten by you. But that's it. Looks fade. Beauty fades. On this planet, we are so briefly gorgeous—in a few years, your beauty would be nothing but a memory. And when that happens, how can you hold on to your man? How can you stop him from looking elsewhere for younger, fragrant flesh?"

Claire feels like her knees have turned into rubber. Her hand seeks support on the wall, as she slowly sits down on the divan, trying so hard to stifle her tears. At the back of her mind, she knows the more she cries, the more she appears to be some weakling, like some damsel in distress.

"I've been there and done that and all," Matilde says. "I'm just trying to spare your future feelings. I'm trying to stop your suffering. And I admit, I'm more concerned about my son's future suffering. He's infatuated. He cannot see anything beyond what he sees in you. All he sees right now are rainbows and summer mornings. He has no idea what's in store for you once you continue on this path. How long have you been in a relationship? One month? Two months?"

"Just a few weeks," Claire sheepishly says.

"Holy matrimony!" Matilde's eyes go round. "Jesus henry Christ! And there you'd think you've been together for years and I come here as a villain? You kids have no idea. You have no idea, believe me. Gabriel takes after his father. And by that, I mean, he will never settle down. He will always be confused. He doesn't know what he feels. He only thinks he knows, but he doesn't."

Claire has been gazing into Matilde's eyes for a long moment, watching her lips move, watching the words as they tumble out of Gabriel's mother's mouth. She takes a deep breath. "But you can be entirely wrong, Mrs. Tan," she finally mutters. "I'm no bimbo. Gabriel didn't pick me up on the street. Yes, I was looking for a job, and yes, he hired me to pose as his fiancée. But I don't see anything wrong with that. It was play-acting, and it was a job like any other job. It's a performance art, can't you see? That we ended up falling in love with each other was unintentional. Maybe it's fate. But it feels authentic. It feels real. It IS real. Everything you've told me, all those words, all those painful 'truths', don't you realize you're merely projecting your own relationship failures on other people, on me, on Gabriel? Can't you trust us to not mess this up, after all, this is our lives. Only we can make this work."

Matilde blinks. She just gazes at Claire, like she's trying to fathom Claire's deepest intentions.

"Can't you give us a chance?" Claire says. "Can't you give us a shot at our own happiness? You said beauty fades, looks fade. But I believe true love never fades, and it's what we have. It's what I have for him. And I believe it's what he has for me. In the short time we've known each other, we already have been through so much that tested our commitment to each other. And I'm ready for more. I'm ready for a lifetime more. Can't you see? Can't you feel that? Can't you see it in my eyes?"

Matilde sighs. "I realize it's even more hopeless speaking to you, Carol or Claire. But let me make this so utterly simple. There's a big world out there. And it's all for sale—all of it. So let me make this offer, which I think you cannot refuse no matter how you look at it." Matilde flips open her pearl handbag, takes out what looks like a checkbook, signs on a check, and tears it off in a flourish like a woman who has spent her entire life signing checks. She hands it to Claire. "Here. One time offer. And I strongly suggest you take it."

As if in a trance, Claire holds the check aloft as though she's holding a highly fragile specimen. On the check is written an ȯbsċėnė amount of money.

"That's ten million dollars. Ten million. Not in this country's currency, but in American dollars, which you can cash out right now if you're so inclined. Do you realize what ten million dollars can do in this country? You can buy a palace. You can buy an island. You don't have to work a single day for the rest of your life."

Claire finds it hard to wrap her head around this. "But why?"

"Why? I thought you're so smart, so don't play dumb with me, please. Don't insult me like that. That's my offer to you. I want you to leave Gabriel and disappear. Go find your own life. I can never let you get serious with my son. I have grand plans for Gabriel. Michelle Alcantara was just what you can call a placeholder. She was only for 'practice'. I have real prospective women for Gabriel, which I've chosen for the sake of the future, his future. I will not let a virtually unknown like you to suddenly snatch him away just like that."

Claire is so stunned. She says nothing. She stares at the check she's holding with the tips of her fingers. Ten million dollars. And she's not sure, but she's both confused and deeply hurt by the sight of this check, by the words she's hearing coming from Gabriel's mother. It's all so confusing and happening so fast that she's having a hard time to process this emotionally. Matilde is right, if you'd look at this money objectively—ten million can change a lot of lives. But for her to even consider to accept this "bribe" for a split second feels like a total betrayal, and it's something that is never in her heart. She can't leave gab for money. She'd rather die. She'd rather—

"Think about it. Deeply. Seriously," Matilde says. "If that's not enough, tell me. But I'll leave you to your thoughts. And I need your decision very soon, okay. Carol or Claire?"

Claire says nothing. She just stares at Matilde's face, and wonders why Gabriel or Miguel doesn't resemble their mother at all, not even for a bit. She's as though a complete stranger, who arrived here to seduce her with this money.

By the door, Matilde stops and turns to her. "I want you to decide tonight," she says. "And if somehow your decision is the exact opposite of what I want, please know that I have ways and means to compel you. And when I say that, I mean, I won't be this nice the next time I appear here. So consider that offer an expression of rare generosity, and that you should be grateful." A pause. "You're welcome." Matilde even smiles.

When the door closes, Claire gazes at the check she's holding. Then she rips it into a thousand pieces. She collapses on the floor, weeping; she weeps like a child abandoned. She weeps, mostly because what Matilde has done changes everything. Matilde has crossed the Rubicon, so to speak. And for Claire, this poisonous offer means there's no turning back.