The next day, when Cal woke up, Clarissa was still by his side. Even though he had told her a few days ago to leave, but Clarissa wouldn't be dumped so easily. She figured that with time Cal would grow tired of Ruth's constantly complaining.

'People will eventually forget about your dead fiancée, Cal. But I'll be here for you, whatever the causes.'

Cal looked over at her. He had been a while since he had slept in that long. Normally he got up early in morning, sometimes, when the sun wasn't even up. However, the incident with Ruth yesterday had taken a toll on him.

'Your opinion is all good and well, but you fail to recall that Rose is being put on a podium ever since she's perished.'

It was true getting rid of a dead fiancée, without shattering his reputation was harder than with Rose being alive. What's more Cal had never thought of marrying Clarissa. He was fine with her being his mistress.

"Where are you going, Cal?" she asked having woken up too.

"To work, what do you think?" he growled, before shutting the door behind him.

Cal hadn't been gone for half an hour, when Clarissa decided to get up as well.

She put on a dress, she had found in the closet, not caring that it was most likely one of Rose's.

The girl can't wear it anymore anyways.

It would be just a waste to let in hang inside the wardrobe. It'll be full of dust by all means, if it's not being worn. Clarissa had always thought Rose dumb and naïve. Certainly she wasn't a match for her.

As she descended down the stairs, she came face to face with Edith, Ruth's personal maid and confederate since Trudy's tragic death. Edith obviously wasn't very fond of Clarissa.

"Ah, Edith, good to see you, I would really like to have a coffee," she spoke as if she was already the mistress of the house.

Edith stared at her like she hadn't heard right. Of course Ruth had told her everything about Titanic, her daughter and Mr. Hockley ill-fated relationship with the woman standing in front of her.

"I beg your pardon Miss, but I'm Mrs. Dewitt Bukater's maid, not yours," Edith told her calmly, gently pushing past her.

Clarissa flamed, her eyes glaring, but Edith just smiled smugly.

"You little…," Clarissa mumbled under her breath.

Edith was a middle-aged woman, about Ruth's age and coming from a similar environment, which was probably the reason why the two of them got along so well. Also Ruth was much more relaxed and more seldom putting out the lady since her daughter's death.

Before Clarissa could really slap her or whatever she wanted to do, Ruth appeared upstairs instantly recognizing her daughter's dress.

Hadn't this woman gotten any decency?

What I'm talking about, of course she doesn't, throwing herself at a taken man.

"Care to tell me, what's going on here?" she asked albeit she had a pretty good notice already.

"Miss Clarissa, I do believe that this isn't the right way to treat you elder," she turned to her. "Mr. Hockley knows just well, why he never took you down the aisle."

Clarissa was fuming, Ruth's calm quite voice making her even more enraged. Underneath she was boiling with rage.

"I do believe that my maid already told you that you're not wanted here. May I suggest that you leave this house, before you're making a complete fool out of yourself? At least allow yourself to disappear with style."

Ruth really had got it, that tone in her speech to make everyone feel inferior.

"That's Cal's home," Clarissa hissed back.

She somehow expected Ruth to slap her. However, Ruth was far too much a lady to scoop down to her level as she would've called it.

"Mr. Hockley sometimes doesn't know what's good for him."

And I suppose you do?

"He's still not gotten over Rose's death and I won't let you take advantage of it."

Whether Ruth really believed what she said was unknown to both. She certainly had taken notice of Clarissa even before her daughter's engagement. Someone pushing her own daughter into a marriage that was doomed from the beginning and wouldn't work out was by all means no one that Clarissa could've any respect for.

Especially if she was acting like a reborn saint now…

Edith noting the tension between the two, silently stepped forward, separating them.

"Mrs. Dewitt Bukater, I don't think that it necessary to be wasting your time, with her any longer," she said.

However, neither Ruth nor Clarissa were about to stop their battle. The hatred they had felt for each other for years now slowly coming out.

"Will all due respect, Mrs. Dewitt Bukater, but your daughter is dead. You've to accept…," Clarissa told her with a tint of mockery in her voice.

"You've got no self-esteem," she sneered. "I want you out of here in an hour. If you've at least some dignity left, then you won't be coming back."

Say's someone, who had no problem to shove her daughter into the arms of a man, who cheated on her from the beginning.

"Edith, please go and make me some tea," she changed the topic in the middle of the discussion.

For her the debate was over.

"As you wish, Madam…"

Ruth followed her into the living room, leaving Clarissa just standing there.

It's not over yet, Mrs. Dewitt Bukater. It's not over.

Cal returned home late in the afternoon. Since Ruth had found out about Fabrizio's presence he lived in the constant fear that he might tell her something. However, when he opened the entrance to his home, it turned out that this was the last thing Ruth had on her mind.

"Mr. Hockley, how good that you're here now."

Cal frowned, knowing that she always wanted something, when she was starting her talks with that sentence.

"Ruth how nice to see you. What can I do for you?" he asked her not caring a bit to hear her answer.

To him she was just constantly complaining.

His mind was on Fabrizio and the diamond and he only dimly listened to her.

"I'm sure that it was in your interest that I told her to leave. Really, I don't…"

Cal decided to stop the conversation by the only way; he could come up with at the moment, moving past Ruth and closing the door to his office behind him.

He didn't want Clarissa to go, but he also didn't want Ruth to be made at him. Not for the fact of being mad at him, he knew she most likely never would be fond of him, but he couldn't risk that she might destroy his plan or that she'd rob him of his great mistress.

Ruth was left stunned, but she wasn't about to give up so soon.

Upstairs Fabrizio couldn't help but to overhear every word Ruth had said to Cal, as well as the conversation between her and Clarissa some hours before. So when Cal came up to him, bringing him some food, he couldn't refrain from laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing…nothing…," Fabrizio tried to stop himself, but wasn't very successful.

Cal seemingly had trouble to restrain himself, but eventually he left him alone.

If only Dawson would be here now.

He really needed someone to hit to get off steam.