Chapter 102: Sir, You Must Have The Wrong Number
Jake headed straight back to his mother after he was out of Michael’s sight. Since Wendy had already achieved her goal for the party tonight, she did not plan to linger. She left straight away with Jake and went back to the hotel. After they got in the car, Jake said smugly, "Mummy, I was the one who helped you to distract Mr. Lucas at the party. Aren’t I clever?"
Perhaps he should not have mentioned this in the first place. Wendy frowned when she heard him and said, "You met Michael Lucas just now?"
She still did not know that they had already met at the airport. It was never her intention to take Jake with her to Lake City, but he had insisted on coming along. After thinking about it, she realized that it might be a good idea to have him with her since it might be a while before she could return to Rheinsville City.
She did not want Jake to stay abroad all by himself. As for her daughter, Wendy had planned on bringing her over once she had comfortably settled back in Lake City. Since she had just arrived here, there were still many things that were uncertain. It would be tedious to bring both her children with her at the same time.
When Jake heard the displeasure in Wendyys tone, his smile immediately faded. He said, "I saw that he was bothering you, so I wanted to help you distract him and stop him from following you."
It was clear now why Michael had not chased after Wendy earlier. She felt surprised indeed.
She never expected that Jake was responsible for this. However, she was afraid that Michael would find out about who Jake really was. Even though she knew that Michael would learn the truth sooner or later, she still wanted to delay that day for as long as she could.
"What did he tell you?" asked Wendy. Since Jake had managed to get away from Michael, she figured that h probably had no idea about who he was yet.
"Mummy, don’t worry, he doesn’t know that I’m related to you," said Jake as he patted his chest confidently. "I told him that I got separated from my parents and asked him to help me look for them. But before he could do that, I told him that I saw my mummy and ran away from him. So, Mummy, please don’t worry about it."
Wendy knew that Jake was very bright, and it was unlikely that he would be exposed easily.
She sighed in relief. However, she still nagged at him, "Don’t talk to Michael again. Do you understand me?"
Jake nodded obediently.
Wendy felt curious about his simple response.
She said, "Don’t you want to know why I don’t want you to talk to him?" Since Jake had always been a curious boy, she had expected him to ask her that question.
With a serious look on his face, Jake answered, "I saw how he kept chasing after you at the party tonight. He doesn’t seem like a good guy. Anyway, I don’t like him, since Mummy doesn’t like him, either."
Wendy felt very comforted when she heard Jake’s response. She could not help but think about how fortunate she was in life. Even though her love life had been a disaster, she had been blessed with two children who were obedient and adorable.
Soon, the car arrived at the hotel.
It was late by the time Wendy was done helping Jake wash up. He crawled into bed and went to sleep. Not long after, Wendy’s phone rang.
She picked it up and saw that it was from an unfamiliar number. Staring at the screen, she suspected that it was Michael calling. After all, he had her phone number, and since he had failed to get her to admit who she was at the party tonight, it was likely that he would continue to persist in his endeavor.
She hesitated, debating whether to answer the phone. After thinking about it, she picked up. In any case, she would have to see him at the company tomorrow even if she chose to decline his call tonight. However, when the call got through, it was not Michael’s voice that she heard...
"Wendy, welcome back," said Christian over the phone.
It was unexpected, but not surprising at all.
Five years ago, Christian was the one who had helped her when Michael tried to force her into an abortion. However, she was very sure that Christian had been the mastermind behind the whole situation that had happened, anyway Finding him to be a monstrous and dangerous man, she had always tried her best to keep her distance from him. However, no matter how hard she tried to get away from him, he hounded her persistently.
It was obvious from the fact that he was calling her right now after learning about her return to Lake City. Even though it had been five years, Wendy still did not want anything to do with Christian.
She replied in a cold and distant tone, "You must have the wrong number."
"Wendy, since you just got back, I’m sure that you don’t know what s been happening in Lake City," said Christian, who completely ignored Wendy’s response. He continued talking, "After you were kidnapped and fell into the sea, I left MC Enterprise voluntarily and started my own company here. Right now, my company is second only to MC Enterprise."
"Sir, you must have the wrong number," said Wendy again before hanging up. She did not want to entertain his shenanigans.
Not long after, her doorbell rang. Wendy’s heart skipped a beat as she wondered if it was Christian. She walked to the door and looked through the peephole only to see Christian standing right there.
She thought, this man is really stubborn. He even managed to find out where I am staying at.
Wendy wanted to ignore him, but he kept ringing the doorbell. Since Jake had only just fallen asleep, he was quickly awoken by the sound. Rubbing his eyes, he said, "Mummy? Who is that?"
"It’s nobody, my dear. Go back to sleep," said Wendy comfortingly.
Then, she called the hotel’s reception on the phone, "How on Earth do you manage your hotel? Why is it that any random person can find out which room I’m staying in?! There is a huge security problem in your system! Are you guys willing to take responsibility if anything bad happens to your guests? I want you to send security guards to deal with the man standing outside my door right now, or I’ll sure your hotel..."
Christian waited until Wendy had finished speaking before he chuckled, "Wendy, I forgot to tell you that my company owns this hotel."
Wendy felt her chest tighten, making it hard for her to breathe. She mentally cursed herself for having such bad luck and choosing a hotel that was owned by Christian’s company.
"I don’t have any bad intentions. I just wanted to ask if the legendary Corrine wants to work with my company, too" Christian said calmly. He was still the same as he had been five years ago. He continued, "We lack talented individuals such as yourself in our design department." This time, he had deliberately stopped addressing her as "Wendy". He understood her personality well enough to know that there was no point trying to provoke her.
"Thank you for your kind offer, but I’ve already signed a contract with MC Enterprise. If you sincerely wish to work with HG Enterprise, you can call our headquarters and speak to them. I assure you that there are many other talented designers in our company."
"You really can’t make an exception?" said Christian, sounding sad, "Your friend works for my company right now."
Wendy could not help but snort. She thought, who is he talking about? Is he referring to himself?
However, she rejected him again and said, "HG Enterprise deeply values the spirit of partnership. Unless MC Enterprise decides to terminate our contract, it will never happen."
"This is really such a pity," said Christian with a sigh.
"If there’s nothing else, I’ll be hanging up now. It’s late and I need to rest," said Wendy before hanging up.
This time, Christian stopped harassing her. He stopped ringing the doorbell, as well. Wendy looked back and saw Jake sitting upright on the bed. There was a deep frown on his tiny face as he watched Wendy, obviously concerned.
Wendy approached him. She laid him down again, covered his body with the blanket, and said, "Sorry to wake you. Go back to sleep now."
"Mummy, who were you talking to on the phone?" Jake asked curiously as he rubbed his eyes. He could guess that it was probably not Michael that had called. However, his mother’s tone and choice of words made it obvious that it was somebody she did not want to talk to.
He started wondering if his mother had other enemies in Lake City. The more he thought about it, the deeper his frown became. If his mother had more than one enemy in this place, then he would likely be very busy in the future.
"It was just someone that I didn’t know," said Wendy, who of course did not want to tell Jake too much. Even though he was very smart, he was still just a child.
Observing his mother’s reticence, Jake decided not to pursue the topic. He figured that he would find out sooner or later since they were already back in Lake City anyway. He hummed in acknowledgment before shutting his eyes again. "Good night, Mummy," he said.
Wendy bent down to kiss his forehead. In a gentle voice, she said, "Good night, my dear."
Then, she walked to the adjacent bed to rest. Even though Jake was still young, he had stopped sleeping in the same bed as his mother when he was three years old. Since he thought of himself as a big boy, it would be too immature to continue sleeping with his mother.
Wendy started wondering if she should stay in another hotel with Jake since Christian had learned of their whereabouts. However, after putting more thought into it, she realized that Christian would be able to find them again easily given his influence in this city. Moreover, it was already late at night now. It would have been fine if she was alone but going to another hotel at this time would be so much more inconvenient with Jake tagging along.
Hence, she decided to just stay here for tonight and think about what to do next in the morning.
The following day, she was expected to report to work at MC Enterprise. If this were like before, she would not feel worried about leaving Jake alone in the hotel room. After Christian’s visit, though, she no longer dared to do that. However, it was also impossible for her to bring Jake to the office. After thinking about it, she decided to call the HR department at MC Enterprise and informed that she had some urgent matters to deal with today and could only go in to work the following day.
Since Wendy was the legendary "Corrine" now, nobody dared to oppose her. In fact, nobody would have said a word about it even if she just missed work without informing anyone. After all, she was working with MC Enterprise as a partner, not as their subordinate.
Right now, the only thing Wendy needed to do was to find an apartment. Since she intended to remain in Lake City for a while, it was not practical to continue staying in a hotel. She engaged the services of a real estate agent and visited several apartments before she settled on one of them.
With her current status, she no longer needed to worry about the price of the apartment. All she needed to consider was whether the apartment looked nice, whether it was in a good neighborhood, how far it was from the company, and whether there were any good pre-schools nearby. Since Jake was almost four, she had to enroll him in pre-school.
The apartment she chose was located near the most reputable pre-school in the city. Since it was a private school, the school fees were exorbitant. However, Wendy could easily afford them. After signing the lease contract, things were settled.
After the rental of the apartment was confirmed, Wendy immediately called her Zess, her helper back in Rheinsville City. She instructed her to buy a flight ticket to Lake City. Zess had been with Wendy for almost three years, and she always took very good care of her children.
Wendy did not have the time to look for a new helper here, and she was afraid that she could not get used to having a new person around.
Hence, she decided to just ask Zess to come over. She found comfort in this familiarity.
