Chapter 150: Without Love Or Hatred, They’d Better Merely Be Strangers
Wendy suddenly remembered that when she just came back from Rheinsville City, she made a fool of Michael at the party, deliberately letting him be the joke of Lake City.
Although after the news spread out, Michael received good reviews as a result.
Many netizens were complimenting on Michael’s loyalty to his dead wife, and they all regarded him as a benchmark of affectionateness.
Many people even said that because of Michael, they believed in love again.
At that time, Wendy was enraged by seeing the replies of these netizens. She signed up for an alt account to argue with them in person.
It turned out that Michael did donate a large amount of money in her name over the past five years.
Under the comments, Wendy saw that someone had mentioned Michael’s Twitter account.
Wendy clicked in instinctively.
Michael didn’t post too much on his Twitter account.
There were only less than twenty tweets.
The last update was from three months ago. He only sent a simple statement-"Wendy is back. Thank God for hearing my prayer."
The second tweet only had two words-"Happy birthday." Wendy checked for the date of this post. It was her birthday that day.
During their three-year marriage, Michael never remembered Wendy’s birthday.
On the contrary, Michael could remember it after she disappeared.
Among a dozen tweets or so, all of them were about Wendy.
So did the last tweet, which was also Michael’s first posting on Twitter. It is the longest one of Michael’s dozen tweets or so. "I used to force my wife to divorce, and I thought I hated her very much. It wasn’t until last month when she got pushed down the sea in front of me did I realized that I stopped hating her a long time ago. I sadly never dared to believe that I am in love with her nor admit it. I can’t sleep tonight. When thinking of my attitude towards her and everything I have done over the years, I admit I regret it. Although people all said that she was dead, I don’t believe it. Sadly, I searched through all the photo albums on my phone, and there was only one photo of us. That picture was secretly sent by me using her cellphone after she took the photo last time. At this time, I sincerely hope that there is a god in the world. From now on, I will do my best for charity to help more people in need every year. I hope God can hear my prayers so that my wife can come back to me."
The charity indicated by Michael was billions of public welfare expenditures over the past five years.
Michael originally signed up for a Twitter alt account only to record his life. Nevertheless, he was a big shot in Lake City after all; soon, bunches of people knew his Twitter. Every tweet sent by him had many likes and comments.
Wendy didn’t know these.
During her five years in Rheinsville City, she reinvented herself, and no one knew her former identity.
She had been working hard to be stronger and never paid attention to Michael anymore. She had only one belief over these five years, which was to be stronger so that Michael could not ignore her. Then she would come back proudly to seek revenge against him. But now, looking at these tweets and news, Wendy burst out laughing.
After that, she cried.
Tears trickled from her eyelids and dripped on the ground.
In what mood should she accept everything now?
Lowering her head, Wendy buried her face in her knees.
Jake came over before she knew it.
He stretched out his little hand to embrace Wendy.
Jake didn’t speak, just hugging her quietly. He noticed Mummy crying, but he knew better that at the time, Mummy didn’t need pointless comfort.
***
The next day, Wendy had cleared her mind.
Apparently, she seemed as if nothing happened.
As usual, she dressed up, put on her makeup, and went to the company after breakfast. It was just that even a foundation could not cover the bloodshot in her eyes after a sleepless night.
Wendy knew that she was not in good shape today, so she didn’t drive.
Instead, she intended to take a taxi to the company. As soon as she got out of the elevator and walked to the outer gate, she saw a familiar car.
It was Michael’s car.
Wendy was a little surprised.
She didn’t expect that Michael would be outside her apartment.
Michael also seemed to see Wendy.
He opened the door, got out of his car, and walked up to Wendy at a loss.
Wendy found Michael exhausted, which indicated that he hadn’t slept all night as well. The two stood facing each other with eye contact, and neither of them spoke. It seemed that no one knew what to say to break the ice.
After standing like this for a long time, Michael smiled awkwardly, stretched out his hand to scratch his head, and said, "Are you going to work? I can drive you to the company."
At this time, Michael was like a young boy in his early twenties facing his beloved girl. So helpless and green. He was afraid of saying or doing something wrong that enraged Wendy.
Shaking her head, Wendy also smiled faintly and said: "It’s okay. I’ll just take a taxi."
"I..." Michael wanted to insist on offering her a ride. But when the words came to his lips, he held them back.
He didn’t want to force Wendy.
Since she would like to take a taxi, Michael agreed and nodded.
He would be satisfied as long as noticing her doing well.
At this moment, Michael actually didn’t know what to say when being together with Wendy. Wendy bypassed Michael and exited the residential area.
She knew that Michael must have been waiting outside for her all night.
Wendy could not lie that she wasn’t moved at all. However, it was only a mood state that had no help in practicality.
She knew that Michael wanted to get her back. When she returned to Lake City, Michael had been nagging to reconcile with her. If only five years ago, he could treat her better for even a little bit.
During the three-year marriage, if Wendy ever had a glimmer of hope or felt a little warmth, she and Michael would not end up in this situation today.
Now, even she knew it was Michael that saved her back then. Even she knew it was Christian that manipulated everything. Even she knew that over the years, Michael had done plenty of public welfare in her name. So what?
Wendy’s hurt and pain were real.
She thought a lot last night.
She found that she didn’t know how to face Michael at all.
With hate?
Since it was a misunderstanding, there should be no hate.
With Love?
Although it was a misunderstanding, the three years of marriage and five years of painful torture had worn all her love away long ago.
Therefore, without love or hatred, they’d better merely be strangers.
She originally intended to return to Rheinsville City. Now, she would better bring Jake back as planned.
The relationship between Michael and her, perhaps at the very beginning, was wrong. She shouldn’t love him so paranoidly and marry him at any expense.
Fortunately, her son and daughter were good. As if God’s favor for her.
It was good to know the truth. At least she would not live with hatred from now on.
As she let go of hatred, Jake and Leah would not be influenced by her anymore. They may have a happy childhood.
Out of the residential area, Wendy hailed a taxi. As soon as she got in the car, her cellphone rang. With a quick look, it was a call from Todd Lewis.
Corrine picked up the phone almost immediately.
"Corrine..." A gentle voice was on the other side of the line. It was Todd in his usual tone.
"Why did you suddenly think of calling me today?" Corrine asked, smiling.
"I am coming to Lake City for a business trip tomorrow. Leah misses you so I thought to check with you if I should bring her along with me."
Corrine had submitted her resignation letter to the company, but she had yet to hear anything from HG Enterprise. She wasn’t even sure if the board of directors had met.
To be honest, she missed Leah a lot too. It had been a long while since she met her daughter. Now that she knew what happened five years ago, her heart was no longer filled ith hatred. She was ready to lay down all her grudges. But Corrine was concerned. Michael didn’t know that he had another daughter. If he found out about Leah, he might never let her go.
Todd sighed, noticing the hesitation. "I know what you are worried about. If you are afraid that Michael would find out, how about bringing her as her father?"
"That is not a good idea... You are not even married! If you act as Leah’s father, it will affect your reputation," exclaimed Corrine.
Actually, Corrine had thought about this. But she was embarrassed to ask Todd to act as the father. It was too much to ask of him. People Would gossip and it would definitely affect him.
Todd laughed, "I am a man, not a woman. A woman cares about her reputation. But who cares about what people would say about me?"
"But..." Corrine really missed Leah.
Now that she couldn’t return to Rheinsville City, having Todd bring Leah to Lake City was a great way for them to reunite.
"Your family hasn’t met Leah, right? This is a great opportunity for her to meet your parents and relatives. Otherwise, when you return to Rheinsville City, it would be hard for them to see her," Todd urged, hoping to persuade her.
The moment he mentioned her family, Corrine stiffened. Her expression became serious. Eight years ago, she lied to her mum. Five years ago, when she fell into the sea, everyone thought she was dead. But Corrine had never told her mum the truth that she was Michael’s wife.
When she went over to Rheinsville City, she had secretly gotten in touch with her mum.
Once she started work, she would remit money every month to her bank account.
Although she had sent back a fair bit of money, Corrine still felt guilty for not being there to take care of her mum. She was unfilial towards her. Now that she was a mother of two, she still hadn’t plucked up her courage to meet her mum face-to-face.
Originally, she had planned to pay her mum a visit before she returned to Rheinsville City.
What Todd said convinced her. It was time for her to meet her mum and time for the two grandchildren to know their grandmother.
Concerned by the silence again, Todd gently called out, "Corrine?"
"I’m still here," replied Corrine, "Can I trouble you to bring Leah then?"
Todd nodded with relief as he heard her voice. Realizing that it was a phone call and Corrine couldn’t see his nod, he quickly replied, "All right, we will be there tomorrow. Leah will be overjoyed to know that she can see you."
"What time will your flight be? I will be there at the airport to pick you up," Corrine asked.
The timing was perfect. Today was Friday. Tomorrow was Saturday. If they reached tomorrow, she could bring Jake and Leah to visit her family on Sunday.
"We’ll reach at 10.30 a.m. tomorrow," answered Todd.
