Chapter 21: I Agree With Your Proposal
As soon as Wendy left the office, she bumped into Christian. He appeared to have been waiting there for her on purpose. As Wendy had a bad feeling about Christian, she walked around him, intending to leave.
"Wendy, aren’t you curious to know why I’ve been waiting here for you?" asked Christian as he leisurely followed Wendy into the elevator.
After Wendy selected the ground floor, he deactivated her selection and chose another floor instead.
"What do you want to say?" asked Wendy. She could not help but feel slightly amused as she stared at Christian standing beside her in the elevator.
She thought, Michael keeps insulting me for being thick-skinned, but it seems like Christian is much worse than I am. Of course, the only difference is that I genuinely have feelings for Michael. Christian, on the other hand, is only doing this because he has a goal to achieve.
The elevator arrived at its designated floor quickly. When the doors opened, Christian gestured for her to go out. Unwilling to do what Christian wanted, Wendy ignored him and pressed the button for the ground floor again.
Having interacted with Wendy a few times now, Christian was not surprised at her resistance.
Smiling, he said, "Wendy, it’s best if we have a chat. If you don’t wish to go to my office, perhaps we can find a café to talk?"
"Christian, I’ve already made myself clear to you," said Wendy as she glared at him. "If you’re trying to get back at Michael, you should go after Yvonne. She’s the one that Michael loves. Seducing Yvonne is your best shot at angering Michael."
Christian remained smiling as he replied unabashedly, "How do you know that I won’t go after her?"
His words put Wendy at a loss. She did not know how to respond. After a moment of silence, Wendy said, "If that’s the case, then please stop bothering me."
"Wendy, please entertain me," said Christian as he reached out to grab Wendy’s hand, seemingly so that he could pull her out of the elevator.
As Christian stood between the elevator doors, they remained open. Wendy glanced around her and knew that Christian would never relent until he got what he wanted. Shaking Christian’s hand off, Wendy had no choice but to follow him out of the elevator.
Christian was the vice-president of the company and his office was located one floor below Michael’s. It was Wendy’s first time at his office. The room was very simply decorated-the grey, white, and black tones made the office feel cold and quiet.
Christian offered a glass of water to Wendy as he spoke in a gentle tone, "Please, have some water."
Wendy did not take the glass from him. Displeased, she said, "Please hurry up and tell me whatever you have to say."
Since Wendy was already in his office, Christian decided not to continue going around in Circles.
His gaze lingered momentarily on Wendy’s stomach before he took a sip of water and said, "Have you considered my proposal from last night?"
"What proposal?" asked Wendy. She had not taken anything Christian said to heart, and since he said so many things the day before, she did not know what exactly he was referring to.
"I asked you to come and work as my assistant."
"Never," Wendy rejected him without hesitation.
All she wanted right now was to divorce Michael, then leave him and the entire Lucas family behind. Christian obviously had some wicked intentions. Naturally, this made Wendy want to avoid him even more.
Moreover, Michael would learn about her pregnancy sooner or later if she stayed at MC Enterprise.
"Wendy, I’ll give you one more chance," said Christian. This time, he redirected his gaze to Wendy’s stomach in a deliberate manner with the same nonchalant smile on his face.
Wendy subconsciously covered her lower abdomen. She looked at Christian with doubt, surprise, and a hint of fear.
"Christian Lucas!" Wendy raised her voice, evidently enraged now. She said, "What exactly do you want from me? Just say it straight to my face!"
She could not tolerate Christian’s antics.
"I know about your pregnancy," said Christian as he placed the glass of water back on the table.
Observing Wendy’s anger, he continued, "I also know that you did not tell Michael about it. I deduced that after you discovered you were pregnant, you realized Michael might not want the child. In order to protect your baby, you decided to get divorced."
The new background check that Christian had done on Wendy revealed details about her hospital visit from about two weeks ago, after she passed out at the hotel. He had been pondering what exactly he had to do to make Wendy stay at MC Enterprise. Fortunately, a golden opportunity was delivered right into his hands.
Wendy tightened her grip around her stomach. Her fingers bent slightly from the effort. Wendy bit her bottom lip. Feeling frightened, she lowered her voice, "Since you already know about that, you should also know that I can’t possibly become your assistant. I’m only getting divorced so I can protect this child. If I remain at MC Enterprise, my baby bump will start showing in a few months. When that happens, what is the point of getting this divorce at all?"
"That’s why I’m offering you a deal right now, Wendy," said Christian with a chuckle. "I only need you to be my assistant for two months. Right now, you’re only one month pregnant. As long as you’re careful enough, nobody will find out about your pregnancy throughout this period."
"A deal?" Wendy narrowed her eyes as she asked Christian, "What can you offer me in return?"
"Since I managed to find out about your pregnancy, Michael can easily discover it as well if he decides to run a background check on you. Right now, he still doesn’t know about it because he hasn’t started investigating. Even if you really get divorced and you leave Lake City, Michael can still find you. Hence, this is what I’m offering you: I’ll help you cover up the news of your pregnancy. Two months later, I’ll help you leave Lake City, and I’ll guarantee that Michael will never be able to find you. That way, you can deliver this baby smoothly."
"What is your goal? Why do you need me to stay for two months?" asked Wendy.
"I guess there’s no harm telling you about it. You know that Michael and I were born rivals, and his deepest fear is if MC Enterprise falls into my hands. I know that Yvonne is the person Michael loves, not you. But you’re still his wife, after all, and I don’t believe that Michael will be able to tolerate me going after his wife."
Wendy thought, just as I had expected, Christian wants to use me to take revenge on Michael. He isn’t trying to make Michael jealous; he just wants to wound his ego and anger him. Anger is a powerful emotion that can hinder someone from thinking rationally.
"Were you the person who exposed Michael and Yvonne’s affair to the media? You made us fight, which led to our discussion about getting a divorce. Then, you chose to deliberately get close to me so that Michael would misunderstand our relationship. Am I right?"
"I knew I was right about you. I’m sure things will work out smoothly for me if I have you as my assistant" said Christian. He admired Wendy’s intelligence very much.
She understood things very quickly.
Wendy laughed coldly and said, "I knew that you were a difficult person to deal with, but I never expected you to resort to such despicable means.
"I only care about results. The process doesn’t matter to me," replied Christian. He did not seem to feel that there was anything wrong with his actions.
"Michael isn’t stupid. Your plan might fool him temporarily, but do you think that he will remain angry about this for long?" asked Wendy.
"I just need it to work temporarily. After all, I only need you to stay for two months," said Christian, "I can give you time to think about it, but don’t take too long, because I think Michael will send a private investigator to find out what’s really happening between us in no time at all."
...
Just as Christian predicted, Michael sent someone to conduct an investigation on Wendy that very day. Barely two hours after Wendy got home, she received a call from Christin. She did not dare to reject his call because she was afraid that he would do or say something against her if she did.
Once she answered, Christian said, "Wendy, time’s up. You have to tell me your decision right now."
"Already? You should give me at least two or three days to think about it," she replied.
"Don’t think about running away. You barely have any money in your bank account. Even if you leave Lake City, there’s no way you can support yourself for long. More importantly, you’re pregnant. It’s inappropriate to make your child wander from place to place with you," said Christian. He had already predicted that Wendy might very likely plan on leaving Lake City earlier than expected.
After all, she was a clever woman who knew which decision was the best for her and her child. Unfortunately, it was not Christian who refused to give her a chance. It was Michael.
Christian continued, "Michael has already assigned someone to do an investigation on you. If I don’t act right now and cover up the news of your pregnancy, he’ll find out about it within the next ten minutes."
Wendy could not help tightening her grip around the phone. She thought, why do they have to force my hand like this? Do I have to stay at MC Enterprise if I want to keep my baby?
She knew that her decision to stay would be fraught with uncertainties. However, if she chose not to go along with Christian’s plan, Michael might force her to get an abortion.
Shutting her eyes, Wendy nodded, "Alright, I agree with your proposal. I’ll be your assistant. After two months, I hope that you can also fulfill your promise to me.
"Excellent choice. Report to my office tomorrow morning."
Christian’s voice faded abruptly, leaving nothing but the beeping sound that signaled the end of the call.
Holding her phone, Wendy felt completely drained. It had taken her a lot of strength to convince herself to finally let go of this marriage. Just when it seemed like the divorce could happen, Christian’s arrival spoiled all her plans. He stood in her path, obstructing her.
Now, she could only follow Christian’s instructions and take it one day at a time. All Wendy hoped was that Christian was that abide by his promise and let her leave after two months.
The following day, Wendy got dressed and headed to MC Enterprise. This time, the receptionist at the front desk did not stop her.
She went straight to Christian’s office.
"You’re very punctual for your first day," said Christian with a smile. "I’ve spoken to the HR department. You can go there to fill in the employment forms."
Wendy had no grounds to reject him. She knew where the HR department was located.
However, before she could get there, Michael received a call from an HR employee. Michael’s face darkened as he suppressed his obvious rage. He allowed the HR manager to finish speaking before he said coldly, "Don’t process the forms for her. Ask her to come to my office if she has any objections."
After hanging up, Michael slammed his fist on the table. The veins on his hands were bulging. He had never expected Wendy to become Christian’s assistant. He thought, that b*tch!
When Wendy arrived at the HR department, no one dared to process the forms for her. The manager informed her about their situation as well. Wendy did not go straight to Michael’s office. She knew that Michael simply wanted to humiliate her.
Whipping out her phone, she gave Christian a call, "The HR department won’t process my forms because Michael won’t let them."
Having predicted that this would happen, Christian was not surprised at all. Even though he had joined MC Enterprise as a descendant of the Lucas family, he was still new to the company. All the employees working there only took instructions from Michael.
The only reason he had Wendy process her employment forms was so he could alarm Michael. Christian drummed his fingers against the table and said slowly, "Come back to my office."
