Chapter 218: I Accept Your Proposal, Let’s Get A Divorce!
Jake’s words broke the silence between Michael and Wendy. Michael pursed his lips and quickened his pace towards the dining table. He looked at the chicken drumstick that Jake had put in his bowl and picked up his cutlery to pass the drumstick back. "You can have it since you like it." It was not about the chicken drumsticks, but more importantly, Jake had lifted the atmosphere between Michael and Wendy.
Michael took a piece of chicken breast meat but stopped mid-air. He put the piece of chicken breast into Wendy’s bowl instead. "I remember you have a preference for chicken breast meat."
Wendy looked down at the piece of meat in her bowl and mumbled a word of thanks without looking up. Although it seemed a little awkward at the dining table, it was way better than the days where they used to quarrel a lot.
After dinner, Wendy did the dishes quickly and took a shower when she was done.
She went back to her bedroom right after. She did not lock the door and Michael came in. She looked up at Michael and said in a serious tone, "I want to spend some time alone to think things through if that is ok with you."
Michael’s hand was still on the doorknob. He froze when he heard Wendy’s words.
After a while, he nodded. He shut the door behind him and went into the guest room beside her room.
Wendy suffered from insomnia throughout the night and she only woke up at nine in the morning the next day. When she got out of bed, the house was empty and quiet.
She felt relieved. Leah and Jake should be in school by then and Michael should have gone to work.
She did not know how to face Michael at the moment so it would be best not to have too much time together. Wendy walked into the kitchen. She saw porridge that was still warm in the slow cooker. She scooped a bowl for herself and walked to the dining area with the warm porridge in her hand.
Just as she was about to dig in came the sound of the main door opening. Wendy thought it was Zess coming home after sending the kids to school. She did not expect to see Michael instead.
"Why... did you come back?" Wendy said in a surprised tone.
"I sent the kids to school and bought you some breakfast on the way back." He put the soup dumplings on the table and said, "It should be still warm."
From the packaging, Wendy could tell that Michael went specially to the famous Chinese takeout in the city to get this.
Wendy pursed her lips and took a deep breath. "Michael, you don’t have to do this."
Michael seemed to understand where Wendy was coming from. He laughed and said, "You don’t have to feel burdened. And you don’t have to worry that I am doing this with an ulterior motive."
Wendy did not give her trust. She looked down and did not say a word after. But she did not touch a single bit of the breakfast Michael bought.
Her phone rang in her room. She went to her room and followed the sound of the ringtone to get to her phone. When she got to her phone, she saw who was calling. It was Winnie.
She pursed her lips and answered the call.
"Wendy, accompany me for a manicure session today. With your beautiful hands, they would look more amazing than before with some gorgeous nails after a manicure." Winnie sounded passionate about it, like before.
"I have something on today. Maybe you can get someone else to accompany you instead." Wendy declined her offer.
It came as an instinct that things were not as simple as they seemed when Winnie came looking for her almost every day recently. If it wasn’t for what Jake told her yesterday, she would have still insisted on the divorce with Michael. At least, it would not have been as harmonious as it was currently.
"Women should take care of themselves and pamper when needed. You should not focus too much on your career all day. Let Michael take over the work. I have been through the phase too, so take my advice." Winnie sighed and continued. "At that time, I was a workaholic like you, working day in day out. I did my best at work and also took care of the family at the same time. As a result..."
Michael heard Wendy talking on the phone. He knew for sure that Winnie was on the other end.
All out of a sudden, Michael burst into the room and said coldly, "Wendy, are you calling the bastard again? Am I not treating you well enough? Why do you have to do this to me?"
Wendy was stunned to hear this from Michael. What was he talking about?
Michael’s tone got angrier as he shouted, "Didn’t you say you want to get a divorce? Okay fine, I accept your proposal. Let’s get divorced!"
Wendy tightened her grip of the phone. She replied hastily, "What do you mean by this?"
"What do I mean?" Michael scoffed. "What else could that possibly mean? Yesterday when you came back, didn’t you say you want to get a divorce? And now, you are already planning for another date with the bastard? You really think I am so benevolent to that extent?"
Winnie raised her hand to cover her mouth when she heard the couple quarrelling on the other end. She was afraid she could not hold back her giggles.
She thought the photos yesterday would only cause Michael to be suspicious. She did not expect that things would escalate so quickly to this stage. The worse their arguments got, the better it was for Winnie as their relationship would deteriorate.
"When I said I wanted a divorce yesterday, it was..." Wendy wanted to explain herself. But she did not complete her sentence. She let out a bitter laugh and swallowed her words.
Michael merely saw her making a call and he was so affirmed that she was talking to some guy and accused her without verifying. Seemed like, Michael did not trust her completely either. It was true that Wendy brought up the topic on divorcing. If that was the case, she would go along with it.
Wendy bit her lips as her hand holding the phone shook. Tears welled up in her eyes, blurring her vision. No, she must not cry, at least not in front of Michael.
"Fine. Let’s divorce." Wendy put on a brave front and smiled. "Bring along the marriage certificate. Let’s go to the registry now to file for our divorce."
Wendy could not remember where she left the marriage certificate after she had lost her memory. In fact, she had left the marriage certificate behind when she left Lake City five years ago. What she also left behind were the documents for divorce.
Wendy said, "I don’t know if I have the marriage certificate with me. Where did you put the certificate? I’ll go retrieve it."
"How would I know where did you leave your marriage certificate?" Michael retorted. "Wendy, the person who committed adultery was you. The person who wanted a divorce was also you. Now, the person who could not find the marriage certification is also you. What do you want exactly? I’m telling you, there is a limit to my patience."
"There is also a limit to my patience!" Wendy’s eyes were red as she spoke with disappointment. She pondered over their relationship the night before. Although she could not trust Michael completely now, she was willing to give it a chance. But now they were at each other’s throats over a call. That completely dispersed any hope Wendy had for the relationship.
"I am sure the marriage certificate will be somewhere in the house. I will find it. I don’t believe it would not appear if I search the whole house." Wendy got enraged.
She turned to walk into her room and started ransacking through the wardrobe to look for it.
She had thrown her phone aside. But she did not hang up as she was too emotional.
Winnie did not hang up either. She had done so much just to see their relationship come to an end. In situations like this, it was her opportunity to listen in for a good show, while keeping mum for the misunderstanding to brew longer.
