Chapter 289: Not Destined To Be Mine
"That didn’t come out right. I didn’t mean it like that," Yonina’s dad explained, realizing that he had been too harsh.
Lowering his head to avoid looking at his daughter, he composed himself and tried to search for the right words before speaking up again, "Christian is quite a good catch, isn’t it? Michael has an ex-wife and two kids.
"On the other hand, Christian has been doing well since his return just a few years ago. His organization, DR, is now the second largest group of companies in Lake City. That is a good indicator of his capabilities.
"And, putting aside the unknown sources of their funds, despite being in a financial crisis, the DR Group is still standing and has not collapsed.
"Compared to Michael, Christian is still an eligible man, never married and with excellent capabilities."
"Huh! Never married?" Yonina scoffed. Shaking her head, she continued, "I cannot comment on what I don’t know. But, there’s this woman, Zen Tanner, who has been by his side all these years. No one knows exactly what their relationship is.
"Do you really think that a man like that is single and has no relationships?"
Truth be told, this ongoing association between Zen and Christian was common knowledge amongst many.
It was a fact that everyone in DR had known for many years but no one had had the courage to talk openly about it.
Everyone knew that Zen was Christian’s mistress.
However, the reason as to why they had not made their relationship public was anybody’s guess.
And since the couple themselves were not talking, the only thing the people who knew about them could do was to speculate amongst themselves.
Being a proud woman, Yonina was not someone who would share her man, knowingly or unknowingly, with another woman.
So how could she be attracted to a man like Christian Lucas?
"Does it really matter for a man to have women on the side?" the chauvinistic Collins demanded. Face flushed with anxiety, he argued, "Since time began, men who have power and capability have always been surrounded by women. Even now, in these modern times when it is against the law to be polygamous, men have continued with this behavior of keeping a harem of women, albeit covertly!"
"Huh! So, as far as you are concerned, all women are like that?" Yonina sneered, disappointment written all over her face. Pointing to herself, she demanded to know, "Do you see me, your own daughter, in that light too?"
Yonina had known all along that her dad favored boys.
Because, ever since she could remember, she had often heard her dad talking about having a son.
In fact, her mom had gotten pregnant after having her.
She had actually been pregnant twice but both pregnancies had ended in miscarriages.
On this day, it became crystal clear to Yonina that even though she was his own daughter, her dad had never treasured her as his child.
With tears in her eyes, Yonina asked him, "Apart from my gender, can you tell me where I have failed in comparison to a son? I am just as capable as any man and yet, to you, I will never be as good as a son. Why is that?"
"I...," he was stumped, realizing that he had gone overboard with his words.
But he was at his wits’ end.
"I spent my entire life building up the Collins Group. Do you really want me to see my lifeblood collapse before my very eyes?" he asked in a gentler, conciliatory tone.
Stepping towards her, he reached out to tug at her hand, "Please, I beg of you!"
Yonina shook her head slowly and emphatically, desperately wanting to rebel and not be manipulated, "No."
"Yonina!" he choked.
In the next instance, he gritted his teeth and knelt before her, begging, "Please, I’m begging you."
"What are you doing?" her mom, who had been watching from the side, stepped forward to pull him to his feet. Failing to do so, she demanded, "Get up first!"
"Stay out of this!" he ordered shoving her away from him.
Yonina, who had initially intended to pull her dad to his feet, suddenly retracted her extended hand when he saw her shoving her mom to the side.
Why were they making her do this?
Why were insisting on forcing her into doing something against her will?
She had worked her guts out, helping her dad with his business, wanting to gain his validation and make him proud. Despite all that, why was she still not able to escape from her destiny of being a tool to be manipulated?
***
In the days that followed, news about the Collins Group and DR continued to dominate the internet.
Since the first posting, the news had built up an increasing following of netizens intrigued by the story.
In fact, a huge number of netizens had ben waiting expectantly for further developments to be posted.
Naturally, Wendy was one such person.
She too was very keen to find out whether Yonina would agree to the proposed marriage with Christian.
Wendy had not had much contact with Yonina and did not really know her.
But what she did know for sure that Yonina was attracted to Michael.
At the very least, before her return to Lake City, Yonina had indeed planned to further develop her relationship with Michael.
One day, Wendy had worked non-stop till 11 that night.
Wearily, she looked at the pile of design drafts on her desk and felt her eyes blurring up.
Deciding that it was time for a break, she put down her marker and pulled out her phone to check for developments to the Collins-DR story.
Logging into the social media site, she scrolled through the related topics.
[Should I even be following this tag? Why hasn’t there been any updates from DR?]
[My guess is that the Collins Group has rejected the offer. HaHaHa! I wouldn’t accept it either! Proposing marriage immediately after doing so much damage to the organization. Anyone with just a little bit of backbone would not agree to this marriage.]
[Hey you! I can tell that you are merely a salaried employee for making that comment. A true boss has too many things to take into consideration. Only one who could compromise for the greater good would survive and move on to more rewarding prospects. After all, it is not just about the Collins Group. If the Collins Group are not willing to accept the proposal, their shareholders and other people up and down the chain who rely on them for a living, would pressure them to do so. This is not a simplistic choice to be made based on their ego alone.]
[Saying yes now would, at best, stop DR from hammering them. WIthout clarity on the real motive behind DR’s bashing, how would they know if this was a white knight to the rescue or the prelude to total collapse?]
[Fact is that the Collins Group are caught between the wall and a hard place. Putting aside their real motive, DR have already made clear their condition. If the Collins Group rejects this proposal, who else would they turn to for help?]
[Have you people forgotten about Zen Tanner? DR’s head of Design who’s been rumored to be Christian’s mistress? Even if she ignored the commercial benefits of this marriage, Yonina Collins could not possibly turn a blind eye to this woman who has constantly been by Christian’s side for so many years.]
[I feel so sorry for Zen who has been waiting on the side for so many years. After all that, she now has to watch him marry another woman. Tsk, tsk, tsk. these wealthy people are just so heartless and cold.]
[I will keep following this. I want to see if Christian will eventually end up marrying Yonina.]
...
Despite the ongoing, numerous chats on social media about this proposed marriage, there had been no new postings from the official sites.
Suddenly, Wendy remembered Zen.
Her relationship with Zen these days had become a tad strained.
But, she figured that if the news were true, then Zen would definitely be affected.
Lips pursed in hesitation, Wendy eventually decided to call Zen anyway.
It was still morning in Lake City.
While eating her breakfast, Zen’s mood lifted a little when she noticed from the caller ID that Wendy had called.
Accepting the call, she composed herself and tried to speak as calmly as possible to hide her emotions from Wendy, "Hi Wendy, have you not gone to bed yet?"
"It’s still early for me," Wendy replied, gently strumming her fingers on the desk.
After a brief pause, she asked, "Zen, are you OK?"
"Me?" At Wendy’s question, Zen, who had been spooning cereal into her mouth, suddenly stopped, her hand suspended in mid-air. Trying her best to put on a smile, she replied, "I’m fine."
"What’s your plan in response to this news about Christian and Yonina?"
Wendy sounded concerned and also a tad probing.
Wendy had two objectives in asking. One was that she was genuinely concerned about Zen.
The other was to find out, from Zen, Christian’s real motive behind his action.
Zen was caught in a dilemma.
She put her spoon in her cereal bowl.
Actually, she had no appetite at all.
But she just had to make herself eat.
She had to put up an appearance that she had not been affected, that nothing spectacular had happened, and go to work as usual.
"Wow, so the news has already reached you in Rheinsville City," she said, laughing lightheartedly.
"Well, being overseas does not mean that I’m out of touch, you know," Wendy sighed. Then, she continued, "This news has been spreading like wildfire. Even your relationship with Christian has been dug up for discussion. How are you coping with this?"
Hearing the concern in Wendy’s voice, Zen cold not help feeling teary.
She kept her head low as big droplets of tears plopped into her bowl of cereal.
Zen had not expected Wendy, the best friend whom she had hurt and betrayed, to be the one person who showed concern for her at a time like this.
Of course, she was no fool and well aware that their relationship could never revert to what it used to be, simply sincere and with no hidden agenda.
Despite that, she knew that Wendy’s concern was not fake.
Wasn’t it?
She said nothing for a long while, deep in thought.
Not hearing any response from the other end of the line, Wendy became a little anxious and yelled, "Zen?"
At her end, Zen had heard Wendy loud and clear but she had covered her mouth her hand, trying to compose herself.
After a long while, she managed to say with laughter in her voice, "Why would I not be coping?"
Wiping at her tears, Zen smiled bitterly, "This was the path that I had chosen for myself. I have been expecting this to happen because, even though we’d been together all these years, Christian had not opted to marry me."
Sighing, she added, "But I had not expected him to offer to marry Yonina.
Since you’ve lost your memory, you may not recall that Christian has always loved you and you only.
Since your return, I must confess that apart from being very glad, I was also a tad worried.
I feared that your presence would shake up this unspoken relationship that I had tried very hard to develop with Christian, even if...
Even if this was a covert relationship where I, his lover, would never see the light of day.
Ironically, while I was fearing you, someone else had taken him away from me.
It just goes to show that whatever was never mine in the first place would never ever belong to me anyway."
Wendy frowned at what Zen had just uttered.
After a brief pause, she asked, "What actually happened between Christian and me in the past? Why is he in love with me?"
Recalling that time when Christian had turned up in Rheinsville City on her birthday, insisting on giving her the ring, Wendy shuddered, feeling a chill down her spine.
"You, Michael and Christian have been embroiled in a love triangle for a long time," Zen replied. Then she added, "Actually, if we include Yvonne, it should be a four-sided love match, a very bloody one as well. I am not sure how Christian came to have feelings for you but what I do know for certain that he does love you. However, I’m afraid his love for you is a tad horrifying and twisted."
Christian’s love had driven him to instigate Yvonne to get Wendy killed.
Fortunately, Wendy had survived that attempt on her life.
But it had caused her a lot of hurt, physically and emotionally.
Because although her eyesight had been restored, she had not, to this day, been able to recall her past memories.
Wendy had only just begun to recall bits and pieces of her past life.
But there was still a huge gap in her memory that she needed to fill to make it whole.
As for the medication to help her regain her memory, she would only take it when she remembered to do so.
Ever since her arrival in Rheinsville City, she had focused only on her work, sometimes even forgoing her meals so naturally, her medication would be of lowest priority.
