Chapter 29: Tell Me The Truth
"Is it true that Michael has never given you an allowance?" asked Mrs. Lucas as she gazed at Wendy. "And is it true that he used to find various reasons to dock your monthly salary?"
These questions made Wendy feel even more surprised. Mrs. Lucas never asked much about her and Michael. In the past, Wendy told Mrs. Lucas not to worry too much as she would work hard to make Michael fall in love. Mrs. Lucas also knew that excessive intervention in the affairs of young people could lead to disaster. Hence, she turned a blind eye to everything.
Wendy thought, Christian must have told her everything earlier.
With her head slightly bowed, Wendy hesitated, deciding whether she should tell the truth. Even though she no longer harbored any fantasies of her relationship with Michael, she did not wish to embarrass him by digging up old grievances. They were all in the past.
Mrs. Lucas seemed to have seen right through Wendy. She said, "I want you to be honest with me. Otherwise, I’ll personally investigate this."
"Please don’t." Wendy finally relented. Her tone was filled with helplessness as she nodded her head, "What you’re saying is true."
Hearing this, Mrs. Lucas looked up at the ceiling and sighed deeply. She said, "Wendy, my dear Wendy, why didn’t you tell me about this? Michael is my grandson, and I should be happy that a good woman like you loves him so much. But right now, I can’t feel any joy. I can’t believe that the reason why you are so skinny and in such poor health is because you didn’t even have enough money to eat like the average person."
"It’s not as terrible as you think it is," replied Wendy with a slight smile on her face. Wanting to lighten the mood, she added, "I had a friend who would lend me money every month, so eating was never a problem. I just didn’t have much appetite in the past, and I didn’t eat regular meals, which resulted in my poor physical condition."
It was true that Zen often helped by lending her money. Wendy was embarrassed about having to borrow so much from her friend. Right now, she still owed Zen quite a lot of money.
In the past, Michael would often take away her company benefits. She had no free lunch, and since her salary was often reduced, she could not bear to spend much on ordering take-out.
She thus often skipped lunch entirely. However, these were things that Wendy would never tell Mrs. Lucas. She did not wish to stab Michael in the back, and she did not want Mrs. Lucas to pity her because of this. All Wendy wanted right now was to quickly serve her two-month commitment and leave everyone behind.
There was a slight tremble in Mrs. Lucas’s hands as she reached out to touch Wendy.
"Why do you keep swallowing all the pain that you go through and putting up with all kinds of injustices?"
"Grandmother..." Wendy kept her head bowed and blinked. She had nothing but genuine and heartfelt respect for this elderly woman.
Within the Lucas family, Mrs. Lucas was the only person who had ever truly cared about her.
"I have one more question for you," said Mrs. Lucas as she patted the back of Wendy’s hand.
Her eyes were slightly teary when she asked, "How much did Christian offer you to be his assistant?"
Wendy was once again surprised. She thought, what exactly did Christian tell grandmother? Wendy could understand why Mrs. Lucas would ask about her history with Michael. After all, she had always been very concerned about their relationship. But why was Mrs. Lucas asking about her current salary, too? She thought, this doesn’t seem like a question that Grandmother would ask.
Even though Wendy felt stumped, she answered honestly, "Fifty thousand dollars. "
"And Michael only paid you five thousand dollars in the past?" Since Christian had told Mrs. Lucas that he offered Wendy a salary ten times higher than Michael did, it was only natural that she could deduce just how much Michael used to pay her.
Seeing Wendy nod, Mrs. Lucas sighed once again, "You have suffered greatly."
"Not at all," replied Wendy with a bitter smile.
After all, her situation with Michael was of her own doing. She was therefore not inclined to agree with Madam Lucas.
Wendy’s response convinced Mrs. Lucas to believe Christian’s account. It seemed like he genuinely wanted to help Wendy and Michael.
Mrs. Lucas thought, perhaps if l allow Christian to intervene, the relationship between Wendy and Michael might change for the better.
...
Michael believed that since his grandmother had spoken to both Christian and Wendy in private, he would be summoned next.
Unexpectedly, Mrs. Lucas emerged from the study with Wendy beside her. Michael could not help but wonder what they had spoken about in the study.
Wendy supported Mrs. Lucas along as she walked back to her original seat. Mrs. Lucas patted the empty space beside her, motioning for Wendy to sit down. Wendy nodded. She took one step forward and sat down.
"I’ve said all that I needed to say regarding what happened today. You are all descendants of the Lucas family; I hope that you will all be mindful about your actions in the future," said Mrs. Lucas as she shifted her gaze to Christian, "You must remember to keep me updated on what’s important."
Christian met his grandmother’s eyes and immediately understood the hidden meaning behind her words. He thought, she believes what I told her and wants me to continue with my plan.
"Don’t worry, Grandmother, I won’t bring shame to the family," replied Christian in a calm and respectful tone as he bowed his head slightly.
Mrs. Lucas nodded, looking satisfied.
Michael was panicking by now. He felt like he was being kept in the dark. He thought, it seems like Christian has won Grandmother over.
"Grandmother, do not be deceived by Christian’s words. You cannot believe him no matter what he says," said Michael as he approached Mrs. Lucas, "No matter what, Wendy and I are still legally married, which makes her my wife. What will other people think if she continues to work for Christian?"
"What do you mean? Do you not want Wendy to work for Christian?" asked Mrs. Lucas in a thoughtful manner.
"Of course," replied Michael without giving much thought to his grandmother’s question. His response had slipped out subconsciously.
"But Wendy has to work. She needs a source of income, doesn’t she?" asked Mrs. Lucas.
Taking this in, Michael tilted his head toward Wendy and frowned slightly. "Did you complain to grandmother again?"
Wendy snorted coldly as she gazed at Michael unhappily. She thought, he will always have these negative preconceived notions of me.
Michael’s anxiety about Wendy working as Christian’s assistant initially led Mrs. Lucas to believe that his attitude toward her had changed.
She never expected that Michael’s attitude was the exact same as always.
Now, Mrs. Lucas felt more and more convinced that allowing Christian’s interference would be advantageous to the couple’s relationship.
Christian looked around calmly and explained, "Michael, you’ve misunderstood Wendy. It was me who told Grandmother about this.."
"That was indeed true. Since Mrs. Lucas knew, there was no actual need for Christian to admit that. However, his generosity in declaring the truth would make other people believe that he was a genuine, kindhearted person."
"It was you?" Michael did not seem to care about Christian’s response. He sneered, "Everyone knows what kind of dirty thoughts you have in your head."
"Michael, you don’t have to be so hostile toward me."
"Then, how should I treat you? You keep referring to me as your older brother, but you’ve been hitting on my wife. Tell me, how exactly should I treat someone like you?"
Mrs. Lucas slammed her hand on the table. Her anger had already eased, but the argument between the brothers made her furious all over again. She could not help but let out her rage.
"That’s enough!" Taking a deep breath, she waved her hand and said rather helplessly, "Go home."
"Grandmother, are you really washing your hands off this matter?" asked Michael as he stared at his grandmother indignantly.
He thought, doesn’t Grandmother hate it when people tarnish our family’s reputation? Why is she treating Christian so leniently now? What exactly did he tell her?
"I’m tired. I’m going to get some rest now. Stay for dinner if you all don’t intend to go home," said Mrs. Lucas before she got up and walked away.
Since Mrs. Lucas had already left, the three of them could only disperse as well. As Christian had taken Wendy’s car to the mansion, he boldly entered her car again for the ride back. Having already convinced Mrs. Lucas, his decision to behave even more intimately with Wendy was fully justified.
When Michael saw how blatantly and shamelessly Christian entered Wendy’s car, he could not endure the anger that surged through him. He made the impulsive decision to abandon his own car. Instead, he pulled open the door of the passenger seat of Wendy’s car and said coldly, "Get out. This is my wife’s car, and this is my seat."
When Christian heard Michael, he could not help but smile. "Michael, are you admitting that Wendy is your wife?"
"That’s none of your business," replied Michael as he reached out, grabbed Christian, and pulled him out.
Christian, on the other hand, did not bother resisting. He shifted to the backseat. Wendy gazed at Michael, who was now sitting in the passenger seat, and then at Christian, who was sitting in the back. She suddenly felt a headache coming on.
She thought, are they both crazy? Can I ask the both of you to get out of the car?
Wendy felt a little angry, but her tone was still calm.
"I took your car here, and if you kick me out now, I won’t have a car to drive back with. I can’t possibly ask Michael to give me a ride, can I?" said Christian in a slightly indignant manner, but his words were truthful. Michael would never give him a ride back.
"It’s your fault for not taking your own car here," replied Michael.
"Wendy is my personal assistant, she’s obligated to send me home," said Christian. He was now using that as a bargaining chip.
"She’s off work now. Since when does our company mistreat our employees like this, expecting them to continue working even when it’s after work hours?"
Michael really was shameless. After all, he treated his own assistant in the exact same manner. Moreover, Christian’s logic in expecting a ride home made sense. Their quarreling gave Wendy a headache. She could not be bothered to say anything else and instead started the car engine.
After the car started moving, Christian and Michael calmed down. But not long afterward, Christian started provoking Michael again, saying, "Wendy, you should send my brother home first."
"Why do you want her to take me home first? Are you guys going on a date?" Michael sneered, "She’s my wife, and we stay together. There is no reason for her to take me home first."
"Michael, you rarely stay with Wendy. Don’t you spend most of your time with Yvonne?" asked Christian.
"I want to go home with her right now," said Michael. "Wendy is my wife, and the apartment is under my name. I want to go there today."
"Shut up!" Wendy finally exploded. The car accelerated as well.
Christian calmed down when he sensed Wendy’s anger.
Michael, however, deliberately confronted Wendy, "Do you expect me to shut up just because you asked me to? Wendy Stewart, don’t forget that I bought this car for you."
Michael was indeed the one who had bought her both the apartment and the car when they got married. But rather than give Michael full credit, Wendy thought Mrs. Lucas deserved the recognition more as she was the one who had pressured Michael to do so. After all, Wendy was a daughter-in-law of the Lucas family.
Other people would certainly laugh at them if she still had to take public transportation. However, not many people knew about her identity. When Wendy heard Michael, she became thoroughly enraged.
She turned the steering wheel, navigated the car to the side of the road, and stepped on the brakes. Then, she turned off the engine, unfastened her seatbelt, opened the car door, and took off. All in one go.
When Michael and Christian came to their senses, Wendy had already gotten out of the car.
Since the car belonged to Michael, Wendy would not continue to drive it. After all, these things never truly belonged to her. After two months, Wendy would leave him completely. And she would never see him again in this lifetime.
