Chapter 292: Sorry, My Bad
Still in a daze, Wendy replied without giving it much thought, "The soundproofing should be OK, I guess."
After all, they were in a high-end area so soundproofing should be of a certain standard.
In the next instant, Wendy noticed that Michael had stepped under the shower head and turned on the tap.
Seeing that Wendy had not quite recovered from her trance, Michael reached out and pulled her into his arms.
It was at that moment that Wendy finally realized what Michael had been planning to do.
Blushing crimson red, she struggled against him, urging, "No, don’t. The kids are sleeping in the next room."
"Didn’t you just say that the soundproofing is good here?" he murmured huskily.
"I...I...," Wendy had not realized why he had asked that question in the first place.
Face burning up and looking flushed, she cleared her throat softly and said, "I said it was OK. I did not say that it was good."
"Then you should try not to make too much noise," Michael suggested, smiling as he noticed her flustered state.
They had been married for so many years and their kids were already five.
And yet, she is still so bashful and easily embarrassed.
Michael’s anger dissipated a little as he looked at her in her flustered state, desperately trying to evade his eyes, Truth be told, he was not mad at her but at himself.
"Michael...I...," Whatever she had wanted to say was cut off in mid-sentence by Michael who had no intention of letting her speak.
Shortly, the bathroom heated up as the temperature climbed.
....
Eventually, after a very long while, Michael released her.
Helping her to wash up, he carried her out of the bathroom.
Since it was his first time in her home, he did not know where her bedroom was.
"Where’s the bedroom?" he whispered to the woman in his arms.
Wendy, who was aching all over, simply pointed in the direction of her bedroom.
Michael carried her to the bedroom and laid her down gently on the bed.
Wendy was exhausted and all she wanted was to go to sleep..
But she had a lot of questions which she needed Michael to answer.
It was obvious, when he first arrived at her doorstep, that he had been very upset and yet, he had...
Just recalling what had happened earlier made her cheeks burn and flushed.
Initially, Wendy had been worried about his leg injury.
But after what had happened, she was absolutely convinced that his leg had been healed.
Cupping her flushed cheeks, Wendy looked up at his familiar and handsome face, highlighted by the soft lighting in the room, and asked, "Why were you so upset before?"
"I wasn’t upset," he lied glibly.
"You weren’t upset?" Wendy burst out laughing scornfully, adding, "You were upset all right! It was as good as the words ’I am upset’ were written all over that scowling face of yours!"
Silently, Michael pursed his lips, deep in thought.
"Tell me, why were you upset?" Wendy persisted because she really did not know why. "You had come such a long way with the kids to see me. Shouldn’t you have been happy instead?"
"Well, are you happy?" Michael asked gently as he kissed her forehead tenderly and a little sadly.
"Of course I am happy," Wendy replied, adding, "It was a pleasant surprise. I never expected you guys to turn up like that."
Michael took a deep breath and looked at her, noticing the exhaustion in her face and in her eyes.
"Tell me, when do you usually leave the office?" Michael wanted to know.
Wendy looked guilty as she tried to figure out her answer to his question, "I...I usually leave on time."
She felt a sense of foreboding as she uttered her response.
But then, she did not have the courage to tell him the truth.
After all, Michael had never been in favor of her coming to Rheinsville City in the first place.
If she told him the truth now, he would be hopping mad.
"But Wendy...," Knowing that she would lie to him, Michael sighed uncontrollably, "The kids and I had came from your office."
At Michael’s words, Wendy’s heart suddenly pounded as she began to panic.
Trying to laugh it off, she chuckled, "Why’d you go to my office?"
But, the moment she uttered those words, she realized that she had said something inappropriate.
Because it came across as Michael should not have gone to her workplace.
Hastily, she tried to explain, "What I mean is, it was already so late, why didn’t you just come straight to my home instead?"
"I did come here first but you weren’t home. Remember when I told you on the phone to wait for me?" Michael countered.
"I...it had never occurred to me that you would come to Rheinsville City. That’s why I did not even think of waiting for you," Wendy protested, her voice getting increasingly weaker.
Because she knew very well that she was at fault.
"So, you have never left work on time, have you?" Michael asked, continuing, "Please don’t tell me that the official knock-off time at HG is after 10 pm?"
"Well, it just happened that I had other things to attend to, causing me to stay late in the office," Wendy argued. Then, putting in a last ditch attempt to claw her way out, she added, "It’s the truth, I usually knock off pretty early."
"Wendy...," Michael sounded stern.
Under the lighting in the room, Wendy looked visibly glum.
As the atmosphere in the room tensed up considerably.
She knew that, for him to ask her these questions, Michael must have discovered something when he went to her workplace earlier that night.
However, she had no idea what he had found out.
She sat up in bed and reached out to tug at his shirt sleeve, murmuring apologetically, "I’m sorry. Going forward, I promise not to work long hours, OK?"
Sighing, Michael reached out and wrapped his arms around her. Sounding heartbroken and regretful, he said, "No, it’s my fault. I have let you down."
"But how have you let me down?" Puzzled by what he had just said, Wendy asked questioningly.
"I was incapable of protecting you from all this," he responded, sounding like he was choking.
Sensing that something was amiss from the tone of his voice, Wendy immediately pushed his hands away from her and looked up at him. As she suspected, his eyes were welling up with tears.
"What is it?" Worried by his reaction, she was a tad flustered, not knowing what to do or say next.
This was Michael Lucas.
Who, at this moment, was sobbing like a child.
"Had there been a few occasions in the recent past, where you had passed out from exhaustion?" he choked.
"I...," Wendy’s first instinct had been to deny everything but she stopped herself.
At this stage, she was certain that Michael must have found out about her past episodes with exhaustion or he would not have asked her that question.
So she simply nodded, saying, "Yeah, it happened only once or twice..."
Then, she hastened to explain, "It was just a couple of times, really, so don’t worry.
After those episodes, despite still having to work overtime, they were never as late as before. Ask the people at my workplace if you don’t believe me. Feel free to ask Todd or my mentor."
"So the reason why you had refused to do video calls was because you were still working in the office during those times?" Michael asked, adding, "Why did you lie to me, Wendy?"
"Because if I had told you the truth, you would have made me leave here and go back to you," Wendy replied in a small voice.
"You’re right. I want you to come back to Lake City with us. I don’t want to see you working so hard at HG," Michael stated. Initially, he had intended to just stop by for a visit with her. He had not expected to see her over-working and having such a hard time here.
She certainly had the option of not having to put up with this hardship.
She could just assume the role of Mrs. Lucas, living a life of leisure.
"I understand that you feel gratitude towards Timothy but there are many other ways to repay him for his kindness. We should just find another way to do so," Michael urged Wendy. He added, "Right now, what you are doing is not just simply repaying his kindness. You are working yourself to death. I will not stand by and let you continue like this."
"That’s all in the past now, really," Wendy pledged, holding up three fingers and continuing, "After those episodes, I prioritized my health before working excessively long hours."
Michael scowled, saying nothing.
Sighing, Wendy continued, "I’ve been working on this project for so long now. It will be launched in a little over two weeks. If I leave now, all the effort that I’ve put in over the past month or so will be wasted. I’m sure you don’t want to see all my hard work go down the drain either."
"I care only about your health," Michael responded, sounding very serious.
"If you remember, I had objected to you coming back here in the first place. In any case, you’re here now, and working yourself to death. How do you think I feel?
Should I just stand by and watch while you kill yourself working?
"May I remind you, Wendy, that you have a husband and two kids. What if...what if..."
Michael had wanted to ask how would she expect him and the kids to cope if something had happened to her?
However, he stopped himself in mid-sentence, unable to say it out loud.
Sensing that they had come to an impasse and that there was no point discussing any further, Wendy took a deep breath and tried to change the subject. She said, "Let’s talk about something else. Why do you think Christian has made a marriage offer to Yonina?"
"I’m being serious here," Michael looked straight at her with his unfathomable eyes.
Knowing that she was being unreasonably stubborn, Wendy kept her head lowered and toyed with her fingers as she responded, "I’m being serious too. I have to complete this project."
The work was nearly completed. HG would incur huge financial damage if she quit now.
She was aware that Michael would gladly compensate HG for all their loses but there were many issues that could not be resolved by money.
"Just a little over a month to go...," Wendy assured Michael, "Give me about three more weeks. I promise you that I will be back in Lake City and stay there for good with you and the kids, OK?"
"Three weeks?" Michael smiled bitterly. Reaching out to caress her head, he said, "I am not asking you to increase the pace of your work. I need your assurance that you will look after your health. If you have to work excessive hours, to the extent that you must sleep in the office, to ensure that you will come back to Lake City in three weeks, I’d rather you came back in three months."
At that, Wendy felt a surge of warmth within her.
It also made her realize how idiotic she had been, working excessively long hours, forgetting her meals.
"I’m sorry. I was wrong," she apologized sincerely.
But Michael knew that, under her meek exterior, Wendy was an obstinate woman.
Sighing, he kissed her on the forehead and said, "I am still trying to get to the bottom as to why Christian wants to marry Yonina."
Surprised by Michael’s sudden change of subject, Wendy appeared to be dazed and did not react except for an almost inaudible OK.
Then she heard Michael say, "There has got to be something more to this. Everything that Christian does is targeted at me. He is downright evil and will stop at nothing. We must always be on our guard."
"I did ask my mentor but he said that he had not heard of Christian in Rheinsville City," Wendy informed Michael, adding, "What have you found out at your end?"
"I found out that, some time ago, Christian had transferred a huge sum of money from Rheinsville City. However, we still don’t know who sent him the funds," Michael replied.
In analysis mode, he continued, "If even your mentor has not heard of him, then I suspect that Christian must own a company in Rheinsville City. And he has always kept a low profile, making sure that no one in the public is aware that he is the actual owner.
"Regardless, If he was able to get a funds injection of 100 million dollars, then DR is definitely not the only group of companies that he owns."
