Chapter 347: I Hope I Am Clear Enough
Three days later, Timothy Woods entered Wendy’s office in high spirits.
"The shareholders’ agreement is ready, and I’ve also informed our lawyer," said Timothy. "If you don’t have anything urgent at hand, we can sign the papers now."
Only after finishing did Timothy notice Todd sitting on the sofa.
A light flickered across Timothy’s eyes when he saw Todd.
Todd had never agreed to Wendy getting any of HG’s shares.
"You haven’t gone to Lewis Design yet?" Timothy asked. He looked at the time. It was past ten o’clock.
By right, Todd should have gone off to Lewis Design after dropping Wendy off at HG.
Todd seemed to be hanging around HG on purpose.
Wendy also looked at Todd, but she did not say anything.
Because she guessed Todd had something to tell her.
He had, after all, invited himself to have coffee in her office after sending her to work today.
"Corrine, listen to me this once," said Todd, just as Wendy had expected.
"It’s not that I don’t want to listen to you, but that’s all you ever say every time. How am I supposed to listen to you?" Wendy said as she spread out her hands in resignation.
"Mr. Woods," Wendy said to Timothy while looking at Todd. "I’m available right now, let’s go," she said blandly.
Todd looked on as she walked out, wanting to reach out to pull her back.
But he could not think of any reason to stop her.
Without thinking, Todd followed them out.
When he reached the conference room, Timothy turned to Todd, "I don’t think it’s appropriate for you to enter."
Todd was no longer an HG employee. He was the CEO of Lewis Design.
Strictly speaking, Lewis Design was also in fashion design, which made it in the same industry as HG.
So, it was indeed inappropriate for Todd to be present at HG’s internal shareholders’ agreement signing.
As he watched the conference room door close, Todd could only use his fist to bang hard on the door.
Wendy heard the noises but did not even glance behind her.
Sitting in the chair, the lawyer handed her the shareholders’ agreement and said, "Miss Swift, please go through the contents of the agreement carefully. If there are no problems, please sign here."
Wendy took the agreement in her hands.
She had already read the draft of the agreement.
She gave a quick look at the main points and did not see any problems, so she signed without any hesitation.
While Wendy was signing, the lawyer continued, "There are three copies of the agreement. Miss Swift and HG will each have a copy, and I as the representative lawyer will have the third copy."
After signing, Wendy passed the document to Timothy.
Timothy was representing HG and would sign the document on behalf of the company.
His secretary handed him his favorite pen, and he signed the document.
"Congratulations, Miss Swift," the lawyer smiled and nodded. "This shareholders agreement is officially in effect. If you have any questions or problems regarding the agreement, feel free to contact me any time."
With that, the lawyer handed her his name card.
Wendy nodded her head and thanked the lawyer.
Timothy stood up and held out his hand to Wendy.
She reciprocated and shook his hand.
"Congratulations, Corrine," said Timothy. "You now hold one-third of HG’s shares. From now on, you’re not just my mentee, you’re also one of HG’s directors."
"Thank you, Mr. Woods. If you hadn’t helped me to fight for it, I don’t think I would have been able to get these shares," said Wendy with a laugh. "Let me treat you to dinner tonight. Please pick a restaurant. Any place that you like."
"Well then, I shall pick a really nice one," Timothy laughed in agreement.
Todd waited outside the conference room for Wendy the whole time.
When Todd saw their smiling faces as they walked out of the room, he knew they had signed the agreement.
Wendy saw Todd the moment she walked out. Still smiling, she said to him, "Todd, you’re still here. We’re having dinner together tonight. My treat. You should join us and celebrate together."
Todd let out a silent sigh. He was not in the mood to celebrate.
"You guys go ahead and celebrate. I’m not going," he said, and then turned and intended to leave.
But Wendy purposely shouted behind him, "Todd, this is such a happy occasion. How could you not be there? I’ll call you tonight, so remember not to work overtime."
"Corrine, forget it," said Timothy. He knew that Todd was unhappy, so he whispered to Wendy, "Don’t force him if he doesn’t want to."
"How could I do that? You and Todd have helped me so much these past few years, so I must treat both of you to dinner," said Wendy. "Besides, he is my boyfriend, so he should be happy for me too."
"I’m afraid he might find it hard to be happy," Timothy sighed.
"Why?" Wendy asked, looking perplexed. "Todd doesn’t seem too happy, and he also never wanted me to hold any shares in HG."
"Maybe he’s jealous because I didn’t give him any shares back then," said Timothy, patting Wendy on her shoulder. "Let’s not talk about him. From now on, HG will be depending on you, so you must not let me down."
"Don’t worry, Mr. Woods," Wendy nodded and replied confidently.
"All right, I’ll stop disturbing you and leave you to do your work," said Timothy.
And then he walked off.
Night came, and it was time for Wendy to knock off work.
She lived close to the office, and so she did not drive.
After work, she and Zen sat in Timothy’s car.
Fastening his seatbelt, Timothy said, "Let’s bring my two little grandchildren along too."
"I had thought of that too," said Wendy. She realized that she had not taken her children out to dinner in quite a while.
Also, it was the weekend tomorrow, so the children had no school.
Wendy took out her cell phone and called Todd.
Although Todd was unhappy, he was still willing to answer Wendy’s calls.
After he picked up the phone, Wendy said, "Todd, I’ve already sent you the restaurant’s address. If you don’t have any important business, go there now. We have finished our work here."
"I’m not going. You all have fun," said Todd, who still sounded a little angry.
"How can we celebrate without you? If you’re not going, then Mr. Woods and I will have to go to your office to look for you," said Wendy.
Timothy overheard what Wendy said and whispered, "I think we should just go without him. Todd has been quite busy recently, so he’s probably not free."
"He’s right," said Todd when he heard Timothy’s voice. "I am quite busy today."
"Then we’ll go to your office and wait for you," Wendy insisted. She ignored the two men.
She could hear Todd sigh over the phone.
Wendy then hung up without saying any more.
"Mr. Woods, let’s go to Lewis Design," said Wendy. "I’ll ask Zess to pick up the children."
"Corrine," Timothy started to say something, but when he saw how insistent Wendy looked, he stopped.
Todd knew that Wendy was someone who would act on what she said.
So, he was not surprised when he saw her arrive at his office.
...
The minute Michael stepped into his office, an anxious-looking Mr. York entered.
"Mr. Lucas, bad news."
Michael looked at Mr. York’s panicked face and frowned. This was out of character for Mr. York, who hardly panicked, and so Michael surmised something big had happened.
"Speak," Michael gave a one-word command.
"I have just received word that Mrs. Lucas has returned to HG and also received a third of HG’s shares," said Mr. York. He took a deep breath and continued, his face looking grave, "Mr. Lucas, from the looks of it, Christian Lucas seems to be using Mrs. Lucas to get back at you."
"What did you say?" Michael’s usually calm expression suddenly surged with emotions. "HG gave shares to Wendy? How’s that possible?"
HG belonged to Christian. If it were another company, giving out shares was normal.
But why would Christian give shares to Wendy?
That was a move that frightened Michael.
Mr. York nodded his head, but Michael still found it hard to believe. "Didn’t I already tell Wendy that HG’s big boss is Christian? Why did she still return to HG and even took their shares?"
"I think you’ll have to call her and ask her yourself," Mr. York lowered his head and replied. He sounded a little resigned.
Sighing, Mr. York continued in a low whisper, "Mr. Lucas, there is something else, but I’m not sure if I should say."
"You know better than that; just say it." Michael could feel a headache coming on.
"When you let her leave Lake City then, you chose not to tell her about all this because you wished for her and your children to be safe. But now, the situation has gotten worse. If, at that time... "
Mr. York did not dare to finish.
Because he saw Michael’s face had turned as dark as night.
"Mr. Lucas, I still have unfinished work. I’ll... I’ll go back to work," said Mr. York, and he quickly left the room.
Michael clenched his fists silently while he stared at his cell phone on the desk.
...
At the same time, Wendy and the rest had all arrived at the restaurant.
Zess had also arrived with the two children.
"Grandpa, Uncle Todd," called out the two children at the sight of Timothy and Todd.
Timothy happily scooped Leah up into his arms and kissed her face.
Todd continued standing there without any changes to his expression.
The food was served. Wendy knew that Todd was unhappy, so she gave him an extra side. "Todd, I remember you like having extra."
"Thanks," said Todd.
Usually, whenever Wendy took the initiative to give Todd more food, he would be very happy.
But today, he simply could not feel happy.
Timothy also felt awkward.
Because he found it difficult to face Todd after what had just happened.
Of course, Timothy did not think that what he did was wrong.
Wendy was about to say something when her cell phone rang.
A glance at her screen showed that it was from Michael.
The reason Wendy had insisted on Todd joining them for dinner was that she had guessed Michael would call.
Michael had been watching everything related to HG very closely.
News of Wendy getting HG’s shares was sure to have reached Michael’s ears.
The time difference meant that it was business hours in Lake City.
Once Michael learned about this, he was sure to call immediately.
Wendy hung up the first time.
The second time, she hung up again.
This time, everyone was curious about Wendy’s actions.
They guessed that the caller must have been someone special.
Of course, the third time Wendy’s cell phone rang, she did not hang up.
Instead, with some anger, she slid to answer the call.
"Michael Lucas! Would you cut it out already?" Wendy shouted at him angrily. "How many times must I tell you? I have a boyfriend! So, if you would please, stop calling me ever again!"
Leah’s eyes lit up at the mention of her daddy’s name.
But when she heard Wendy’s tone, her delighted face slowly fell.
"Wendy, I only want to ask you one thing," said Michael, his fingers interlocked as he placed his hands on his desk. He tried his best to remain calm. "I told you before about the relationship between Christian and HG. Why did you still go back to HG? Not only that, but you even took HG’s shares. Do you not trust me at all?"
"Haha," Wendy laughed. "Michael Lucas, you are so funny. Let me ask you, what relationship do we have now?"
Before Michael could answer, Wendy said, "At the very best, I would say we were once married. So then, why do you think I should believe anything you say?"
"I did not lie to you. I was telling you the truth." Michael tried to explain. "Wendy, HG’s real boss is Christian Lucas. Or maybe you could think about it this way. DR has declared bankruptcy, so where do you think Christian gets all his money to go against Collins Group? Have you stopped to think where Christian is getting his seemingly endless supply of money?"
"Ok, even if what you said were true, so what?" Wendy continued to sneer, obviously not believing Michael. "Isn’t there a saying that goes, ’the enemy of my enemy is my friend’? Compared to others, you are my biggest enemy. If what you said were really true, then I think I did not make a mistake but had chosen to do the right thing."
"Wendy, is that what you really think?" Michael could not believe what he just heard. "I am your enemy? You know that Christian is using you to make money, but despite knowing that, you’ll work for him just to get back at me?"
"Yes, you are my enemy. Isn’t everything that you have done enough to make me hate you?" Wendy retorted coldly. "Let me make this clear, Michael Lucas; the moment I find the chance, I will definitely make you pay."
"Wendy... "
However, Wendy was no longer listening to Michael’s words.
Because she had already hung up.
Wendy took a very deep breath and saw everyone looking at her.
"I am so sorry. I was so angry that I forgot to go aside to take the call," Wendy said, forcing herself to smile. "Please continue eating."
"I’m sorry, I know I shouldn’t have answered that call," said Wendy apologetically to Todd. "I had already blocked Michael Lucas’s number, but he would always find another phone to call from. I hope I have been clear enough this time."
"What did Michael Lucas say to you?" Todd looked at Wendy worriedly. "What enemy were you talking about?"
Wendy was still uncertain whether Todd was one of Christian’s men.
Christian might still be unaware that Michael already knew about HG’s and Christian’s relationship.
Wendy did not want to expose Michael before she was totally sure of the situation.
"Michael Lucas wants me to go back to help him. He wants to work together with me to get back at Christian," Wendy said with disdain in her voice. "In the end, it’s all about the profits from the Moonlight project that I’m heading. Isn’t his company fighting with Christian Lucas’? I guess he is running out of money, and Collins Group isn’t able to help, so he wants me to help him."
