Chapter 393: I Hope You’ll Like This
All eyes seemed to be on Wendy now, waiting for her to make her choice.
She lowered her head, not knowing what to do.
She should honor Christian because he was the star for tonight.
But she was reluctant to dance with him.
While she was considering, Michael also made his move towards her.
He barely moved a few steps before Yonina pulled him back. With a serious look, she shook her head.
This was not the right time for him to go over.
But Michael saw what was happening to Wendy and pushed her hands away.
He picked up a rose as he walked towards Wendy and said, "My fiance is pregnant, so she can’t dance with me. If I look for other girls, I’m afraid she will get jealous. So, I thought, why don’t I get Ms. Swift to dance with me? I wonder if you can understand my dilemma and help me out by dancing with me."
Michael had just given Wendy the perfect excuse to reject Christian.
The comments on the online platforms started again.
"Wow, wow, wow. Look at that! Three men wanting to dance with my Wendy!"
"I bet Wendy will pick Todd Lewis. He is, after all, her current boyfriend. How embarrassing it will be if she doesn’t choose him!"
"But Christian Lucas was the first to invite her to dance! And today is his press conference. Surely she won’t embarrass him like this."
"Why is no one supporting Michael Lucas?"
"Support Michael Lucas? What he said was just an excuse. If his fiance cannot dance, just don’t do it!"
"Hey, you, you obviously have a prejudice against Michael Lucas. If Michael Lucas can opt out of the dance, then why can’t Todd Lewis and Christian Lucas do the same? Why must they insist that Wendy dance with them?"
"I’m all ready to watch the show!"
...
"Michael, please don’t fight with me today," Christian smiled at him. "Please do me a favor."
"Oh, Christian, it’s not that I don’t want to do you a favor. But I really have no better candidate," Michael retorted with a smile. "It should be you doing me the favor. You are single, and you have so many ladies waiting to dance with you. Why must you compete with us?"
"What Mr. Lucas said is right. Corrine is my girlfriend, so all the more I don’t have a choice. Surely, I can’t just stand aside and watch my girlfriend dance with other men," Todd interrupted.
Standing before these three men, Wendy felt even more irritated.
Are they here to create a scene?
Of course, she understood why Todd stepped in. His girlfriend was being asked to dance with another man. It would not make sense if he did nothing. That would surely cause others to be suspicious of their relationship.
To be honest, with Michael joining in, it made it easier for her to make her choice.
If she had to choose between Christian and Todd, the one that got left out would be embarrassed. People might think she was too arrogant to reject Christian in his party.
It would be less awkward for the two who were rejected.
There was no way she would choose Michael.
Putting aside their past relationship, there was still Yonina to consider.
If Wendy chose Michael, the headlines tomorrow would be sensational.
Between Christian and Todd, Wendy was more inclined to choose Todd.
It couldn’t go wrong to choose him. He was her boyfriend, even though it was just a pretense.
If Michael hadn’t joined in, she would have had a difficult time deciding between Todd and Christian.
If she didn’t choose Christian, she was sure that tomorrow’s headlines would be about her embarrassing the CEO of DR Group in his press conference.
So now, it’s not a difficult choice for Wendy.
With the crowd anticipating her decision, Wendy reached out for the rose that was in Todd’s hand.
...
Christian pulled back his hand and cast a glance at Michael.
Then, he placed the rose on the waiter’s tray and commented laughingly, "Looks like Ms. Swift’s love for Mr. Lewis is great. For fear that he will get angry, Ms. Swift rather keep the first dance for him in such business receptions."
Obviously, he was making this comment for Michael’s sake.
With a straight face, Michael simply said, "All the best to you two."
And he turned away from them.
He also placed the flower on the tray as he passed by the waiter and walked towards a corner.
"Yes! I knew it! Wendy’s final decision is Todd! I am beginning to like this couple more and more!"
"Two Lucas’ cannot win one Lewis! What a joke!"
"This Michael Lucas. Why didn’t he bring the rose back to Yonina Collins?"
"Yes! You mean Yonina Collins is not worthy of the rose?"
...
Michael was oblivious to the online comments.
But he suddenly got a twinkle in his eyes as he put the rose down. It looked as though he had an idea.
He then took another stalk of rose and walked towards Yonina.
The camera was again focused on him.
With a smile, Michael gave the rose to Yonina. "This is for you, dear."
"Thank you," Yonina accepted the flower with a sigh of relief.
She was so worried that Michael would spoil the plan just now.
"Who was the one that commented that Michael Lucas didn’t give Yonina Collins the flower instead? He just didn’t want to give the one he offered to Wendy!"
"I have mixed feelings about Michael Lucas. I actually didn’t like him but, then, he did something so sweet that I changed my mind. He is quite likable now. Anyone with me?"
"No one! Only you! He’s a jerk, a jerk, a jerk! Important things need to be repeated three times. Get it?"
"I believe in love because of Michael Lucas and Wendy Stewart. But I got disillusioned by Michael Lucas and Yonina Collins. Can I believe in love again because of them?"
....
The music started playing, and the focus went back to Wendy and Todd.
By now, most people had found their partners and were dancing on the floor.
Wendy didn’t like to dance in the past. But she fell in love with Michael. He was the CEO of MC Group, so this kind of socializing was inevitable.
That’s when she learned social dancing.
But till now, she never had the chance to dance with Michael.
What an irony of life.
Both Christian and Michael didn’t find other dance partners. Michael stayed by Yonina’s side to continue the pretense of a loving fiance.
Christian was on the other side, drinking his wine and observing as Todd and Wendy danced.
For a moment, he wished that it was him who was dancing with Wendy.
Laughing to himself, he tilted his head back and finished up the wine.
Very soon, the dance was over.
"So, who do you think is the best dancer for tonight?" The host asked from the stage.
"Ms. Swift!" The crowd shouted in unison.
It was really not about who could dance better. The fact that both Mr. Lucas’ invited Wendy to dance made the difference.
Under such circumstances, who dared to say that someone else danced better?
The party tonight was meant to build the atmosphere. It was never planned to be a competition.
The center of attention for tonight had always been Wendy.
"All right, let’s welcome Mr. Lucas back on stage to give away the mystery prize to our best dancer!" Once again, the host announced enthusiastically.
....
Wendy was not interested in getting a prize at all.
Moreover, it was from Christian. All the more, she didn’t want it.
But she couldn’t just walk away.
The spotlight was now split in two.
One was on Christian, while another was on Wendy.
Under the guidance of the host, Christian brought an exquisitely wrapped gift box to Wendy.
"Ms. Swift, a little gift for you. I hope you’ll like this." Christian stood at an arm’s length from Wendy and held out the gift box to her.
Regardless of what she was thinking, Wendy had to keep her smile on her face. She nodded in appreciation and received the gift. "Thank you, Mr. Lucas. I like it very much."
"What did Christian Lucas give to her?"
"I’m so curious! Open it, Ms. Swift! We want to see what is inside!"
"The gift box looked small. I think it must be some kind of jewelry."
"Open the gift! Open the gift! Open the gift!"
...
Not only were the people online eagerly waiting for Wendy to open the gift, but the people at the venue were also busy trying to figure out what was inside.
"What kind of gift do you think it is?"
"I can’t really tell from the packaging. Maybe it’s some ornaments?"
"Do you think it’s some kind of jewelry like a bracelet or necklace?"
"It’s possible. Mr. Lucas may have no idea who would win in the first place, but he can be sure it is for a lady. So, the prize may be jewelry. We just don’t know how generous he will be tonight. I wonder how much it costs."
...
As for Wendy, she was not even a bit curious.
Because she had no intention of having it.
But since so many people were waiting for her to reveal the prize, she could only play along.
So, she took out a little box from the bag.
The moment she saw the box, she frowned.
Why did it look so much like a ring box?
Surely Christian would not give away a ring as the mystery prize at such an occasion?
Besides, how could he be sure of who the recipient would be right from the start?
"Oh my! Is that a ring box?"
"What is Christian doing? Giving a ring away!"
"I didn’t know that Christian Lucas likes Wendy Stewart! Why does he mean by giving her a ring?"
"It might not be a ring. It could also be some other ornaments. The box just happened to look like a ring box."
"This is getting more and more interesting!"
...
Wendy didn’t want to find out what was inside the box.
But everyone had already seen the ring box. If she didn’t open it, it might stir up even more curiosity.
Without any choice, she opened the box.
To her astonishment, it was really a ring!
"What? It’s really a ring! What’s the meaning of this, Christian Lucas?"
"Wait, let me get it right. Did Christian Lucas know that Wendy Stewart would be the winner tonight, so he prepared the ring? Or he didn’t know the winner, and this prize was meant to be a ring anyway?"
"Think about it. Giving away a ring at such an occasion plus Christian Lucas invited Wendy Stewart for the first dance. It cannot be just a simple coincidence."
"So, Christian Lucas, Michael Lucas, and Todd Lewis are all in love with Wendy Stewart? What kind of situation is this?"
"Why do I feel that the situation is not so simple? Surely Christian Lucas won’t give away a ring at such an occasion?"
