Chapter 41: Have You Fallen In Love With Her?
Tears streamed down Yvonne’s face, making her look even more pitiful. If this were like before, Michael’s heart would have softened at this sight. But when he thought about Yvonne’s crazed behavior from just a few minutes ago, he reached out and pushed her away.
His gesture scared Yvonne so much that she was at a loss. Deep down, she felt extremely panicked. She said, "Michael..."
Michael was very distracted by her tears. He said impatiently, "Stop crying."
Yvonne did not dare to disobey Michael at this moment. Sniffling, she immediately stopped herself from crying. The room grew silent. Since Michael did not say anything, Yvonne also kept her mouth shut.
Michael glanced at the mess that Yvonne had created in the room. Frowning involuntarily, he stared at Yvonne and asked reproachfully, "Yvonne, why did you become like this?"
In his memory, Yvonne had always been kind, elegant, and generous. He could not associate Yvonne’s earlier behavior with his impression of her.
"Michael." Yvonne sobbed with her head bowed, "I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean to do that. I didn’t know that it was you."
"Are you saying that you can act that way that if it’s not me?" Michael’s voice was filled with disappointment.
"No, that’s not it..." Yvonne desperately tried to explain herself. "I was just too angry knowing that you were with Wendy. After all, I am a woman who deeply loves you. You used to treat me so well, you gave in to me all the time. But now, you keep taking Wendy’s side over mine. I know that Wendy is your wife, but Michael, we are the real couple here. It was Wendy who broke us up, so why are you taking her side now? I don’t believe that any woman could accept what has happened here."
This explanation was reasonable, and it also did a great job at highlighting the injustice that Yvonne had suffered.
"My relationship with Wendy is not as simple as it seems on the surface," said Michael without further elaboration. He did not wish to tell Yvonne too much regarding this matter. He knew that Yvonne would not care about the relationship between Christian and Wendy. All she wanted was for Michael to quickly get divorced and then marry her instead.
"Michael, you.." Yvonne paused for a long time. Reluctantly, she asked, "Have you fallen in love with her?"
Michael thought, have I fallen in love with Wendy? This notion hovered in his mind for a moment before he shut it down. How could that be possible?
With a shake of his head, Michael replied, "That’s impossible, I hate her."
Michael’s answer was decisive, but Yvonne instead grew even more panicked. The lack of hesitation in his answer seemed deliberate.
Even though Michael did not admit it, there was still a chance that Yvonne’s suspicion was the truth. If Michael admitted that he had fallen in love with Wendy, then Yvonne would have suffered a complete defeat.
"Michael, you must be tired after a long day of work. Come take a seat, I’ll pour some water for you," Yvonne wanted to change the topic and redirect Michael’s thoughts away from Wendy.
However, after she turned around, she realized that she had smashed her cup earlier. Yvonne looked around her, and in the following second, fell to the ground. She cried out, "Ouch, that hurts!"
There were many broken shards of glass on the ground, but Yvonne had deliberately avoided them, preventing herself from getting injured. She lay on the ground, touching her swollen ankle with her hands. With tears swirling in her eyes, Yvonne said, "Michael, can you please help me up? My ankle hurts so much, I can’t stand up on my own."
Michael approached her and helped her up. After bringing her back to the bed, he said, "Since you’re still injured, you should just stay in the hospital and take your time to recover. Don’t walk around so much. Also..."
Michael looked at the broken shards of glass scattered all over the floor. In an unpleasant tone, he said, "Watch your temper, whether you’re at home or in public."
Even though Michael was still lecturing her, Yvonne knew that he was no longer as angry as before. To her, this was a good sign. She did not continue to cry. Instead, her lips curved into a smile, and she said, "I’ll definitely keep that in mind, Michael."
"You haven’t had dinner, right?" Yvonne continued. "Me neither. Let me call for room service right now and we can eat together, okay?"
Michael rejected her right away, saying, "I won’t be staying for dinner, I have more work to do at the office. I will ask Mr. York to get you a senior nurse who will stay here to look after you 24/7. Since I’m very busy with work, I might not be able to come and visit you every single day. If there’s anything you need, you can tell Mr. York, he will take care of you." His words only made him feel more distant.
Yvonne suppressed her anger. She asked cautiously, "Michael, I know that you’re busy, but can’t you just spare a bit of time to come and keep me company? I really want to be able to see you every day."
"Yvonne, you must be more sensible," said Michael.
"." Since Yvonne knew that Michael was on the verge of getting angry again, she could only compromise. She decided that she would find more chances in the future to make Michael come and visit her. "In that case, please take care of yourself, Michael. Work is important, but please don’t exhaust yourself," said Yvonne in an extremely concerned tone.
"I got it" Michael turned around and said without any emotion. "I’m leaving now."
As Yvonne watched Michael walk away from her, her hands curled into tight fists. Her entire body started trembling as well. She initially thought that Michael’s heart would soften if he came to see her, and if she just behaved the way that she usually did, he would continue to dote on her and let her get away with everything like he had in the past.
She never expected Michael to walk in on her throwing a tantrum, or for herself to accidentally throw a bottle at him.
Consequently, Michael had been unhappy with her since the moment he entered the room.
Fortunately, Yvonne ended up keeping Michael’s temper under control. She took a deep breath and silently told herself not to panic. After all, they still had a long way to go, and she was confident she could get Michael to go back to treating her like he did in the past.
Yvonne thought, as for Wendy, I swear that I will ruin her life completely!
After leaving the hospital, Michael found himself driving to Lowland Street. He parked the car and lit a cigarette but stopped after one puff. After some time, Michael got out of his car, entered the elevator, and pressed the button for the 22nd floor.
The doorbell rang for a long time but there was no movement from within the apartment.
Michael was bewildered. He thought, isn’t it too early for Wendy to be asleep?
He took out another key from his pocket and unlocked the front door. Sure enough, the apartment was dark and cold. There was no trace of Wendy anywhere.
He had insisted on sending Wendy home so that she would not feel embarrassed about moving back. He knew that he had gone overboard the previous time they spoke about the apartment, but apologizing was out of the question, and Michael did not think that it was necessary.
Personally sending her home was already the biggest concession that Michael could make, but unfortunately, Wendy still chose to leave. Michael clenched his fist and punched the wall. At this moment, he was filled with rage. However, he himself was unsure of the reason behind his anger-was it because Wendy failed to obey him, or because she did not seem to love him anymore?
Michael still vividly remembered how Wendy Would shamelessly refuse to leave no matter how many times he tried to drive her away in the past. Now, he had personally sent Wendy home, but she still left.
...
While Yvonne recuperated in the hospital, Quinnly Zara from the HR department was fired.
Things were finally calm again at MC Enterprise.
News of Wendy’s identity as Michael’s wife started circulating within the company as well. Although Michael had not explicitly acknowledged her status, his actions the previous day were telling enough.
The following day, Wendy showed up for work as usual. Although Christian did not assign her any work to do, she still made sure to reach the office before he did, arrange his documents neatly, clean his desk, and then make a cup of coffee for him the way that he liked.
Christian arrived in time to see Wendy amid her daily routine. He sat down on the chair and said with a smile, "Wendy, now everyone in the company knows that you’re my brother’s wife. It’s not good if people find out that you’re still doing these menial tasks."
"I’m indifferent to gossip," Wendy calmly replied.
"I don’t care what other people say about it. I just hope that you will fulfill your promise after this month."
"Wendy, there’s something that I’ve been curious about. You’ve been enduring so much injustice for the past three years, why did you choose to finally let everyone know who you really are now?" Christian asked doubtfully. "Don’t tell me that it’s solely because you wanted to stand up for your friend." After a moment of silence, Christian continued, "Do you know what the consequences are for disclosing your identity?"
Wendy knew. She knew that she would receive more scrutiny once her identity as the president’s wife was exposed. And it would only become more troublesome for her to leave Lake City when the time came. Moreover, there had been rumors about her trying to seduce Michael in the past. Now that her identity as his wife had been confirmed, people started accusing her of being a promiscuous woman.
Even though the revelation of her identity successfully embarrassed Yvonne, it was a decision that came with many obvious consequences.
"What if I tell you that I genuinely just wanted to stand up for Zen?" Wendy could endure bullying if it was targeted at herself, but Zen was her closest friend who had offered her so much help over the past few years. She felt uneasy with Zen being implicated in her affairs.
Christian did not seem surprised at Wendy’s answer. After all, he knew that she was a loyal woman who valued Iove and righteousness. Otherwise, she would not have loved Michael for the past three years. As Christian looked into Wendy’s eyes, he felt admiration and curiosity toward her.
"Wendy..." Christian seemed to want to say something, but he swallowed his words when they reached his lips.
Wendy raised her eyebrows slightly. She neither waited for him to continue speaking nor tried to pursue the topic. Instead, she simply said, "If there’s nothing else, I’ll head back to my office."
"You might receive a call from Grandmother tonight," said Christian.
"Grandmother?" said Wendy. However, she understood. After all, this incident had started spreading, and it was no surprise for Mrs. Lucas to have found out about it. Wendy knew that they would have to report this matter to her sooner or later. However, Wendy felt strange. She asked, "How did you know that she’s going to call tonight?"
She had many doubts about Christian. She doubted his power, his influence, his relationship with Grandmother, and what exactly what he said to her that night at the mansion. Since he had affirmatively stated that Mrs. Lucas would call her tonight, it meant that he knew something about it.
Christian had just returned from abroad, and he was an illegitimate child on top of that. Wendy thought, why does his relationship with grandmother seem so close all of a sudden?
"If I told you that it’s just a guess, would you believe me?" Christian’s smile was very affable, but his eyes shone suspiciously.
Wendy knew that Christian would not tell her anything. She thought, forget it, I don’t feel like caring so much anyway.
Even if she knew everything about Christian, she was just a helpless woman with no power or influence. There was nothing she could do. As for Michael, Wendy had long given up on the idea of helping him, since she could barely protect herself around him. After all, Michael did not trust her, and he did not need her help. So, Wendy could not be bothered to stick her nose into their affairs.
