Chapter 438: Don’t Flatter Me, I Will Take It Seriously
Wendy stopped.
Repeating herself, she said, "You should be clear about what I mean by now.
Between Christian and me, you can only pick one.
"At first, if you had not overheard what I was telling Michael over the phone, I had no intention of telling you such things so early on.
"Now that you’ve heard what you have, you must face this crossroad."
Zen had not wanted to overhear Wendy’s conversation with Michael.
If only she had not heard it, it would have been better.
If she had not been curious about why the atmosphere at dinnertime was so odd, it would have been better.
Zen was shaking visibly by now but remained silent.
She had no idea how to respond.
They now had arrived at the hospital. Wendy was not in a hurry as she parked the car and alighted with Zen.
"Wipe those tears. If others see you in this state at the hospital, they might think that I had been bullying you." Wendy took a napkin from her purse and handed it to Zen.
Once Zen took the napkin from her, Wendy spoke once more, "I’ll give you some time to think, but don’t take long. I hope that after your hand has been taken care of, you have an answer for me."
Zen swallowed, and her head was tilted down.
Despite not speaking, she nodded.
She was still bleeding slightly from the wounds on her hands, but she was not in pain. She could only sense how numb she was.
In fact, her entire being felt numb.
Zen had not held back when she slapped herself in the car. Her cheeks were red.
In addition to the wounds on her hand and her puffy red eyes, the doctors who saw her repeatedly asked if something had happened and if she needed help making a police report.
Zen merely shook her head and said that she was fine.
The doctors quickly tended to her wounds.
In no time, Wendy and Zen were back on the road.
On their way home, Zen did not utter a word.
The car had arrived at their garage. Still, Zen had not given Wendy an answer.
After parking the car, Wendy placed her hands on the car’s dashboard before turning to look at Zen.
Calmly, Wendy spoke, "Avoidance doesn’t help. You will have to make a choice sooner or later."
In reality, Zen’s silence made Wendy clear of Zen’s choice.
"Wendy..." Zen looked at her as her eyes misted over once again. She grabbed Wendy’s wrist as though almost pleading for her forgiveness.
"I understand," Wendy sighed in despair. "Be rest assured, I won’t entangle you or your child in the matters between me and Christian Lucas."
Wendy said this to let Zen know that she would not be kidnapping or manipulating her.
Of course, Wendy knew how little Christian cared for Zen’s child, if he even cared at all, much less for Zen.
Even if she used Zen, she would not be able to threaten Christian.
Moreover, Wendy and Michael had the upper hand at present.
They had no need to resort to anything illegal.
Once she had said her piece, Wendy opened the door and got off.
Zen followed behind Wendy.
She did not dare move too quickly or too slowly.
When Wendy got on the elevator, Zen followed her in.
"I’m sorry, Wendy," Zen uttered yet another apology as her gaze remained on the ground.
"No need for that," Wendy said.
"Don’t worry, I won’t tell Christian about today," Zen assured.
Wendy was no longer afraid of what she had to tell Christian.
Now that Christian had no energy to even care for himself, he definitely had no time or energy to bother about Wendy.
Moreover, Timothy had long been suspicious of her.
Whatever Zen had to add about Wendy would not change the situation.
That was the reason Wendy showed Zen her hand.
...
Leah had yet to sleep when they reached home. She seemed to have been waiting for them to come home.
Leah immediately got off the sofa and ran to the door the moment she heard it open.
When she saw Wendy and Zen, she looked worried, and asked, "Aunt Zen, did you manage your wound well?"
"Yes, I did," Zen forced a smile but her eyes were red and swollen.
Under the light, Leah lifted her chin to look at Zen. She frowned, saying, "Aunt Zen, does your hand hurt really, really bad? Let me kiss your boo-boo away. When I get hurt, Mommy used to kiss my boo-boo away so it wouldn’t hurt so bad."
Leah saw Zen’s red eyes that were swollen from crying, she thought that Zen was in pain.
Leah stretched her tender hand to hold Zen’s and looked at the wound that was bandaged. She then fiercely blew on the bandage.
Leah looked up at her, asking innocently, "Aunt Zen, does it still hurt?"
"Not anymore. Leah kissed my boo-boo away. It really doesn’t hurt anymore," Zen replied with a smile.
Zen’s eyes were fixed upon Leah’s, a smile plastered across her delicate face.
It seemed that she was looking at her future child through her eyes.
The baby in her stomach seemed to sense its mother’s calling and stretched its leg in the womb.
Zen subconsciously rubbed her stomach and the smile she wore grew wider.
Her child will be very adorable and beautiful.
"This child said that she is worried for Zen and insisted on waiting for you to come back before she goes to bed," Zess told Zen and Wendy while walking over to hold Leah’s hand with a smile.
"Thank you, Leah," Zen said. She bent down and stroked Leah’s head.
"You’re welcome, Aunt Zen. As long as you don’t feel pain anymore." Leah was really sleepy and she yawned.
Zess said, "Let me take you to the washroom to brush teeth before you go to bed.
Shall we?"
Leah nodded obediently in reply.
After Zess took Leah with her, only Wendy and Zen were left in the living room.
It was already really late.
Zen stood straight and took a deep breath. She then said, "I will go and pack my things."
As her plans were made known, there was no need for Zen to stay at Wendy’s place.
She was not so shameless either.
Watching Zen turn, Wendy called her, "Tomorrow. Where can you go if you leave now?"
Zen stopped.
Not only did she not know where to go on that day. Even if she were to leave the next day, she still hadn’t known where she would head off to.
When Wendy gave her the option to pick a side, she hadn’t picked Wendy. It simply meant that they couldn’t be friends anymore.
She knew that Wendy was kind and she didn’t have the heart to watch a pregnant woman have nowhere to go late at night. But she was heavily indebted to Wendy and ashamed to stay for another night.
"Thank you, Wendy. But even if I stay for the night, it is impossible for me to sleep soundly," Zen said. She then turned and entered her room.
She didn’t have much. She quickly packed and brought her identity documents with her. She then came out of the room, pulling her briefcase behind her.
Zen saw that Wendy was still in the living room. She knew that Wendy was waiting for her.
She took a deep breath and looked at her. Tears flowed down her cheeks as she bid her farewell, "Goodbye."
After Zen said goodbye, she left without turning back.
Wendy didn’t persuade Zen to stay.
Because they were no longer friends.
Maybe, some things were predestined.
It was as such with love and it was the same with friendship.
...
Wendy couldn’t sleep that night.
The memory of her going to college with Zen replayed in her head.
They didn’t seem to have any trouble back then.
Their biggest headache then was to think about what to have for dinner.
After they graduated, Wendy and Zen joined Michael’s MC for work.
Although Wendy was the president’s wife, besides a few, no one else knew about it.
Michael used to target her because he misunderstood and thought that Wendy had drugged him.
Wendy used to get her salary deducted by Michael to the point where she had no money for food.
There were many times when Zen was the one who bought her meals.
Wendy’s current stomach condition was the result of the misfortune back then.
She had less than a few hundred dollars as her salary every month and she had to put away some money for groceries at home. Just in case Michael had nothing to eat at home if he were to come by occasionally.
If it wasn’t for Zen, Wendy’s health condition would definitely have been worse.
Of course, between Wendy and Zen, it wasn’t a one-sided effort.
Zen graduated with a major in design because Wendy helped her in the completion of her studies.
After Zen entered MC, Wendy had been working as the president’s assistant but she would personally help Zen in looking for inspiration to design the fashion garments.
If it wasn’t for Wendy, it would have been impossible for Zen to stand on her own two feet in the design world.
Their friendship had such a strong foundation.
Wendy cared a lot about her friendship with Zen.
So, she couldn’t put herself through watching Zen being forced to the surgery table by Christian.
It was a pity that friendship seemed to be so fragile before love.
Wendy remembered when Zen used to watch her disregard everything while loving Michael, having behaved so pettily and low before him.
Zen told Wendy that feelings were scary and that she would never get close to it in her lifetime.
But God knows when she started. Not only did she get close to love, but she also fell in love so blindly.
She knew for a fact that Christian didn’t love her. She knew for a fact that the end for this moth flying into the flame would be miserable. Yet, she stopped at nothing.
She even betrayed their friendship.
Wendy lay on the bed as the happy memories she had shared with Zen in the past, replayed in her head.
Tears flowed down from her eyes.
She didn’t sleep much through the night.
She saw that it was almost day break. So, she got up and planned to make breakfast for her children in the kitchen.
Zess was already up. She saw that Wendy came to the kitchen and she quickly said.
"Wendy, why are you up so early? Let me take care of breakfast. What do you feel like eating today?"
"Let me cook. I can’t sleep," Wendy replied, smiling faintly.
Zess saw that Wendy didn’t look too good, the dark circles under her eyes now obvious. She frowned, asking with concern, "What time did you sleep last night? You don’t look too good."
Wendy pushed Zess out, saying with a smile, "Take a break this morning. Let me take care of breakfast."
As Zess was pushed out of the kitchen, she looked even more worried.
"What do you feel like eating? Let me make it," Wendy asked.
"I’m fine with anything... Do you really want to make breakfast?" Zess asked again, concerned.
Wendy nodded, reassuring Zess that she was certain.
Zess saw that Wendy was determined to make breakfast so she let her.
"Go back and sleep some more. I will wake you up when it’s ready," Wendy said with a smile. Then, she turned and went back into the kitchen, closing the door behind her.
Wendy then opened the fridge and began making breakfast.
...
Wendy got busy for more than an hour and prepared an abundant breakfast.
She opened the kitchen door and wanted to carry the breakfast out before she called for Zess and her two children.
But she saw Zess stood right outside the door when she opened it.
Wendy was surprised. She asked, "Zess, why are you here? Didn’t I tell you to go and get some more sleep?"
"I..." Zess was worried for Wendy. That was why she had been waiting outside the door.
She could tell from Wendy’s face that something was not right.
But Zess wasn’t in a place to express her concern.
Even though she didn’t say it out loud, Wendy still understood her concern.
She was moved by Zess.
Zess had been working for her for a few years. She was responsible and trustworthy and took great care of their house.
"I slept for a while. I just got up and wanted to see how you are doing," Zess looked into the kitchen with a smile. She was greeted with a delicious aroma. She complimented Wendy, "Wendy, you are good at cooking. This looks much more delicious than my cooking."
"Don’t flatter me, I will take it seriously," Wendy replied with a wide smile.
Wendy’s cooking was not too shabby.
She had purposely learned to cook for Michael back then.
It was a pity that back then, no matter how great of a cook she was, Michael had never eaten much of her food.
It wouldn’t have been as easy if he wanted to eat Wendy’s cooking then.
"I am telling you the truth. Let me help you to bring them out," Zess said, walking into the kitchen.
Wendy looked at the table full of dishes and her smile grew even wider.
She took a look at the clock. It was about time to wake her two children up.
They had school later.
Just as Wendy was about to go and wake them up in their rooms, she turned and saw that both Jake and Leah were already up.
"Smells good! Aunt Zess, what did you cook this morning?" Leah took a big whiff of the smell and ran towards the dining room with her short legs.
She was still young and her height was just about a head taller than the dining table.
She gripped the edge of the table with her hands. Her eyes were twinkling with joy as she said, "There is so much of my favorite food."
"I didn’t prepare your breakfast this morning," Zess smiled, saying.
"Who made breakfast then?" Leah asked, blinking her big innocent eyes while staring at the breakfast spread on the table.
She turned in silence and looked at Wendy and Jake. Then she pretended to leave, but secretly reached out and tried to grab a spring roll from the table.
However, Wendy saw her actions.
She stretched and seized Leah’s hand.
Wendy intentionally looked solemn as she said, "You haven’t washed your face and brushed your teeth yet."
"Let me take one bite. I’ll go and wash up after that," Leah said cheekily, smiling.
She struggled, wanting to free herself from Wendy.
But Wendy shook her head, with no intention of letting go.
Leah pouted in defeat. She then obediently went to wash up.
When the two children had finished washing, Leah climbed onto her chair.
Her big eyes looked from left to right and realized that Zen wasn’t at the table. She asked, "Is Aunt Zen not up yet? Let me go and wake her up."
Then, Leah got off her chair and went to knock on Zen’s room door.
Wendy wanted to stop Leah but she ran quickly. Watching Leah’s back, Wendy’s face grew somber and she remained silent.
Leah knocked on the door but no one answered.
"Aunt Zen?" Leah called. "Come and have breakfast. Mommy made a lot of delicious food today."
No one answered Leah.
Then, Leah turned the doorknob and realized that the door wasn’t locked.
When she entered, she didn’t see Zen in the room.
