Chapter 439: No Other Option
Leah ran back to the dining room, saying, "Mommy, did Aunt Zen go to work already? She is not in her room."
"She left..." Wendy replied to Leah’s question in a low voice.
"Where did she go?" Leah asked innocently.
Wendy hesitated before she answered, "She... She went somewhere she should be.
She won’t be coming back anymore."
Wendy had no idea where Zen had gone either.
She wasn’t sure if Zen would have returned to Christian or if she would have left Rheinsville, Lake City, and Christian with the intention to protect the child in her belly.
She might look for a place where no one could find her and give birth to the child alone.
So, Wendy really didn’t know how to answer Leah.
Leah frowned, asking confusedly, "Somewhere she should be? Is it Lake City?"
Wendy hung her head low while she scooped Jake and Leah each a bowl of porridge.
Just as she was about to serve one for Zess, she took over the ladle and poured herself a bowl.
Wendy’s eyebrows and eyes twitched. She responded with a low hum, considered herself before answering Leah’s question.
"Ah. Aunt Zen went back to Lake City. Why didn’t she tell Leah? She didn’t even say goodbye. I will miss Aunt Zen," Leah’s eyebrows were tightly knitted as she spoke.
"Good girl..." Wendy smiled faintly.
Jake’s eyes were fixed upon Wendy the entire time.
He was very smart. He could tell that Wendy wasn’t feeling quite right on that day.
Wendy and Zen had already behaved strangely the night before which was why Jake could tell that there must have been a reason why Zen left their house.
Jake saw that Wendy was upset. He stretched out a hand to hold Wendy’s tightly. His big, round eyes filled with determination and heartache.
Jake gripped Wendy’s hand tighter and tighter. He intended to comfort Wendy with his touch.
"Mommy, Leah and I will always be by your side," Jake said so seriously as though he was making a vow.
Leah was biting into her favorite spring roll with her head hung low. When she heard Jake, although she didn’t understand why he had suddenly said that, Leah immediately nodded along, saying, "Mmhmm. Jake and I will always be by your side."
Wendy’s hand that held a pair of chopsticks paused mid-air.
She turned and looked at her two obedient children, the distress that kept her low the entire night was swept off because of what they said. She instantly felt delighted.
The best decision Wendy had ever made in her lifetime was to risk her life and give birth to her two children.
Wendy had fallen into the sea back then and was at her last breath when Timothy saved her.
Even the doctor had advised to not keep the children. Or, she might possibly have died along with the children.
Wendy felt rather despondent just then because her children were her last string of hope.
If she had given up her two children to save herself, there would have been no reason to live anymore.
So, Wendy insisted to keep her two children.
Fortunately, God was good. Wendy gave birth to Jake and Leah.
If it wasn’t for them, Wendy reckoned that she wouldn’t have been able to persist and live this long.
"Mommy, why are you crying?" Leah lifted her head to look at Wendy while eating her spring roll. She realized that Wendy was crying and she immediately put down her favorite food to wipe the tears off Wendy’s face. She comforted, "Mommy, don’t cry."
Wendy sniffed, wearing a gentle smile. She said to Leah, "Mommy is not crying. I am just really happy to hear what you and Jake just said."
...
"Why are you crying if you are happy?" Leah asked confusedly. She came to realize soon after. She added with a smile, "Ah! I know! Are they tears of joy? Jake taught me that phrase before."
"Yes, you are so smart," Wendy praised, stroking Leah’s head.
Leah smiled even wider as she was being praised and revealed her two cute front teeth.
Wendy had felt despondent the whole night through but she finally felt much better.
She was happier after having breakfast with her children.
The time continued to tick.
After Timothy and Wendy fell out, he didn’t look to Wendy for help again.
HG’s money was already given to Christian. Many collaborating clients from before, called to urge them to pay off the debt.
Some of them even came to HG personally. Timothy had a headache dealing with the people who came to ask for money. Some even took HG to court straightaway.
Both HG and Timothy were in a difficult position.
Wendy was using her phone, reading the news about HG. The headlines of business news had been HG over the past few days.
The headline of the day was: HG, the leading group of the fashion industry, is facing financial lawsuits.
Wendy tapped the link and read the news. It was nothing out of the ordinary. It was merely talking about HG’s current situation.
She was bored and so she read the comments below the news.
"Sigh. Who would have guessed that a group as huge as HG would collapse just like that?"
"I used to buy their clothes. Honestly speaking, the designs were nice and the quality was decent too. I never expected that they would be hit so badly with one blow. It’s such a pity."
"I am poor. I can’t afford the original but I’ve bought clothes of the same design by Corrine. They are really pretty. Hahaha."
"It’s okay that HG ceases operations. I only want to know where Corrine will go. Will she still design more clothes? I am her loyal fan. I love her design style so much.
Please don’t be stirred by HG and leave the fashion industry."
"I like the clothes that Corrine designed too! There is no news about her recently. I wonder how she is doing. I am quite worried about her. I hope that the HG incident won’t affect her."
...
Wendy saw that many people were asking for her whereabouts and she smiled in delight.
It seemed that she was still quite popular.
She had put in so much effort over the years and built her fan base. She felt a great sense of achievement.
There were too many comments. Wendy couldn’t finish reading them all. After she went through a few, she exited the news app and opened Twitter.
Wendy had nothing to do so she scrolled through Twitter casually to past time.
She scrolled through and saw content about Christian’s new project.
It was posted by an official account. There was only a short and simple line: Looking forward to our collaboration.
It was posted along with a photo. It was a photo Christian took before with the person in charge of the bid.
Lake City posted a tweet with their official account. It seemed that Christian had already invested two billion dollars into it.
Very well. She only had to wait to reap the harvest.
Wendy frowned at the thought.
She wondered if Zen went to look for Christian.
Just as Wendy was about to read the comments of the tweet, there was a message that came through.
Todd had sent her a message.
She tapped it open and there was only one simple line: Are you home? I’m at your door.
Wendy’s eyebrows tightly knitted when she saw the message.
She then stood up and went to open the door for Todd immediately.
Wendy smiled when she saw him. She said, "Why did you only send me a message when you arrived at my door? What if I wasn’t home?"
...
Wendy stepped aside, making way for Todd to enter her house, after which, she closed the door behind her.
Todd replied to her question, "I happened to pass by your place so I popped by to visit you. At this hour, I figured you wouldn’t have left the house yet."
Wendy didn’t need to go to work then. So, she had a lot of free time. It was ten in the morning and she probably wouldn’t have left the house at this hour if she had nothing planned.
"It’s okay even if you weren’t home. I could have called you," Todd said with a faint smile.
Wendy poured Todd a glass of warm water and offered it to him.
Todd took the glass and took a sip. Then, he placed the glass on the coffee table while he took a seat on the sofa.
"Why haven’t you go to work at this hour? Is there anything wrong?" Wendy asked, smiling.
Todd was a workaholic too. He didn’t go into the office at this hour but came to her house instead. He most likely had something to talk to Wendy about.
"Well, there’s something..." Todd said, clasping his hands together.
"Let me guess. Is there news about Clement?" Wendy looked at Todd, asking. The smile across her face grew wider.
It had been a few days since Todd said that he would send people to approach Clement.
It was about time for an update.
"You got it right." Although Todd complimented Wendy, the smile on his face faded slowly.
Looking at Todd’s expression, Wendy’s face grew somber. She had a bad feeling about it. She asked, "Did things not go well?"
Todd nodded in response and said, "I found a few people to get close to Clement. All different types of people but no one has succeeded as of now."
Todd sighed a little when he answered Wendy.
It was well within Wendy’s expectation.
She comforted Todd, saying, "Clement is involved in illegal activities. He will, of course, be extremely cautious. It wouldn’t be so easy to find things out from him by sending a few people to get close to him."
"But don’t we only have him as our last clue? You already fought with Mr. Woods. He will no longer trust you. We don’t have any other clues left," Todd said.
"There are still ways..." Wendy said, looking solemn. She was deep in thought for a while before she looked into Todd’s eyes and asked, "What do you think about me?"
Todd didn’t respond at first to what Wendy meant when she asked the question. He just nodded and replied, "You’re great."
If she wasn’t great, Todd wouldn’t have been in love with her for so many years.
"What I’m asking is, how do I look?" Wendy lifted the corners of her lips, flashing a perfect smile at Todd.
Todd saw Wendy’s smile and was enchanted. He subconsciously nodded and praised, "Very beautiful. You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen."
Todd then added, "I am telling you the truth. It is not because we are... friends."
It was true that Wendy looked beautiful.
She was the most beautiful girl in school back then too.
But no doubt, the beauty of one’s appearance was subjective.
However, in Todd’s perspective, Wendy was truly the most beautiful woman.
Wendy stood up and spun a round before Todd, asking, "How about my figure?"
The moment Wendy asked that question, Todd would really have been considered dumb if he didn’t understand what she was thinking about.
He immediately stood up and said grimly, "No way!"
...
"Calm down..." Wendy never expected Todd to react against it so passionately.
She pressed Todd’s shoulder, saying, "Sit down."
Todd pursed his lips tightly. He only sat down after quite some time.
He lifted his chin and looked up at Wendy who was still standing. He said solemnly, "Corrine, don’t even think about it. It is too dangerous."
"Todd, hear me out, would you?" Wendy had already guessed that Todd wouldn’t agree with the idea but she never expected him to be so strongly against it.
Wendy lowered her head. She seemed to consider how she should put it.
After a while, Wendy rationally analyzed the situation with Todd, "We are clear of the situation in HG now. The situation Christian is in doesn’t look too good either. From the looks of it, we’ve already won.
"We only have to wait until a problem occurs with Christian’s new project or until Christian has insufficient capital, and after three months and the project will be suspended. By then, Michael will take over the project. Everything will be perfect, won’t it?"
Without waiting for Todd’s reply, Wendy continued, "But Todd, we are also clear that Christian isn’t just a simple businessman. He is involved in illegal activities. The entire board of directors of HG might be problematic too.
"Our mission is not only to make HG and DR close down. Our end goal is to take care of Christian. As long as Christian is still on his feet, the power behind him will still exist. If he was an ordinary businessman, I naturally wouldn’t want to eradicate him.
It was a pity the person was Christian.
"If we can’t find any evidence to send Christian behind the bars this time, God knows how much more blood he would get his hands on. We have done so much. We can’t stop now, at the very last step."
"But this is too dangerous," Todd was still against the idea. He said, "We can figure out other ways. I can continue to find more people. There must be one who can satisfy Clement."
Wendy shook her head, looking solemn. She said, "But we don’t have much time left.
we can’t waste all our time on Clement. Plus, I don’t think anyone you’ve found could satisfy Clement better than I could. Didn’t you say that I am the most beautiful woman you have ever seen? Then, can you find a woman who is prettier and smarter than me to get close enough to Clement?"
The answer was certain.
Todd couldn’t find one.
But he didn’t reply, because if he did, it simply meant that he agreed with Wendy’s plan.
"I have a higher chance of success compared to any other women sent to get close to Clement," Wendy said with confidence.
Wendy had actually thought of it a few days back.
Although Todd had power in Rheinsville, he wasn’t good at dealing with women.
Where would he find a smart, beautiful, and obedient woman to get close to Clement?
The best candidate was Wendy herself.
Coincidentally, she didn’t have to go to work. So, she had enough time.
Todd shook his head, persuading her, "But Corrine, this is really too dangerous.
Think about the consequences if Clement finds out about your identity. He is also a person involved in illegal activities. What would he do to you? It is beyond your imagination. What if something happens to you, what do we do?"
"I thought it through. I considered all kinds of scenarios before I came to this decision," Wendy said. She then took a deep breath.
She was afraid of death more than anyone.
She had two children she had to care for.
But she had no other option.
