Chapter 476: What I Care About, Is You
"So, shall we go back to the hospital or a cafe nearby? Or we can go to a hotel?"
Michael asked.
Wendy frowned a little and after pondering, she said, "Let’s go to a hotel."
Michael nodded and waved to Mr. York who was standing a distance away. When Mr.
York got near, Michael instructed, "Find us a hotel nearby."
Mr. York got down to it immediately.
After the hotel was confirmed, Michael and Wendy walked side by side. The night was peaceful, but they did not talk to each other as they walked.
Todd rushed over from his house and came just in time to see the couple. He heaved a sigh of relief that Michael had already found Wendy. But the feeling of relief only lasted for a while. Wendy was walking alongside Michael peacefully. It was not a good sight for Todd.
Todd ran over to them. He panted when he reached Wendy, "Corrine, are you okay?"
Todd looked at Wendy closely, assessing her emotions.
Wendy nodded. She was surprised that her little excursion out of the hospital had gotten everyone worried.
"Sorry, I couldn’t sleep earlier, so I came out for a stroll." Wendy looked at Todd’s pajamas. He must have been too worried to change before coming out. "Sorry to make you all worried."
Wendy looked calm, like she was back to her old self.
"It is good that everything is alright." Todd asked, "Where are you planning to go now?"
"I am going to have a proper chat with Michael." Wendy looked up at Todd as she said truthfully.
Todd was not happy about her reply. If Wendy could discuss about Clement rationally with Michael, then it would mean that there was a possibility their relationship would get better. All the things Todd plotted to cause friction between them would be wasted.
"How are you feeling? I suggest we go back to the hospital first. Is your talk urgent?
Nothing is as crucial as getting your body back to tip-top shape." Todd could not think of a better reason spontaneously to stop them from having a conversation.
"Todd, thank you for your concern, but I think these things have to be ironed out sooner or later," Wendy replied. "I have recuperated well enough. Don’t worry.
Thanks for making this trip today. It’s late. You should go back and rest."
"I..." Todd wanted to continue trying his luck, but Michael stepped forward, standing between Todd and Wendy.
"Mr. Lewis, thanks for coming to my aid tonight, but I think Wendy has made her point very clear. You may go back and rest," Michael stated coldly.
Todd was pissed. He spoke sarcastically, "Don’t forget, you are the one who called me to help out."
Maybe Wendy was unaware of Todd’s motives, but Michael was very clear. Michael was not sure what role Todd played in the whole ordeal with Clement. For Wendy’s safety, he could put aside his own pride and seek help from Todd. But now that Wendy was found safe and that she was willing to open up to discuss things with Michael, it made Todd seem even more suspicious of his motive for trying to forestall their chat.
"Wendy is my wife. On this matter, I owe you one." Michael mentioned ’wife’ on purpose. It was to remind Todd that Wendy was his wife and to put him back in his place. "Mr. Lewis, if you come across any problems in future, don’t hesitate to come to me. I’ll definitely lend a helping hand whenever I can."
....
Michael’s announcement of his authority left Todd defenseless. If he accepted this favor, he would be admitting that Wendy was Michael’s wife and that he had helped Michael. On the other hand, if he didn’t accept it, then him running out in the middle of the night would have nothing to do with Michael.
Todd took a deep breath as he clenched a fist under his sleeve.
The atmosphere between Michael and Todd became tense again.
Wendy didn’t care for them arguing; she lowered her voice and calmly said, "Alright, stop arguing. You should head back first, Todd. I’ve thought about it a lot these few days and I have to have a proper talk with Mr. Lucas anyway. You don’t have to worry about me, I know what I have to do."
Wendy walked away first, Michael naturally following after her.
Seeing them leave, Todd’s eyes became unquestionably sinister. He clenched his fist again, but he didn’t know where to hit. He couldn’t vent the frustration that he was feeling inside of him.
But Wendy had already continuously mentioned that she wanted to talk to Michael so it wouldn’t be appropriate if he stopped them from doing so. He could only watch as Wendy and Michael left.
Michael and Wendy arrived at the hotel very quickly. After entering the room, Wendy sat on the sofa as Michael looked around carefully before pouring two cups of warm water and placing them on the coffee table.
Then he sat across from Wendy, clasping his hands as he said, "Wendy, I’m quite happy that you’re willing to have a talk with me. Leah and Jake have already called a couple of times and they have been waiting for us to go home."
"Michael..." Wendy’s voice was serious. She paused for a moment before saying, "I don’t intend to head back for the time being. I still want to travel around and relax by myself so you should return to Lake City first. The kids are waiting for you and I’m sure you have a lot of work to be done as well. There’s no need for you to waste time here in Rheinsville City with me."
"What do you mean?" Michael frantically asked. "Leah and Jake both wish to see their mother. If I go back alone, I don’t know how I’d explain it to the kids. Leah doesn’t like to be separated from you because she’s grown up with you by her side.
There were a few nights when she woke up crying and asking for you. As for Jake, although he looks very sensible and smart, he’s just a six-year old boy after all. Even if he doesn’t say anything, it doesn’t mean that he doesn’t miss you. Can you bear not letting them see their mother?"
In her heart, Wendy would never let go of her kids. But given her condition, it might not be a good thing for her to return to her two children right now. She was afraid that she would bring her negative emotions to them.
"It’s not like I’m never going back to Lake City ever again. I plan to return after some time." Wendy lowered her gaze slightly, not daring to look into Michael’s eyes as she quietly said, "You’re their father, so I believe that you will treat them well. With you beside them, I’m not worried."
"Wendy, are you leaving the kids with me?" Fear started creeping into Michael as he listened to Wendy’s words. "What exactly do you plan on doing?"
Michael had originally believed that Wendy had indeed gone out for a walk today but what she had just said made it sound like she was making arrangements for her death.
Did Wendy not want her two children anymore?
...
Wendy knew that Michael thought that she was planning on dying after leaving her last wishes. To prevent him from misunderstanding anything, she said directly, "Relax, I’m not so fragile. Anyway, if I’d wanted to die, you wouldn’t have been able to find me tonight."
Hearing Wendy said that, Michael was visibly relieved.
As long as Wendy wasn’t thinking of dying, everything else could be worked out.
Wendy continued saying, "With my current condition, it’s not good for me to stay by the children’s side as I won’t be able to give them positive guidance. I only plan to relax and travel around on my own and I’ll head back once I’m able to put down what is troubling me."
"Then I’ll accompany you." Michael said, "We can go anywhere you want to go. No matter where it is, as long as you want to go, I will accompany you."
"Michael, you still have to take care of the children and manage the company. You can’t come with me," Wendy pointed out.
But the more she rejected him, the more Michael became worried about her. He would only feel relieved if he got to stay by Wendy’s side.
"Zess can take care of the children. Besides, there are many servants in the mansion and the children are in school most of the time, so they don’t need to be taken care of much." Michael continued, "Managing the company is not an issue because I don’t have to physically be there to do so. Christian is also too overwhelmed to have the time to go against MC so all these are non-issues."
"Michael, you know what I mean." Wendy sighed upon seeing the way Michael was acting.
Michael shook his head and said, "I don’t."
Of course Michael knew what she was saying but he didn’t dare to admit it. Wendy wanted to leave him. If Wendy could straighten her thoughts by being alone, she would never return to his side again.
But what if she was unwilling to come back because she felt apologetic to him as if she owed him? And Todd was still eyeing Wendy. How could Michael dare to let Wendy go alone?
"Then let’s talk openly..." Wendy knew that if she didn’t get straight to the point, Michael would never let her go. "We’re both clear about the Clement incident.
It’s already happened so we both have to face it. The best way would be what I’d mentioned just now. I would feel relieved if you took care of the children first. After some time, I will come back and take care of them. If the children are under my care in the future, you can come to visit them anytime you want and I won’t stop you. On the other hand, if you want to take the children, I hope that you won’t stop me when I visit them. But of course, if possible, I hope that the children would get to choose who they want to follow. And when they have both grown up, we don’t have to interfere with their lives. If you have any objections, state them right now and we can discuss them."
"Of course I have objections..." Michael immediately said. "I don’t agree with what you said. The children are ours so they should grow up with both of us around. It’s not fair for them to lose the love from either parent. We clearly can give them a complete family to grow up in, so why do we have to make them live in a broken one?"
"The two of them grew up well even when you weren’t around back then." Wendy lowered her head and said calmly, "The fact that we’re not living together wouldn’t affect our love for the children. At least, it won’t affect mine."
"That’s not the same." Michael shook his head and said, "There was no choice at the time. I didn’t know the children even existed. I would have given them love and affection if I had. But now, we can clearly choose to give them a complete family."
"Michael, let’s both face reality," Wendy said seriously. "Instead of risking it causing a conflict between us in the future, we might as well break it off now. Of course, whatever happened was my fault; it was my fault for taking that risk from the beginning. But it has already happened so I don’t have any other choice."
"Wendy, can’t you tell that I don’t care about that?" Michael hadn’t slept well the past few nights so his eyes were bloodshot, but he was still very serious as he asked, "If I really cared about that, would I have been so afraid of you leaving that I would stand guard outside your hospital ward for days? If I really cared about that, would I look for you like a madman the moment you went missing? Wendy, what I care about, is you."
Michael’s last words resonated in Wendy’s mind. It would be a lie to say that she didn’t feel touched as she looked down, tears welling in her eyes. She sniffled before taking a deep breath and forcing her tears back.
"No man would not care about it completely." Wendy knotted her fingers together, feeling extremely uneasy.
"I really don’t care about it." Michael replied persistently, "I only want you to stay by my side forever."
"Michael, you may not care about it now. I know that you love me now, so you think that you can tolerate it. But what about in a year, or two years, or even ten years?
There will be times when you think about this and it’ll be like a thorn, poking and hurting you at times."
Wendy choked up a little before continuing, "Not only would it hurt you, it would hurt me as well. You will remember what happened that night when you look at me, and I’ll remember it too when I look at you. Us being together would just be torturous for the both of us."
"Did Todd say something to you?" Michael asked.
Wendy shook her head and replied, "It has nothing to do with him."
Michael held onto Wendy’s hand tightly as though he was afraid she would run off right then. "All I want is you. If I really cared about your body, I could find many young and beautiful unmarried women. I reckon if I wanted it, there would be a long line of women offering themselves."
"You don’t believe me when I say that I don’t care, so let me put it in another way."
Michael continued. "It’s not that I don’t care, it’s just that I care about you even more. If it’s not you, I don’t want anyone else, no matter how perfect they are. Can you understand how I feel now?"
Michael’s words caused tears to fall down Wendy’s face.
"But Michael, this thorn would forever be stuck in your heart." Wendy’s voice was quavering as she shook her head and said, "I don’t want you to feel hurt every time you happen to think about it."
"You still don’t believe me, do you?" Michael didn’t know what else he could say so he raised his hand and swore, "I, Michael Lucas, hereby swear that if I ever argue with Wendy Stewart about this incident in the future, I will..."
Before Michael could finish his words, Wendy raised her hand to cover his mouth.
This had never been Michael’s fault so there was no reason for him to swear such a terrible oath.
"Wendy, tell me, what do I have to do for you to believe me?" Michael reached out to tug Wendy’s hand away from his mouth, as he said both in fear and helplessness, "I know that you’re worried and afraid, and you need a sense of security. Just tell me and I will give it to you."
