Chapter 488: Irritable Mood
Sure enough, as her older brother, Jake was the one who knew Leah best. His words shifted her attention to the sceneries outside the car window immediately. It seemed that she wanted to take in more of Rheinsville City before leaving.
The car quickly arrived at the helipad. As the surroundings of the helipad were relatively empty, Todd pulled over a short distance away. There were not many obstructions around. Todd simply sat in his Maybach and looked at Wendy intently.
He watched as they got off the car, as Michael held on to Wendy’s hand. They were holding Jake and Leah on each side, and looked like a happy family even from behind.
Todd gripped the steering wheel tightly. He had too much to drink the previous night. He did not have high alcohol tolerance to begin with. Additionally, he drank too quickly in a short time. Hence, his whole body started heating up after just a few glasses.
Alcohol had influence over one’s cognition in the first place. Moreover, there was something bothering him last night. Under the influence of alcohol, he became a different person who was selfish and ruthless.
He was badly injured last night. After Michael had left with the rest, he fainted in the lounge. It was his assistant who had found him and took him to the hospital. It was already the next day when he woke up again.
As he regained consciousness, he recalled the words and things that he had said and done the previous night. He gave himself a tight slap. How could he have acted like a jerk?
After last night, he knew very well that he did not even stand a chance to be friends with Wendy anymore. While he regretted his actions to a certain extent, he knew that he would never have the chance to act according to his wishes if he had not indulged himself last night.
He could consider it as an opportunity for him to vent, although it came with a hefty price.
Todd contemplated if he should come see Wendy off. He knew that she definitely would not want to see him. Neither did he have the cheek to show up before her.
However, he might regret it if he did not turn up at all. After much hesitation, he removed the IV drip from his hand and drove to the hotel she was staying at despite his assistant’s persistent warnings.
Fortunately, Wendy and the rest had yet to leave, and he made it in time to see them off. He followed behind their executive van all the way to the helipad’s parking area.
Todd did not use to smoke. In fact, he had just picked up the habit in the last few days. He took a deep breath, took a cigarette, and lit it and puffed.
He had not mastered smoking yet and coughed uncontrollably as he exhaled.
However, he dared not cough too loudly and immediately tried to curb his coughing.
He only dared to cough after seeing Wendy board the helicopter.
He watched as the propeller turn, until the helicopter took off. He reached for his mobile phone and slowly drafted a text message. However, his text box remained empty after typing and deleting repeatedly.
At this moment, Todd realized that his vision was a little blurred. Tears fell on the phone screen. Finally, only three words appeared in the textbox: [I am sorry.] Ultimately, he did not even send the text message.
’Well, she probably did not care for my apology either.’ At the thought of that, Todd took another stick and lit it again.
Up till now, Todd was still unwilling to resign to fate. But what else could he do? She had already left...
...
"Mommy, isn’t Uncle Todd here? Why didn’t he come and see us off?" Leah looked at the Maybach through the helicopter window.
She knew that Todd was sitting in that car. His uncontrollable behavior the previous night had indeed frightened her. However, he was very good to her in the past.
Hence, she believed that Uncle Todd was not a bad person. He had merely gotten drunk. She still hoped that he would send them off.
"Maybe...," Wendy paused and said, "maybe he was afraid that he would be sad when parting with you guys."
Wendy was also a little surprised that Todd did not alight from his car. After all, he had followed them all the way to the helipad, and she thought that he had something to say to her, or at least show himself.
Michael was afraid that he would find trouble and even arranged for bodyguards to be on standby. It seemed that they had thought too much.
"Is that it..." Leah sounded really sad. She waved her hand through the window. "Uncle Todd, goodbye."
Sadly, the helicopter was already in the sky. Todd could not see Leah waving her little hand nor could he hear her bid farewell.
As the helicopter took flight, Wendy dared not look out of the window anymore. Her heartbeat gradually sped up with her fear of heights. Seeing this, Michael immediately stretched out his hand to cover her eyes and said gently, "The flight will take a while. Get some sleep if you can."
Wendy could not fall asleep at all as she had too much sleep earlier. Leah and Jake could still enjoy the scenery beneath, but Wendy dared not look out the window at all.
Seeing Wendy’s distress, Michael smiled and took out some drawing materials that he had long prepared and placed them on the small table in front of Wendy.
Seeing the drawing paper and materials, Wendy’s eyes lit up instantly. "You even prepared this?"
"I just don’t want to waste your talent," Michael said with a smile. "Our company may have a new clothing project in line."
"It’s not like I’m an employee at your company. Even if I come up with new designs, they will not be patented to your company," Wendy said deliberately.
"It’s not my company... It’s our company," Michael emphasized. "MC Enterprise belongs to the both of us."
"I am not a shareholder of MC nor do I hold a position in MC," Wendy replied.
"I’ll just transfer my shares to you." Michael used to prioritize such matters a lot. He had dedicated the past 30 years of his life to seizing MC’s management rights.
He had made countless sacrifices to become the CEO and Chairman of MC Enterprise, but now, he was willing to hand them over to Wendy.
Michael was not joking. He said seriously, "When we get back to Lake City, I’ll transfer all my shares to you and let you be the chairman. What do you say?"
"No, thank you." Wendy was just joking. She did not care for MC’s shares at all. She just wanted to be a designer and had no intention to manage a whole group of companies. MC dabbled in too many industries. She did not want to get so busy that she had no time to eat.
"Are you just trying to throw the burden to me because you are too tired?" Wendy raised her eyebrows and chuckled. "Fat hope! You won’t fool me. I’m just waiting for you to support me."
...
Michael knew that Wendy was joking. He lowered his head and brushed his nose while smiling helplessly. "You saw through my plot. That’s really embarrassing."
"So, are you going to support me in the future?" Michael was elated to hear Wendy pose such requests.
"Yes, of course. How could I not?" Michael replied. "Even if I was down to one last bit of rice, I will definitely give it to you first."
"Daddy, what about me?" Jake interjected. "What about Leah and me?" He was originally enjoying the view with Leah. However, he could not help but interrupt as his parents were all lovey-dovey.
"It was just an analogy." Michael smiled. "Besides, how could I ever end up with just one bit of rice?"
"But what if, Daddy...," Leah joined in the fun, "Daddy, if you really had just one bit of food left, will you give it to Mommy, me, or Jake?"
"This..." Michael did not know how to answer his little princess.
No matter his choice among the three of them, the other two are bound to be disappointed. Hence, Michael decided to just tell the truth. He put his arms around Wendy’s shoulders and said firmly, "Then, it must be for your mommy."
"Not just for me, it applies to the two of you too. Remember, if you only have one bite of food left, you must also give it to Mommy, understand?" Michael added.
"Daddy doesn’t love Leah anymore..." Leah cooperated with the act and reached her hands to wipe her non-existent tears.
Wendy was a little dumbfounded at this amusing scene. "That’s enough. You guys are acting as if we really have just one bite of food left. Don’t worry, if that ever happens, I can sell a few more design drafts and support you all."
It was not just a matter of supporting them. The value of Wendy’s current design drafts could provide a comfortable life for all of them for decades.
Zess and Mr. York sat at the back and glanced at each other.
Mr. York said teasingly, "Zess, did you know that there was this person who was all grumpy and aggressive in the past few months? He would flare up over little things and even broke several office cups. On top of that, he terminated a few assistants."
"Is that so? Who was it?" Zess asked cooperatively.
"If I remember correctly, it should be someone on this flight." Mr. York clicked his tongue while looking at Michael.
"I see. Then, why did the person have such a bad temper?" Zess asked again.
"That, I wouldn’t know. But my guess is, maybe it was because his wife wasn’t by his side for a long time... If their wives are not by their sides, men get irritable in certain aspects. You get what I mean, Zess?"
This time, before Zess could reply, Leah interjected curiously, "What? In which aspect? I don’t understand."
Mr. York almost choked on his own saliva when he heard Leah’s question. It slipped his mind that there were two other children on this flight.
He coughed and explained, "I mean, his mood... his mood will be more irritable."
"Oh, I see." Leah nodded as if she had just learned something new.
Michael turned around to glare at Mr. York. Then, he picked up a cup and threw it at him.
Mr. York dodged the cup and said, "Zess, did you see that? That’s what I was talking about."
Michael was getting anxious while Wendy could not help laughing. It was a pleasant flight filled with chatting and laughter.
