Chapter 51: I Meant What I Said
Their grocery shopping trip did not turn out to be the most pleasant. By the time they got home, it was already after 1 P.M. Wendy restocked the refrigerator with the groceries, then put on an apron, and said, "Go get some rest while I cook lunch for us. What do you want to eat?"
"You don’t plan to chase me away this time?" Michael sat on the couch with his long, thin legs crossed. He gazed at Wendy, a trace of amusement in his eyes, and said, "You’ve been so eager to get rid of me recently."
"Thank you for helping me today," said Wendy sincerely. If Michael had not intervened to help her, she really would not have been able to deal with the unreasonable old lady by herself.
"Wendy Stewart, as long as you’re my wife, no one is allowed to bully you," said Michael in a suddenly stern tone. His eyes were filled with seriousness.
This statement came as a great shock to Wendy, emotionally. It was extremely rare to hear something like that from Michael himself. However, her rationality still prevailed over her sentiments. Wendy bowed her head, and with a bitter smile, said, "But Yvonne has bullied me so many times in the past..."
Michael’s face slowly lost its color when he heard Wendy’s reply. Perhaps she should not have said that. After all, what was the point of her saying this now? Turning around, she said, "I’m going to cook now."
Looking at Wendy as she walked toward the kitchen, Michael suddenly said, "It won’t happen again."
Her footsteps gradually came to a halt. She thought, what did he just say? Did he say that it won’t happen again? Does he mean that he won’t let Yvonne bully me again in the future?
Inexplicably, her eyes grew damp at Michael’s declaration. She blinked, sniffled, and without saying anything else, entered the kitchen.
Michael followed behind her. He walked into the kitchen and said, "Let me help you. I don’t know how to cook, but maybe you can see if there’s anything I can help with?"
Wendy wanted to tell him that it was not necessary.
Grocery shopping and cooking together during the weekend resembled the daily lives of a normal married couple. But after thinking about it, she decided to cut herself some slack and allow herself to experience what it would feel like if they were like other, normal married couples. Right now, Christian was not around to threaten her, and neither was Yvonne here with her various evil plots against Wendy.
She really felt as though she and Michael were just an ordinary couple at this moment.
Wendy handed Michael some beans and taught him how to peel them. After observing how she did it, Michael immediately reassured her, "I got it, let me do it."
Wendy watched helplessly as Michael imitated her haphazardly and completely butchered the peeling process. She thought, it’s true that nobody is perfect in this world. Even a successful businessman like Michael is nothing but an amateur in the kitchen.
However, in order not to dampen his spirits, Wendy decided to just let him be. She would just do it all over again on her own after this. So, though it should have taken only half an hour for Wendy to cook up a feast consisting of three side dishes and one soup, Michael’s well-intentioned mistakes caused an overall delay in her endeavor. She ended up taking over an hour instead.
Finally, lunch was ready. Wendy placed the steaming dishes on the table. The delicious aroma made her feel exceptionally hungry. She scooped some rice into a bowl for Michael and got him some utensils before doing the same for herself.
Gazing at the spread they had prepared, she said with a smile, "Let’s dig in, I’m famished." Michael could not help but smile lightly when he saw Wendy start eating with her head bowed. At that moment, Wendy lifted her head and coincidentally met his gentle gaze. She thought, how gentle...
Those two words that surfaced in her mind made her feel at a loss. She never expected Michael to ever look at her in this manner, even in her dreams.
At that moment, Wendy’s eyes glazed over. She could see nothing except for Michael. She only came to her senses when he stretched his hand out toward her. His fingertips were cool when they brushed her skin, but a fire was immediately ignited in her heart. Even her cheeks were burning now.
She swallowed dryly and reached out to push Michael’s hand away, but he grabbed her. His tone was exceptionally gentle when he spoke. "Don’t move, there’s a grain of rice on your face." She obeyed him and stopped moving completely. She only tilted her head rigidly and slowly after Michael had taken the grain of rice off her face.
"You’re an adult, how can you still get the rice on your face?" said Michael jokingly. Lowering his head, he picked up his fork and started eating again. It was as if nothing had happened. Or rather, he did it so naturally, as though it was something familiar.
However, to Wendy, what Michael just did was something that she thought only two individuals who were very intimate with each other would do. Without a doubt, this was the first time that Michael had done anything like this. Compared to his calmness, Wendy’s heart was in turmoil.
She could not help but be reminded of when Michael would do the same thing for Yvonne right in front of her. At this thought, Wendy’s eyes became downcast. She continued eating her meal quietly.
Shortly afterward, an extra slice of meat appeared in Wendy’s bowl.
"Eat more meat instead of just rice. Even though you did gain some weight recently, you’re still too skinny," said Michael with a frown. His voice was filled with concern.
His actions and words over the past few days had moved Wendy greatly. She thought, but why did he only decide to start doing all these things after I made up my mind to get divorced? I waited for him for three years, but I don’t want to anymore.
Suppressing the confusion in her heart, Wendy. picked up a few slices of meat and placed them in Michael’s bowl as well. If this were like before, Michael would never have allowed her actions.
He would despise her utensils for being filthy. In fact, he would go as far as abandoning his entire bowl if any food in it came from Wendy. But this time, Wendy watched as Michael picked up the meat she had placed in his bowl and ate everything without hesitation. This only added to the confusion in her heart.
Michael finished his meal without any worries. Wendy, on the other hand, battled with complicated feelings. After lunch, she washed the dishes while he laid down on the couch to get some rest. By the time Wendy was done with the dishes, she found Michael asleep.
She tiptoed to the living room, picked up a thin blanket beside him and draped it over his body gently.
Once upon a time, she wished that Michael would just stay by her side peacefully like that and keep her company. Now, as she gazed at Michael’s closed eyes, she could not help but reach out to caress his face. However, as she was afraid that she might wake him up, she immediately retracted her hand the moment her fingertips contacted his face. She felt like an elementary school student who had been caught doing something wrong. Her heart pounded loudly, feeling afraid that Michael would discover what had been done.
Yet, things that were feared most often became reality. In a split second, Michael grabbed her hand firmly. She wanted to pull back, but he was using too much force. Nervously, she explained herself, ".. I saw something on your face, so I was just trying to wipe it for you. I’m sorry for waking you."
Michael pulled her forward and she was dragged into his embrace. Her eyes widened as she found herself trapped in his arms. There were panic and confusion in her gaze. She did not know what Michael planned to do next.
Michael made no movement for a long time. His gaze was fixated on Wendy. As they looked into each other’s eyes, her heartbeat quickly accelerated. Slowly, Michael reached out to cup her face with his hand. He could clearly feel Wendy’s face burning up.
They were very close to each other.
When Michael spoke, Wendy could feel his breath fan across her face.
"Wendy..." Michael gently caressed Wendy’s cheek with his fingers. Her skin was very smooth and delicate, and at that moment, he felt very sentimental.
Wendy subconsciously bit down on her bottom lip. She felt like she was walking on a tightrope. Michael continued, "I meant what I said to you." Michael’s tone was loving and gentle.
"Huh?" Wendy did not understand what he was trying to say.
"Back at the mansion, I told you that if you agreed to cut all ties with Christian, I would do the same with Yvonne..." Before Michael could finish talking, his phone started ringing. It was Yvonne calling. When Wendy saw the caller ID, her frantically pounding heart immediately calmed down. Michael did tell her that if she promised to cut contact with Christian, he would do the same with Yvonne. However, he also said that he was not serious about it afterward.
Now, he was telling her otherwise. If not for Yvonne’s timely phone call, Wendy would have fallen right into the trap that he was creating.
She thought to herself mockingly, ’Wendy Stewart, this man has been torturing you for the past three years. He decided to be nice to you the last couple of days and that’s all it took for you to almost fall into his trap again.’
Michael did not want to answer Yvonne’s call. For a long time, he made no movement to pick up his phone, and it kept on ringing. Observing Michael’s refusal to answer, Wendy reached out and took his phone. She answered the call. Her lips curled into a small smile as she put the call on speaker. Before Yvonne could begin, she said, "Michael is at home, we just had lunch together. If there’s nothing important, please don’t disturb us anymore." With that, she immediately hung up on Yvonne without giving her a chance to talk at all.
When she returned the phone to him, their eyes met. She was still smiling, except it was much less affectionate than earlier. Now, she was calm and alert after the harsh reminder of their reality. She said, "I’m sorry for answering a call meant for you." After a moment of silence, she continued, "If you’re afraid that Yvonne will be unhappy, you can go to her."
She had just finished speaking when his phone rang again. It was Yvonne, which was just as she had expected. This time, she did nothing. It was Michael who answered the call. As Wendy gazed at Michael, her smile grew increasingly cynical.
She thought, I was right, he still cares about Yvonne after all. It doesn’t matter what he said about being willing to cut all ties with Yvonne if I did that with Christian. There’s no way he would have done that in the first place.
After all, Michael had loved Yvonne for over four years. Wendy did not believe that he would cut all ties with Yvonne for her sake. All Michael wanted was for a clear line to be drawn between Christian and herself. She believed that she was ultimately nothing more than a pawn on their chessboard.
Michael picked up his phone. Rather than answer the call, he rejected it immediately. Then, he switched off his phone. Wendy was surprised by his actions. She thought that Michael would explain the situation to Yvonne. Pointing at Michael, and then at his phone, she asked, "Aren’t you going to answer?"
He shook his head, "I never intended to."
