Chapter 549: I’ll Hunt You Down
After Christian left, Clement heaved a sigh of relief.
He was afraid that Christian might not agree to hold a press conference.
Such a move would be as good as dragging Christian’s name through mud.
As Christian and Michael negotiated, Clement remained at the edge of his seat.
Thankfully, Christian agreed to Michael’s terms.
Michael’s gaze now fell upon Clement who was still lying on the ground.
He smiled.
With little emotion, he spoke, "Whether you can leave this place or not will depend on how things turn out tomorrow. You had better pray that Christian keeps to his word."
Clement responded, "He will. He definitely will."
Although it seemed like he was assuring Michael, Clement was really trying to build his own confidence.
Michael’s look grew sharper and his tone harsher as he said, "Now that Christian’s side of the matter is settled, it’s now time for us to settle the score between ourselves."
"The score between us?" Clement looked up at Michael. At his words, his body clearly shrank back. "Wh-what scores are there between us? Didn’t Christian agree to your terms already?"
"He did agree. So as long as he holds that press conference, I will most definitely release you," Michael uttered.
"So what do you mean?" Clement swallowed with difficulty as he had a bad sense of what was to come. "That night, hadn’t I explained things to you clearly? Nothing happened."
"You should be thankful that you didn’t do anything. Otherwise, no one and no terms could free you from this place." Michael tilted his head and glowered at Clement before continuing, "Still, what you did hurt Wendy emotionally. Back then, it had also hurt her physically. That score must still be settled between us."
"No, we talked about this earlier, didn’t we? Corrine Swift was the one who had set me up. She approached me on her own initiative!" Clement argued, yet with every word, he felt more wronged.
"Therefore, I am allowing you to leave this place alive." The cold, hard look in Michael’s eyes grew even harsher. "But you will only leave this place with your life."
"What do you want?" Clement was already covered in wounds and knew that he had no way to escape.
Nonetheless, he mustered enough energy to struggle and push himself back.
The place was filled with people under Michael’s command. Where could he retreat to?
Michael approached Clement.
Squatting right in front of him, Michael examined his state before continuing, "Here’s a chance... Take your pick between your wrist and your ankle."
"What?" Clement’s eyes widened.
"Did you not understand? I’ll say this with more clarity," Michael articulated. "I’d like you to pick between an injury to your wrist or to your ankle."
"You have no right to harm me either!" Clement was in disbelief. Michael had forced Christian to agree to his terms, and yet he was going to hurt him further.
He had believed that he only needed to await Christian’s fulfilment of the term the next day before he could leave Lake City.
They had underestimated how viciously Michael could behave.
"When you hurt my wife, I earned that right for vengeance!" Michael spoke in clear hatred.
"Michael Lucas, you shouldn’t act so unreasonably.
"You had set that trap yourselves and approached me with such ill intentions.
"All I did was to recognize your tactics and to use them against you.
"You cannot blame me for the hurt that resulted!" Clement argued helplessly at the lack of justice in Michael’s claim.
"That’s true. You had used Wendy’s trap against her." Michael was adamant on avenging Wendy. "The thing is that now, you’re in my hands and you need to realize this too."
...
Matters were not as severe as Michael had thought they were.
It did not warrant Clement’s life.
It did not warrant much at all.
"Michael, you cannot do this!" Clement shook visibly, rejecting Michael’s grounds for revenge.
Unfortunately, he was not in the position to oppose Michael.
"Wrist? Or Ankle? Which do you choose?" Michael reiterated coolly. "I don’t want to spend more time with you.
"It’s late. My wife is pregnant and needs to rest early."
"I choose neither! You can’t do this!" Clement retorted, deeming that it was far too cruel to be forced to choose to allow someone to injure his joints.
"Is that so? Let’s go with both then!" Michael concluded with acidity in his voice.
"If you hurt me further, I, Clement, will be sure to hunt you down for doing it!"
Clement warned. As a member of an underground organization, he had a temper too.
He had only shown his weaker side because he was in Michael’s hands.
Usually, he would not be this meek.
"Hunt me down?" Michael snorted as he shook his head and said, "It seems that you aren’t clear of the position you are in."
Michael took his phone out of his pocket and dialed Christian’s number.
Christian had just parted ways with him and now received a call from Michael again.
Holding his irritation in, Christian picked up.
Placing the call on speaker mode, Michael let Clement in on the call. "Clement just told me that he’d hunt me down.
"To save myself from future nightmares, I’m thinking, you can call tomorrow’s press conference off."
"What?" Christian’s brows furrowed.
Didn’t they already agree on the terms?
What was Clement doing to complicate matters?
"Hand the phone over to Clement. I’ll speak to him," Christian responded irately.
Squatting once more, Michael placed his phone on the ground before Clement.
"Michael is the one who’s going too far! He wants to injure my wrists and ankles!"
Clement hollered at Christian.
"Clarify that... I’m not asking to injure his wrists and ankles, I told him to choose either his wrist or ankle," Michael responded calmly.
"Michael Lucas, what do you mean by this?" Christian was about to blow his top once more. "If Clement’s wrists or ankles get injured, he wouldn’t be able to work like he used to."
"Exactly. That’s why I’m going to do this," Michael replied.
At Michael’s response, both Christian and Clement were livid.
"Hadn’t I agreed to your terms? Can’t you just leave him be?" Christian clenched his fists tightly, barely holding his rage in.
"Your word on my terms is a matter between us. However, the matter between Clement and I must be settled as well!" Michael did not want to further drag his conversation with the men. "Are you going to pick? If not, I’ll make the decision for you."
"Fine, Michael Lucas!" Clement hissed with his teeth gritted.
He knew that there was no turning back.
"Go ahead with my wrist." Left with no choice, Clement shut his eyes and uttered despondently.
To Clement, his ankles were definitely more important than his wrists.
However, it did not matter which got injured since hurting either would leave him a shadow of the fighter he used to be.
Yet, this was Michael’s true intention.
At Clement’s words, Michael ended the call.
Standing to his feet, Michael walked to Wendy and held her hand. He then turned to the bodyguard nearby and ordered, "Get both his wrists."
Once he was done speaking, Michael turned and left the warehouse with Wendy.
...
As they strolled out of the warehouse, Clement’s shrieks could be heard.
Michael could even feel his pain. Wendy, whose hand was in Michael’s, felt him shiver momentarily.
Once they got in the car, Michael spoke, "Wendy, do you think that I’ve crossed the line?"
Michael was actually reluctant to show Wendy his cruel side.
He had only wanted to put his best foot forward whenever Wendy was present.
Since Wendy had said that she wanted to stand by him through everything, Michael respected her wishes.
He no longer wanted to assume that he was always doing right by Wendy and protecting her.
Wendy shook her head.
"Really?" seeing Wendy shake her head, Michael did not hide his delight.
He had been worried that Wendy might find him too brutal and fear him.
Wendy inhaled deeply and responded level-headedly, "Michael, I know that all this you’re doing is right.
"I also know the reason behind inflicting injury on Clement even after Christian agreed to your terms isn’t as simple as avenging me.
"If it were mere revenge, you could have ordered others to do the job for you.
"Yet you made him choose between his wrist or ankle.
"You know how skilled a fighter he was and if he injured either tendon, he would experience limitations physically thereafter.
"That also means that he would only be able to display a limited amount of skill in combat after this.
"You wanted him to first lose his abilities so that after you found concrete evidence, you’d be able to recapture him with more ease. Isn’t that so?"
Michael knew that Wendy was smart, but for her to guess his intent so quickly made Michael beam wider.
Evidently, she understood him well.
Wendy continued, "You required Christian to hold the press conference for two reasons: one, to clear me from all the criticism, and two, to ruin Christian’s reputation before taking over the project he has on hand.
"You know that Christian sees this project as his lifeblood, so forcing him to give it up directly would be impossible.
"You cornered him with the choices, and from there, things went according to your plan.
"Of course, you could also hand Clement over to Interpol.
"I believe the reason you did not do so was because of the lack of evidence.
"You let Clement return so that he could work again with Christian.
"If they tried to break into the market in our country, you would apprehend them with evidence for their illegal dealings and rooting them out entirely."
Once Wendy finished, she looked over at Michael who was in the driver’s seat and smiled.
"Am I right?" she asked.
When Michael carried all these things out, Wendy had remained silent.
However, she knew Michael’s purpose with each action he took.
Michael had not merely acted out of self-interest.
He wanted to protect Lake City.
If Clement were rooted out early, Christian would work with someone else.
Christian had long abandoned his morals for money.
Only gathering evidence of their illegal activities could bring them down entirely.
That way, they would not be able to enter Zeilheim City’s market.
"Wendy, I’m a lucky guy. You get me," Michael spoke each word from his heart.
With such an understanding wife, what else could a man ask for?
"Michael, you don’t need to worry about me getting scared over these actions that you’ve taken. I will support you." Wendy reached over and put her hand in Michael’s.As she enjoyed the warmth of his hand, Wendy smiled.
She was actually a little fearful.
However, she was clear that all Michael had done was right.
She was determined to hold herself together, and she resolved to be proud of Michael.
This was how her husband should look.
