Chapter 55: Agreement
Mr. York sent Yvonne to the hospital personally.
In truth, he felt reluctant to take her, but since the direction came straight from Michael, he had to comply. Deep down, he had always despised Yvonne.
Between the two women vying for the position of the president’s wife, Mr. York much preferred Wendy. He had seen her resume and knew that her results had been among the best in the most prestigious design school in Lake City. Most importantly, he could tell that she truly loved Michael very much. Mr. York knew that if not for Michael, Wendy would have become a very outstanding designer.
Yvonne, on the other hand, did not know how to do anything besides cling to Michael. He often wondered what exactly Michael saw in her.
Yvonne remained sullen the entire ride to the hospital, as the confrontation today showed her just how little Michael believed in her now.
Since he had, evidently, gradually fallen in love with Wendy, Yvonne’s tactics were no longer effective. After they arrived at the familiar hospital, Yvonne called out to Mr. York just when he was about to leave, "Mr. York, wait a moment."
Mr. York stopped walking. He turned around.
Yvonne took out a pair of diamond earrings from her purse and approached him with a smile. She handed the jewelry to him and said, "These earrings were a gift from Michael, they’re worth tens of thousands of dollars. You can take them and give them to your girlfriend or wife or whomever."
Staring at the diamond earrings now in his hands, Mr. York frowned, as he could not understand Yvonne’s motivation. He said, "Miss Taylor, what is this about?"
"I just want you to do me a small favor," said Yvonne with a gentle smile.
Mr. York had a vague guess of what she wanted from him. Just as he had expected, Yvonne said, "You’re Michael’s assistant, so you should know his daily schedule. I hope that you will help me lend pay special attention to his activities with going forward and let me know when they make plans together."
In the next second, the same pair of diamond earrings was stuffed back into Yvonne’s hands. With a stern face, Mr. York spoke in a neutral tone. "The president’s schedule is strictly confidential. As his assistant, sharing s itinerary would be considered leaking his private information, unacceptable in the business world. Miss Taylor, I ask you not to put my job at risk. I’m also single, and I don’t have a wife or a girlfriend to give these earrings to. Since they were a gift from the president, you should keep them for yourself."
Yvonne’s smile faded, but she was determined. She tried to hand him the earrings again and said, "I don’t need you to tell me about his business schedule, I just want to know about his activities with Wendy Stewart."
Now that Yvonne was in the hospital, she was completely in the dark about whatever was happening between Wendy and Michael. If Christian had not told her that they were shopping together today, she would have never known about it. Since Mr. York worked so closely with Michael, he was the person who knew most about him. Unfortunately, she had underestimated Mr. York’s morality.
This time, Mr. York retracted his hands before she could force the earrings back on him. His tone grew much colder as he said, "My apologies, Miss Taylor, this is about my professionalism."
Yvonne’s hands hovered mid-air. She was embarrassed that Mr. York refused to help her. Without hesitation, Mr. York turned around to leave.
As she stared at him as he walked away, her smile disappeared completely. The look in her eyes was pure evil when she exclaimed, "Mr. York, how dare you play hardball with me?! Why on Earth take Wendy Stewart’s side when Michael will surely come back to me? When that time comes, don’t blame me for being nasty to you!"
Mr. York paid no attention to the shouting behind him. From his perspective, he did not take anybody’s side. He just hoped that Wendy would be able to stay on good terms with Michael and keep her place as the president’s wife. He believed that with Yvonne’s qualities and accomplishments, or lack thereof, she was not worthy of taking that place.
Yvonne started smashing everything she could get her hands on throughout the room again after Mr. York left. Soon, another man walked through the door. A cold voice rang out, "What’s the point of being angry? Even if you smash everything in this hospital, Michael is still with Wendy right now."
She looked up at the man standing before her with surprise in her eyes and said, "Christian? What are you doing here? Are you here to laugh at me?"
The phone call she received today was from Christian, but she did not expect him to come to the hospital.
"I’m here to see you," said Christian as a small smile surfaced on his face. He still looked as warm and cheerful as he always had in the past.
Yvonne was not fooled by his demeanor. She got a grip on her emotions and said, "I don’t think we have that kind of relationship."
"I’m Michael’s younger brother after all, and you are..." Christian deliberately paused before he continued, "You are still his girlfriend, right? So, I think it’s perfectly normal for me to come and see you."
"Just as I thought, you’re here to laugh at me."
Yvonne grabbed a mug from beside her and flung it at Christian’s feet. She screamed, "Get Out, get out right now!"
Christian stepped back. He did indeed laugh when he saw Yvonne in this state, but he said "Yvonne, I’m here because I want to work with you."
The point of his phone call earlier had been for Yvonne to sabotage the Michael’s newly reignited relationship with Wendy. However, not only did she fail to do so, she also ended up making herself look bad. If there were better candidates besides Yvonne, Christian would not be here.
"Work together?" Yvonne asked. "What do you mean?"
"I told you on the phone that we have the same goal," said Christian as he walked over to the chair and sat down. "The tactic that you used today isn’t strong enough, though. Don’t you know what kind of person Michael is? Do you think he’s as stupid as you?"
With these new insults from Christian, Yvonne was furious again. Before she could open her mouth, though, he continued, "If you want to win Michael back, you better listen to me. You have a chance as long as you work with me."
"Why should I believe you?"
"Do you have any other choice?" Christian sneered. "if you rely only on your own ability, you’ll never win Michael back."
"You..." Yvonne pointed at Christian. She felt indignant, but she could not deny that he was right. She had been a massive failure today.
"So, what do you think? Do you want to work with me?" Christian crossed his long, thin legs. He tilted his head slightly to look at Yvonne, who was standing before him.
Yvonne had never interacted much with Christian. She did not know if she could trust the person in front of her. However, he was right; she had no other choice right now. After hesitating for a moment, she finally nodded, "As long as you help me win Michael back, I’ll do anything you ask."
"Excellent choice," said Christian as he rose. "Before we get to that, there’s something I want to ask you."
"Go ahead."
"Do you know why Michael was willing to tolerate keeping you by his side for the past four years and gave you so much?"
"What do you mean why? Isn’t it because he loves me?" Yvonne’s eyes flashed with rage as she answered his question. Then, she bowed her head slightly.
Christian took note of her clear frustration. He continued, "According to what I understand about Michael, you’re not his type at all. Still, he allowed you to go around telling everyone that you’re his girlfriend, and he treated you so nicely all this while. If he’s not in love with Wendy right now, it’s likely that he would have married you already. However, I’m very sure about the fact that it’s not because he likes you. So, there must be some other reason."
"There is no other reason," Yvonne insisted.
...
Wendy cooked one soup and two side dishes. Even though it was not an extravagant spread, it was plenty for two people. By the time they finished dinner, it was late. After washing dishes, Wendy found Michael lying down on the couch with seemingly no intention to leave. She approached him slowly and whispered, "Michael, it’s almost 11 P.M."
Michael did not seem to understand her meaning. Raising his eyebrows, he replied, "You must be tired after the day we had. You should wash up and go to sleep."
"Michael," said Wendy. She did not know if he was merely teasing her or if he really wanted to stick around here. When Michael saw Wendy start to grow flustered, he sighed softly.
Rising he reached out and patted her head, saying, "Fine, since your eviction order is so clear, I’ll get going." He grabbed the car keys from the desk and left.
Wendy bit down on her bottom lip lightly as she watched him begin to walk away. The truth was that her heart was in turmoil. It was obvious that Michael had wanted to stay. In the past, she would have been very happy about it. Now, she did not quite know how to behave when the two of them were alone together. Moreover, she had to think about the child she was carrying. It would be disastrous if Michael stayed the night and something were to happen between them.
She felt had no choice but to chase him out of the apartment.
As soon as Michael left and Wendy was on her own again, she let out a sigh of relief and sat down on the couch, right in the same spot Michael had been in earlier. Shortly afterward, the doorbell rang. Thinking that Michael had returned, she immediately went to open the door. The corners of her lips inadvertently curved into a small smile. However, it was not Michael’s face that greeted her outside the door.
The smile on her face immediately stiffened and she asked coldly, "Why are you here?"
It was Christian. Ever since Wendy went back to working for Michael, she had barely interacted with Christian. He had also kept his distance from her the past couple of days. In fact, she had nearly forgotten about his existence.
"You would have forgotten about me if I didn’t show up here," said Christian with a smile that looked both warm and sinister at the same time.
"How have you been, Wendy?"
Noticing Christian’s desire to step inside, Wendy stopped him, "It’s better if you just stay outside."
After all, it was late at night, and Christian had shown up right after Michael left. She pursed her lips, suspicion in her eyes.
"I watched my brother drive off. Don’t worry, he won’t be coming back tonight," said Christian as he ignored Wendy by stepping past her and entering the apartment. She wanted to stop him, but it was too late. She could only watch as Christian unceremoniously made himself comfortable on the couch before looking around, taking in the rest of the apartment.
"What the hell are you doing?" asked Wendy with a frown. There was a bad feeling bubbling up in her heart.
"Wendy, do you think that my older brother will want you to keep the child if you tell him about the pregnancy now?" said Christian with a smile.
"You’ve loved him for three years, and now, he’s finally starting to change his mind about you. Aren’t you just overjoyed?"
Subconsciously, Wendy protectively touched her belly at the mention of her child. Not quite understanding what he was getting at, Wendy said, "Christian, can you just be straightforward?" She breathed heavily, suddenly feeling how dangerous the man standing before her was.
"Since you asked me, l just tell you straight," said Christian as he stood up and approached Wendy. She backed off until she hit the wall and she had to stop. He placed one hand against the wall and bowed his head slightly. The smile on his face faded as he said, "I’ m only here today to tell you that you mustn’t forget about our agreement."
"Our agreement?" Wendy felt suffocated. At the start, Christian had promised her that he would help her leave Lake City so that she could ensure the safe delivery of her child. In exchange, she had to work for him for two months.
