Chapter 56: Warning
Feeling the pressure, Wendy swallowed dryly and replied, "But I have gone back to working for Michael, and I cannot continue to stay by your side."
"I think there’s more to it than that," said Christian. "Perhaps, you don’t even want to leave Michael anymore."
He was right-Wendy had indeed started wavering in the last few days. She wanted to leave Michael previously because he did not love her, which meant that it was unlikely that she would be able to keep her child if he found out about the pregnancy. Hence, she wanted to leave Lake City and Michael behind. But now, Michael’s attitude toward her had changed drastically. He had even started to defend her in front of Yvonne. This reformed version of Michael left Wendy with no choice but to reconsider her decision about their fate as a couple.
"So what?" asked Wendy.
"I just wanted to remind you about the kind of relationship I have with my brother."
Of course, Wendy would never forget that. The relationship between Christian and Michael was wholly incompatible and antagonistic.
Not wanting to continue their conversation in such an incriminating position, Wendy pushed Christian away and walked over to the couch to Sit down.
"I’m afraid that you will be deceived by what you see on the surface and get hurt by my brother once again," said Christian, "After all, Michael has loved Yvonne for over four years, and he has hated you for the past three. Do you really think that he will fall in love with you within a few short months?"
His words made Wendy’s heart sink slowly. Indeed, he was right. This was also something that Wendy felt very strange about. Michael had simply changed too much recently for any of it to be real.
"Wendy, don’t you think that my brother has been treating you very well and Yvonne very poorly since he asked you to come back and work for him?"
Observing the change in Wendy’s expression, Christian continued his charade, saying, "Have you ever thought about why Yvonne showed up to the mall today? And don’t forget, Michael has never trusted you, but he chose to stand by your side without hesitation today."
"How did you know that we were all at the mall today?" said Wendy. Deep down, she admitted to herself that Christian had voiced her suspicions.
However, she was not stupid.
"I keep track of my brother’s whereabouts at all times, and he does the same to me," said Christian honestly. "Our relationship has been doomed since the beginning."
"Then, why are you telling me all this?" Wendy continued to question him. "Even if Michael is deceiving me, what does that have to do with you?"
"Wendy, you’re an intelligent woman, you should understand why Michael is lying to you. It’s all because I expressed an interest in you. He would never have let me get what I wanted, so he decided to make you work for him again," said Christian at a leisurely pace, "Everything he is doing now is so that you will continue to love him instead of getting together with me. Of course, I’m sure you can imagine your own fate after he succeeds in this."
After that, he went silent for a bit. His expression was filled with amusement and inexplicable sentimentality as he watched Wendy. Soon, he continued, "As for why I’m telling you all this if I told you that I genuinely want to help you, would you believe me? Of course, my brother is one of the reasons why, too. After all, I do not wish for him to succeed."
Christian’s words left Wendy uncertain. She felt immense confusion when she met his gaze. The truth was that she did not care if Christian was genuinely trying to help her like he said. She only wanted to know if Michael had really changed his mind about her. Every point Christian had raised had to do with something she herself had already thought about, but she had grown greedy for Michael’s tenderness lately. Even though the decision to get divorced had been made long ago, Michael was still the only man she loved deeply at the end of the day.
"What are the both of you doing?" Michael’s furious voice rang out in the distance, giving Wendy a huge shock. She turned her head to see him walking into the apartment, watching his figure grow bigger and bigger as he approached them.
Christian’s words earlier had caused so much turmoil within her that she had failed to hear the front door opening. However, it would have been of no use even if she did notice, as Michael had a key and could let himself in.
"Michael, I just wanted to catch up with Wendy," Christian spoke up first.
"You’re here to catch up with her?" Michael sneered. "At 11 P.M.?" Naturally, he did not believe that.
"She’s been with you the entire day, I didn’t have time to do it any earlier," said Christian.
"So, are you trying to tell me that I was taking up your precious time together?" Michael asked Wendy as he turned around to look at her.
Wendy bit down on her bottom lip, mixed emotions rising. As far as the battle between the two brothers was concerned, she would always be at a loss. After all, Christian and Michael never got along, and Michael always had misunderstandings about her relationship with his brother.
It would be difficult for her to explain why she and Christian were alone in the apartment late at night. "Michael..." she took a deep breath but remained quiet, not quite sure of what to say.
"You can’t even be bothered to deny it anymore, huh?" Michael’s eyes were filled with disappointment as he said, "Wendy Stewart, haven’t I been nice enough to you over the last few days?"
"It’s not what you think it is, Michael," Wendy grew frantic, and she tried to explain herself, saying, "I don’t know why Christian is here, either."
"Then, why did you open the door for him?"
"I thought it was you," said Wendy. Even though her eyes were full of clarity, her tone was very anxious.
"I did come back, I just never expected to witness this." Michael laughed coldly as he bent down to grab the phone he had left behind on the couch. "If I had not left my phone behind, I wouldn’t have known that you guys were on a secret date. Now I know why you tried so hard to chase me away just now."
"This is not what you think it is," said Wendy.
She could not afford to tell Michael that she had made a deal with Christian, as that would only make things more unclear.
"Is that so?" Michael was clearly unconvinced.
Over the last few days, he had gone above and beyond for Wendy, treating her better than ever.
He thought, despite all of that, she never agreed to cut ties with Christian even when I kept asking her to. Now I know why.
"Michael, stop pressuring her like that," said Christian. "I was the one who came over." The moment those words were uttered, Michael threw his fist straight into Christian’s face, hard.
"Christian Lucas, I’m warning you, Wendy is still my wife. It doesn’t matter whether I want her or not, you can never have her!" Michael dragged Christian out of the apartment and left him outside the door. Then, he slammed the door in his brother’s face.
Christian touched the left side of his face where he had just been punched. He spat out some blood, but the smile on his face only deepened.
He had just been thinking about what he could do to further the misunderstanding between Wendy and Michael. Now that this opportunity had presented itself, he did not have to waste more time thinking about it. He thought, any of this pain from Michael was worth it.
After Christian was kicked out of the apartment, Wendy was left to face Michael alone. His entire being was consumed by anger, and she did not even dare to breathe. This side of Michael was just too frightening.
"Wendy Stewart, have you really fallen in love with Christian?" Michael’s eyes were slightly reddened, and he took the great difficulty in getting out his question.
"I did not," Wendy shook her head. "There is nothing between me and Christian." When faced with Michael’s interrogation, she could only explain herself weakly. The truth was that she was equally furious because Christian’s words from earlier were still replaying in her head.
Wendy thought, Michael has always been extremely hostile toward Christian. A big reason why he’s suddenly so possessive of me now is because he doesn’t want me to fall in love with Christian, and the same goes for Christian.
However, Wendy also knew that Christian had deliberately told her all those things to provoke her. She did not fully believe him, but at the same time, she was unable to convince herself to trust Michael wholeheartedly.
"I’m warning you, Wendy Stewart, I don’t care who is it that you really love. If something like this happens again, I won’t let you get away with it," said Michael. His tone was cold, ominous, and threatening.
Just now, he had transformed back to his old self and was treating Wendy the way that he always used to. It was as if his goodness over the last few days had just been an illusion.
Wendy bowed her head slightly, feeling very down. She did not bother trying to explain herself again, because she knew that she could not tell him the truth. Since nobody spoke, the atmosphere in the apartment became palpably tense.
Michael showed no intention of wanting to leave, and Wendy did not feel comfortable asking him to go again. After some time, she went to take a shower. She felt fatigued after an entire day of shopping. Michael was still sitting on the couch when she emerged from the bathroom. She decided to climb into her bed and get some sleep. He could stay if he wanted to.
She fell asleep quickly without paying Michael any further attention. When she woke up, there was no trace of him in the apartment. When she tried to recall what happened last night, everything just felt like a dream. She thought, perhaps I’m just not destined to be loved by Michael. It’s only been a few days, but it appears that our relationship has gone right back to where it had been all along.
...
Since it was the weekend, Wendy did not have to go to the office. Feeling bored after a quick meal, she decided to grab a pencil and some paper and sat down at her desk to design new things. However, she could not quite soothe her emotions. Even after doodling for some time, her mind remained blank and devoid of any inspiration. She gave up on trying to draw and instead took out her phone to browse through TIkTok.
There were many private messages waiting for her, all requesting her to help with designing fashion pieces. She had previously helped one of her fans to design a dress for free. The fan liked her design very much and in return, help her with publicity. On top of that, she now had tens of thousands of followers on TikTok.
Even though she had a long way to go compared too the most popular accounts with millions of followers, she was still very happy about her achievements. Her decision to pick up design again allowed her to feel productive.
Meanwhile, Michael started giving her the silent treatment. He barely spoke to her the following day at work. Aside from giving her any necessaryinstructions, he said nothing to her at all. This situation persisted for the next few days until a phone call came from Mrs. Lucas. She asked them to return to the mansion and join her for dinner. Wendy had to agree to her request. She then went to look for Michael in his office.
When she got there, Michael’s head was bowed, and he was in the middle of reading through his documents seriously. Wendy hesitated for some time, remaining quiet
"Just tell me if you have something to say," said Michael without looking up.
Wendy’s fingers were interlaced. Feeling uneasy, she said, "Grandmother wants us to go to the mansion tonight."
"I got it" replied Michael without looking up still.
Wendy murmured in acknowledgement and turned around to walk away. After taking two steps forward, she halted. Turning her head, she took a deep breath and said, "Michael, there is really nothing indecent going on between me and Christian." She had explained this to him before, but he never believed her.
However, the past few days of his silent treatment had left her feeling on edge. She could not resist trying again. As for whether Michael wanted to trust her this time, there was nothing she could do about it. With that, she left the office.
As Michael watched her walk away, the sullen expression on his face finally started to give way to a happier one.
