Chapter 608: Don’t You Recognize My Voice Anymore?
Michael looked at his daughter when he heard her ask the question, her voice tiny and confused.
Her big innocent eyes made her look exceptionally adorable.
He reached out and caressed her head tenderly. With a small smile, he tried his best to keep his emotions under control as he answered, "Mummy is throwing a tantrum.
Don’t worry, I will take care of her."
Michael did not want the two children to be affected by this new development.
Jake had probably already guessed that something was wrong, but Leah would be scared if she found out the woman she thought was her mother was an imposter.
She would be out of her mind with worry for her real mother.
After some thought, Michael told Zess, "Zess, please send the children to bed."
Lowering his head and speaking to Leah, he said, "Daddy has some matters to attend to. I need to go out for a bit, so you and Jake hurry off to bed, okay?"
"Daddy, are you going to bring Mummy home?" Leah asked, her eyes brimming with hope, "Daddy, you must bring Mummy home, okay?"
"Daddy will bring Mummy home." Michael promised Leah, but it was also a promise he made to himself.
He had to get to the bottom of things. He had to find his wife.
"Let’s go. I will bring you back to bed." Zess stepped forward and reached out to hold the children’s hands.
Jake glanced at Michael and his face scrunched up in a frown. He then took one look at Leah before quietly following Zess.
It wasn’t long before he appeared again. Once Leah had gone into her room, Jake immediately went outside.
Michael was not surprised to see Jake. He knew his son would not be fooled so easily.
If it were some other matter, Jake would usually pretend to be unaware and would not probe further. However, this had to do with Wendy, his mother, and he could not simply look the other way.
"What’s happening?" Jake asked with a frown.
Michael took a deep breath and said a little guiltily, "She’s an imposter. She is not Wendy."
He was guilty because he felt he had not done right by his two children.
How could he have lost his wife, their mother?
Taken aback, Jake exclaimed softly, "An imposter?"
Actually, the fact that this woman might not be his mother had crossed his mind.
She neither remembered Mark nor the present they had gotten for their Grandmother. Even the calluses on her hands were gone.
While he had his suspicions, the woman looked exactly like his mother, so he put the thought away.
As such, he was not very surprised when Michael had declared her an imposter.
"I will take care of this, don’t..." Michael was about to tell Jake not to worry, but before he could finish his sentence, his cellphone rang.
It was from Mr. York. They probably caught the person who was pretending to be Wendy.
Once the call was connected, he heard Mr. York say, "Mr. Lucas, we have Mrs. Lucas.
Should we send her back to you?"
"No. Send her to the training camp nearest to me," instructed Michael coldly.
"Send Mrs. Lucas to the training camp?" asked Mr. York, confused.
"Yes," Michael replied flatly, "I’ll make my way there now."
The training camps were where the guards who worked for Michael trained. They were all at quiet and out-of-the-way locations.
Other than serving as training grounds, that was also where they dealt with spies and traitors.
...
After he ended the call, Michael hobbled to his crutches and prepared to leave.
’I’m going too." Jake announced from behind Michael.
He was but a young boy, yet his tone was unnaturally firm.
"Trust me, I will deal with it." Michael did not want to bring Jake with him.
Jake might be exceptionally sharp and mature for his age, but after all, he was still just a little boy. It would be best if he did not get involved.
"I can ignore all other matters, but this concerns my mother. I must go." Jake declared earnestly, his little hands clenched into tight fists.
Michael sighed as he looked at his son’s stubborn figure. In the end, he didn’t forbid it and merely nodded his head.
Father and son left the house together.
The chauffeur drove them to the training camp where Mr. York was already waiting.
He had called the guards who were stationed near Michael’s home immediately after Michael’s call. That was how they managed to find "Wendy" so quickly.
He had thought Michael would have wanted the guards to send "Wendy" back to him after they found her, and he wouldn’t have to go personally.
Unexpectedly, Michael requested that "Wendy" be sent to the training camp instead.
It looked like things were not as simple as they seemed and Mr. York had quickly made his way to the training camp.
"Mr. Lucas, Mrs. Lucas is inside," reported Mr. York respectfully with a slight bow.
He caught sight of Jake alongside Michael and his eyes widened in surprise.
Even young Mr. Jake had come along. Something big must be going on.
Michael and Jake immediately entered the room.
"Wendy" was sitting primly on a chair in the middle of the room.
Mr. York did not know exactly what was going on and dared not act without instructions.
However, he was worried that "Wendy" would run away so he brought guards in the room to secure it.
Michael went straight to "Wendy," as he was in no mood to make small talk and simply asked directly, "Who are you? Where is Wendy?"
Mr. York was taken aback by Michael’s questions.
"I am Wendy, your wife." "Wendy" was still acting, "Look at me, don’t you recognize your wife?"
"You look exactly like Wendy, but you are definitely not Wendy." Michael growled menacingly, "I will give you one minute to come clean, and perhaps you can have a painless death. If you refuse to talk, I’ll show you a fate worse than death!"
"Michael, why won’t you believe me?" "Wendy" sobbed, "Your favorite colors are black and grey. You like tangerines but not oranges. You love corn, but will not eat anything that’s corn flavored. Also, you are allergic to kelp. You can take it in small amounts but will react to larger amounts."
"It’s not hard to find out the things you’ve mentioned," said Michael. "Someone with ulterior motives can get that information easily."
He glanced at the time when he finished talking and looked up at "Wendy" with a look that was colder than ice, "Your one minute is up. Mr. York, you take over from here."
"Yes, sir." Mr. York nodded and gave the bodyguard standing beside them a look.
A few guards then approached at the same time and started dragging "Wendy" towards a different room.
"Wait," Michael called out after Mr. York.
Although he was positive that this woman was not his wife, it was better to be safe than to be sorry. He instructed Mr. York, "Get a doctor to check if she’s pregnant."
If "Wendy" was not pregnant, it would be proof enough that this woman was an imposter. There would be no mistake.
Mr. York immediately left to carry out Michael’s instructions.
...
There were a number of doctors in the training camp. After all, quite a lot of people got injured while training. So it was easy to locate a doctor.
When "Wendy" saw the doctor dressed in a big white coat coming towards her, she staggered backwards fearfully.
However, her movements were limited by the guards holding her. They held her hand still while the doctor took a sample of her blood for a pregnancy test.
Soon the results were out. The doctor said to Michael, "Mr. Lucas, she is not pregnant."
The result was as Michael expected, and he was sure now that she was an imposter.
He would be able to act against her without holding back.
"Do whatever you have to to make her talk, just make sure she does not die," he instructed icily.
Mr. York nodded. Soon, screams were heard coming from her room.
A few minutes later, Mr. York exited the room and reported, "She has fainted."
"Fainted?" Michael’s brows tightened in a deep frown. Dissatisfaction and impatience in his voice, he ordered, "Wake her up. She can’t die yet."
He still had not found out where Wendy was.
The imposter was not allowed to die yet.
In the training camp, no one was allowed to die unless Michael willed it.
Mr. York soon woke "Wendy" up again.
She was just a weak woman and could not hold up under torture.
After she regained consciousness, she felt her entire body aching. Her lip was split where she had bit it and it was stained with blood.
It wasn’t long before Mr. York came out of the room again and said, "She talked."
At the news, Michael immediately hobbled into the room with his crutches.
In the dim light of the only bulb illuminating the room, "Wendy" was tied to a thick wooden pillar. The tips of her fingers were noticeably bloody and there were whip marks all over the rest of her body.
Her head was hung low. Blood from her various wounds dripped down her tattered clothing and onto the ground.
"Are you willing to talk now?" Michael looked dispassionately at the woman in front of him. There was no trace of the warmth and tenderness he had shown her the past couple of days.
"Kill me, anyway..." "Wendy" was breathing shallowly, her voice was weak and thready, "Anyway, I’ve already died once."
"I will not kill you. Before you tell me what I want to know, not only will I not kill you, you won’t be able to die even if you want to," Michael threatened. "If you do not wish to suffer more torture, I suggest you tell the truth."
"Michael, you realized I am not Wendy, but don’t you know who I am?" "Wendy" gathered all her strength and lifted her head to look at Michael. Her expression longing and defiant, she asked, "Do you recognize me?"
It seemed she really hoped Michael knew who she was.
"This voice..." Michael frowned in concentration and his eyes narrowed, "seems somewhat familiar."
"Wendy" was no longer imitating Wendy’s voice. She was already too weak to spare the effort.
The pain made it difficult for her to speak at all.
"Somewhat familiar?" "Wendy" laughed through the pain that was racking her entire body.
As she laughed, tears started falling. "Michael, don’t you recognize my voice anymore?"
Realization dawning on Michael, he asked incredulously, "Yvonne?"
"I guess you still remember me after all." Tears streamed down her cheeks and the smile on her lips seemed especially wretched.
"You’re still alive?" wondered Michael in shock. Then, he shook his head forcefully, "No, Yvonne is already dead."
He had put her in the car himself.
The mountain road was steep and the car had no brakes. How could she have survived?
