Chapter 62: Clever Woman
Michael turned around, walked over to his desk, and pulled out a document from his drawer. He tossed it at Anthony.
Anthony’s expression changed drastically as he scanned through the contents of the document. He stared incredulously at Michael, "You... You’ve been gathering evidence against me behind my back."
The document was filled with details about how Anthony had misappropriated the company’s public funds over the years as well as evidence of unfair competition.
"Everything here is enough to make you spend the rest of your life in prison," said Michael coldly.
"Are you going to turn me in?" Anthony had received one shock after another today.
Winnie entered the office at that exact moment. When she heard their conversation, overcome with curiosity, she snatched the document from Anthony’s hands. After reading through it, she felt just as shocked. She knew that Michael had never liked Anthony, even though he was his father.
However, nobody would have expected that Michael would go so far and do all this behind his back. He was right in saying that this was only the beginning of Anthony Lucas’s downfall.
"Winnie Quinn, look at what you’ve taught your son!" Since there was nothing Anthony could do about Michael, he could only take his anger out on Winnie. He said, "What sin did I commit in my previous life to end up with a son like you?"
"You have a son like me not because of the sin you committed in your past life, but because of what you did in this life," said Michael. His eyes filled with resentment as he recalled the past, "We argued often after I found out about the existence of my half-brother at the age of ten. You bought Lily and Christian an apartment and a car and spent most of your time with them. At the start, you bothered to be secretive about your affair. But afterward, you started bringing them home. If Grandmother had not stopped you from acting that way, I think that my mother and I would be living under Lily’s control right now. Naturally, I also wouldn’t have been your first candidate to become the president of MC Enterprise. I distinctly remember how you chose to attend my school’s sports meets as Christian’s father instead of mine. Do you know how I felt back then? That was when I made up my mind that I would find a way to make you regret your actions."
"You..." Anthony’s eyes were bloodshot, and his hands trembled as he spoke, "Have you hated me since then? But back then.."
"Are you wondering why you didn’t realize it back then?" Michael sneered. "You watched as I grew increasingly obedient and scored better results in my studies, but you never thought about why there was a change in my behavior or why I worked so hard to achieve good grades. It was all for today!"
Anthony swallowed dryly, unable to control the expression on his face. Indeed, he had failed Michael and his mother. However, he had built MC Enterprise from scratch, and no matter how much he had let Michael down, he was still his father.
"Michael, no matter how much you hate me, you cannot send me to prison," Anthony was speaking in a much lower voice as he now realized that the person standing before him was not the same Michael that he had always known.
Observing Michael’s silence, Anthony turned around and took Winnie’s hand. In a humble tone, he said, "Winnie, please speak up for me. After all, we have been husband and wife for so many years. Do you really wish to see me spend the rest of my life in prison?"
Winnie slapped Anthony’s hand away as though she could not be bothered to intervene.
"You are both ruthless!" Realizing that none of his tactics were working, Anthony has begun to scold them viciously. He said, "If you really. send me to prison, everyone will know how disloyal and unloving you are. Who would dare to work with you in the future when you have no qualms about sabotaging your father?"
Michael did not take Anthony’s words to heart a all. Instead, he took out a contract and handed it to Anthony. He said indifferently, "Make your Own decision."
Anthony took the contract from his son. He almost stopped breathing when he saw that it was for him to transfer his shares o Michael.
"You are just as bold and self-righteous as I thought, willing to expose even your own relatives, your own blood" Christian’s voice came from outside the door, followed by his applause.
Such an exciting show was going on right now. Naturally, he would not have missed it.
"You have three more months. If you don’t show me any results, you’re next," said Michael.
"Michael, you’ve disappointed me," Christian smiled breezily as though he did not care about any of this. "I already bid farewell to my sister in-law yesterday, but you ended up not firing me." Those words were deliberately provocative. However, he did not expect Michael to already know about this. If Wendy had not come clean about her phone call with Christian in the morning when they were on this topic, it was likely that Michael would have misunderstood them again.
"Do you think that your decision to stay here and sow discord between us will be useful?" asked Michael. "it’s only a matter of time before you have to leave MC Enterprise, too."
Christian was surprised that Michael was not angered by his revelation of having contacted Wendy in private. He cast his gaze on Wendy and saw her head bowed. The indifferent expression on her face told him that she had probably already told Michael about this incident beforehand.
"It’s becoming increasingly difficult to instigate conflict between the two of you," Christian smiled affably. "But it’s okay, what belongs to me will always come back to me at the end."
Turning his head, he smiled dazzlingly at Wendy, revealing his pearly whites. "Don’t you agree, Wendy?" he said.
Michael stepped forward, shielding Wendy from Christian’s gaze. He said, "There is nothing here that belongs to you."
"Is that so?" Christian’s tone became lighter. "Let’s just wait and see."
"Christian, won’t you help speak up for me at all?" Anthony felt slightly disappointed in his son after he failed to say anything on behalf of his father.
He thought, both of my sons agreed to take away my position in this company. What sin did I commit to deserve this retribution?
Christian turned to look at his father. He said, "Father, the situation has been set in stone, and there’s nothing I can do about it. It’s not like you don’t know what my brother is like-he almost fired me, too, so how can I possibly help you?"
Even though Christian was right, Anthony still felt disappointed.
"On account of our relationship as father and son, I’ll give you some time to think about it," said Christian as he gazed at the company shares ownership transfer document. "One month should be enough time, right?"
"Michael Lucas!" Anthony could not do anything but yell out his son’s name in anger.
"I have a lot of other things to deal with, so I won’t be able to send you off. Goodbye," Michael gestured at the door. It was obvious that he wanted them gone.
Christian was the first to obey. Before he left, he tilted his head to look at Wendy. Smiling, he waved at her, "Goodbye, Wendy."
Wendy was truly afraid of Christian now. The more he acted like this, the more furious Michael would be. Closing her eyes, Wendy cursed Christian.
Seeing that Michael had already made up his mind, Anthony snorted coldly and could only stomp off. After their departure, Winnie sighed and said, "Michael, if your father does not agree to transfer his shares to you, do you really plan to send him to prison?"
Michael was not surprised by Winnie’s question.
He knew that his mother still held some affection for his father. Otherwise, they would have gotten divorced a long time ago. This was precisely why Michael felt even worse. He thought, my father owes everything that he has to my mother who loves him deeply, yet he got involved in an affair with another woman and devoted his life to her instead. If my mother was cruel enough, my father would have lost everything a long time ago.
"I’m giving him one month to think about it. That will have to depend on his decision," said Michael. This was the last escape route he was leaving for Anthony Lucas.
Winnie sighed when she saw the blood on Michael’s face. Concerned, she said, "Let me clean your wounds before leaving." With that, she looked around for the first-aid kit. Wendy immediately retrieved it from the cabinet and handed it to her mother-in-law.
"I’ll take care of it myself. You should go back and get some rest," said Michael. "Pay more attention to my father’s schedule and actions this month. This is a good opportunity for you to fix your relationship with him."
Though Michael was very reluctant to say this, he knew that Winnie still loved Anthony. He could not force his parents to get divorced just for the sake of his own convenience. Of course, the reconciliation of his parents could only happen if Anthony truly realized his mistakes and was willing to turn over a new leaf.
"Michael, will you think badly of me if I do?" Winnie bowed her head slightly as she reached to wipe her tears. Relationships were certainly tricky, and it seemed that whoever was in love was bound to lose out.
Michael put his arm around Winnie’s shoulders and comforted her, "This is between you and my father. I can help you, but I cannot make this decision for you."
Winnie nodded and walked out of the office with red, puffy eyes. After her departure, Michael and Wendy were the only two in the room. Wendy pursed her lips as she examined the wound on Michael’s forehead. Worried, she said, "Should I help you take care of this, or do you want to go to the hospital?"
"You can take care of it," said Michael in a much lower voice. Wendy could tell that even though he had officially taken over MC Enterprise today, he was still not happy. After everything that transpired today, Michael felt that there had been no clear winner. After all, nobody in this world enjoyed holding a knife against their father’s throat.
Wendy disinfected Michael’s wound before applying some ointment. Sighing, Michael said, "Wendy, do you think that I did the right thing today?" After a moment of silence, he continued, "I’ve been waiting for this day for a very long time. I thought I would be elated, but I’m not."
Seeing how exhausted Michael looked, Wendy stood behind him and reached out to rub his temples. Even though she was a daughter-in law of the Lucas family, she was not close with them at all. As such, it was not appropriate for her to comment on their affairs. However, since Michael had asked her for her input, she decided to share her opinions.
She said, "You removed your father from his leadership role because it is indeed not suitable for him to stay on as the chairman of the board. There are also some fundamental issues with his moral character, and things would be very unfavorable for you and your mother if he were to remain chairman. No matter what, it was your father who let the both of you down first, so l agree with what you’ve done. You gave him a way out on account of your relationship with him. No matter what angle you approach this situation from, you’ve taken everything into consideration and fulfilled your various roles well. Don’t think about it anymore."
Since Michael had never really paid attention to Wendy, he never knew what kind of person she actually was. Mr. York had told him that Wendy was a very suitable candidate for the role of the president’s wife as she was intelligent and understanding.
At that time, Michael did not have any thoughts about that. But now, after hearing those words from her, he found himself perceiving her differently.
Reaching out to pull Wendy into his arms, a smile finally surfaced on his face, "You really are a very clever woman."
Wendy was overjoyed to have finally have received Michael’s acknowledgment and praise. She had never understood what Michael saw in a brainless woman like Yvonne. Smiling, she said, "It seems that you have finally regained your vision."
Even though she was complimenting Michael, it was not difficult to pick out the self-confidence in her words. This side of Wendy was beautiful and dazzling, which deeply attracted Michael to her.
