Chapter 654: Too Fast and Too Sudden
"Thirty-three thousand dollars," the shopping assistant repeated patiently.
"Um...," Wendy said, slightly embarrassed, "I don’t think I want this dress that much..."
Before Wendy finished talking, Christian quickly chimed in, "Wrap it up. Can you recommend anything else that fits her?"
Wendy whispered to Christian after seeing how generous he was, "Thirty-three thousand is way too much for a dress. I kind of don’t want it anymore..."
Christian smiled brightly as Wendy sounded like a wife who was trying to persuade her husband to stop spending too much.
Christian looked at Wendy affectionately and said, "Not expensive at all. As long as you like the dress, I’m happy to pay however much it costs."
Zen walked out of the changing room, and she gripped the edge of her shorts tightly after seeing the way Christian was looking at Wendy.
All of a sudden, she longed for Christian to look at her the same way that he was looking at Wendy at the moment.
Zen freaked herself out when that thought hit her mind.
’What the heck happened to me?’ she thought. ’How could I have this kind of thoughts about my best friend’s husband?’ This was way too dangerous for her.
Zen tried to suppress her emotions and forced herself to look the other way.
In the meantime, the shopping assistant had already picked a couple of other clothes and handed them to Wendy, politely asking her whether she liked them or not.
Wendy took the clothes and tried them out.
Wendy had a great body, so all the clothes looked great on her, which was why Christian offered to buy all the clothes that she had tried on.
Originally, Christian wanted to buy her some shoes and bags as well, but Wendy got tired of shopping and was hungry.
She rubbed her belly and said to Christian, "Do you want to go grab something to eat?"
"Of course. I’ve already booked a restaurant. We can head there now," Christian said.
"Perfect," Wendy replied with a smile.
The restaurant wasn’t far from the clothing store, and it would only take them a few minutes to get there.
Wendy kept looking around while she was walking on the street.
Suddenly, a few images emerged in her mind.
She closed her eyes, trying to piece those images together, but they suddenly looked so distant.
Seeing her looking confused, Christian asked, "Did you remember something, Wendy?"
Christian brought her here on purpose.
It was on this street where he shielded Wendy from a bullet.
If she could recall anything that happened that day, she would remember that particular incident.
Wendy’s mind was still in a mess, so Christian could fill her in with whatever narrative that he wanted her to believe.
All Christian wanted was for Wendy to remember how he protected her from the bullet.
"This street looks a bit familiar, but I just can’t remember anything else," Wendy said, shaking her head.
She was telling the truth as she was still suffering from severe memory loss.
"You were also heading to the clothing store back then, but Michael’s men found you. Fortunately, I got here on time and stopped him from taking you. However..."
Christian paused.
Wendy followed up as she got confused, "However what?"
"You know what, never mind. That’s in the past. What matters is that we’re together and both safe," Christian said, trying to lead her on.
"Just tell me what happened. I want to see if I can remember anything else," Wendy urged while observing Christian’s expressions.
...
"Do you remember the scars that you saw on my body yesterday?" Christian continued, sighing, pretending that he was forced to confess.
Christian did such a great job at acting. It was as if he was a real actor.
Wendy nodded without saying anything.
"That scar was from a gunshot. I got shot because I was trying to protect you."
Christian smiled at Wendy affectionately, blinking his eyes. "For what it’s worth, that’s all in the past, and there’s no point dwelling on it. Let’s go have lunch."
Christian had already achieved his goal, so he changed the topic on purpose.
Wendy recalled the scars that she saw on Christian’s body.
She was experiencing deja vu as she looked around the street.
Suddenly, she recalled something that happened.
There were a group of men in black who aimed their guns at her. When she thought that she was about to get killed, a man jumped in front of her and took a bullet for her.
She could even hear the sound of the bullet penetrating that man’s body.
Unfortunately, she had a headache for merely recollecting what happened as she pressed her head with her hand, breathing erratically.
As she gently massaged her temples, the images became clearer.
Christian walked toward her after seeing that she was uneasy and said, "Please stop trying to remember it. It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have brought it up to you."
Zen wanted to console Wendy as well, but before she could get near Wendy, she already saw Christian patting Wendy on her shoulders.
She froze as she felt more upset.
She felt a wave of anger building up in her body as she saw how loving and caring Christian was while he was talking to Wendy. She pursed her lips, wanting to get rid of those feelings, but she realized that she was physically unable to do so.
After a short while, Wendy looked up at Christian, gazing at his face, and said, "Now I remember it..."
Looking at her earnestly, Christian asked, "What did you remember?"
It would be great for Christian if Wendy was able to recall that it was him who saved her life.
"I remember that there were men in black who tried to kill me, then you saved my life for taking that bullet for me. Was that what happened?" Wendy asked.
Christian nodded and couldn’t hide the joy in his eyes.
It seemed that it was clever of him to take Wendy here.
Wendy looked down on the road, pursing her lips. She looked at Christian’s chest and asked apologetically, "Are you still hurting?"
"Of course not. They’re all scars now," Christian answered.
"Sorry. It was all my fault. You wouldn’t have had to go through that if it weren’t for me," Wendy said.
"How was that your fault? If there is anyone to blame, it must be Michael," Christian followed. "Now you can understand why I don’t want you to go out alone."
"Of course. Thanks, Christian."
"Can you remember anything else?" Christian pressed on, looking at Wendy’s eyes.
Wendy shook her head. "That was all I could remember. Would you mind taking me to the places that I used to hang around and telling me more about those stories?
That might jog my memories."
"Sure. We have all the time that we need," Christian said as he reached out towards Wendy’s hands.
She recoiled subconsciously after touching his hands, but on the next second, she held Christian’s hand herself.
...
Christian’s mood lit up after seeing Wendy hold his hands.
He believed all the more that he had made the right decision.
This was the first time that Wendy initiated contact with him.
Although it was just a small gesture, he still couldn’t help but be thrilled about it.
Zen looked more solemn as she watched them hold each other’s hands.
She took a deep breath and thought, ’What the hell is happening to me? Why am I so upset and jealous of them getting close to each other?’ Zen furrowed her brows. ’Wait. Jealous?’ Zen got worried after that word popped into her head.
’Why am I jealous of Wendy and Christian?’ she wondered.
The emotional turmoil she went through after seeing Christian doting on Wendy did seem to stem from jealousy.
’Is it because I have feelings for Christian?’ She shook her head after reaching that conclusion.
Christian was Wendy’s husband, her best friend’s husband. There was no way she would be into Christian.
"Let’s go have lunch together," Wendy held Zen’s hand and said.
Zen smiled and nodded.
No matter what feelings she had at the moment, she still had to pretend that nothing was happening with her.
Soon, they arrived at the restaurant.
Wendy initially wanted to sit with Zen, but she glanced at Christian and said, "I’ll sit with Christian."
Zen was dazed after hearing that, but she forced a smile instead. "Of course. You’re a couple."
Christian was a bit dumbfounded when he heard that, but after he realized what Wendy meant, he beamed.
He stood up, letting Wendy sit on the inner side of the booth.
Their orders were quickly served as Christian had already ordered when he made the booking.
Christian handed Wendy the menu. "Have a look and let me know if you want more.
You might not like some of the dishes I ordered."
Wendy glanced at the dishes on the table, shook her head, and replied, "I love all of them. You didn’t just randomly order them, did you?"
Christian laughed after seeing the smile on Wendy’s face.
Indeed, he didn’t just randomly choose the dishes. He ordered the food that Wendy liked the most.
Wendy then gave the menu to Zen and said, "Christian might not know what your favorites are. Do you want to order something else?"
"Nope. These are more than enough," Zen said, refusing to take the menu.
She had already regretted going out with them.
’I should have stayed home,’ she thought.
Christian grabbed the chopsticks but seemed too timid to pick some food for Wendy.
As he was hesitating, he saw Wendy putting a piece of pork rib on his plate.
Christian looked at Wendy, who was looking at him affectionately. She said, "Try it and let me know if it’s good or not."
"Sure." Christian nodded. He looked like a kid who just received a gift from his parents.
This was the first time that Wendy had ever picked food for him.
Wendy put some other food on his plate after he finished the pork rib.
As he was trying to do the same for Wendy, she refused, "I’ll be the one serving you food today."
Christian was confused by what Wendy said. She then quickly explained, "I bet that you were always taking care of me before. Let me take care of you today."
Christian nodded without hesitation.
Happiness came too fast and too sudden.
It seemed that Wendy was already convinced that he was her husband after remembering how he took a bullet for her.
