Chapter 73: Comfort
After leaving the restaurant, Wendy took a cab home. She did not really want to go back there, but she was dressed too ostentatiously in her evening gown to go elsewhere. There was no other option besides going back home to change first.
She took in the familiar surroundings of her apartment when she reached home. Bits and pieces of the memories that she had shared with Michael here involuntarily surfaced in her mind.
She saw him looking flustered in the kitchen, sleeping on the couch, walking out of the bathroom after a shower, and shamelessly insisting on sharing her bed...
Scene after scene replayed like a movie in her mind.
Wendy shut her eyes, wishing she could destroy these images. However, she discovered that the more she tried to forget, the clearer they became. She did not wish to stay here any longer. If she did, she would go insane.
After changing into casual clothes, she packed a few outfits in her suitcase and left the apartment.
However, she felt lost after leaving her neighborhood. It was best not to go over to Zen’s apartment so that she could avoid implicating her friend in this matter. Even though she had many friends in Lake City, she had lost contact with almost all of them after marrying Michael.
It was not appropriate for her to approach them at such a time. Finally, Wendy stopped at a hotel and checked into a room. She needed to reevaluate her relationship with Michael.
Dragging her fatigued body to the bathroom, she took a shower before lying down on the bed.
Since she had been so busy before this, it had been a long time since she felt her emotions so deeply. Now that everything was at a standstill, she once again fell into feelings of grief. Tears involuntarily streamed down her face as she stared at the ceiling.
She took a deep breath before wiping them away. She did not want to cry. After all, she had cried too many times over the course of this marriage. She had done everything that she could and sacrificed all that she had. Her conscience was clear, and she understood that she had suffered a complete defeat.
The sound of her phone ringing shattered the tranquility in the room. Wendy subconsciously answered it, "Hello."
"Wendy, are you okay? Where are you now?" Zen’s anxious voice came through the phone.
When Wendy heard her voice, she felt a moment of disappointment. She had kept her phone turned on until now so that she could see if Michael would take the initiative to call her first.
It did not matter whether the purpose of his phone call was to explain himself or comfort her, as long as there was a call in the first place.
Unfortunately, the first phone call that she received was not from Michael.
Wendy did not understand what else she was expecting. After all, she felt that she had suffered a total defeat in this marriage. So what, even if Michael really did call? There was no way that they could go back to being the way that they were before this. Logically, she understood this. However, she could not control her emotions.
"I’m okay," said Wendy. Not wanting Zen to worry about her, she tried her best to regulate her own emotions and continued calmly, "it’s getting late, I hope you’ve gotten off work and reached home by now. You should rest early."
Zen had always known about the state of her relationship with Michael. All these years, she
had always been worried about her friend.
"How can you possibly be okay?" Zen’s voice still sounded anxious. Feeling afraid that Wendy would do something stupid, she said, "Can you tell me where you are now? Wendy, I already heard about what happened tonight, so don’t try to hide it from me. Are you at home now? If not, where are you? If you don’t tell me, I’ll spend the whole night looking for you and I won’t stop until I find you."
What happened tonight was indeed a big blow for Wendy. As such, Zen felt concerned about leaving her alone. At long last, Wendy revealed her current whereabouts to Zen.
...
By the time Zen arrived, Wendy had already wiped the tears off her face so that she would appear normal. Unfortunately, Zen saw through her strong front instantly.
"Wendy, why didn’t you tell me that something so big happened? I can’t believe you chose to stay alone in a hotel instead of coming to me," said Zen as she pulled Wendy into her embrace and patted her back to comfort her. She sounded heartbroken as she continued, "I know that you feel terrible about this. You don’t have to pretend to be strong in front of me. Just say whatever you want to say, and cry as much as you want to, okay?"
Without Zen’s presence, Wendy could have continued putting up a strong front and convincing herself that this was nothing when. she had spent the past few years in a similar manner. However, those words from Zen made Wendy lose all composure. After all, she was also a woman who had wholeheartedly loved Michael for three years.
"Yes, just let it all out," said Zen as she continued patting Wendy’s back. She could feel her friend’s body start to tremble. Suddenly, Wendy started crying hysterically. When Zen heard this, she felt heartbroken. She could not help but sigh quietly.
She simply allowed Wendy to cry as much as she wanted without disturbing her.
After a long time, Wendy’s tears finally ran out. She felt tired from crying. Her eyes were red and swollen as she released Zen. When she noticed how Zen’s top was damp from her tears, she apologized to her, "I’m sorry for making your shirt wet."
Zen grabbed a kleenex and handed it to Wendy so that she could wipe her face. She said, "Don’t worry about it. Are you feeling better now?"
Wendy nodded her head. She really did feel slightly better after crying. Then, she said, "Oh, right! How did you find out about what happened today?"
Michael had kept tonight’s party a secret from Wendy. If she had known about it, she would have invited Zen. Zen was her only real friend now in the whole of Lake City.
"I saw it on the entertainment section of the news," Zen replied. The moment she said that, she covered her mouth.
She thought, Wendy probably does not even know about this. I think she will just feel worse after finding out.
When Wendy heard those words, she frowned, picked up her phone, and opened her news app.
"Wendy, I think it’s better that you don’t..." Zen tried to stop her, but she was too late.
Wendy’s chest filled with rage when she saw the headline on the screen. It said, "The President of MC Enterprise threw a party for his wife only to leave halfway through-who exactly is the real third party in this relationship?"
She clicked on the link and opened the article.
There were countless comments in the discussion forum. Most people felt that Michael’s decision to leave the scene suddenly without any explanation or justification proved that he did not care about Wendy at all. They said that he had merely left her behind to humiliate her. Some others even said that the reason why Michael wanted to humiliate her was because she forced Michael and his first girlfriend to break up. So many things happened tonight that Wendy went from being Mrs. Lucas, a role much envied by everyone, to a humiliated third party who was abandoned by Michael.
Everything had happened within a span of fewer than two hours.
When Michael first sent out the invitation cards to his party, everyone who was influential enough chose to attend. On top of that, he had also invited many reporters because he wanted to officially announce Wendy’s status and make her the happiest woman in all of Lake City. But now, Wendy had become the biggest joke in the city.
As she scrolled through the comments, she snorted, "They’re not wrong. I was the one who broke up Michael and Yvonne, and I was the one who was stupid enough to fall for Michael. The situation that I am in today is entire of my own doing."
"Wendy, don’t say that," Zen comforted her, "Other people don’t know about what’s really going on between you and Michael, but I do. You didn’t do anything wrong to Michael and Yvonne. On the contrary, they’re the ones who have let you down."
Wendy’s eyes were blank. A bitter smile surfaced as she stared ahead numbly. She said, "But if he cared about me at all, even if just a little, he would have done something to keep this incident out of the news."
Not only did he fail to do that, but it’s also become such a hot topic so quickly. This article was the last straw for Wendy. She grew certain that she did not have any real place in Michael’s heart. If she did, how could he possibly bear to let her become the biggest joke in the city right now?
At this moment, her phone started ringing. It was Michael calling. Even though she had been waiting just before, his phone call had never come. Now, she no longer needed any form of comfort or explanation from him. She picked up her phone and turned it off. Soon after that, Zen’s phone rang. Just as they had expected, it was also from Michael.
Zen held the phone up before Wendy and asked her, "Should I answer it?"
Wendy lowered her gaze slightly. She said, "Just answer it, and if he asks about me, just tell him that you don’t know anything."
She had figured that if Zen did not answer the phone, Michael would call non-stop. But if Zen turned off her phone as well, it would be easy for him to deduce that they were together. Zen nodded. The moment the call went through, she put it on loudspeaker. She said, "Hello, Mr. Lucas..."
"Zen, is Wendy with you right now?"
Zen looked up at Wendy. She replied, "No, what’s wrong?"
"Are you sure?" Michael frowned. He said, "You are Wendy’s only friend in Lake City. If she’s not at home right now, and she’s not with you, where can she possibly be?"
"Did something happen, Mr. Lucas?" Zen asked, hoping to mislead him.
Realizing that he was not going to get anything from Zen, Michael decided not to reveal too much. He merely said, "If Wendy gets in touch with you, please let me know immediately." Zen quickly agreed.
After hanging up, Zen felt slightly uneasy. She glanced at Wendy and said tentatively, "Wendy, you heard Michael over the phone. He seemed rather..."
Before Zen could finish talking, Wendy interrupted her, "Let’s not talk about this."
"Alright, let’s not talk about it," said Zen as she patted the bed. "Let me stay here with you tonight." She was worried about leaving Wendy alone.
Wendy lay down in bed. Zen started to pat her back softly, hoping that she could fall asleep soon. "Let me sing a song for you," she said.
With that, Zen started humming a lullaby.
Wendy felt slightly amused as she watched Zen take care of her like a baby. However, she was deeply moved by that gesture.
She thought, Zen and I have only been friends for four years and she’s treating me so well. On the other hand, the man that I’ve loved wholeheartedly for three years has been so cruel to me.
...
Michael was back in the apartment. He stood in the empty living room where there was no sight of Wendy. He suddenly felt afraid that Wendy had made up her mind to leave him.
He thought, if even Zen does not know about Wendy’s whereabouts, it’s clear that I’ve broken her heart Completely.
He dialed Mr. York’s number and instructed, "Find out where Wendy Stewart is right now."
Mr. York’s efficiency was simply unrivaled.
Soon after, he texted the exact address to Michael.
With that, Michael successfully tracked Wendy down. At that time, Zen had just managed to coax Wendy into falling asleep. When she heard some movement at the door, she immediately got up and walked over.
"Wendy, it’s me. Open the door," said Michael.
His voice was not too loud, but it was enough for the people in the room to hear him.
