Chapter 88: The Woman You Love
Without any other choice, Wendy could only step forward and position herself in front of Christian. Her action only convinced Michael’s suspicion that Christian was the true father of the child in her belly.
"Michael, I’m telling you again, this child has nothing to do with Christian," Wendy enunciated each word carefully as she looked into Michael’s eyes. "In fact, this child has nothing to do with either of you. You’re blaming the wrong person."
"Do you think I’m stupid?" Michael sneered, clearly in disbelief. He said, "Fine, then tell me, who is the father of this child if it’s not Christian?"
"I can’t tell you," said Wendy as she tried her best to calm herself down. "You’ll kill him the moment you find out about his identity. No matter what happens, there is no way I’ll ever tell you."
"Wendy Stewart, you’re just so willing to lie about any and everything for Christian’s sake, huh?" Michael was under the impression that Wendy was only trying to protect Christian.
She shook her head, and continued lying, "Christian is really not the father of my baby."
"Get out of my way!" Michael barked sternly.
"I already told you, he’s not the father! Michael Lucas, can’t you comprehend basic English?"
Wendy could not help but feel that Michael was acting like a complete lunatic at that moment. He was like a lunatic who had no regard for the consequences of his actions.
"I asked you to get out of my way, can’t YOU comprehend basic English?" Michael retorted.
Christian picked himself up from the ground. He wiped the blood from the corners of his lips.
Taking Wendy’s hand, his bloody lips curled into a smile. His tone was gentle when he spoke, "Wendy, I don’t need a woman to protect me."
His words were simply adding fuel to the fire.
"Hit him!" Michael instructed his bodyguards furiously.
The bodyguards stepped forward.
Wendy stood her ground firmly as she remained standing in front of Christian. She said, "You’ll have to kill me first to get to him."
"Are you performing some kind of romantic drama in front of me?" Michael was so angry that he felt like he was about to go insane. He started laughing, crazed, like a lunatic. He thought about how Wendy had never once protected him like that. Instead, she always protected Christian in front of him time and time again.
"Michael, can you calm down?" Wendy tried to speak calmly, "Christian is really not the father of my baby." The truth was that Christian was not the person that Wendy was trying to protect here-instead, it was Michael. She knew that Michael would likely end up killing Christian today, and no matter how powerful her husband was in this city, the law dictated that he would be sentenced to death for murder.
Moreover, it was true that Christian was not the biological father of her baby. Even if Christian was behind everything, she could not allow Michael to kill him. Moreover, even Wendy herself could not be certain of whether Christian was the real mastermind of the mix-up at the hospital yet.
"Wendy Stewart, let me ask you one thing," said Michael, who was feeling increasingly heartbroken and disappointed as he watched her protect Christian. "Are you determined to protect him no matter what today?"
Wendy looked into Michael’s eyes. She knew that he had misunderstood their relationship, but there was nothing she could do now. She could not afford for Christian to be killed. She nodded, "Yes."
"Wonderful, how very wonderful!" Michael started cracking his knuckles one by one. He gazed at the determined look in Wendy’s eyes, and in the next second, wrapped his fingers around her neck. His eyes were bloodshot as he roared, "Do you believe that I’ll hit you too?"
"I do," without a doubt, Wendy managed to choke out with great difficulty. However, she had no other choice. She could only take this gamble and pray that Michael would not live up to his threats. If she was right about this, then this matter would blow over, or at least for today. But if she turned out to be wrong...
Michael’s grip around Wendy’s neck made it difficult for her to breathe. Despite the struggle, she continued staring at Michael stubbornly. She knew that he was too blinded by his anger at this moment, but so was she. After all, they had been married for three years and he still had no faith in her. He chose to suspect her of cheating just because of the time stamp on the medical reports.
Wendy was disappointed that he never even suggested going to another hospital to check. He was bent on accusing her of being unfaithful. Her present decision to protect Christian now only confirmed Michael’s suspicions.
However, those things did not matter to her anymore. On the contrary, she believed that the only way out of this marriage was for her to convince Michael that he was not the father of her child. This was the only instance in which he would willingly let her go. Wendy found love to be too exhausting. Her heart was already numb after all these years. Regardless of whether Michael was doing this now out of his love for her or because of his rivalry with Christian, nothing mattered anymore. She had lost all hope the moment Michael decided not to trust her.
Her eyes were wide open as she watched Michael raise his hand before her. Then, she shut her eyes, and waited for that slap to land on her face. She knew that this was a move that would end everything between them.
However, that pain never came. When she opened her eyes again, she saw Christian gripping Michael’s hand.
There was still blood on Christian’s lips, but he turned around to face Wendy and said, "Wendy, I told you, I don’t need a woman to protect me."
Then, he looked at Michael again and continued, "Michael, it’s wrong to hit women."
Michael was already in a terrible rage in the first place. Christian’s antics only made him feel even worse. "Drag Christian away from her right now!"
Michael barked sternly at the bodyguards.
They quickly did as they were instructed and Christian was restrained.
"You’re trying to protect each other, huh?"
Michael started laughing manically. He glanced at Christian, then at Wendy, and said, "Christian, you love her, don’t you?" Clearly, he was referring to Wendy.
"Today, I’ll let you experience how it feels to not be able to protect the woman that you love!"
With that, Michael raised his hand again. He had raised it to such a height that the force of the slap would be immense. Wendy knew without a doubt that it was a blow that would cause her to fall to the ground. She swallowed dryly, knowing that she could not defend herself. However, she was willing to suffer through this if it meant that Michael would agree to let her go.
She waited and waited, but once again, the pain never came. When she looked into his eyes, she saw many complicated emotions surfacing. Anger, frustration, and... a trace of unwillingness.
Even at this stage, Michael still could not bear to hit her. Instead, he turned around with his fist clenched and punched Christian’s body. He had to admit that he could not bring himself to harm Wendy.
This time, Wendy did not say a word. She knew that Michael needed to take his anger out somewhere. Her only goal today was to make sure that her husband did not end up beating his brother to death. On top of this, she also knew how likely it was that Christian was the mastermind behind what happened with the doctor, and she believed that he deserved this punch.
Restrained by the bodyguards, Christian was unable to defend himself. Wendy allowed Michael to punch him a few more times before she spoke up, "Michael, stop hitting him. If you continue, he’s going to end up dead."
No matter what Wendy said at this moment, Michael would think that she was trying to defend Christian. However, there was nothing he could do to her because he could not bring himself to hurt her. In fact, he even hated himself right now. Clenching his fists tightly, he turned around, grabbed Wendy’s hand, and dragged her out.
Christian wiped the blood off his lips as he watched them walk away. Smiling, he muttered, "Thank you for saving me today, Wendy."
Christian’s words added fuel to the fire. Michael had been planning to walk away, but when he heard his half-brother, he immediately turned around, intent on killing him right there and then.
At that moment, Wendy grabbed Michael’s hand forcefully. Lowering her volume, she whispered, "Will you only let this go when he is dead?"
"Wendy Stewart, didn’t you hear what he just said? He was deliberately provoking me!"
Michael’s tone was cold and full of anger.
"So, you do know that he is doing this on
purpose" said Wendy. She always thought that Michael was intelligent, but his bad temper put him at a disadvantage when confronted by Christian. The latter only had to say a few provocative words for Michael to fly into a rage.
With her voice still hushed, Wendy threatened Michael, "Don’t go back there if you don’t want to see me defend Christian again."
Michael unwillingly unfurled his fingers, which were previously clenched into a fist. Standing before Wendy, he suddenly felt very powerless.
From his perspective, she was the one who had cheated on him and become pregnant with Someone else’s child. She was in the wrong, but no matter how much he wanted to, he could not bring himself to hurt her. In the end, Michael chose not to respond to Christian.
Meanwhile, Christian’s smile only grew deeper as he watched them walk away until they were out of sight Wendy cooperated with Michael the entire way home. Instead of resisting, she willingly entered the passenger seat. Nobody said a word during the ride back, and the space between them was dominated by silence.
When they got home, Michael found himself replaying the scene of Wendy protecting Christian in his mind again and again.
He approached her and focused his eyes on her.
He was no longer as agitated as just now, but he still looked extremely disappointed. He stared at Wendy like that for a long time, not knowing what kind of attitude he should adopt when confronting her. He thought, I can’t bring myself to hit her, but it’s also difficult to suppress this anger. After taking a deep breath, he turned around and walked away. He needed to find a place where he could sit down calmly to think about everything.
When Wendy saw Michael leave, she yelled, "Michael, where are you going?" This question did not stem from genuine concern. She was just afraid that he would end up doing something that would have lifelong consequences in his current state of mind.
Michael did not answer Wendy’s question.
Instead, he said, "Don’t even think about running away with another man. You will never get away."
There was nobody that Wendy wanted to do that with. However, she did not want to try and explain herself again. If Michael had already made up his mind not to believe her, there was nothing she could do to change his mind.
Michael ended up in a bar. Right now, all he wanted was to drink. Even though he was a dignified man and the president of MC Enterprise, his wife had still cheated on him. At this moment, he felt he needed to use alcohol to numb his senses. He raised the glass to his lips and started chugging his beer.
"Michael, why are you here?" Yvonne immediately approached him when she caught sight of him.
Michael looked up to see Yvonne staring at him with a look of concern. He chuckled softly but did not say a word.
"My goodness, Michael, how much did you drink? Are you drunk?" Yvonne immediately put her arm around him when she saw the many empty glasses beside him.
"Why are you here?" said Michael. He was indeed intoxicated after having drunk so much.
When he looked up at Yvonne, there was a fleeting moment in which he wished that it was Wendy instead. He could not help but laugh bitterly before smashing his glass on the table.
He thought, why would wendy be here for me? She’s only interested in running off with Christian now.
Yvonne was so shocked by Michael’s aggressiveness that she cried out. She quickly explained herself, "I was passing by when I saw your car parked by the road, so I came in to take a look. I did not expect to really see you here."
Of course, this was just a lie...
