Chapter 91: This Child Belongs To You!
When Michael saw that Wendy could not get away now, he looked down at Mrs. Lucas and expressed his concern for her. He asked, "Grandmother, are you okay?"
Grandmother nodded. Gazing at Wendy, she said, "I’m fine, but what’s going on between the both of you?" She had already figured out a vague idea of what was happening.
"Grandmother, please help me," said Wendy pleadingly as she looked at Mrs. Lucas, clinging on desperately to her last lifeline. She wanted to struggle and break free of the bodyguards, but no matter what she did, the struggle was futile.
Mrs. Lucas continued looking at Michael as though she was waiting for his reply.
Not wanting his grandmother to worry about them, Michael said, "Grandmother, you should just wash your hands of this."
"What could you possibly mean by asking me to do that?!" Mrs. Lucas thumped her walking stick against the ground as she said furiously, "The reason why I came here today is to find out for myself what exactly is going on!"
Since Mrs. Lucas had made her desire to interfere quite clear, Michael could only tell her the truth. He said, "She cannot keep the baby that she’s carrying."
"Have you discovered that this child does not belong to you?" said Mrs. Lucas. She had been unwilling to believe this as she still trusted Wendy’s character. However, Wendy had personally confessed to cheating on Michael, and Michael had also explicitly stated his attitude about this baby. Feeling disappointed, Mrs. Lucas shut her eyes.
Michael did not answer his grandmother, but the conclusion was clear.
"Grandmother, can you please help me?" Wendy decided to try pleading with Mrs. Lucas one last time. "Please help me talk to Michael. I’m willing to get divorced and I promise that I won’t destroy the reputation of the Lucas family. It does not matter what you all want to tell other people about me; you can tell them that I’m dead, or that I’m a promiscuous sl*t who is unworthy of Michael. Really, you can say whatever you want. I promise that I will never appear in front of any one of you again. Grandmother, I’m begging you, I’m sincerely begging you, please help me. I want to keep this child. This child means everything to me."
Wendy had devoted everything to protect her child for the past five months. How could she continue to live without the child?
"Michael, what do you plan to do?" Mrs. Lucas asked Michael.
"The child must go," said Michael.
Mrs. Lucas continued asking, "And then what? Will you get divorced?"
Michael bowed his head slightly and remained silent instead of answering Mrs. Lucas.
Mrs. Lucas gave a long sigh. When she spoke, she sounded tired, "If you plan on getting divorced, you should just let Wendy keep the child. She has already promised to disappear and not interfere in our lives in any way. As for us, we can just act as if she has never existed in our lives. What’s the point of getting blood on our hands? But if you do not wish to get divorced and want to continue living with Wendy, then of course, she can’t keep this child. If she does, this child will become a stain on our family lineage."
Mrs. Lucas had made her stance very clear Since the Lucas family was the most influential family in all of Lake City, there was no way that they could tolerate Wendy’s cheating or accept her illegitimate child at the same time. She believed that if this situation had happened in another ordinary family, they would have done the same. However, this also meant that if Wendy remained in the family, she would no longer receive the favor of Mrs. Lucas. After all, Wendy’s actions had let Mrs. Lucas down beyond recovery.
"Grandmother, you should go home and get some rest. I’ll deal with this," said Michael, still ignoring Mrs. Lucas’s question. However, his lack of answers made it even clearer.
In response, Mrs. Lucas could only smile bitterly, helplessly.
In the past, Mrs. Lucas had always wished that Michael would pay more attention to Wendy.
Now that he was finally starting to care more about her, this is had happened. She could not help but think that this was destiny making a fool out of them all. With her head bowed, Mrs. Lucas shut her eyes as if she could not bring herself to do this. Eventually, she waved her hand, indicating her permission for Michael to do whatever he wanted.
When Wendy saw Mrs. Lucas’s response, her heart immediately sank. With Mrs. Lucas’s approval, Michael released his grip on his grandmother and instructed his bodyguards to lead Wendy away.
As Wendy was forcefully dragged away, she looked back desperately. Heartbroken, she screamed, "Grandmother, you can’t let him do what he wants. You will regret this, you really will..."
Mrs. Lucas felt a wave of emotions when she heard Wendy’s voice. She was upset, disappointed, and guilty, all at the same time.
Soon, Wendy arrived at the hospital.
"Michael, you can’t send me to the operating room, you can’t!" pleaded Wendy. Since Michael had a strong grip around her wrist, there was no chance of her running away from him. She felt terrified as they got closer and closer to the operating room.
"This child should never have existed in the first place," said Michael as he dragged her into the room. The moment they entered, the surgeon and nurses waiting by the side immediately rushed over to help Michael.
Wendy continued struggling like her life depended on it. Her mind was filled with feelings of despair and anger. After she was forced to lie down on the bed, she shouted, "Michael, this child belongs to you! You cannot murder your own child like that!"
When Michael heard those words, his heart skipped a beat. But it was difficult for him to believe that he was the father of this child when he had seen Wendy almost willing to sacrifice her life just to protect Christian last night.
Similarly, Christian had also tried his best to protect her. He believed that Wendy was only making this claim now in a desperate attempt to keep her child.
Wendy watched as Michael turned around and left the operating room, clearly unconvinced.
She decided to give it another try and shouted, "If you don’t believe me, I can undergo another examination. Since the fetus is already five months old, we can also do a DNA test."
Finally, Michael’s footsteps halted.
The truth was that Wendy had not wanted to have to tell him this. She had wanted to make use of this opportunity to finalize their divorce and leave Michael forever. Everything that she was doing was so that she could protect her child. If she lost her child, she would have nothing left. But if the only way she could save her child was to tell Michael the truth and be trapped by his side forever, she would resign to her fate.
"Michael, it’s fine if you don’t trust me, but you have to believe in science. A DNA test can be performed really quickly, and since we’re at the hospital, I can do it right now," said Wendy, who was trying her best to explain herself. "I swear that the doctor forged the time stamp on my medical report yesterday. It’s obvious that there’s someone behind the scenes orchestrating this entire incident. You have to believe me, Michael, you really are the father of my child."
Wendy had been trying to convince Michael that the child did not belong to him the entire time.
Now, however, she was trying the opposite strategy. The irony of the situation was not lost on her.
Just when Michael was about to turn back, Christian’s voice rang out, "Michael, you can’t treat Wendy like that. The baby is innocent!"
His voice successfully disrupted Michael’s hesitation again.
Christian had known about this abortion procedure a long time ago. The only reason he had stayed hidden until now was that he knew that there was too much risk associated with allowing Wendy to keep this child.
If the child was not aborted, Michael was bound to realize that he was the father sooner or later.
Christian wanted to make sure that Michael personally saw to the abortion so that he would regret his actions for the rest of his life when he found out the truth. Similarly, Wendy would also hate him forever.
When Michael saw Christian, he stopped wavering. He now became clear that Wendy had only said Michael was the father so that she could keep the baby. He figured that Christian’s timely appearance was also to save the child from being aborted.
"Christian," said Michael through gritted teeth, "I want you to personally witness the demise of your child today."
"Michael, this grudge is between the both of us, it’s too much, and it’s not a good enough reason to do this to an innocent child," said Christian, who was deliberately adding fuel to the fire.
"No matter who this child belongs to, it’s still an innocent human life. If you force Wendy to undergo this abortion today, she will surely hate you for the rest of her life."
"Christian, tell him right now that the child has nothing to do with you," Wendy anxiously shouted at Christian. "Clarify it with him immediately. There is nothing going on between us in the first place, there never has been, and there is no way that this child can be yours."
Wendy knew that the reason that Michael hated this child so much was because of Christian.
She believed that he would not have been as enraged if he believed the father of her child to be another man. After all, Christian had been Michael’s rival since he was a child. There was no way that they would ever get along.
Christian seemed cooperative. He immediately nodded and said, "Wendy is right, the child has nothing to do with me. I never did anything inappropriate with her, either."
"You never did anything inappropriate with her?" Michael sneered, evidently unconvinced. He asked, "Why are you here then?"
"I’m only here because I don’t want to see you do this to an innocent fetus," said Christian, acting like he was doing all this purely out of goodwill.
"Whatever feud we have should be settled privately between us. It’s not fair to drag Wendy and her child into this."
"Michael, you really are the father of the child," said Wendy. She had already told him this several times, but to no avail. Now that the two brothers were fighting relentlessly, she could only repeat herself again, "If you don’t believe me, how about we just do a DNA test?"
Suddenly, Mr. York approached Michael. He whispered into his ear, "Mr. Lucas, it appears that Christian has secretly summoned his own back-up."
Michael laughed out loud. He felt like a fool. He had almost agreed to Wendy’s request for a DNA test earlier. Glaring at Christian, he said slowly, "Christian, don’t think that you can take Wendy away from me just because you came with back-up. Let me assure you, this b*stard child will not live past today."
Then, he coldly instructed his bodyguards, "Restrain Christian and all the men he brought with him. Call for reinforcements and surround this entire hospital if necessary! Until Wendy Stewart’s surgery is completed, no one is allowed to enter or leave!"
Wendy watched as Christian was restrained. With eyes swollen from crying, she hopped off the bed and kneeled before Michael. Her knees hit the ground with a thump. She said, "I’m begging you, let my child live. This child means everything to me, and without my baby, I can’t go on living."
This was the first time that Wendy had kneeled before Michael. In fact, it was the first time she had kneeled before anyone. Before she met Michael, she had always been proud and confident, and never bowed her head to anyone.
After meeting Michael and falling in love with him, she became a completely different person.
Despite that, there were still traces of the confidence that once coursed through her veins.
She never expected that one day she would have to get down on her knees before the man that she loved, in order to protect their baby. But she had no other choice.
