Free Web NovelChapter 222: You Believe Me Now, Right?
If Wendy did not know Winnie’s motive, which was to sow discord in her relationship with Michael, she would have believed fully in what Winnie said earlier. Winnie had put a lot of thought and effort into convincing her to get a divorce.
Wendy sighed and questioned Winnie, "In this case, why didn’t you get a divorce yourself, Mrs. Lucas? Since you are advocating that maintaining a marriage like this is meaningless, you should get a divorce with Mr. Lucas then."
"If we are divorced, that Lily would be able to officially be Mrs. Lucas. I have been watching over this family all these years, I will not give it up on a silver platter to that woman. As long as I remain Mrs. Lucas, she will forever be the mistress without an official status." Winnie’s eyes eluded malignance as she spoke.
Wendy nodded her head immediately. "Mrs. Lucas, you are right. That should be the case. Why give up your throne for another woman who doesn’t deserve it?"
Winnie did not expect Wendy to agree with what she said and she was dumbfounded.
"Wendy, you are different from me. You are still young. There are many opportunities out there for you."
"I am no different." Wendy replied. "After hearing your words, I feel like we are on the same boat. We have the same mentality to never give in and persist on in our marriages."
"You..." Winnie was lost for words and could not think of a counterargument.
Wendy was so determined not to have a divorce? But at the rate they were at, Winnie knew better than to not add onto the argument any further otherwise her motives would be too obvious.
Wendy glanced at her watch and said, "I need to pick up the kids from school. Mrs. Lucas, why not you wait for me at home and we can have dinner together tonight?"
"No, I’ll pass. I’ll be off." There was so much pent-up anger but Winnie could not show a hint of it in front of Wendy.
"Okay then. Let’s leave together." Wendy stood up and grabbed her car keys.
They parted ways at the carpark downstairs. Winnie looked on as Wendy drove off.
She was annoyed that she had underestimated Wendy. Despite her wailing about getting a divorce, Wendy changed her mind about it soon after and now she was insistent to drag it out.
It felt like she mentioned ’divorce’ to Michael on purpose when they were quarrelling. It all started to make sense to Winnie. It was not that Wendy could not find the marriage certificate earlier, but rather she did not want to find it.
As Wendy drove off, she looked at Winnie through the rear mirror and saw that she was staring in the direction her car was going. She took a deep breath as she was vexed as well.
Wendy could confirm now that Winnie had her reasons to get close to her and her words and actions were meant to steer her in the direction of getting a divorce. But she also got to know from Winnie that Michael had been keeping things from her.
Wendy was not sure how she should face the issues.
***
Michael was home early that day. He was already home by the time Wendy reached home with the kids.
"Daddy..." Leah ran towards Michael and hugged his thigh. Michael smiled warmly when he heard Leah calling him. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
He bent over and carried Leah. Kissing her little cheek, he asked, "What did you learn in school today?"
"The teacher taught us a new song today! And my teacher braided my hair. Am I pretty, Daddy?" Leah tugged the ends of her braids towards Michael to show them off.
"Of course, my little princess is the prettiest." Michael let Leah down and said,
"Leah, go play with your brother for a while before dinner. Daddy and Mummy have something to talk about."
"Daddy..." Hearing these words from Michael, Leah pouted and asked worriedly, "Daddy will not be quarrelling with Mummy yah? I don’t want to see you both quarrelling."
"We won’t. I promise you that I will not quarrel with Mummy ever again." Michael extended his pinky to Leah.
Leah gave a big smile and hooked her tiny pinky onto Michael’s.
The two kids went off to play on their own. Michael looked at Wendy and started the conversation. "My mother came over this afternoon, right?"
Wendy nodded, "Yah. She only left when I was about to leave to pick up the kids."
"What did she say to you?" Michael asked.
Wendy blinked a couple of times and just said briefly, "She was trying to convince me to get a divorce. She said she called you but to no avail."
"So, Wendy, you believe me now, right?" Michael placed his hand on her shoulder and said in a serious tone, "My mother has been wanting to match me up with Yonina because the Collins Group is the top five corporations in Lake City. With the power and influence of both our companies combined, she hopes to take out Christian’s company."
Wendy sighed as she shook her head. "I don’t really understand where your mother is coming from. We have been married for so long. Even if there are some unhappy moments before, we are doing well now, aren’t we? We have two kids and MC Group is also on the rise. Why is she so persistent to break us up and form a new one for you? Are status and power that important to your mother?"
"I don’t get her train of thoughts fully either." Michael shrugged. "But I can’t do anything about how my mother thinks. So, to settle it once and for all, we need to make use of this opportunity to reveal her true motive."
If Michael could choose, he would not have chosen Winnie to be his mother. Indeed, she had it tough when his father was not loyal in their marriage. But Winnie should not impose the misery she had accumulated from Anthony onto Michael.
Wendy looked down and did not say a word more.
"I have arranged to have bodyguards to follow you around secretly. If my mother asks you out again, you can go ahead." Michael said, "I’ll protect you."
The last words kept ringing in her ears. She actually wanted to ask Michael badly, if this was the place they used to stay. But after Michael said those words, she swallowed the question down. Michael now treated her well and she did not want to spoil the moment by asking those questions. She decided to put them off for now.
Maybe in near future, the memories would come back to her anyway.
***
The next day, Winnie gave Michael a call.
"Michael, I heard you are facing some problems with Wendy?" Winnie thought that since their relationship was unstable now, they probably wouldn’t communicate about what happened yesterday. Hence, she decided to act as if she did not know anything.
Michael acknowledged her question briefly with a yes.
"Then, what are your thoughts now?" Winnie asked inquisitively.
"I have been treating her well and yet she betrayed me." Michael said angrily. "Of course, I cannot take this down but we have two kids to think about. If we really get divorced..."
Upon hearing his reply, Winnie’s hand jerked slightly. She did not expect Michael to have second thoughts about the divorce, just like Wendy did. From the call the day before, their argument sounded intense.
"Sigh, it may not be a good thing for the kids if you both are staying in the marriage just because of them." Winnie spoke from experience. "Look at me, and then look at our family. In the past, I wanted to give you a complete family hence I chose to stay.
And in the end? Sigh..."
"I’ll think about it." Michael said. "I still have some work to do. I’m hanging up."
After Michael ended the call, he tightened his grip on the phone. Seemed like she was really making use of their dispute to make their relationship go south.
