Free Web NovelChapter 286: Calm Yourself Down
"Photos of Yonina and me? I didn’t even spend any time with her lately," Michael explained without hesitation. "Wendy, this is definitely a plot to drive a wedge between us. Don’t believe any of those."
"I know," Wendy said. "Your mom has done such a despicable thing before."
Wendy then took out the photos and pointed the camera at them.
"Check these out," Wendy said.
Michael observed the photos carefully, and he saw himself and Yonina in those photos.
However, what was baffling to Michael was that he had barely been in touch with Yonina.
The last time he met up with Yonina alone was before Wendy came back to Lake City, and it was Winnie who had set him up for a blind date with Yonina.
He didn’t even know that it was supposed to be a date until he arrived at the restaurant, which was the only meal he ever shared with Yonina.
And after that, it was Yonina who went to the mansion, but only briefly a couple of times.
There were many people living in the mansion, and besides, the house in the photos was nothing like the mansion.
He then said, "Wendy, those are photos taken a long time ago, and I had dinner with her only once, which I only did because my mother tricked me into doing so.
Moreover, that was the only time I hung out with her alone. As for those photos, I can’t remember whether Yonina had picked up food for me before, but I can assure you that I didn’t help her with her hair."
It was true that Michael and Yonina had never had any intimate moments. And the only physical contact they had was to shake hands with each other when they met the first time.
Wendy smiled after seeing how anxious Michael was and said, "Calm yourself down.
Haven’t I just told you that I didn’t buy it?"
Michael looked at Wendy’s facial expressions carefully as he wanted to know if she meant what she said.
After all, Wendy had stormed out when she went back to the old mansion and saw him and Yonina at the same table.
Michael was rested assured after he saw how calm and smiley Wendy was.
"Anyway, the only thing I want to know is how the photos were sent to me," Wendy said.
"Well, it was my mother who set me up for that dinner date with Yonina, so no one else would’ve been involved," Michael said. "I don’t think my mom has any mental capacity to do that. As for Yonina, I don’t really know her that well as I’ve only met her a couple of times, so I can’t say for sure whether she has the sense to do it or not."
Michael then frowned and continued, "On second thought, I don’t think we should rule out any fourth-party. For instance, there is a chance that Christian might have something to do with it."
What Michael said corroborated with what Wendy was thinking, which was that it was either Yonina or Christian who sent her the photos.
"It’s just incredible that they did something so childish continuously." Michael only said that after making sure that Wendy was annoyed by the photos as he would’ve been spending the entire video call giving her sweet talk.
"We’ve been through this before, haven’t we? I’m not going to be so easily deceived again." Wendy found it amusing recalling what had happened before.
She lost her mind when Winnie sent the photos to her the first time.
If she hadn’t been through that, she might have been freaking out in front of Michael now.
"Not really. I wasn’t the one who was going mad," Michael said while shaking his head. "I’ve always had faith in you, but you were the one who doubted my loyalty because of some photos taken out of context."
"Fine, fine, I was the bad guy," Wendy said while smiling as she didn’t want to get into a fight. "Another thing I want to ask you about."
"There’s more?" Michael answered. "Go ahead."
"Do you know that DR Group is trying to take down Collins Group?"
"Yes, I do. I don’t understand what’s wrong with Christian. His company is in a deep financial crisis yet he’s still devoting so much time to suppressing Collins Group,"
Michael said. "There’s definitely more to the story."
"I think so as well," Wendy said. "Have you looked into this before?"
"I did, but I couldn’t find anything fishy," Michael said as he had been pondering this for a while.
He knew Christian better than Wendy did.
"Christian has spent at least two billion dollars trying to destroy Collins Group, but DR Group’s share price has been tumbling for three months. I reckon their market value isn’t worth more than two billion, not to mention their cash flow. And I can confirm that Christian didn’t secure a loan or plan to declare bankruptcy," Michael said. "So, I really can’t imagine where he got the two billion dollars from."
"This is what confuses me as well. Where did Christian get all the money from?"
Wendy said.
Her home was within walking distance from her workplace, and halfway through her call with Michael, she arrived home. freёwebnovel.com
She took out her key and opened the door.
"The only assets that I know Christian has, are in Lake City," Michael said. "However, before he came back to Lake City, he had lived in Rheinsville City for many years."
Michael continued, "He went to live in Rheinsville City when he was a teenager. We have some business partners in Rheinsville City, but we don’t have any subsidiaries there. I have no idea what Christian did in Rheinsville City in those years. I’ve never thought of him at all in the past, and I always resorted to violence whenever we had conflicts, so I’ve never bothered checking on what he did in a foreign country. After all, I was one of the people who forced him to go overseas."
Michael kept explaining, "Which is why I was always under the impression that he had a rough time living there. But now, I am indeed dumbfounded by those billions of dollars he received out of nowhere. I reckon that he has a powerful person supporting him. I’ll keep digging into it and will find out who he has been associating himself with."
"I agree," Wendy said while nodding her head. "Christian is our biggest enemy, and we should take him down once and for all, otherwise he’ll continue to be a threat."
Wendy was still traumatized by the incident she got into with Christian on her birthday when he was in Rheinsville City.
She was in no power to defend herself in that elevator if Christian intended to harm her.
Luckily for her, Christian didn’t do anything outrageous, yet she still believed that he was a ticking bomb.
"Don’t worry. I’ll figure out something soon," Michael said.
Wendy lounged on the sofa as she was burned out after work and said, "Great. I’m going to have a shower. I’ll talk to you later."
Michael started beaming like a child after hearing Wendy said ’shower’. He said, "Shower? Perfect!"
Wendy rolled her eyes, grinned, and said, "Don’t even think about it."
She then hung up her phone without hesitation.
***
Wendy spent the day after the video call at work as usual.
After a good night’s sleep, she came up with an abundance of new ideas and finished the draft of a new clothing line in hours.
She put her pen away, closed her eyes, and leaned back on her chair.
After a short while, her assistant came into her office.
Wendy didn’t open her eyes as she was exhausted from hours of devoted work. She said, "Tell the design department that we’re having a meeting in half an hour."
She then hesitated for a moment and said, "Actually, let’s have the meeting in ten minutes so that they can go home earlier."
The reason why Wendy worked hard in Rheinsville City was that she wanted to go back to Lake City soon. As for her employees, their families were all based in Rheinsville City. She had been asking them to work overtime for weeks, so she wanted them to have an early day off.
Having seen Wendy tired, her assistant said, "How about having the meeting in an hour so that you can have a nap? I’ll let you know when it’s time."
"All good. I’ll have the meeting in ten," Wendy said with her eyes closed.
She heard the sound of footsteps as her assistant walked away.
However, soon after the assistant left, she heard someone walking back in again.
She asked, "Is there anything else that I should know of?"
Wendy thought that it was her assistant who came back.
Unexpectedly, she felt that someone was rubbing her head with their hands. She opened her eyes and saw Timothy standing behind her.
"Mr. Woods?" Wendy was shocked. She sat up, smiled, and said, "When did you come here?"
"Lean back and let me massage your head a bit longer," Timothy said. "I’m probably not as good as a professional."
"No need, Mr. Woods."
Wendy didn’t want to have Timothy give her a massage. After all, he was her senior.
However, Timothy pulled her back towards him and said with an unquestionable tone, "Lean back."
Wendy stopped declining seeing how insistent Timothy was.
"Do you feel more comfortable?" Timothy asked.
"Of course." Wendy wouldn’t have said otherwise even if she didn’t. And, besides,
she did feel the tension around her head was being relieved.
Wendy kept her eyes closed on the chair while being massaged by Timothy. After a short while, she stopped him as she didn’t want to trouble him for too long.
She sat up straight again, turned her chair around to face Timothy, and said, "Is there anything I could do for you, Mr. Woods?"
"Nothing. I just want to check in on you and see some of your recent work," Timothy said while looking at the drafts on Wendy’s desk, satisfied. "You’re just getting better and better. I don’t doubt that you’ll surpass me in three years."
"You’re flattering me, Mr. Woods," Wendy said. "You’re one of the best and most well-known designers in the world. I won’t be able to better you even in three decades, not to mention three years."
"You don’t have to be so humble in front of me," Timothy said while picking up one of the drafts on the desk.
Timothy’s specialty was in men’s wear and men’s bags while Wendy’s was in female wear and accessories, from which she gained widespread acclaim in the industry.
They both had experience in other designs but were not as proficient as in their own specialties.
Timothy looked at the drafts in his hands. Although Timothy wasn’t an expert in female wear, he could still tell that Wendy’s designs represented the current fashion trend.
