Free Web NovelChapter 332: Felt No Hate
Michael took Leah out to play. Meanwhile, Wendy and the others began unloading yesterday’s gifts from her car.
Once all the gifts were unloaded, Wendy went through them all.
Leah and Jake were both young kids and most of the gifts were either toys or children’s clothing.
Wendy organized the gifts into toys and clothing. She put them aside for the time being. Once Leah came back, she would let Leah pick out her favorite gifts.
As for those she did not like, Wendy planned on putting them into storage. It took her a long time to sort the piles.
She had almost finished organizing the gifts when a gift box she hadn’t noticed caught her eye. The box was packaged exquisitely.
Just looking at the gift box, Wendy could tell it did not come from Rheinsville City. It looked like it belonged at a Lake City storefront.
The box was on the smaller side. Wendy knit her brows. She thought she knew who had sent the gift. Wendy thought Michael had only brought a birthday cake. She did not expect him to prepare another gift.
Wendy hesitated for a moment. At last, she decided to open the gift.
There were two things inside the box. The first item was a small phone. The other item looked like some sort of book.
Wendy frowned in confusion.
She could not figure out why Michael had decided to gift these two strange items.
First, she took out the book and carelessly flipped through a few pages. The book’s exterior seemed quite boring until she opened it to find Michael’s handwriting running across each page. Wendy carefully examined the book’s contents.
Was this book a handwritten record of Michael’s managerial experience and advice?
Wendy decided to take a look at the phone.
The phone was not locked. When she turned it on there did not seem to be anything special.
Wendy turned the phone over and over in her hands, searching. It looked like an ordinary phone. However, she knew Michael would never gift something that boring to Leah.
Wendy’s eyes wandered back to the gift bag. She grabbed the gift bag from where she had discarded it and reexamined it for any clues. Sure enough, there was a slip of paper lying at the bottom of the bag.
On it was written a short message: Happy birthday to both of my dearest children. I hope you stay safe and sound and grow up happily. I have two presents for you. The first is my handwritten account of my managerial experience and advice compiled over the course of many years for Jake. The second gift is a phone on which I recorded one hundred bedtime stories for Leah. Your loving daddy.
Michael’s handwriting was bold and forceful as always.
Wendy had immediately recognized it. She opened the "record" app on the phone. Inside, the recordings were organized and named accordingly: Bedtime story 1, Bedtime story 2.
Wendy kept scrolling through the recordings. Not to her surprise, the last recording was titled, "Bedtime story 100."
Michael had actually taken the time to record 100 bedtime stories?
In reality, though, Leah was not in the habit of listening to bedtime stories.
After all these years they’ve lived in Rheinsville City, she had always seen Leah go to sleep by herself.
Even though she sometimes slept together with Wendy, but most of the time Wendy was busy with work. By the time she came home, Leah would already be asleep.
She must have picked up the habit from her time in Lake City. Michael must have nurtured this newfound habit.
Was Michael worried that once Leah returned to Rheinsville City, she wouldn’t be able to sleep alone?
Wendy’s feelings were in turmoil as she clutched the small phone. Suddenly, she recalled what Michael had told her last night.
Half a year? What was that supposed to mean?
If Michael was indeed indifferent to her and no longer loved her, then why bother with these things?
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She had personally witnessed the two of them sleeping together.
Wendy took a deep breath. The longer she dwelled on the matter, the more annoyed she felt.
"Corinne, have you finished organizing?" Todd entered from the living from to see Wendy crouching on the ground.
He walked over to help Wendy sort through the gifts. Without thinking, Wendy hid whatever she was holding out of Todd’s line of sight. freeweɓnøvel.com
Lightly laughing, Wendy told him, "I’m almost done cleaning up. Are you tired after helping me move all these gifts? How about you go home and rest? You have work tomorrow, anyway."
Todd looked at the time. He laughed, "It’s not very nice to chase me away around dinner time, seeing as I helped you out."
"So..." It was very clear what Todd wanted.
Wendy hung her head, then nodded, "You can stay over for dinner, then."
"Roger that." Todd readily accepted the invitation.
Wendy swept Michael’s two gifts to the side, then continued speaking, "I’m just about finished. Let’s go."
Todd followed Wendy out of the room. Just before he exited the room, he turned to see what it was that Wendy had pushed away. When he had first entered the room, he had startled Wendy. What was she hiding from him? Todd dropped his eyes, becoming pensive.
Zess had almost finished preparing dinner. The tempting scent of food wafted from the kitchen. At just that moment, the doorbell rang. It must be Michael and Leah.
After Todd had hazarded his guess, he did not bother walking over to open the door to confirm whether he guessed correctly. Zen was lounging on the sofa. She heard the doorbell ring a few more times and noticed that nobody had bothered opening the door. Zen shot a glare at Todd, then looked at Wendy.
Zen got the hint and laughed, "I’ll go answer the door."
It was no surprise that Michael and Leah were waiting to come in. It was only 6:00 p.m. Michael’s flight was not until 10:00 p.m. He still had time to eat dinner before leaving for the airport. Michael was counting on dinner time as a good moment to come back.
Wendy knew chasing these people away was useless. She had tried doing so before lunch without any results. She did not even bother trying this time.
All the seats were taken at the table for the second time that day. The atmosphere, however, remained awkward. Not a word was spoken at the table. Everyone was busily eating, looking down at their plates to avoid making eye contact. Only Leah broke the silence by occasionally asking Michael questions about his next visit. They finished eating at around 9:00 p.m.
Leah hung onto Michael’s embrace and did not want to let go. Her eyes were already brimming with tears, "Daddy, you must come and see me whenever you’re free."
"Okay, daddy will definitely visit you when he has time." Michael planted a kiss on his daughter’s little cheek. Then he put Leah down and waved his hand, "Bye-bye, Leah."
His gaze rested for a moment on Jake and Wendy. He lowered his voice, becoming more serious, "Wendy, Jake, goodbye."
Wendy did not return his farewell. It was as expected. Michael did not expect either Wendy or Jake to show him any affection as he was leaving. He took a deep breath, turned, and began walking out the door. He had only taken a few steps when Wendy suddenly said, "Let me drive you to the airport."
Her offer surprised Michael. Jake was also dumbfounded. Had Wendy actually offered to take Michael to the airport? Didn’t she despise Michael?
Michael never imagined that Wendy would say something like that. He did not even dare to ask Wendy himself if she could drive him to the airport. Originally, he had planned on taking Leah back home, eating dinner, then calling a cab to drive him to the airport.
"It’s not convenient to call a cab right now." Wendy provided an explanation for her sudden kindness. She bent over to pick up her car keys.
When Leah heard that her mom was planning on bringing her dad to the airport, she happily stumbled up to the car on her chubby legs, "I want to bring Daddy too..."
As they were on their way home, Leah had brought up the topic with her dad. She told him that after dinner, Mommy and she would take Daddy to the airport. Michael had advised her not to bring the matter up with her Mommy. Leah had asked him for a reason, but all he could tell her was that Mommy was too busy. Although Leah still did not understand the real reason, she quietly nodded her head in agreement. How couldn’t she be excited at the prospect of taking her dad to the airport? Jake, however, did not plan on accompanying them. He remained quiet and stayed put.
"I’ll send Mr. Lucas off too." Todd could not quell his worries, so he also tagged along. Zen stood by awkwardly watching the scene unfold. She was only a temporary inhabitant at Wendy’s home. It was not her place to get involved in family matters.
It was a 30-minute ride to the airport. Nobody said a word during the entire car ride. Wendy had counted on the car ride as an opportunity to talk to Michael. But with Todd sitting in the car, she could not bring herself to say anything.
The silence in the car was not broken until just before they reached the airport. Surprisingly, it was Michael who first broke the silence, "Thank you for taking me to the airport."
"I was just worried you wouldn’t be able to call a cab and end up missing your flight. Then, you wouldn’t be able to leave." Wendy coldly replied.
Regardless of what Wendy had said, Michael still felt a tinge of happiness. Todd was driving the car. Wendy was riding shotgun. Michael sat next to Leah in the back seat. From time to time, Michael’s eyes would wander to the front of the car, coming to rest on Todd. There was no love lost between Michael and Todd.
Michael could not hold back addressing Todd in Wendy’s presence, "Todd, I need to speak with you."
"I don’t have anything to say to you, Mr. Lucas." Todd coldly refused his request to talk, "If I have anything to say to you, it’s only to congratulate you on setting your engagement within the next month."
Engagement. That word pierced Wendy’s heart. Wendy lowered her head, concealing her face. She did not utter a single word.
"I know telling you this right now isn’t appropriate but I wanted to thank you for looking after Wendy. I’m just warning you to not step in where you aren’t needed." Michael warned him, "You’ve already managed to take advantage of the situation. You just haven’t realized yet that what you’ve mixed yourself in aren’t just Wendy’s feelings."
"I’m imposing on Wendy?" Todd shook his head laughing, "This is exactly the chance you gave me, Mr. Lucas. You’re engaged now and yet, you’re still trying to control who Wendy can be with?"
"I..." Michael knew he could not get his point across when talking with Todd. He sighed. Michael could only give one last warning to Wendy, "Wendy, remember what I told you."
Michael kept bringing this matter up. Wendy didn’t understand what he meant. If only she could ask him to explain himself. Wendy no longer cared that Todd was with them. She directly asked Michael, "What are you trying to say?"
"As long as you remember what I told you. The rest isn’t important."
Michael did not want Wendy to become enmeshed in a matter that was not seeing any progress. If Todd had not confessed his feelings for her, Michael would not have let Wendy wait such a long time. Wendy was not an idiot. If he told her what he actually thought, she would begin to suspect something. Besides, he was uncertain what she would do once she became suspicious.
"Ha ha..." Wendy laughed sarcastically.
Soon they arrived at the airport. Wendy unceremoniously bid her farewell, "We’re here. You can go now."
"Daddy, you must come to see me whenever you have time." Leah sniffled. She reluctantly said her goodbye.
"Of course, Daddy will." Michael gently patted the top of Leah’s head. He looked at where Wendy was sitting and told her, "Goodbye."
Once Michael had left, Wendy also requested that Todd go home. Leah was the only person she returned home with. Jake was sitting on the sofa waiting for them.
"Mommy, why did you drive Daddy to the airport?" Jake was confused. He held a strong dislike for his father.
"Why didn’t you come with us to the airport, Jake?" Leah blinked her wide eyes in confusion, "You didn’t go play with Daddy either. Didn’t you also use to like playing with Daddy? How come it feels like everything has changed when I came to Rheinsville City?"
"Everything has changed. He isn’t our Daddy anymore." Jake’s childish face turned harsh, "He’s going to have his own family, his own children. He betrayed Mommy. He also betrayed us. He..."
"Jake!" Wendy interrupted Jake’s speech. She had noticed that Leah was upset. Leah’s little hand grasped Wendy’s. She looked up at her, "Mommy, I thought you said that Daddy still loves us like he used to? Didn’t you say he would always love us no matter what?
"Don’t listen to your brother." Wendy knelt down to kiss Leah’s little forehead.
"But, but...." Leah had believed Jake, "Jake would never lie to me."
Wendy sighed. She got up and left the room. She grabbed Michael’s two gifts for his children. She handed the respective gifts to Jake and Leah. First, she addressed Leah, "This is daddy’s birthday gift to you. He recorded 100 bedtime stories for you to listen to before you go to sleep. It’ll be just as if daddy was reading next to you."
Wendy opened the recording app to play one of the stories. Michael’s voice sounded from the phone’s speakers. Leah instantly became happy at hearing the familiar voice. She joyfully took the phone to continue listening to the story, "It really is Daddy’s voice."
"See, Daddy does love you," said Wendy, stroking Leah’s hair.
"I know." Leah nodded.
Wendy handed the other present to Jake. It was evident that he did not want to accept it.
"This is a gift from Daddy." Wendy noticed that he did not take the package, so she pushed it a little closer to him.
"I don’t want it." Jake coldly snapped at her.
"Why don’t you see what’s inside." Wendy placed the book into his hands. Even though he did not want to admit it, Jake was curious but the hatred he harbored for Michael stopped him from accepting the gift.
"Inside you’ll find your dad’s handwritten notes about business management." Wendy said, "I already flipped through the book. It’s all in his handwriting. He wrote everything in this thick notebook."
Jake’s eyes lit up when he heard what the gift was.
Michael had sent him this gift because he knew Jake enjoyed reading this type of material. He used to joke about how all those books could never compare with his own writing. Jake had dared him to write a book for him. It was meant to be a joke between the father and son, and yet, Michael ended up actually writing the book. And it was completely handwritten.
That meant that Michael had not carelessly bought these gifts last minute. He had begun preparations way ahead of time. That also included preparing Leah’s gift. The 100 bedtime stories could not be recorded in the span of one or two days.
"It’s only because I noticed these that I decided to bring your father to the airport." Wendy still resented Michael; she resented that he had betrayed her. But she did not want her two children to feel hatred, especially Jake.
Even though he was still little, his emotions were already in turmoil. Growing up shouldering the burden of hatred would only cloud his childhood in eternal darkness.
