Free Web NovelChapter 395: Did Michael Take Action Last Night?
"What did you say?" Todd sounded astonished. "You really regret your decision?"
"Yes, I regret it now!" Wendy’s anger escalated. "Initially I agreed to be with you because I thought you understood me and could accept my past. But if you can’t, then what is the point of us being together?"
"You’re saying all this just because of Michael huh?" Todd pointed ahead of him as he continued to interrogate Wendy. "Did you realize you had feelings for him after seeing him today?"
"Don’t bring others into this. I said it before, I..." Before Wendy could finish her sentence, Todd interrupted her. "You’re already protecting and covering for him now?"
Todd was being very cooperative and did a good job in acting as the jealous boyfriend.
"There is no way we can communicate further." Wendy combed her hand through her hair and took a deep breath.
Seeing that Wendy was about to turn to walk away, Todd reached out to grab her arm and added on, "Don’t you think you are the one who is going overboard now?
Don’t you realize how much I’ve loved you these past few years? Just because you saw Michael today, suddenly you’re treating me like trash?"
The atmosphere became solemn and intense. Wendy turned to Todd and while remaining as calm as possible, she said, "Todd, we are in Lake City. This is not Rheinsville. Also, this hotel room was booked by Christian. While we are in other people’s territory, it would be unseemly if we quarrel endlessly. Let’s calm down and spend some time alone. It’s not wise for us to continue when we are both getting so worked up."
With that, Wendy pulled herself free from his grip and took another deep breath. "I’ll get another room for myself."
"Didn’t you just say that we are in a foreign territory? You getting another room will result in rumors that our relationship is on the rocks. Are you trying to indirectly let Michael know that he still stands a chance?" Todd scoffed.
"I don’t want to argue with you anymore. I hope you cool your temper down." Wendy said. She thought through what Todd had said, and indeed he was right.
This fight had been staged on purpose. But if they really got another room, things would get out of hand if the reporters were to write about it. Wendy and Todd could just let Christian know about this without letting the reporters find out. This room had likely been bugged by Christian anyway. Even if he did not plant any devices in their rooms, Christian would still have eyes on this hotel.
Wendy turned and started looking for blankets. She found a throw and she went into the bedroom to grab a pillow. After laying everything on the couch, she sighed and said, "Let’s take a timeout. I’ll sleep on the sofa tonight. We’ll talk tomorrow."
Wendy sat on the sofa and was about to lay down as Todd reached out and stopped her. He looked into Wendy’s eyes and said, "Take the bed. I’ll sleep on the sofa."
Wendy offered to sleep on the sofa because Todd had been helping her and the kids a lot with no conditions. She could not possibly let Todd sleep on the sofa.
But with Todd’s comment, it added some credibility to the argument as it showed that Todd still cared for Wendy even when they were having a tiff. That was the typical lovers’ quarrel.
"No need. You go ahead." Wendy said coldly. With his strong arm, he pulled Wendy up from the sofa and laid himself down on the sofa.
Wendy stood there for a while. After seeing Todd closing his eyes, she scoffed and stomped into the room, as if she was throwing a tantrum.
....
Lying in bed, Wendy sighed. She felt sorry for Todd having to go through all this. Yet, she didn’t have any choice. After the whole episode with Christian was over, she would thank Todd properly.
At 1 A.M., Christian finished wrapping things up at the cocktail party and went back home. He took a shower and laid in bed. He was holding his mobile phone and was watching the surveillance video sent by his subordinates. It was a video taken in the hotel room which Wendy and Todd were staying in. Christian had it planned from the beginning when he’d arranged their hotel stay. He intended to let them sleep in the same room and then send the footage to Michael to put an end to any possibility of their relationship rekindling.
As he watched the video, he started to frown. Were Wendy and Todd quarreling? At the beginning of the video, everything seemed normal between the two of them.
When they returned to their hotel room, they were speaking very softly and the tapping device didn’t manage to pick up anything. When the device did start to pick up their voices, they were already arguing. Christian analyzed the video but did not notice any abnormalities with their behavior.
The reason for their quarrel was also clear and logical. That night, both Michael and himself had invited Wendy for a dance in front of a huge audience. As Wendy’s current beau, it was natural for Todd to suspect that Michael and Wendy had rekindled their relationship. Even if he trusted Wendy fully, he could also suspect Michael’s motives for asking for a dance.
He watched the clip twice at least and after confirming that there were no issues with it, he became solemn. His initial plan could not be carried out in this case. If he was to send this video of them fighting to Michael, it would not be to his advantage.
He pondered on his next course of action.
After a long while, he took out his phone and started crafting a text message to Michael. The message was a one-liner: "Todd and Wendy seem to be staying in the same hotel room. Hotel J, room 8888."
Though it was late at night, Michael was still wide awake. He could not get to sleep.
After he came back, all he could think of was Wendy and Todd at the party. Them wearing matching attire, their arms interlocked... All these images kept floating up in Michael’s mind.
His phone beeped and he reached for it beside him. His mind was still in a daze, but he unlocked the phone effortlessly with his body memory. He read the text message, as his grip on the phone tightened. He placed his phone down as sorrow and dejection overtook his emotions. Soon after, he let out a scoff and said to himself, "They are now an item. It’s normal for couples to be staying in the same room, isn’t it?" freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
Michael had to strengthen his mental defenses. He knew Christian had a motive in sending such a text. Surely, he was not that kind-hearted to inform Michael about Wendy. He wanted to see Michael fall into despair. It would be a bonus if Michael decided to go look for Wendy in the hotel; the headlines the next morning would certainly be exciting for Christian.
Michael knew all this. But he could not resist the urge. He got up, grabbed his coat, and left.
Just next door, Yonina was awake as well. She heard the noise from Michael leaving his room. She immediately got up and opened her room door.
"Michael, where are you going in the middle of the night?" Yonina hurriedly took her coat as well and quickly followed behind Michael. She did not even stop to lock the door.
"I..." Michael did not know where he wanted to go either.
Seeing Michael dumbfounded, Yonina got a little worried. She quickened her pace to catch up with him and persuade him. "It’s very late. Let’s go back, shall we?"
The reason why Yonina was still up was because she was concerned about Michael.
After all, what had happened at the party was a huge blow to him. She hadn’t expected Michael to sneak out late at night.
"You should go back and rest. Don’t worry about me." Michael took a deep breath and said, "It’s a chilly night. Don’t catch a cold, and don’t follow me anymore. I’m just going to take a walk to cool my head. I’ll be fine."
"In a situation like this, how do you expect me to not be bothered by your behavior?"
Yonina was anxious. "Michael, it is the crucial period now. Soon, Christian will be in hot soup. You cannot get into any form of trouble before he does!"
"Nothing is going to happen to me. Go ahead and go back inside." Michael said coldly.
"You have to come with me." Yonina walked in big steps towards Michael. She reached out to him to hold him back, preventing him from walking further.
"I said, leave me alone!" Michael was getting impatient. His tone was harsher than before. He shrugged Yonina off, and Yonina almost lost her footing. Michael realized he’d gone a little overboard after trying to free himself. He reached out to Yonina, wanting to provide some support for Yonina.
Yonina took two steps back before stabilizing herself. She was annoyed enough by Michael that she ignored his extended hand. "Michael, I don’t want to bother myself with you either. If I wasn’t forced to be in the same boat as you, I would have been sleeping by now."
"My apologies." Michael felt guilty about what he’d done earlier, his voice softening as he spoke to Yonina. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
"Forget it. Go wherever you want." Yonina was concerned as she was worried that Michael would get into trouble. But since Michael was not appreciative of her concern, she would not poke her nose further into his business.
Michael sighed. "Don’t worry. I am really just going for a walk."
"Just be careful." Yonina turned and walked away.
By now, Michael should know his limits. Holding on to his car keys, he headed to the garage.
The moment Christian was awake the next morning, he picked up his phone from the bedside table, wanting to find out about Michael. He unlocked his phone and rang his assistant, "Did Michael take any action last night?"
"He drove to Hotel J last night. He’s still not back yet."
Hearing this, Christian’s lips twisted into a smirk. After he hung up, he got out of bed.
He should go have a look at his brother, he thought.
Wendy did not have a good sleep the entire night. She felt a little groggy. It was already eight in the morning when she got out of bed.
She went into the living room. Todd was already awake and he was doing some work.
Wendy almost wanted to greet Todd with her usual cheerfulness but she remembered that they had been ’quarrelling’ the night before and her expression turned solemn. As if she did not see him, she proceeded to the bathroom to wash up.
The hotel room included breakfast, so Wendy called for room service for her share.
After she was done with breakfast, she decided to clear some work as well. Their stay in Rheinsville was supposed to be until today, but Wendy wanted to extend it for two more days. She wanted to be here when HG Enterprise found themselves in trouble.
Wendy had to get busy, so that she had a reason to stay. Just as she was thinking whether she should go back home to visit Mary, her phone rang. Wendy peered at the display screen. It was a call from the mansion. There was only one person who would call her from this number, Mrs. Lucas.
