Unwanted Marriage: Honey, No More Divorce!

Chapter 406: Our Only Way Out

After Wendy got to her room, she took a shower and put on a face mask.

She then opened her laptop and got to work.

When it was time to eat, the doorbell rang.

Wendy closed her laptop and saw that it was Todd.

"What about dinner?" Todd asked. "Is there anything you’d like to eat?"

"Just order room service," Wendy replied. "I have quite a bit of work to take care of."

"Okay then." With that, Todd pointed into the room and said, "Shall we eat together?"

Wendy hesitated for a moment before agreeing to his request.

Soon after, the room service came.

After eating, Todd didn’t leave right away but sat comfortably on the couch, browsing through his phone.

Wendy left him alone and continued on with her work.

Not long after, the doorbell rang again.

Todd stood up and got the door.

It was the hotel manager.

He smiled and said to Todd, "How was the meal? If I may suggest, sitting for a long while after eating is not healthy.

"Our hotel is equipped with a gym, a pool, and a spa. Our grounds are also well-maintained. How about a short walk?"

Todd scowled. He clearly understood where the hotel manager was getting at.

It wasn’t long before Todd figured that Michael had sent this man over.

It was nothing but dinner with Wendy.

"No need for that. I have work to take care of," Todd declined and headed outside.

Before the eyes of the hotel manager, Todd went back to his room, slamming the door shut.

"Ms. Swift, sorry to disturb you," the hotel manager said with a smile. "If there’s anything I can do for you, just let me know."

He then left and closed the door on his way out.

Wendy was certain that the hotel manager was under Michael’s orders.

She shook her head and laughed in dismay.

’Michael....’ Wendy then went back to work.

It was already 11 PM when she decided to call it a day. Wendy stood up and did some stretching. Then, she turned off the laptop and got on the bed.

She took out her phone and casually swiped through the browser.

What happened at Christian’s press conference yesterday made the headlines in the morning.

Of course, the focus was not on yesterday’s press conference but on Wendy.

Wendy, Michael, Christian, and Todd were on the headlines.

Last night, these three men asked her to dance, which led to Wendy becoming a hot topic today.

The social media exploded with speculations about the real score on Wendy, Michael, and Todd.

Netizens went as far as to assume that Christian had feelings for Wendy.

It even overshadowed Christian’s press conference last night.

However, two speculations stood out from the rest. The first one had something to do with Wendy and Michael getting back together.

The second one focused on Todd being the best choice for Wendy.

Christian, on the other hand, had little appeal. Only a minority of people supported Wendy and Christian being together.

Wendy laughed as she went through the articles.

"The paparazzi are out of control these days," she muttered to herself.

Wendy yawned, her eyelids heavy.

She placed her phone by her side.

Within minutes, she was fast asleep.

...

The next day, Wendy woke up after having a good sleep.

She had been waiting to hear from Rheinsville City.

According to her calculations, something should happen over there right now.

It was her third day at Lake City.

If Timothy would not call her, Wendy could not return.

After thinking about it, she planned to go back to Linton to see Mary.

Wendy checked on Todd, and as soon as he opened the door, she said, "I’m going back to see my mom, and I’ll be back tomorrow.

You’re my boyfriend now, so if you don’t have anything else to take care of, come with me on this trip."

Wendy wanted to see her mom upon returning to Lake City, and Todd should come with her.

Otherwise, Christian would certainly be suspicious.

"Okay," Todd readily agreed. "Just give me a few minutes to pack up."

Shortly after, Wendy and Todd took a cab to Linton.

It was an hour’s drive, and they were now out of Lake City.

At that moment, Wendy’s phone rang.

It was Timothy.

A smile instantly appeared on Wendy’s face.

"Timothy’s calling," Wendy told Todd and immediately hit the answer button.

"Wendy, are you done with things in Lake City?" Timothy asked as soon as the call got through.

"I’m on my way to visit my mom right now."

Wendy deliberately sounded like she had no idea about everything that’s going on and continued, "I’m going back to Lake City tomorrow and then get a ticket to Rheinsville City the following day."

"You should get back now."

Timothy sounded really anxious. "Visit your mother next time. You must return here as soon as possible."

"But I’ve told my mom that I’m coming today."

Wendy then asked, "Timothy, is there something wrong?"

"Something is indeed going on, and it’s pretty serious."

Timothy’s tone grew more anxious. "I’ll have someone arrange your flights the earliest possible. You and Todd should head to the airport now."

A smile formed from the corner of Wendy’s lips. She tried to sound confused and worried as she pressed further, "No, Timothy. What’s happening?"

"Come back first, and then I’ll explain everything to you."

Timothy paced back and forth, his hand scratching his head. "How long will it take you to get to Lake City Airport?"

Wendy deliberately asked the driver loudly, "Sir, how long does it take to get to Lake City Airport?"

"About an hour...," the driver replied. "Hard to tell if we get stuck in traffic."

Timothy heard the driver’s response.

He immediately said through the phone, "I will get a plane ticket for you in two hours. Get to the airport now.

"I still have things to take care of. Come and see me at the office when you get back."

After Timothy hung up, Wendy looked at Todd Lewis with a big smile on her face.

"Looks like everything’s going according to plan."

Wendy then addressed the driver, "Let’s head to the airport now."

Although Todd had a smile on his face, in his heart, he was slightly disappointed.

After defeating Christian, Wendy would reconcile with Michael.

They would stop pretending to be a couple.

"Sure," Todd uttered.

Things were finally in motion.

As for Mary, Wendy called her and said that she was caught up with something urgent and couldn’t make it.

Mary knew that Wendy was always busy. Although she was a little disappointed, she didn’t insist on it.

...

Meanwhile, at Christian’s office....

He was busy scanning through the news about the press conference. The comments section was filled with two cents from netizens.

"I knew Christian would win the bidding! The stock I bought a few days ago has doubled today. Thank you, Mr. Lucas!"

"I regretted buying MC Enterprise shares. I lost all my money!"

"I used to be a fan of Michael, but now I’m into Christian... And I just realize that Christian is so handsome!"

"Why no one is paying attention to Christian’s proposal? It’s similar to Michael’s."

"What rubbish are you talking about? Should I favor him when I lost all my money buying shares in his company?"

...

The more Christian read, the more satisfied he got. A bright smile formed on his lips.

Although a few people were talking about Christian’s proposal, they were drowned out by positive comments about him.

A knock on the door was heard. It was Christian’s assistant. He motioned for her to come in.

The assistant greeted him with a nod and then said, "Mr. Lucas, we will meet with the project leader, Mr. Zhou, in half an hour. It will take us about 15 minutes to get to the seafood restaurant that I booked. We should get going." fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm

"Is the contract ready?" Christian asked.

The press conference was over, so it was time to sign the contract.

This was, in fact, a supplementary contract since they had already signed a contract before.

After signing the contract, the partnership would be completely finalized.

"Yes, Mr. Lucas," the assistant confirmed.

Christian nodded as he stood up. He straightened his tie with a smile on his face.

"Let’s go then. It’s good to be there a little early."

Just as he was about to leave, his phone rang.

He saw that it was Timothy calling, and his brows furrowed.

It was nighttime in Rheinsville City.

Why was Timothy calling him?

Christian assumed that something bad could have happened.

He then shook his head and muttered to himself, "But everything is going well.

Nothing untoward should happen."

Christian took the call and waited for Timothy to speak first, but Timothy didn’t say aword.

Christian was a bit alarmed and said, "What’s going on? Speak!"

He felt that something was not right. His heartbeat gradually raced.

Timothy, on the other end, paced back and forth, somewhat afraid to speak.

"I...," Timothy took back what he wanted to say.

"Why are you calling me at such an hour? It should be late there in Rheinsville City, right?" Christian said, somewhat annoyed.

Timothy took a deep breath, mustering courage.

He closed his eyes as he said, "Mr. Lucas, something went wrong."

"Just tell me what’s going on!" Christian yelled. He didn’t like the suspense especially when business matters were concerned.

"There’s a problem with the production of Moonlight Project’s second collection," Timothy said almost inaudibly.

"What did you say?" Christian yelled.

"I..." Timothy grew frightened as he heard Christian’s voice on the other end.

At this critical moment, the project in his hands went wrong.

"I’m on my way to sign a contract with Mr. Zhou right now, so if you’re going to joke around, please do it another time."

Christian took a deep breath.

"I’m sorry, Christian. I’ve contacted Wendy, and she’s on her way back now," Timothy replied. "She would take care of the situation."

"So what exactly went wrong?" Christian held on to the phone tightly.

"The fabric for the first batch of clothing produced was of poor quality, and some clients complained that wearing the clothes had caused them allergies."

At this point, Timothy could only speak the truth. "These claims are all being investigated, but the main issue now is to stabilize the relationship between distributors and customers.

"There have been multiple requests from businesses to terminate their partnership with us and to compensate them three to five times than the actual cost."

"How did this happen?"

With his free hand, Christian massaged his temples. "Everything is ready, and now you’re telling me there’s a problem in the production process? Where are the quality inspectors? Why wasn’t the fabric checked beforehand? Even if there is a problem with the quality control of the fabric, the finished product should still be checked before it leaves the factory. These are the basics.

"You are telling me now that we are having problems with the most basic requirement, the fabric?

"Timothy, it’s not your first day at HG."

"Because of the rush, a lot of things were handled by Wendy," Timothy explained.

"Manufacturers, merchants... she was the one in charge of contacting them.

"It was fine all this time until you sent Wendy an invitation to go to Lake City.

"I took over the job from there onwards.

"I didn’t expect to be caught off-guard by such a big problem.

"If Wendy were in Rheinsville City, she would at least be able to handle it."

"So you’re blaming me for asking Wendy to come to Lake City?"

Christian shook his head and laughed mockingly. Then, all of the sudden, his tone got all serious.

"No, I didn’t mean that. I just..." Timothy sighed, finding himself unable to explain himself clearly.

After a moment of silence, Timothy continued, "I was thinking of waiting for Wendy to come back and deal with it before telling you about it.

"But I know you’re signing a contract with Mr. Zhou today, so I thought..."

"No way!" Before Timothy could finish his sentence, Christian interrupted him, "This contract must be signed!"

To Timothy, HG Enterprise was already facing a lot of issues. Breaching contracts and refunding would only ensure the company’s demise.

If that happened, HG Enterprise would not have sufficient funds to fund DR Group.

The few billion dollars needed for the project would be a problem.

Timothy tried to explain his point once again, "Once the contract is signed, we will face major problems if we delay the project due the insufficient funds."

"You should know what this project means to me," Christian lowered his voice and said seriously. "Securing this project is bigger than beating Michael. It also meant an entirely clean start for me. You know well that HG Enterprise’s internal accounts cannot withstand investigation. DR Group is my only way out and yours too!"

"But...," Timothy sighed and tried to persuade Christian again.

Unfortunately, Christian cut him off before he could say anything.