Free Web NovelChapter 436: The One Who Let Wendy Down
"Whether you have evidence or not, I don’t really care right now," Christian reinforced his point. "Transfer me two billion dollars within the day."
"Christian, to take this two billion from HG Enterprise would be equivalent to shutting it down!" Timothy exclaimed as he sped off when the traffic light turned green.
"HG has other ways. Even if it doesn’t at the moment, it can always drag things out with its clients.
"Meanwhile, this project is urgent and cannot be delayed any further."
"What if I told you that all the clients want their compensation wired to them within two days?"
At this, Timothy meant to convey the urgency that HG Enterprise was facing as well.
If HG failed to transfer the compensation to its clients, it would be a goner.
Timothy took a deep breath. "Even if this is the situation for HG, are you still going to insist on having this sum transferred to you?"
"Why would it be the case that all the clients want their compensation received within these two days?" Christian questioned. "What did you all say to the clients?
Don’t tell me, someone made such an arrangement on purpose."
It could only be Wendy.
"In other words, HG’s current crisis was formed by the collaboration between Wendy and Michael?" Christian wasted no time to press for an answer.
"It doesn’t matter now, does it?" Timothy knew that he could not hide this from Christian any longer and continued, "The problem is that you need to choose one between HG and your new project."
"I can only choose one..." Over the receiver, Christian quietly began to laugh. "Nice work, Wendy Stewart, you tricked me!"
This laughter sent shivers down Timothy’s spine.
He was silent, seemingly waiting for Christian to make a decision.
The line remained quiet for some time.
Finally, Christian spoke, "Then I choose my new project!"
When Christian first began to plot to manipulate Wendy, he intentionally had Timothy rescue her, then groom her talent, and got her to bring in profits for himself.
With that money, he went against Michael.
He could not have imagined that as someone who played with fire, he ultimately got burned.
This project was special to Christian.
He had gone to great lengths to snatch this project out of Michael’s hands.
It was also the only chance for him to clean his records and surpass Michael.
He was not willing to and could not let it go.
Even if it meant that he would have to gamble using HG Enterprise, he had to try.
"Christian..." Timothy wanted to advise Christian against it.
However, Christian’s decision was final.
Cutting Timothy off, Christian asserted, "Enough.
"Transfer the two billion to me. I’ve made my decision."
Christian’s words left Timothy helpless.
After an extended pause, Timothy winced as he finally relented, "Okay, I’ll head to the office now to transfer the money to you."
Hearing Timothy’s answer, Christian simply hung up without saying more.
The disconnect tone seemed to resonate with the helplessness and despair Timothy felt.
Arriving back at HG Enterprise, Timothy stood at the entrance.
He looked up at the building of the company which he had poured half his life’s work into.
All he could do was to trudge along, one step at a time towards his office.
This time, Timothy did not take the elevator.
He climbed the stairs, one step after another.
Timothy was acrophobic, so his office was only on the ninth floor.
As a middle-aged man who was past 50, he climbed the stairs to the ninth floor without stopping but did not feel tired at all.
All he felt was despondence.
He sat on the chair in his office.
Timothy brushed every inch of the familiar office desk.
Tears filled his eyes.
...
Once Wendy arrived home, she turned on her computer to open the email that Todd had sent her.
Todd had sent all the information he had gathered about Clement to Wendy.
After studying the documents closely, she looked up at Todd who stood beside her and commented, "This Clement person seems to frequent bars and host clubs.
"Now that we know which bar he likes to hang out at, shall we go pay him a visit to check him out?" ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
Wendy had intended to work after leaving the cafe, but Todd was worried about her and would not let her leave on her own.
Under the guise of discussing what to do with the information relating to Clement, he remained by her side.
Wendy had decided that it was a good idea, so she let him follow her back.
At Wendy’s words, Todd nodded in response, "I can find some women who seem to be his type to seduce him.
"If he takes the bait, we should be able to get quite some information from him." freeωebnovēl.c૦m
"I definitely won’t be able to sit in the board meeting or come in contact with the other board members.
"I can only acquire information from him now." Wendy sighed as she continued, "I’ll be counting on you, Todd."
"Oh, Corrine, as I’ve told you over and over again, you don’t need to stand on ceremony around me." Todd wore a scowl on his face, showing his displeasure.
Wendy laughed gently.
She knew what Todd meant and responded in a seemingly casual manner, "As friends, of course, we don’t need to draw the line.
"I won’t say such things anymore."
At Wendy’s mention of ’friends’, Todd’s brows furrowed.
He was clearly displeased now.
Looking down, Todd remained quiet.
Just then, someone knocked on the door.
Wendy called out, "Come in."
"Mommy..." Leah pushed open the door and rushed up to Wendy.
With widened eyes, she looked at Todd before looking again at Wendy to speak, "Uncle Lewis, Mommy, Zess asked me to let you both know that the food’s ready."
Wendy pushed the screen of her laptop down and rose from her seat.
Holding Leah’s hand, she smiled and agreed, "Sure, let’s go eat."
It was past seven and about time for dinner.
Turning to Todd, Wendy said, "Let’s all have dinner together."
Todd nodded.
Holding Leah’s hand, Wendy left the room.
Around the dining table, everyone remained considerably quiet.
Zess studied Wendy and Todd’s faces before smiling and placing more food on their plates.
"You must be hungry. Eat up!" she urged.
"Thanks, Zess," Todd replied and nodded.
Wendy expressed her gratitude as well.
Zess was curious about what had happened that day.
Timothy had made such a commotion earlier that day, and it had scared her out of her wits.
Thankfully, Wendy had returned home safely.
An innocent Leah delightedly handed out more food to each person at the table.
In contrast, Jake solemnly remained at his seat, eating his portion of dinner.
Zen had just returned from work and was ignorant of what had transpired. She greeted those in the house with a smile.
"Zen, have you had dinner?" Wendy pushed a chair away from the table and called out, "Wash up and come join us. We just started."
"Sure," Zen responded who dropped her bag and washed up before approaching the dining area.
After that, other than Leah, everyone else remained silent.
Zen noticed that something was off.
She looked carefully at each person at the table. Seeing that no one else spoke, she kept quiet too.
With that, supper ended.
After Todd left, Wendy prepared herself for bed and lay down, alone.
She replayed the events of the day in her mind once more, then wondered if she should call Michael or not to tell him about it.
...
As Wendy found herself deep in thought, Michael seemed to have a telepathic connection with her.
Just then, her phone rang, interrupting her thoughts.
Wendy intuitively picked her phone up.
Seeing Michael’s name on her the screen, her lips formed into a smile.
Gently clearing her throat, she tapped the phone screen to take the call.
"Wendy, are you asleep?" Michael’s warm voice could be heard over the other end.
It was just past nine in Rheinsville City, an unlikely time for Wendy to be asleep.
Michael had merely said so since he was out of ideas on how to start the conversation.
"Not yet," Wendy replied.
"Well," Michael continued, "you should have had dinner by now?"
"Yes, I’ve eaten," Wendy replied once more.
A bland exchange of questions and answers went on.
"Well," Michael slightly tightened his grip on his phone, before almost whispering, "did you miss me?"
"Can’t you be more serious?" Wendy coughed gently and responded in feigned annoyance.
In truth, her heart had skipped a beat.
"Okay, I’ll be serious." Michael tried to hold his laughter back as his tone grew a little solemn. "Did anything happen over at your side in the past few days?
"The deadline for Christian to transfer his investment for the project is tomorrow. He would have likely asked Timothy for more funds. Did that have any effect on your end?"
"I was about to call you about this matter," Wendy began. Biting her lip, she said, "Timothy spoke to me quite directly about things.
"Despite lacking evidence, he was certain of our collaboration against HG Enterprise.
"Moreover..." Wendy wanted to mention Jake and Leah, but she swallowed the words.
If she told Michael that Timothy threatened her using the children, he would be worried.
Christian was now unable to get himself out of trouble, and this was the same for Timothy.
After today, Timothy and the others on his side would not have the luxury of time or energy to deal with her.
At least for the time being, she believed.
This meant that, for now, she and the children were safe.
After much thought, Wendy decided not to mention the threat against the children to Michael.
"Moreover what?" hearing Wendy stop short of completing her thought, Michael had a bad feeling about it and pressed her for an answer.
"Moreover, he knows that I signed the compensation contracts with the clients, and the deadline is within these two days.
"It was because of that, he was able to determine that I was the one working against HG Enterprise," Wendy added.
At Wendy’s words, Michael frowned.
He sensed that Wendy was keeping something from him.
However, he knew her well. What she did not want to share with him, he could not force out of her.
"Aren’t you in a dangerous position now?" Michael sounded really worried.
"I’m fine. You don’t have to worry about me for the time being. HG Enterprise’s weakness is in my hands.
"Even if Timothy were to fight it out with me, he would be wary of pushing me to steal clients from him.
"I have fostered good business relations with HG’s clientele, so I made a deal with him.
"As long as he doesn’t harm me, I won’t touch HG’s clients."
The only thing Wendy was short of mentioning was the matter concerning the children.
"But HG is at risk of being shut down. We can’t guarantee that Timothy won’t be pushed to a corner and bite back." Michael remained deeply concerned.
All he had done was for Wendy and the children’s sakes.
If they were in harm’s way, winning and gaining the world in the end would be meaningless to Michael.
"For now, there shouldn’t be any danger because they don’t have the time or energy to deal with me," Wendy assured. She only said so to take the load off Michael’s mind.
...
Michael knew that Wendy had her reasons.
Nonetheless, he still felt uneasy.
After much deliberation, Michael said, "Wendy, why don’t you come back to Lake City with the kids?
"You’ve done enough, and you don’t need to work on HG Enterprise anymore.
"We can simply stand on the sidelines and watch HG fall.
"As for Christian, he would definitely choose to use HG to keep his hold on the project.
"The matters concerning Christian, I can manage from here on.
"It’s difficult for me to protect you and the kids in Rheinsville City.
"Come back to Lake City and stay with me."
If Christian did not choose to keep his hold on the project, it would make matters much simpler.
Michael could directly take over the bidding project.
In this way, even if Christian did not touch the two billion, he would need to fork out one billion worth of compensation on the new project.
The other billion would not be enough to keep HG Enterprise running either.
In addition, now that Timothy was at odds with Wendy, he would have known how difficult it would be to get HG back on its feet.
That meant that Christian was left with no choice.
To choose HG would be choosing a losing bet.
It was certainly the same if he chose the new project over HG.
"Wait a while more before Christian officially meets his downfall," Wendy suggested.
"I’d like to stay in Rheinsville City to seek other suitable opportunities."
"Wendy, you don’t need to do that. You’ve done enough.
"I can tie up any loose ends well. Can you just trust me?" Michael urged once more.
"I do trust you. It’s just that we have merely taken down one HG. We don’t know if Christian still has many other backers like HG."
Wendy sighed, "Just as you’ve said, Christian would sacrifice HG for the new project.
However, the new project requires an initial investment of two billion and another few billion later on.
"Christian had intended for HG to be providing the funds for the new project and being an infinite supply for the investment funds it required.
"However, should Christian still choose to fund the new project despite HG being on the verge of bankruptcy, that meant that he still had other means of support?
"Even now, we’re moving openly, while Christian remains hidden behind the scenes.
"If we don’t eliminate all the powers supporting Christian, we will never win."
"I know that, but I can work on all these...," Michael replied. "Wendy, I don’t want you taking more risks. All I wish is for you and our children to be safe."
"Michael, I hope you treat me as an equal whom you are working with, instead of thinking of me as your wife whom you should protect," Wendy responded. "As compared to you working on your own, when we work together, we increase our chances of winning over Christian.
"You’re clear of how I am.
"I cannot step out of this to hide in your protection when I’ve not seen it through."
At Wendy’s words, Christian could only sigh.
Wendy was not that kind of person.
Wendy emphasized, "We have long pitted ourselves against Christian. If we don’t take him out entirely, our kids and I cannot ever be safe."
"It’s my incompetence that has resulted in me failing to protect you." Michael blamed himself.
Unable to protect his wife and children, Michael felt like a failure.
After Wendy had married him, she never enjoyed a day properly.
In the initial years of their marriage, Michael hated her.
After she met with an accident and left Lake City, she had to go through years of hard work to raise their twins.
Now, she was even taking risks to help him deal with Christian.
He had always been the one to let Wendy down.
