Free Web NovelChapter 459: Leaving Todd Behind
Fortunately, the water was lukewarm and not boiling.
The glass smashed directly into Todd’s face before dropping to the floor, sending water splashing everywhere and dampening Todd’s clothes.
"Get lost!" These were the first words that Timothy had uttered in the past few days.
"Mr. Woods... " Todd was about to speak up when Timothy picked up something else from the table and threw it at him.
Noting that Todd had remained where he was, Timothy stared at him and sneered, "I can accept that Corinne had betrayed me because it was I who first had an ulterior motive in getting close to her. But you too?
"Dig deep into your conscience and ask yourself if I had ever mistreated you? Back then, if it wasn’t for me pleading with Christian to spare your life, you would have been shot dead!
"I, Timothy Woods, have had a successful life with many accomplishments. Little did I expect that I would eventually be taken down by my two beloved students."
"I’m sorry, Mr. Woods," Todd repeated, keeping his head hung low and enduring Timothy’s rage.
He had done it because the person who needed his help was Wendy.
If it had been anyone else, he would have refused without any hesitation.
But since it was Wendy, there was no way he could have refused to help her.
Nor would he have wanted to refuse to help her.
If he had to choose between his mentor and Wendy, Todd would have undoubtedly picked Wendy.
And if it was destined that they would be enemies, he would stand on Wendy’s side.
"You’re sorry?" Timothy burst out laughing again.
However, somewhere during his mirthless laughing, tears welled up in his eyes as he said, "What’s the point of saying sorry? If that’s how it works, I would gladly say sorry to you a hundred times, ten thousand times.
"I’d say it any number of times if that would revive my HG."
Timothy’s words had rendered Todd speechless. He did not know how to respond.
Glancing at the food and fruits laid out on the table, Todd sighed and said, "Look, Mr.
Woods, HG is finished. I know very well that you had spent your entire life building up HG.
"However, I’m sure you know better than me what HG had become. The fact that it’s now collapsed may not be a bad thing.
"Mrs. Woods is right. You are both of retirement age. Why not take this opportunity to retire and live a life of leisure? Wouldn’t that be better?"
"Better?" Timothy sneered. "How about if I engineered the collapse of Lewis Design instead, and you could go home and live happily ever after? Would it be better for you?"
Once again, Todd was stumped by Timothy’s words.
HG had been allegedly involved in criminal activities run by the mafia. It was just a matter of time before they were exposed and brought to justice.
By comparison, Todd’s Lewis Design Group was a regular design company with no connections to the criminal underworld. Timothy was stretching it, comparing apples to oranges.
Nonetheless, Todd was able to understand Timothy’s rage.
And that was why he did not rebut Timothy.
Meanwhile, Rosa, looking extremely weary, sighed quietly.
She had made a mistake asking Todd to come here.
She had initially hoped that Todd might be able to talk some sense into Timothy.
But now, it seemed that she had merely fueled his rage. frёeωebɳovel.com
Fortunately, she had not asked Wendy to come over too. That would have made matters worse many times over.
"You should go," she turned to Todd, adding, "I’ll see you out."
At that, she gestured for him to leave the office.
Sighing, Todd said nothing and turned to leave.
"Mrs. Woods, please look after him," he said.
Looking concerned, he continued, "I’m afraid that I may not be of much help here."
"It was my bad for asking you to come." Rosa sighed helplessly, adding, "Perhaps you should stay away from now on."
Todd did not respond to her, nor did he comment further.
Bowing to Rosa, he said with sincerity, "Please take care."
At that, Todd turned and walked away quickly.
When Rosa returned to the office, Timothy rebuked her, "Why’d you ask him here for? Don’t you think I’m pathetic enough already?"
She did not respond to him. Instead, she kept her head low and silently swept up the shattered glass on the floor.
...
Meanwhile, Wendy had been waiting patiently in her room for Jill to call.
Michael had cut an apple, intending to give it to Wendy. But when he remembered that she could not, as yet, take solid food, he ate the apple himself.
Seeing her worried face, he consoled her. "Don’t worry. I’m sure Jill will call once she has received the information. After all, it is now the middle of the night in Lake City."
"Uh-huh," Wendy nodded in agreement.
Fortunately, the phone rang shortly after. Jill had called.
Wendy immediately accepted the call.
"Hi, Wendy, what’s this urgent matter that you want to talk about?" Jill asked.
Although it was in the middle of the night in Lake City, Jill had not gone to bed yet.
She had been practicing on her own in the studio.
As far as Jill was concerned, this program was very important to her, and she was intent on giving it her all.
Isabel had called the program leader, asking him to pass Wendy’s message to Jill.
In turn, the program leader had asked one of his team members to locate Jill.
Since it was late at night, the team member had assumed that Jill would be at the dormitory.
However, when she got there, Jill was nowhere to be found.
After searching around for her, the team member finally located Jill in the studio.
That was why there had been a long interval before Jill called.
"Come back to Rheinsville City. Your dad’s in trouble," Wendy said, not delving into the reasons.
She did not think that it was appropriate for her to tell Jill too much on the phone.
"My dad?" Jill had been holed up in a closed-door training session and had no idea what had happened.
Sounding panicky, she asked, "What’s up with my dad? Is he sick?"
Jill’s initial thought was that something had happened to her father physically like he had been taken ill or in a traffic accident.
"No," Wendy hesitated, lips pursed.
With a sigh, she continued, "Something’s happened to HG. Go read about it on the internet. Your dad’s not in a good mental state right now. You should come back as soon as possible."
Jill felt a sense of premonition at Wendy’s words.
Without hesitation, she said yes, she would head home.
She knew that Wendy would not joke about something like this.
Since Wendy had called her personally, asking her to come home, it had to be something very serious.
Hanging up, Jill immediately went online to search for news about HG.
Despite being mentally prepared for bad news, she had not expected HG to be plagued with so many issues during the short span of a month.
In the next instance, Jill booked a flight home and applied for a leave of absence from the program coordinator.
"I really need to go away for a few days. Can I take a few days off, please?
"I will try my best not to let my absence adversely affect the progress of the program," she pleaded.
"You had signed an agreement before joining this program. Do you know what it means if you insist on walking out now?" the program leader asked.
"We have already been very lenient in letting you use the phone."
If not as a favor to Isabel, he would not have agreed to let Jill use the phone.
"I’m so sorry. There’s something critical back home that needs my attention. I must head home," Jill pleaded again. "I just need a few days. Please?"
The program leader shook his head and said, "We are proceeding to the final round of the competition - the ultimate goal of all those long hours of grueling closed-door training.
"I know that your family lives in Rheinsville City. You will not make it back in time for the finals if you go home now.
"I have high hopes for you, you know. You work very hard, and you’re talented. I do hope that you will give it more thought before deciding."
That said, the program leader left her.
Indicating that there was no room for negotiation.
If Jill was adamant about leaving now, he would have no choice but to act according to the conditions of their agreement.
By leaving in the middle of the program, Jill would have conceded her right to compete.
It had been an arduous journey for Jill to get to this stage of her profession.
...
Indeed, Jill had great potential.
She was not only one of the instructors’ favorites but had also garnered high customer ratings throughout the program.
To prepare for the program, she had practiced late into the night almost every day and yet was always the earliest out of bed every morning.
Her love for singing was not a temporary pastime.
She had been so adamant about joining the program that she had fallen out with Timothy.
And now, with the finals in sight, was she really going to walk out of the program?
However, HG was in a crisis right now.
And this was when her father needed her most.
Would she doggedly persist in chasing her dream and leave her father to deal with his own problems?
Well aware of what HG meant to Timothy, Jill knew that he would be at his most fragile, that this was the time when he needed her most.
Before this, Jill had not shed a single tear, nor had she complained, regardless of how cutthroat the competition or how grueling the training was.
But now, tears were welling up in her eyes.
She took a long, deep breath, pondering over her options.
She could not bring herself to selfishly abandon her father and proceed with the program.
She consoled herself that she would have other opportunities to realize her dream of being a singer in the future.
Nonetheless, for now, she could not just do nothing and let her father face this crisis on his own.
Clenching her hands into tight fists, she finally made her decision.
...
Wendy had spent two days in the hospital.
Although she had asked to be discharged, Michael had wanted her to stay for a few more days under the observation of the doctors.
Aware that Michael was worried about her health, Wendy tried to placate him, saying, "I’m fine, really. So, stop worrying."
At that moment, her doctor entered the room. After a detailed assessment, he gave Wendy a clean bill of health. "Excellent recovery."
"So, can I be discharged?" Wendy asked immediately.
"It’d be best if you could stay for a couple more days for further observation.
However, if you don’t feel unwell, you can be discharged if you wish," the doctor replied.
"You could recuperate at home. Just be more mindful about getting adequate rest."
"See, even the doctor is suggesting that you stay for a couple more days. Let’s just stay put for two more days," Michael coaxed. "There’s no need to be discharged so soon."
"But the doctor has also said that I could be discharged if I don’t feel unwell. I know my body very well. I’m totally fine now," Wendy rebutted.
"I do not want to stay in hospital any longer."
"Why are you so intent on getting discharged?" Michael asked in exasperation.
"There’s no longer a need for you to rush back to work. Why not stay in hospital and rebuild your strength before getting discharged. That would make me feel more reassured." freeωebnovēl.c૦m
"I... " Wendy sighed and told him honestly, "Actually, I want to go see Mr. Woods."
"Are you worried about him?" Michael wanted to know.
Keeping a hold on his emotions, he continued calmly, "Don’t tell me you’re feeling guilty about him?
"Don’t forget that he was in cahoots with Christian. All that talk about how kind he had been to you; that’s all fake."
"Yes, I know," Wendy nodded.
"I do want to check in on him. But there’s also something else that I need to do.
"About those bodyguards that you brought with you. Have they gone home?"
Michael shook his head, "Nope, they’re still here. What’s up?"
Although Clement had not been found, Michael did not want to send all the bodyguards home just yet.
He wanted the bodyguards right here in Rheinsville City for as long as he and Wendy were here.
He wanted to make sure that Wendy was adequately protected in case Clement turned up.
"Do you remember seeing a safe in Mr. Woods’ office?" Wendy asked. She had not been able to forget the safe in Timothy’s office.
"Since HG has collapsed, I want to go see Mr. Woods and ask him for the safe."
Of course, Michael remembered the safe.
It probably held evidence of Christian’s crimes.
Back then, Wendy had almost been caught by Timothy when she had tried searching for the safe.
...
Looking at Michael, Wendy said, sounding worried, "Something unexpected might come up if we delay this any further."
"A couple more days would not make a big difference," Michael replied. He was more worried about Wendy’s health.
To him, Wendy’s health was of the utmost importance.
Trying to placate her, he said, "Just stay here for two more days until you get stronger. We’ll go and see Timothy when you’re fully recovered."
"I’m better now, really," Wendy insisted.
As proof, she got up from the bed and walked towards Michael, saying, "See? I’m perfectly fine now."
Just when Michael was about to speak up, they heard footsteps at the door.
Todd, with a bunch of flowers in his arms, as usual, had entered the room.
Putting the flowers in the vase, he smiled at Wendy, "Feeling better today?"
"I’m fine," Wendy responded.
Looking at him, she asked, "Did you check in on Mr. Woods? How is he?"
"Well, he’s... " Todd paused before deciding to be honest with her and continued, "Not good."
Michael scowled at Todd.
Although he was not happy at all to see Todd, he had to be careful to not be too rude to him in Wendy’s presence.
Otherwise, Wendy would once again suspect that they were hiding something from her.
For that reason, Michael would try his utmost not to lose control of his emotions.
"I’m planning to get discharged today. I want to check in on Mr. Woods."
"You’re getting discharged today?" Todd looked dubious as he assessed Wendy’s physical condition.
Frowning, he continued, "You’ve only been here for two days. Are you sure you’re OK?
"I get that you’re worried about Mr. Woods, but surely there’s no need to rush to him?
"Yes, Mr. Woods is not in top form now, but his wife is there by his side. I don’t think there’s a major issue there."
"Besides checking in on him, there’s something else I need to do," Wendy replied.
Her relationship with Timothy was a complicated one right now.
Michael remained silent as he watched Todd trying to dissuade Wendy from getting discharged.
Although he disliked Todd, he decided that it would be a good thing if the latter managed to stop Wendy from getting discharged.
"Oh, stop it! Will you two stop fretting over my health, please? I’m the one who knows my body best," Wendy protested in exasperation.
Looking resolute, she said firmly, "I have decided to get discharged today. If you’re supportive of my decision, please help me with the paperwork. If not, I will do it myself."
Michael knew that Wendy preferred to put things into motion and not waste time talking.
Also, she would stick to her decision once it had been made, regardless of what anyone said to her.
And so, just when he was about to give in to her and offer to get the paperwork done, Todd cut in and said, "I’ll do it."
Michael’s words had been taken out even before they got out of his mouth.
Oh well, he was welcome to go if he wanted to.
Michael was not about to vie with him for that task.
Instead, he said to Wendy, "I’ll help you pack." And at that, he started packing up her stuff.
Todd looked at Michael, surprised that the latter had not flatly refused to let him help.
He had presumed that Michael would once again claim ownership over anything related to Wendy and want to get the discharge paperwork done himself.
Saying nothing else, Todd simply smiled at Wendy, saying, "Be right back," and left.
Since there were not many things to pack, Michael completed his task quickly.
Holding Wendy’s carry-all in one hand, Michael reached out to help Wendy, saying, "Let’s go."
Not moving, Wendy said, "Let’s wait for Todd. It’s not nice to leave without him."
"Well, I’m sure he’ll call if he can’t find us," Michael retorted. "Since you’re a recovering patient, you won’t be walking too fast anyway. He will catch up with us by the time we make our way downstairs."
Michael did not want to wait for Todd at all.
His greatest wish was that Todd would not catch up with them.
