Free Web NovelChapter 479: An Untimely Call
When Wendy heard the way he sounded, she immediately felt her heart break. At that moment, Wendy finally understood how important she was to Michael. She should not have played such a joke on him on a whim.
If she had really left, that would have killed Michael. Wendy reached out and embraced Michael. She sniffed as her eyes became warm and tears streamed down her face. "I’m sorry, Michael," she apologized. "I didn’t mean it."
"I’m just glad you’re back," whispered Michael over and over again. He could feel Wendy in his arms. He felt her warmth. Only then was he sure that she was really here with him.
Michael held on to her for a while without letting go. It was only when Wendy started to feel like she was getting crushed that she pushed him away, "Could you let go of me now? I’m finding it hard to breathe," she said.
Michael immediately let go of Wendy. He saw her gasping for air and her face had turned a little red. "I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean it," he apologized profusely. "I..."
"I know," Wendy cut off Michael’s explanation. She took his hand in hers and smiled gently, "You must be hungry. Shall we go home and eat?"
"Yes, let’s go home," Michael nodded.
Mr. York, who had gone to check the surveillance footage, was on his way back to report to Michael when he saw the both of them holding hands at the hotel’s entrance.
Mr. York’s eyes widened.
"Mrs. Lucas, you didn’t leave?" Mr. York was somewhat exasperated.
"Do you wish for me to leave?" Wendy asked with a laugh.
"Of course not," said Mr. York. He recalled what Michael had turned into earlier and shuddered at the prospect.
During the five years that Wendy had gone missing, Michael had had terrible mood swings. As his personal assistant, those five years had felt like a living hell.
If Wendy were to leave and disappear again for another few years, Mr. York was afraid that he might lose his sanity.
"I’m glad you didn’t leave, I’m really glad," Mr. York laughed.
"Ignore him, let’s eat," said Michael, holding Wendy’s hand as he led her inside.
Mr. York felt was flummoxed by Michael’s response as he watched the couple walk away. Ignore him? What did Michael mean by that? Who had scared him half to death by yelling and hollering like a madman earlier? And now he’s acting as if the storm had passed and the sun was out?
Back in the hotel room, the food was sitting on the table. It was still warm.
Michael had prepared four dishes and a soup, and they were all Wendy’s favorites.
He walked to the table and pulled out a chair for Wendy. "Try these. Tell me if my cooking has improved," he said.
Michael had already set the table and began serving the food to Wendy. He then took some food on a spoon and fed her.
She took a bite and exclaimed, "Not bad. Your cooking skills are almost on par with mine."
"You’re not shy about praising yourself?" Michael laughed.
"But that’s the truth," Wendy replied.
"Yes, that is the truth," Michael agreed. "My wife’s cooking is the best in the world.
No one can ever compare." He smiled brighter and deeper. He continued feeding Wendy, "Have some more."
Wendy swallowed the food and watched Michael continue serving her with more food. She felt a little sorry and guilty.
"Michael, I’m sorry," she said seriously, without a trace of the playfulness she had earlier.
She owed Michael an apology.
...
Wendy had played a trick on him at the spur of the moment. She had wanted to tease Michael. She had not expected Michael to be so anxious. Wendy thought to herself that if she were to really leave, he would most definitely be very sad.
"Wendy, you don’t have to say sorry to me. You won’t ever have to," said Michael.
His smile slowly faded at the seriousness of Wendy’s words.
Michael ladled out a bowl of soup and placed it in front of Wendy. He saw the guilt on her face and held her hand tightly. It felt like he was comforting her.
His gesture caused Wendy to feel that she had gone overboard. "Michael, I was just pulling your leg earlier. I wanted to see how you would react if I were to disappear," she offered an explanation. "This time you have shown me how important I am to you. I will not leave you so easily again."
"No..." Michael shook his head. "You shouldn’t say you would not leave me so easily again. It should be, you’ll never leave me again."
He shifted his body a little closer to Wendy and placed his arm over her shoulder.
"Wendy, promise me. No matter what happens in the future, you must not think of leaving me or leaving our two children. No matter how big the problem is, as long as we are together as a family, we will always be able to find a solution," he said.
"Promise me, all right?"
Wendy looked at Michael’s expression and found herself nodding. She could not bring herself to say no.
Immediately after Wendy had said ok, Michael planted a kiss on her lips. This time, Wendy did not turn away. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back.
When Michael felt Wendy’s passion, it was an encouragement to him. He was contemplating what he should do next when his cellphone rang. The sound of the ringtone broke the ambiance, snapping Wendy out of the moment of passion. She quickly pushed Michael away. freewebnoveℓ.com
However, Michael did not want to let Wendy leave. He grabbed both her hands as she pulled away. "Ignore it," he whispered.
"What if someone is looking for us urgently?" Wendy replied rationally.
"I’m sure it’s a wrong number. Ignore it," Michael repeated.
Michael then scooped Wendy up into his arms and carried her to the couch. But Wendy kept looking in the direction of the ringing cellphone.
Michael put Wendy down on the couch. He had only one thought on his mind. Yet Wendy kept thinking about the ringing cellphone.
"I think you should answer it," Wendy put her hand against Michael’s chest. "I’ll answer it." She then swiftly ran away from Michael’s arms. She ran so fast, it was as if she were afraid that Michael would pull her back. However, no matter how fast she ran, if Michael had not let her go, she would not have been able to get away.
Michael watched Wendy running away, feeling resigned.
He let out a sigh and followed after Wendy. "Who could that be? What an untimely call," he muttered. "If it weren’t anything important, I’m going to make him pay!"
Michael had just finished muttering when Wendy answered the cellphone. Wendy turned and glared fiercely at Michael when she heard the voice from the other end of the line.
Michael rubbed his nose innocently. Why was she glaring at him?
The next second, Wendy quickly answered in a gentle voice, "Leah..."
It was their daughter.
....
"Mummy, Mummy, are you at Boray Hotel room 6666?" Leah’s childish voice sounded excited.
"That’s right. How did you know?" Wendy was curious how Leah found out where they were staying. Wasn’t she supposed to be sleeping at home? It should be night time at Lake City.
"Because we are almost there, Mummy. Open the door."
"Don’t try to trick me, Leah. It’s so late, why aren’t you sleeping yet?" Wendy tried to get her to sleep. "You should go to sleep soon. Daddy and I will be back soon."
"I’m serious. I’m not tricking you," Leah had just gotten off the elevator and was running as fast as her short legs could carry her.
She raised her head to look at the room number. After making sure that it was room 6666, Leah tiptoed and rang the doorbell.
Inside the room, the doorbell suddenly rang. Wendy jumped. She looked at her phone and then at Michael. "Leah is here?" she asked incredulously.
Michael gave a small cough. He lowered his head sheepishly and rubbed his nose.
He had called Zess last night and asked them to come because he was afraid that he could not handle Wendy. He was afraid that Wendy would still want to leave him after she woke up. At his wit’s end, he decided to use the two children.
He thought that Wendy’s heart would soften after seeing their two children. No matter what, she would at least have to accompany the children back to Lake City.
And even if Wendy were to return to Lake City, Michael was not going to let her leave so easily again.
However, he had not expected to be able to win Wendy over by himself. If he had known, he would not have brought the children over.
Judging from Michael’s reaction, Wendy understood what was going on. She pinched Michael’s love handle and said angrily, "Are you crazy? Why did you bring them over from so far away?"
Michael deserved to be scolded. He did not retaliate. But Wendy wasted no more time on him. She rushed to open the door. And sure enough, she saw Leah, Jake, and Zess standing outside.
Leah ran into Wendy’s arms the minute she saw her mother. "Mummy! I miss you so much!" she shouted.
"I miss you too," Wendy said as she carried Leah in her arms and kissed her face.
Leah was getting bigger and it took more effort for Wendy to carry her. Thankfully, she didn’t have to bear Leah’s weight for a long while. She carried Leah into the room and set her down on the floor.
"When did you arrive?" Wendy pulled the two children to sit on the couch. She looked at Jake, "Why didn’t you let me know before coming here?"
"He told us to come. I thought you knew," Jake replied.
Jake still referred to Michael as "he."
It was Michael who had asked them to come but Jake knew that Wendy had not known about it. Jake deliberately phrased his reply that way.
"Jake..." Wendy knew that Jake had still not accepted Michael as his father. She stooped so that she was at eye level with Jake and held his little body in her arms "He is your Daddy, okay?" she said.
Jake knew what Wendy meant. Wendy looked at Jake expectantly. Then, Jake nodded his head slowly.
"So how should you address him?" Wendy was trying to get him to say "Daddy."
