Free Web NovelChapter 482: Do You Really Want Him To Get His Way?
Wendy finally snapped out of her daze, her forehead covered with cold sweat. She noticed Michael and jumped. She saw his eyes looking at the letter on the ground.
She instinctively bent over to pick it up and then hid it behind her back. However, her actions were so blatant that it was impossible for Michael to brush it off.
"What is it, Wendy?" Michael was shocked to see Wendy’s face pale with tiny beads of sweat on her forehead. Concerned, he asked as gently as he could, "What happened?"
"Nothing..." Wendy swallowed. Her voice trembling, "Nothing happened."
"Wendy, didn’t we promise each other that no matter what happens, we will face them together?" Michael tried his best to be very gentle. "What are you holding?
Could you show it to me?"
"I’m not holding anything. It’s really nothing." Wendy’s eyes kept darting around.
She did not dare to look at Michael. The letter behind her back had been rolled into a ball.
"Wendy, we promised each other, didn’t we? No matter what happened, we will face it together. You have to trust your husband. Whatever it is, I will always help you to fix it." Michael tried to get closer to Wendy. "Don’t you trust me?"
"Michael..." Wendy opened her mouth. She saw Michael slowly inching closer to her.
She did not back away, but she could not bring herself to explain what happened.
Michael could tell what Wendy was thinking. Actually, he had already guessed what Wendy was hiding. There was only one thing that could cause her mood to change so drastically, to make her become so afraid.
It was a letter. He knew that Clement had sent someone over again. Michael stopped moving and stood about two steps away from Wendy. He knew how greatly affected Wendy was by Clement.
And it was precisely because it had such a great effect on Wendy, Michael did not dare to snatch the letter from her. He did not want to force her into accepting that everything was fine. What he needed to do was to convince Wendy to trust him and walk out of that night’s trauma.
Wendy had to walk out of it by herself and to stop being afraid. Only then would she be able to truly leave that incident behind and move on.
If Clement could send someone to deliver a letter twice, he could continue to deliver a third and a fourth. Michael could not possibly force Wendy to forget about what happened that night each time.
Michael took a small breath. He was so afraid of agitating Wendy further that he did not dare to breathe. Then, he stretched out his hand to Wendy and tried to persuade her, "Wendy, could you give me what is in your hand? Trust me, and also trust yourself to be able to do it, ok?"
"Trust myself?" Wendy was no longer suspicious of Michael. But, she did not dare trust herself. Wendy could still carry on with her life as usual as long as there were no reminders of what happened that night. But once something related to that night appeared, Wendy realized that she would sink into fear and despair.
Like how she was now.
She thought she had already accepted the fact that it had happened. Michael was not bothered by what had happened and still loved her very much. She thought she could slowly forget about that night. fгeewebnovёl.com
But when Clement’s letter appeared again, Wendy could not help remembering the despair she felt that night.
"Yes, trust yourself..." Michael stretched his hand out to Wendy again. "As long as we are able to let go, we can move past anything. We’re the only ones who can influence ourselves."
...
Michael saw that Wendy had loosened up a little so he continued to coax her, "Listen to me. Give the letter to me. Let’s take care of it together."
Wendy took a deep breath. Her gaze lowered and she seemed to be deep in thought. She couldn’t make up her mind if she should listen to Michael and give him the letter.
She knew Michael wouldn’t mind settling the problem for her. But she found it hard to face the problem together with him.
She wasn’t as strong as she looked.
"Wendy, do you want Clement to beat us?" Michael asked. "He has been sending you letter after letter. It is obvious that he is playing mind-games with you. All he wants is to break us up. Do you really want him to get his way? The only way we can counter him is not to be bothered by this at all. Don’t you think so?"
"I..." Logically, her mind told her that what Michael said was right. She should listen to him. Wendy took a deep breath and looked as though she had come to a major decision.
Slowly, she stretched out her hand from behind her back.
The letter in her hand was now in plain sight.
Michael was glad to see Wendy take the initiative to hold out the letter.
He reached out to take the letter. From the side, they heard Leah’s voice, "Mommy, Daddy, have you rested enough? Can you come and play with me now?"
Leah ran over and saw the letter in Michael’s hand. She looked up and asked curiously, "Daddy, what is that in your hand?"
The moment she saw her daughter, whatever courage Wendy had mustered moments ago dissipated.
She found it hard to face her own child after what had happened.
Michael saw the change in Wendy’s expression. He lowered himself and patted Leah’s head. With a gentle tone, he said, "Leah, can you go play by yourself for a bit? Let Daddy and Mommy rest a little while more."
Leah didn’t like to hear that. She pouted and looked at Wendy.
When she noticed that Wendy looked pale and was perspiring, she ran towards her worriedly and asked, "Mommy, are you feeling unwell? I don’t want to play anymore.
I want to keep you company and rest with you."
"I..." Wendy was at a loss of what to do.
On normal days, Wendy would surely hug Leah or at least hold her hand when she came running to her like that.
But now, she didn’t know what to do with her hands.
Michael reached for Leah and pulled her to his side. He told her, "Mommy is indeed not feeling well. Why don’t you go play with your brother and let her rest? Daddy will keep her company here."
"I also want to stay with Mommy!" Leah protested. She was genuinely worried for Wendy.
At this moment, Jake and Zess came by.
Michael looked at his son and gave him a signal to help.
Thank God his son was smart enough to catch the hint.
Jake’s gaze went to Wendy and then to Michael.
He then held Leah’s hand and said, "Come, let me take you to play on the merry-go-round. Look at the people queuing. If we are too late, we might not get to play!"
"But Mommy..." Leah was still very concerned for Wendy.
"If we stay here, Mommy would have to take care of us," Jake explained. "Then she won’t be able to rest properly."
...
Leah thought what her brother had said made sense.
She nodded in agreement.
"Then Mummy, take a seat and drink some water. If you still find it uncomfortable, have Daddy take you to the hospital ok?" Leah’s eyes were filled with concern for Wendy.
Wendy felt a warmth in her heart when she heard what Leah said.
Her genuine concern for her made her less afraid than before.
Her eyes no longer avoided Leah’s. She now looked straight at her.
Slowly, her wrinkled brows relaxed a little.
She bent down and caressed Leah’s little head. With a smile, she replied, "Ok, I will."
Leah was relieved when she saw her Mummy smile. She smiled back.
Leah waved at her and said sweetly, "Mummy, I will go with Jake to the merry-go-round now. If you need anything, just shout for us. We can hear you from there."
"Sure," Wendy responded gently.
Looking at their departing backs, Wendy could feel a weight off her shoulders. The children were always her soft spot.
Zess had certainly noticed that something was not right. She cast a glance at Wendy. But she held her tongue and quickly followed the children to watch over them.
After they had gone further, Michael finally opened up the letter and read through it.
The contents of the letter were exactly as he had predicted.
With a grave look, he tore the letter up into pieces and threw them into the trash can. freeωebnovēl.c૦m
Michael walked over to Wendy’s side and noticed that she had eased a little. He held her hand and said, "This is all Clement could do. He sent all these letters to disrupt your thoughts. He thought he could break us up by doing this. He has obviously underestimated us."
He patted her hand and asked, "Am I right, Wendy?" Michael looked at Wendy expectantly but she didn’t respond for a while.
Clement had indeed beaten her.
Maybe not to a great extent but what he had done certainly affected her.
If Michael had not been by her side these few days, comforting her, she had no idea what she would have become.
"Look at our children, Wendy. They are so adorable. And they are so concerned for you. Do you really want to dwell in the past for the rest of your life and see them be affected by it?" Michael lowered his gaze and continued, "We cannot forever be stuck in the past. For my sake, for the children’s sake, we need to get over this. As long as we are not bothered by what happened, Clement can send all the letters he wants but it will still have no effect on us."
"Michael ..." Wendy sighed. She paused for a long while before drawling out, "I also don’t want to feel so affected but I cannot control myself. I thought I was already over this but when I saw the letter, I couldn’t help but to think about what happened that night."
"What we need to do is not forget what happened that night but to get over it," Michael corrected. "Let’s treat what happened like a dog bite. We got hurt but we have recovered. It’s no big deal."
Michael drew Wendy into his arms and spoke lovingly, "I don’t expect us to get over this matter so fast. But promise me, try to let go, try to move on ok? I hope you can think about me and think about the children whenever the memory pops up. We love you very much. When you torture yourself, you are torturing us too."
