Free Web NovelChapter 52: The Same Goal
"Wait..." Wendy took a deep breath and held it for one second before continuing, "Aren’t you afraid that Yvonne might get angry?"
"Wendy Stewart, I meant everything that I said just now," replied Michael. He was still looking into her eyes, and his gaze was sincere and earnest.
Wendy felt like she was stuck on a rollercoaster.
Her heartbeat fluctuated dramatically. She thought, is Michael really telling me the truth?
However, her rationality told her that she should not believe Michael’s words so easily. Or rather, she did not believe that she was significant enough to Michael for him to want to do that.
Observing Wendy’s state of bewilderment, Michael leaned in and quickly pecked Wendy’s face as if he were possessed. Wendy instantly froze. She reached out to touch her burning cheeks, then looked up at Michael who appeared completely unbothered. Unable to think clearly for a moment, she thought, did Michael really just kiss me?
"I’ll keep you company for the whole day today. Where do you want to go later?" Michael tossed his phone onto the other side of the couch. He said, "I won’t deal with any business or personal affairs today."
He was a workaholic who often worked past midnight and rarely rested, even during the weekends. Therefore, Wendy felt extremely touched by his declaration that he would stay with her the entire day and not deal with anything else.
"l don’t have anywhere I want to go," said Wendy.
She did not have any plans for them as she had initially thought that Michael would leave after lunch.
After his departure, she had planned to continue working on the dress design that she promised another fan on TikTok. A new fan had privately messaged her the previous night, requesting that she design something, and Wendy had agreed to do so.
Michael looked Wendy up and down. When he saw that she was dressed plainly and without a single piece of jewelry on her, he said, "Then, let me take you somewhere." He rose, grabbed her with one hand and the car key with another, and started heading out the door.
"Where are we going?" asked Wendy, who was still feeling dazed.
Michael did not answer her question, he simply told her that she would find out once they arrived. In the end, they stopped outside another large shopping mall. He said, "You need to get new clothes. Since you’re my wife, you cannot possibly continue to wear clothes from cheap, online shopping sites all the time. It was fine in the past when nobody knew who you were, but now that everyone knows, they will all laugh at my family if they see you looking so shabby. I want you to buy as many outfits and jewelry as you want in this mall, don’t worry about the prices."
It was Wendy’s first time seeing this generous side of Michael. She could not help but wonder if he treated Yvonne the same way. After all, Yvonne only wore designer clothes. She personally did not have any money, everything she had came from Michael. His money was the reason why Yvonne could lead such an extravagant lifestyle. At this thought, Wendy’s heart sank.
Gazing at Michael, she smiled, "In that case, won’t hold back." Since Yvonne spent so much of Michael’s money already, Wendy figured it would only be fair for her to do the same.
After they got divorced, Michael’s wealth would have nothing to do with her. With that mindset, Wendy entered a luxury store. She lived up to her words and picked out over ten outfits in one go, as well few pieces of jewelry.
Michael followed behind her, helping her carry the items she had chosen. She glanced back at Michael from time to time. When she saw that his hands were full and it was hard for him to carry anything else she wanted, she decided to stop. Her mood had been negatively affected by Yvonne’s phone call earlier, but it had bounced back up after buying so many new things.
She could not stop smiling. It was true what everyone said about women and retail therapy.
Shopping really put her in a much better mood. And this was the first time Wendy had spent so extravagantly in such a big, nice mall. She was in such high spirits.
"I’m done, let’s go home," said Wendy as she looked back at him with a smile. "I don’t think you can carry anything else."
"You barely spent any money," replied Michael.
The expression on his face grew much more relaxed as he noted Wendy’s high spirits. Yvonne loved dragging him along on her shopping trips in the past, but Michael never enjoyed himself.
Even though he let her spend as much of his money as she wanted, he never felt the willingness to carry her shopping bags for her.
However, he was doing exactly that for Wendy today, and he did not feel any reluctance at all. "Everything adds up to less than one million dollars," he continued. "As I said, don’t worry about the prices. Just buy whatever you want, until you’re satisfied."
Wendy knew that Michael was a wealthy man. However, the amount of money she had spent today was more than she had ever spent in her entire life. If not for the reminder of how much money Michael spent on Yvonne, perhaps Wendy would have felt reluctant to buy even a single dress. "We’re carrying too many things," said Wendy. Her hands were also full of her shopping bags.
Michael placed everything he was holding on the floor and reached into his pocket, only to remember that he had left his phone behind.
Since he had promised to spend the whole of today with Wendy, he had decided to leave his phone at home.
He reached out to Wendy and said, "Lend me your phone."
Wendy whipped out her phone and handed it to him. She asked, "What do you need it for?"
"Unlock it," said Michael when he saw the locked Screen. He held the phone up to her face. Wendy unlocked it as instructed and kept her gaze fixed on the phone, curious to see what Michael would do. When he saw that the wallpaper was a photo of himself, his fingers hovered above the screen for a long moment.
"Wendy, when did you take these photos without me knowing?" Michael’s lips pursed happily without him realizing it. He felt quite pleased.
It was a photo of Michael sleeping. As the background was quite dark, it was obvious that this photo had been taken in secret. Even though it was a little blurry, anyone could tell that the photographer had been serious and careful about it.
"Give it back," said Wendy as she reached out to snatch the phone from him. Since she used to love Michael so much, her wallpaper had always been a photo of him. However, he never used to care about her, so even though her wallpaper had remained the same for three years, he never found out about it.
Wendy had thought that he would never notice it in this lifetime. Although she had already made up her mind to get divorced, she did not put in the effort to change her wallpaper, as she was so used to it.
Michael raised his hand high so that Wendy could not reach the phone even when she stood on her tiptoes. At that moment, her cheeks started burning red. "Michael, give it back!"
"Answer me first, when did you take this photo of me? It’s your wallpaper, after all."
Wendy was so angry at not being able to reach her phone that she puffed out her cheeks, "Who said you’re the person in this photo? You’re so narcissistic."
"Who else can it be if not me?" Michael questioned her, "Just tell me when you took this photo, and I’ll return your phone to you."
"I took it secretly three years ago," replied Wendy. Frustrated, she retracted her hand and decided not to continue trying to snatch it back.
She said, "It was after we got married three years ago, during the first time you spent the night at our apartment. You were drunk..."
That night, Michael had returned home in a drunken state, asking her for a divorce. At that point, they had been married for less than half a month. He brought up the topic of divorce the very first time that he returned home, and when she refused, he forced himself on her.
Somehow, despite the violence, Wendy still loved him so relentlessly that she secretly took a photo of him and set it as her wallpaper-until now.
As she recalled the memories from that night, she suddenly lost all interest in the clothes and jewelry she had just bought.
Michael’s smile also faded when he saw Wendy’s expression. He parted his lips, "I’m Sorry."
"You don’t have to apologize to me." Wendy shrugged her shoulders and said, "That’s how I lived for the past three years."
Michael did not pursue the topic. He dialed Mr. York’s number and said, "It’s me, Michael. We’re at Barney’s shopping mall right now. We have too many shopping bags, so send a few people over to help us with it."
When Mr. York got Michael’s instructions, he was bewildered. If he had not misunderstood, this phone number belonged to Wendy, which meant that she was with Michael right now. On top of that, they were shopping together. He thought, how did I not realize how close the president has suddenly become with Wendy.
After the call ended, Michael handed Wendy’s phone back. Wendy took it and lowered her head. Just a moment ago, they were all smiles, but not anymore. Michael tried changing the topic, "I’ve asked Mr. York to send someone here to help us carry our shopping bags. I promised you that I’d let you shop as much as you want today, so don’t worry about this."
Wendy did not expect this from Michael. Regardless, she had already lost her desire to continue shopping. Feeling slightly down, she replied coldly, "It’s fine, there’s nothing else I want to buy."
Michael went silent for a moment. Then, he took Wendy’s hand and told her, "Let me take you to a shop."
The warmth radiating from his hand arose some complicated feelings within Wendy. Michael started dragging her away. Wendy looked back to see all their shopping bags on the floor and said, "The clothes..."
"They won’t go missing, no one would dare to steal them. Mr. York will be here shortly," replied Michael as he pulled Wendy onto the escalator.
Meanwhile ...
Christian was standing somewhere they could not see, watching them from afar with complicated emotions rising in his eyes. He did not expect their relationship to develop so quickly. Michael used to hate Wendy so much, but here he was shopping with her anyway.
He had to do something about this. He took out his phone and gave Yvonne a call.
Ever since Yvonne had heard Wendy’s voice through Michael’s phone, she had been trying to get in touch with him. Unfortunately, his phone remained switched off. She sent him text messages as well but did not receive any response. When she heard her phone ring, she immediately answered the call, saying, "Michael, you’re finally returning my calls."
"Your beloved Michael is shopping with his wife at Barney’s mall right now," said Christian calmly.
"What did you just say?" Yvonne refused to believe this. She said, "That’s impossible, Michael hates Wendy. Why would he go shopping with her?"
"Do you really still think that Michael hates Wendy right now?"
"..." Yvonne tightened her grip around her phone so much that veins bulged on her hands.
Christian was right. Michael did not seem to hate Wendy anymore. In fact, he seemed to have taken a liking to her. This was something that Yvonne did not want to acknowledge, but had to.
"Who are you? Why are you telling me this?" She was not stupid and had her fair share of ispicion toward this unfamiliar phone number.
"My name is Christian, and as for why I’m telling you this, I think..." The look in Christian’s eyes turned ominous as he said, "I think we have the same goal."
"So what?" Yvonne replied coldly, "What am I supposed to do about them being at the mall together?"
"You can call Michael and ask him to come to keep you company. Even if he refuses to do that, it will affect Wendy’s mood."
"You overestimate my pull on Michael. I’ve called him countless times, but his phone is turned off." freewebnøvel.coɱ
Christian’s eyes narrowed. He thought, Michael’s phone is turned off? Since Yvonne’s foot is injured and she’s still in the hospital, there’s nothing much that she can do either. It seems she won’t be of any help here. Without saying anything else, Christian hung up. When Yvonne realized that the call had been disconnected, she gritted her teeth in frustration.
She thought, did Michael really go shopping with Wendy? He never liked going with me in the past. No way, I can’t just sit around and let this happen. If this goes on, Michael will really end up falling in love with Wendy. And when that happens, I’ll have nothing left.
Yvonne forced herself to calm down and racked her brain for a solution. But what could else could she do if Michael refused to answer her calls? The truth was that her ankle had more or less fully recovered, but she knew that if she left the hospital, she would not be able to get any pity from Michael. After all, she had been fired from the company. If she remained in the hospital, at least she could use her injury as an excuse to make Michael come and visit her.
However, Michael had only ever done that once.
Or, she thought, perhaps she should go to Barney’s shopping mall right now. The moment that thought developed in her head, she immediately got out of bed and started doing her make-up. She needed to hurry and reach the mall before Michael and Wendy left together.
