"Really?" Wendy asked, searching his face and noting that he did not appear to be hiding anything.
But then, why would Clent have let her go so easily?
Although Wendy had passed, she recalled that she had wounded Clent before doing so.
And Michael had told her that he had arrived on the scene in the nick of ti.
Nonetheless, was it really all good timing and coincidence?
That Micheal had turned up just when she had passed out?
"Yes, really," Michael replied resolutely.
Looking at her tenderly, he squeezed her hands, urging, "Don’t you believe ?"
It was only then that Michael realized that his hands were cold.
Instantly, Michael withdrew his hand and tucked Wendy’s hands under the sheets, seemingly to keep her from feeling cold.
Looking at the unfinished food on the side table, Michael asked her, "Are you really done with the food? Would you like to at least eat a little more? One more spoonful, just one more spoonful, please?"
Michael coaxed her tenderly, as though he was trying to cajole a young child, hoping that she would at least eat a little more.
Wendy shook her head silently.
She was uncertain if she could believe what Michael had told her.
For so reason, she still felt a tad uneasy.
But then, watching Michael, she found him to be attentive and gentle, not displaying any sign that sothing untoward had happened.
He would have shown so signs of being upset if indeed sothing bad had happened to her.
Even a regular man would probably not be able to accept the reality of his own wife being violated by another man, much less be a witness to what had happened.
And Michael was no regular man.
Head hung low, Wendy bit her lips, appearing to be deep in thought.
Watching her in that state, Michael felt dreadful and anxious.
He feared that Wendy suspected sothing.
She would be devastated if she knew that she had been violated.
Racking his brains, Michael deliberately put on a stern face and said in a rebuking tone, "Don’t you think you owe an apology?"
"Huh?" Although Wendy had heard him, she had not recovered her senses and was confused.
"Why did you not tell that you were planning such a big operation?"
Looking jealous, he continued, "You collaborated with Todd to do this and kept in the dark. Do you still regard as your husband?"
"I..." Wendy was speechless because she was indeed at fault in this aspect.
Admitting her mistake, Wendy said, "I’m sorry. The reason why I did not inform you, or rather, did not dare tell you, was that I know you too well. You would not have condoned it.
"Besides, being located in Lake City, you could not have done anything apart from worrying endlessly about .
"On the other hand, Todd has lived in Rheinsville City for many years and, through his connections, he would be able to help where necessary."
At the ntion of Todd, Wendy looked a little worried and asked, "Where’s Todd? Is he alright? Did Clent harm him?"
"He’s alright. Don’t worry," Michel replied.
"I’ve seen him. He’s fine, apart from so bruises on his face."
"That’s great." Wendy heaved a sigh of relief, adding, "Actually, he had nothing to do with this. I was the one who got him involved.
"I’d never be able to forgive myself if he had been hurt because of ."
"Well, he was of no help to you at all," Michel replied flatly.
Continuing , he said, "If he had been of help, you would not have been captured by Clent. Instead of helping you, he ended up in trouble himself.
"If I had not arrived on ti, who knew what could have happened to him."
"Don’t be so harsh on him," Wendy replied.
She continued, "He did help a lot. I got into trouble this ti because of my own devices. Todd did his best to help ."
....
Michael was about to speak up when they heard footsteps at the door.
Then, they saw Todd entering the room with a huge bouquet of lilies, asking, "I thought I heard soone say my na?"
"Todd..." Wendy smiled in relief when she saw Todd alive and looking well.
Instinctively, she asked, "You okay?"
"I’m fine," Todd replied. Instead of passing the flowers to Michael, he put them directly into the vase sitting on the side.
Picking up the vase of flowers, he went into the bathroom to fill it with water.
When he returned, he asked Wendy, "Like them?"
Wendy nodded. "Thank you."
"Hey, what are we to each other? There’s no need to thank ," he responded.
Michael’s expression turned ugly when he heard what Todd had said. "A gift of flowers between friends is quite normal. Naturally, there’s no need to be so formal."
He deliberately stressed the word ’friends’.
He was intent on emphasizing the platonic nature of the relationship between Todd and Wendy.
Although Todd knew what Michael ant, he behaved as though he had no clue and simply smiled without responding.
Pointing to a chair by the side, Wendy said, "Have a seat."
Having seated himself, Todd looked at Wendy and noticed that she looked pale.
Concerned, he asked, "How are you feeling? When did you wake up?
"Are you hurt? Do you feel unwell?
"Don’t endure any pain or discomfort in silence and inform the doctor. Understand?"
"She’s not a child. Don’t you think that she would have the common sense to be discerning?" Michael chid in without looking at Todd.
Wendy sensed that Michael was behaving weirdly with Todd.
Didn’t they use to be good pals before?
So, what happened to bring upon this animosity?
Turning to glare at Michael, Wendy looked back at Todd and smiled. "I’m fine. I woke up not long ago. You don’t need to worry about .
"What about you? Did Clent’s n beat you up after they took you away?"
That said, Wendy looked down at Todd’s fingers.
She recalled that Clent had wanted to chop off Todd’s fingers.
Todd seed to know what Wendy wanted to check on. He held up his hands and spread his fingers for her to see, saying, "Look, they’re all here. Nothing is missing."
"Oh, that’s good." Wendy sighed in relief and added, "Fortunately, we seem to have escaped with no major harm done."
Turning again to look at Michael, Wendy noted that he was scowling. Trying to placate him, she said, "Fortunately, Michael appeared in the nick of ti and saved us from further harm. Thanks, Michael."
"Fortunately?" Todd frowned at Wendy’s words and looked solemn.
"What is it?" Wendy asked, her mind rattled as she began to feel uneasy again.
"You..."
Todd had just started to speak when Michael imdiately cleared his throat.
Ever since they arrived at the hospital in the early morning, Todd had repeatedly ntioned to Michael that Wendy had been violated by Clent.
And now, he appeared about to ntion it again, sending a chill down Michael’s spine.
What was Todd thinking?
Looking at Wendy, Michael smiled and asked Todd, "Didn’t you say that you had a lot of work to do? After coming to the hospital with Wendy, you had ntioned that you needed to go back to the office to settle sothing urgent. Is that all done now?
"I’ll stay here with Wendy. Don’t worry and get your work done."
"I...," Todd stamred. He had really nothing urgent that he needed to attend to.
Michael was trying to send him away.
He dearly wanted to stay but could not.
....
"Don’t put yourself out. I know that as a friend, you care very much for Wendy.
However, as her husband, I am even more concerned about her well-being. Don’t you agree?" Michael said as he walked over to Todd and, smilingly, shoved him, indicating that he should leave.
On his part, Todd, of course, knew what Michael ant. Instead of leaving, he replied, "I’ve made all the necessary arrangents to ensure that my work will not be affected."
"Even so, there must be other matters that need attending to. Surely, in a company with a large-scale operation like yours, there will be a continuous stream of issues to be resolved, no?" Michael stood with his back to Wendy and emphasized his words at Todd.
"My company is nowhere near as big as yours, Mr. Lucas. So why don’t you go back to Lake City and run your MC Group? No need to worry about Corinne because I will take good care of her. After all, I know Rheinsville City like the back of my hand," Todd rebutted, using Michael’s line of reasoning.
Michael glared coldly at Todd. Inching closer to him, he whispered threateningly, "What the hell are you playing at?"
Wendy sensed that sothing was amiss.
The animosity between Michael and Todd was way too obvious. In fact, they were openly sparring.
"What are you guys on about?" Wendy demanded to know.
Frowning, she asked, "What are you keeping from ?"
"Oh, nothing. What secret could we be keeping from you?" Michael replied as he turned to her with a smile.
Ironically, the speed at which Michael responded to her convinced Wendy that sothing was indeed amiss.
Frowning, Wendy refused to look at Michael. Instead, she turned her gaze to Todd and asked, "Todd, you tell . Are you hiding sothing from ?"
Todd looked at Michael, who glared fiercely at him.
Obviously, Michael was warning him to be careful with his words.
In fact, Michael was baffled by Todd’s behavior, not knowing what his next move might be.
Did he not wish for Wendy to be kept in the dark about the truth? Did he wish to see her devastated?
If she knew too much, she would surely be overwheld with guilt and sorrow.
Or was that his true intention?
Was Todd trying to use this opportunity to drive a wedge between him and Wendy?
For a long while, Todd said nothing as he thought about his next move.
Of course, he was astute enough to not reveal the truth about Clent at this ti.
After all, Michael had already warned him many tis.
At the very least, he had to play along with him for now.
Earlier on, when he had intentionally used the word ’fortunately’, it was purely to rouse Wendy’s curiosity anyway.
So now, he walked over to Wendy and straightened her comforter, smiling.
"Curiosity kills the cat. What secret would we be keeping from you, huh?"
"But it’s the way you said ’fortunately’ earlier. What was that all about?" Wendy asked. She had not forgotten what he had said earlier.
"Both you and I were accosted and wounded by Clent. In my perspective, it was a terrible outco. And especially so for you, suffering a nasty gash on the forehead and knocked unconscious, landing in the hospital like that.
"And yet, all you said was that we were lucky to have escaped with just so minor injury. I just felt that you were too forgiving," Todd explained glibly.
He added, "I, on the other hand, am not so forgiving. Right now, what I would dearly love to do is to tear Clent apart, bit by bit, to avenge you."
Wendy frowned at Todd’s words. Sohow, she did not believe him completely.
Because if Todd was telling the truth, why had Michael reacted the way he did?
Besides, it was very clear to her that there were so bad vibes between Michael and Todd today.
She knew that there had to be more to it than t the eye.
Nonetheless, from their behavior, she knew that neither Michael nor Todd intended to tell her what it was.
To her, that could only an one thing. The secret that they were trying hard to keep from her was clearly very significant.
Wendy’s eyes narrowed. Deep in thought, she said nothing.
At that mont, she felt extrely conflicted.
...
Having thought things through, Wendy suppressed her emotions.
Looking up, she smiled faintly and said, "What else can I do? It’s all water under the bridge now.
"Clent is no ordinary thug. Even if we were to seek him out for revenge, he would be one elusive person to locate.
"I just hope that you will not bla for putting you in danger like that."
"Oh please, don’t say that," Todd replied. "How could I bla you? I was fully aware of how dangerous this would be when I agreed to help you. In fact, I bla myself for not being able to protect you."
Although what Todd had just said sounded innocent enough, Michael knew that he had a hidden agenda.
And that was why he found Todd’s words particularly jarring to his ears.
Not wanting Todd to prolong his stay, Michael turned and looked icily at him, saying, "You should get back to your work, Mr. Lewis. There’s no need to worry now that you’ve seen for yourself that Wendy is fine.
"Please don’t hang about here at the expense of your business. Don’t you agree, Wendy?"
Michael had deliberately drawn Wendy in.
Lips pursed, Wendy looked first at Todd and then at Michael.
Giving it so thought, Wendy agreed, "Yes, Todd. I’m fine. Don’t let keep you from your work. I’ll call you if anything cos up."
If anything, that was clearly an invitation for him to leave.
Todd had simply ignored him when Michael had tried to make him leave.
However, now that Wendy had said it, he could not ignore her request and, instead, nodded in agreent.
But just when he was about to speak up, his phone rang.
It was Rosa.
Neither Timothy nor Rosa had contacted him since HG Enterprise collapsed.
This was the first ti one of them had contacted him.
Gesturing with his phone, Todd intentionally inford Wendy, "Rosa calling."
Wendy frowned when she heard that Rosa had called.
Knowing that Wendy still had a soft spot for Rosa, Todd purposely accepted the call in her presence.
After which, he put his phone in speaker mode.
"Rosa," Todd spoke first.
"Todd, do you have ti now?" Even through the phone, one could tell that Rosa was extrely weary and worried.
Todd took one look at Wendy before replying, "Yes, I do. What’s up?"
"Could you co to HG and talk to your ntor please?" Rosa requested.
Sighing, she continued, "He’s been holed up in his office for days, not eating or drinking.
"He’s refused to listen to anything I say. I’m at my wits’ end.
"Since you used to be his prot., he might just listen to you."
"I...," Todd hesitated. Looking down, he sighed, "Mr. Woods might not even want to see ."
At that, Rosa felt like she had been thrown into an abyss of hopelessness.
After a long silence, she continued, "So, what Timothy told ... Is it all true?"
"I’m sorry, Rosa," Todd replied. Of course, he knew what Rosa was referring to, and for that, all he could do was apologize.
Apart from that, there was not much else he could do.
"Timothy has always been so good to both you and Wendy. Why did you do it?" Rosa sounded like she was weeping now.
In fact, her knees felt weak that she was stooped on the floor where she was.
Her world of blissful living had, within a month, collapsed into nothing.
The husband that loved her dearly and the company that she was so proud of, everything had evaporated into thin air.
"I’m very sorry, Rosa. If Mr. Woods had not filled you in on the details, I am not at liberty to say too much," Todd explained.
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