"Wendy Stewart, let's get a divorce!"
These words were not unfamiliar to Wendy Stewart.
Yet, no matter how many times she heard those words, they still made her heart ache painfully.
Without hesitation, she rose and walked over to support the drunken man. But before her hands could touch Michael Lucas, he pushed her away cruelly.
"Don't touch me!" Michael's cold voice was filled with contemptuous rejection.
Wendy stumbled backward. Her collision with the edge of the table halted her momentum.
Michael approached her. He reached out, wrapping his hand around Wendy's neck. With a dark smile, he asked, "Do you agree to this divorce?"
Wendy found it difficult to talk when she was being strangled. She managed to choke out, "I... do not."
"You do not?" Michael's smile grew even colder as he tightened his grip around her neck.
Following that action, he pushed Wendy onto the table and informed her coldly, "In that case, you have to fulfill your obligation to me as my wife ..."
Wendy gripped the edges of the table forcefully and could only passively put up with everything that was happening.
After some time, Michael finally decided to spare her.
He walked over to the edge of the bed, pulled open the bedside drawer, and took out a pill. Tossing it onto Wendy's body, he instructed her in his usual icy cold tone, "Swallow it."
The pill first landed on Wendy's body before falling onto the ground.
She gazed at the pill lying on the floor. Lowering her head, Wendy squatted down and picked it up slowly.
Picking up the pill, Wendy hesitated for a moment before putting it in her mouth.
Michael left after watching Wendy consume the pill.
Wendy waited until Michael had completely disappeared from her vision before she spat out the pill in her mouth.
Staring at the tiny pill, Wendy laughed bitterly, and then she started to cry quietly.
She had never dared to cry in front of Michael.
After all, Michael had once told her that he hated it when she cried, that he hated looking at her sad face.
The following day, Wendy went to work at MC Enterprise on time as if nothing happened.
MC Enterprise was the biggest company in Lake City and Michael Lucas was the president there. Wendy happened to be his personal assistant.
Michael's cold voice drifted to her ears the moment she entered the president's office.
He said, "This is the third time that you are late this month. Your bonus salary has been completely deducted."
Wendy bowed her head slightly and replied, "In that case, you can dock my pay."
The truth was that Wendy had not arrived late at all. This was just Michael looking for an excuse to deduct her pay.
Without raising his head, Michael said, "You can quit if you have any opinions about it."
"I don't have any opinions," replied Wendy as she blinked. "Let me prepare some coffee for you."
After preparing the coffee, Wendy served it to Michael.
She had just reached his office door when she heard Yvonne's voice.
Yvonne Taylor was the woman that Michael had loved for four years. Because of Yvonne, Wendy had been reduced to a cunning and unscrupulous woman in Michael's eyes.
Michael had once warned Wendy that the only thing he could give her was a marriage certificate. The only reason she was able to join his company was because of pressure from his grandmother.
She was instructed to avoid Yvonne whenever that woman appeared at the company. The consequence for not adhering to that was Wendy's departure from MC Enterprise.
Wendy was afraid to disobey.
Just as Wendy was about to head to the lounge to avoid Yvonne, she heard the latter say, "Michael, you've finally agreed to let me join the company as your assistant. I'm overjoyed."
Wendy heard Michael acknowledge those words.
This made Wendy instantly stop in her tracks. Her hands, which were wrapped around the cup of coffee, started trembling.
Wendy entered the office and grew agitated before Michael, which was a rare occurrence. "I don't approve of that!" she said.
Michael shot Wendy a disgruntled look, replying in a cold voice, "What right do you have to disagree?"
Wendy said, "Michael, you promised me."
"I did promise you, but it's been three years. Some things should have changed a long time ago," replied Michael coldly. "You don't get any say in the company's affairs."
"Grandmother would never agree to it. Aren't you afraid of angering her?" For Wendy, Michael's grandmother was the only bargaining chip she possessed.
When Michael heard those words, his face instantly darkened. "Wendy Stewart, you keep dragging my grandmother into the picture. Haven't you had enough? Let me warn you, don't try to use my grandmother to pressure me. If you feel as though you can't stay in this company, the HR department is on the fifth story."
This was Michael's ultimate weapon. No matter what happened, if Michael threatened her with divorce or resignation, Wendy found herself unable to do anything except grit her teeth and put up with it all.
***
News of Yvonne Taylor's new position of assistant to the president of MC Enterprise spread like wildfire throughout the company that very afternoon.
It was well known within the company that Yvonne was Michael's girlfriend.
Initially, Michael wanted to arrange for Yvonne to have a separate office. However, Yvonne claimed that she was coming here to work and said that it was best if they followed the company's rules.
Consequently, it was only natural that Yvonne and Wendy started sharing the same office space.
Yvonne approached Wendy with a smile. She said, "Wendy Stewart, you resorted to despicable means to steal Michael from me three years ago and plotted to get married to him."
"But how are things going for you now?"
"The entire company, no, in fact, everyone in Lake City knows that I am his real girlfriend."
"If you're smart, you should leave Michael of your own accord."
"Otherwise, don't blame me for being nasty."
"This is the president's work schedule for this week. I've already flagged out the important clients for you. Since you're now his assistant, you should do what you need to do." Wendy handed Yvonne a document and continued, "The first thing you should do upon arriving at the company every morning is to make a cup of coffee for the president. President Lucas likes his coffee without sugar, and you have to personally grind the coffee beans ..."
Wendy had not finished speaking when Yvonne slapped away the document she was holding. Yvonne retracted her smile.
Her voice filled with hatred as she said, "Why are you so shameless? Michael does not love you at all, but you insist on clinging to him. Do you know that Michael always tells me how disgusted he feels when he sees you? I really don't know how your parents raised you. You are just a vixen who specializes in stealing other people's boyfriends!"
"Yvonne Taylor!" Wendy stood up abruptly, slamming her hand heavily against the table. "We both know very well exactly what happened three years ago."
"So what if we know very well?" Yvonne sneered. "I'm sure you've tried to explain yourself to Michael many times over the past three years. If he wanted to believe you, it would have worked long ago."
"Stop daydreaming! I am the person Michael loves. In his heart, you are just a vicious woman. See, I wanted to join the company and all had to do was tell him about it. He let me come to work the following day. You should know better than anyone where I stand in his heart. If you are smart, you should leave before it's too late. Otherwise, I'll make sure you meet with a horrible end!"
"Is that so? In that case, let's just wait and see what happens," replied Wendy. She had endured everything for the past three years without getting divorced, there was no way that she would just back off just because Yvonne joined the company.
Suddenly, Yvonne shrieked and fell to the ground. Her tone immediately grew indignant as she said, "Miss Stewart, I know you don't like me and you never wanted me to join the company. However, all I wanted to do was stay by Michael's side and help him alleviate some of his work problems ... I know you guys are married and I should not be doing this. But your marriage was a mistake in the first place, it was you who ... who ..." Yvonne burst into tears.
Wendy did not have to turn back to guess that Michael had probably stepped into the room.
Indeed, Michael took big strides forward. He squatted to help Yvonne up. His face was filled with anger as he gazed at Wendy. "You should know that there is a limit to my tolerance."
"Michael, please don't blame Miss Stewart. She just wanted to chase me away. She doesn't want me here," said Yvonne as she leaned heavily on Michael as if she had no backbone and was incapable of standing on her own.
Wendy clenched her fists hidden beneath her sleeves.
"There is a CCTV in this office. You can look at the footage to see for yourself what really happened earlier."
Wendy knew Michael would never believe her words. The CCTV footage was the only way to let Michael learn about the truth.
Upon hearing those words, Yvonne's eyes flashed, and she started crying harder.
"Michael, I just wanted to work peacefully with Miss Stewart. After all, we are both your assistants. All I did was ask her about some work-related questions and requested for her guidance ... However, instead of helping me, she slapped my face with a document, and even pushed me ..."
Yvonne's crying had reached its peak.
Michael comforted her while lecturing Wendy, "If you dare bully Yvonne again, I'll sure to teach you a lesson that even grandmother cannot interfere in."
"Haha ..." Wendy chuckled bitterly.
Indeed, Michael did not even want to check the CCTV footage.
He believed everything Yvonne said.