20. Five days before the wedding
2038 Words
Wendy POV
If I was angry before, then someone has put a curse on me now. Nothing can calm me down, not even the closeness of my children. My dad is taking care of them right now while I'm at the gym and smashing everything I can find: punching bags, faces of my opponents in the boxing ring, etc.
Brody is here and is following me all the time with a troubled facial expression. I don't know if it's a coincidence that he's here or because Damien sent him here; in any case, I honestly don't care. My freedom will disappear, and my anger will grow inside me; I need to get it out before doing something stupid.
I stare at the wall, and I think I hear it laughing at me; I'm seriously losing my mind. Without thinking about it, I slam my fist into the concrete wall, and a loud creaking echo in the hall, it is officially broken. Great, just f*****g great!
"f**k!" I scream and look down at my bloody hand.
The hand pulsates and hurts; unfortunately, it does not remove the ebb from my aching heart the slightest. I can see when Brody picks up his phone and talks to someone before he hangs up again. He slowly walks up to me where I sit.
"Hello, princess," he says, smiling. "That doesn't look good at all."
"A little pain no one has died from," I answer, grimacing when he touches the swollen area.
"It's broken," he notes, sighing at me. "How do you end up in these situations all the time? Are you trying to beat a record?"
"Maybe," I reply, grinning. "Am I winning?"
"Guaranteed," he laughs.
The double-sided door opens, and my favorite couple walks hurriedly inside. Adrien and Jaxon are adorable together; probably, it was him Brody called earlier. They walk up to me, Adrien quickly looks at my hand and sighs loudly.
"What's the deal with you and Damien breaking your hands, huh?" he asks me, and I am smiling amused at him.
"Oh, don't try with me! You love playing doctor and yelling at me when I hurt myself, admit it!" I laugh.
"I admit to no such thing!"
"You were doing the same thing when I was pregnant with the boys," I say, smiling while feeling nostalgic when I remember my baby bump.
"Okay, fine, that's true. I miss your belly, you fit perfectly to be pregnant, " he says, and my smile disappears. "Damn, sorry, Wen. I don't-"
"It's okay, I have four children already and have no plans to have any with my future husband," I respond in disgust. "My legs will continue to be glued together, no worries there."
"I hope so! Because if you're going to get pregnant again, then everyone should be involved at the same time."
"You were there when I was pregnant with the boys," I point out.
"Yes, but not with Fiona. Besides, Damien was not included from the beginning of any of them."
"And whose fault was that again?" I ask and lift my eyebrow; he looks down at my hand as he patches it up all over again, I guess I ruined his focus the first time.
"Is he nice to you?" he asks instead, probably to change the conversation topic.
"Herman?"
"Yes, Herman Ravellie."
"I can't directly state that our marriage will start well, given that he low-key said he wanted to "taste what his brothers already had," I respond with disgust and feel the bile in my throat.
"Did he say that?" exclaims Jaxon.
"Yeah, in the car the other day when he picked me up."
The three men give each other a look but do not comment. What can they say? Nothing, because no answer affects what is already decided. We cannot resolve the situation because there is no choice but for me to submit and receive what is thrown at me.
"So, where are you going after this?" Adrien asks after he secured the bandage around my hand.
"I was going to pick up the kids at my dad's, but that's all," I say, shrugging my shoulders.
"Would you like to have lunch with us?" Jaxon asks, and when I look at him suspiciously, he hurries to continue. "Damien won't be there, I promise!"
I nod and pick up my bag before we get out of the gym. Adrien throws an arm over my shoulders while the brothers walk by our sides to protect against possible dangers. For once, I feel confident and relaxed, it's a nice feeling.
We walk to a cafe, and Adrien orders for me; he knows what I like. None of us say anything, and the embarrassing silence spreads quickly. Gratefully, the food soon comes to our table, and we can eat to fill the deafening silence.
"Miss Ivanovich?"
I look up and meet my secretary, Paula's smiling face. She carefully looks around among my company, and she has something to say, but hesitates because she doesn't know if she can say it openly. I wipe my mouth on a napkin and sit down straighter in the chair.
"Paula, what can I do for you?" I ask in my office voice that I only use when I'm at work or am with business associates.
"I just want to ask if you're sure about the choice as to who you're signing the company to, it might be good if you take a few days and-"
"Paula, I don't have a few days. The company changes hands as decided; one of the terms of the contract is that everyone who works there at present should be allowed to continue doing so. You're not going to lose your job, Paula. I promise," I answer and smile a little at how relieved she looks.
"Thank you, miss Ivanovich. I'm sending off the contract you signed today, " she says, walking out the door again.
"Paula?" I shout, and she turns around to look at me. "Hand it over personally, please, as soon as possible."
She nods and walks away. I return to eating my pasta and ignore the curious glances of my friends. After a while, I get tired of being stared at and glances up from my food. Adrien raises an eyebrow questioning before he wipes my mouth and laughs.
"You don't eat like a lady, little miss," he says.
"What a good thing that I'm not a lady then," I answer and smile.
"Why do you renounce the right to the company?" asks Brody. "After all, you will still have to work after you get married."
"No," I answer and take a sip from my red wine. "I am expected to become a housewife and am not allowed to work."
"Are you kidding me?!" exclaims Jaxon.
"Breath, it's not the end of the world," I say even though I know it's a big deal.
"Okay, aside from the extremely sexist 1400s behavior, who's going to take over the company?"
"I have signed the contract to Damien, he's going to be the new owner," I reply and return to my food.
"Why?"
"Because someone needs to take care of it until that day, the children become adults and can decide whether they want to take over or not," I respond with a faint smile. "Although I may not be there, then, at least I want to leave behind something that they can use, and I do not have much else."
They look at me with pity, and for a second, I find myself seeing Brody being touched by how much I trust Damien despite our swaying history. I've almost eaten up when my phone rings, when you talk about the trolls, it's the man of the hour calling.
"E&N, how can I help you?" I ask in my formal tone and smile to myself.
"Really? We have four children together, and you answer my call as if we are doing a joint rebuilding," laughs Damien on the other side of the phone.
"Someone has to keep it professional until you sign the contract. I guess that's why you're calling, right?" I ask, content because I know it's true.
"How did you know that?" he asks astoundingly.
"As you mentioned, we have four children together; I should know you at least a little by now."
"Are you sure about this?"
"Someone needs to keep the company alive until the children can decide what they want to do with it; all the conditions are included in the contract. All you have to do is sign it and send it back to me."
"I saw that you want to keep all the employees, that's generous of you."
"They've worked with me for a longer period and shown where their loyalty lies, there's no reason to kick them out," I reply.
"Why is it called "E&N" by the way? Is it an abbreviation for anything?"
"I can't reveal such details at the moment, and you know that," I reply and smile at his sigh.
Damien POV
Wendy is hopeless, utterly hopeless! I sit in my office and work in peace when Wendy's secretary comes in with an urgent document in hand. She doesn't say anything; she gives me the paper and waits for me to skim through it.
"Does Wendy give me her entire company?" I ask Paula stunningly, and she nods.
"Miss Ivanovich thinks it's in safe hands with you until her kids are old enough to take over," she replies.
"Why is she doing this?"
"Unfortunately, I wouldn't know and can't answer that, Mr. Winston. It's probably best that you talk to her yourself," she says, walking out the door.
I read through the terms, and everything looks good. The company stays with me until the children can take care of it like Paula said, and the employees should be allowed to keep their jobs; the other conditions are simple formalities. I pick up my phone and call Wendy.
After the conversation, I'm sitting there thinking about why she can't keep the company herself. Even if I ask, I doubt that she will answer the question at all. There's a reason she does this; Wendy does nothing without reason.
My best hope is my brothers and Adrien, hopefully she has told them. When I talked to her, I thought I heard Jaxon in the background; maybe she was with them then. I feel a little jealous that I wasn't invited if they were with each other.
But at the same time, I can understand that too. After our deep conversation and my outburst yesterday, it was probably the best. I'm not stable now in any way, and I don't know if I'll ever be again. Thank God I have Adrien and the others who offered to help me with the children in the first period.
f**k! Why can't I do anything?! I hate being helpless, especially when it comes to my love. Wendy is so much more than the mother of my children; she is my zest for life and my pillar in life. I don't know how I got through without her before I met her.
I could do anything to get her out of this situation. Wake up next to her every morning, have breakfast together with our little family in a house... Eat business lunches together, cook dinner, play with the kids, fall asleep next to each other, just to get to start the great circle all over again.
It may sound boring to you, but for me, it has always been appealing to sit on the porch late summer evenings with the woman of my life and drink lemonade, then take a dance in the moonlight. I'm a romantic deep down, and now, now it's too late...
A/N:
Hello everyone!
Why does it sound like Wendy prepares to die?
* Why do you think she's giving Damien the company, has she given him the right reason?
* Is her anger rightly used, or what should she do?
* What did this chapter make you feel and what did you think?
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