Chapter 551 Meeting That Woman
Michael’s tone was filled with a hint of guilt, and I felt my anger subside significantly after hearing that. However, I was still determined to not let him off the hook so easily, so I kept quiet and continued looking out the window.
We finally arrived outside the hospital after another twenty minutes of driving, and I felt my anxiety kicking in the moment we got out of the car. The main reason for that was because I still had no idea what kind of woman she would turn out to be. Michael claimed that they were just friends, but I had a feeling their relationship wouldn’t be that simple.
It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Michael, but I believed that a woman’s gut instinct was mostly accurate.
Fearing that the situation would be worse than I had imagined, I asked anxiously when we got closer to her ward, “Are you sure that you two are just friends? Is there really nothing more?”
“You still don’t trust me even when I’ve brought you all the way here? If that’s the case, you may go ahead and confirm it for yourself,” Michael said while frowning slightly in displeasure. “What’s her name?” I asked after a brief moment of silence.
“Her name is Leanne Ryheim,” Michael replied as the two of us got to the door. He then knocked on the door and called out to her, “Hey, Leanne.”
I tried observing his facial expressions to see if I could spot anything unusual, but he looked just as calm as he always did. There were no visible signs of a guilty conscience anywhere.
“Come in!” A gentle female voice could be heard coming from inside the ward. For some unknown reason, I felt a strong sense of discomfort deep down inside.
Michael was about to open the door, but I quickly stopped him before he could do so. I wanted to be the first one to enter the ward so I could see the woman’s initial response when she saw me.
Upon entering the ward, my gaze immediately fell upon the woman who was lying on the hospital bed. She looked beautiful and frail, which was a combination that would arouse the desire to protect her.
She was smiling happily at first, but her smile quickly became frozen in place when she saw me. “Who are you?” she asked with a confused frown.
“Hello, Ms. Ryheim,” I greeted her coldly after seeing a clear look of disappointment in her eyes.
After following me into the ward, Michael looked at Leanne and said calmly, “She is my wife, Anna Garcia.”
Leanne’s facial expression stiffened slightly after hearing that.
“Oh, so she’s your wife? She looks really beautiful!” She then shifted her gaze back toward me and continued with a faint smile, “Hello, my name is Leanne Ryheim.”
“Michael told me that you’re a friend of his that just returned from overseas recently. He also told me that you haven’t been feeling well in the past few days, so I decided we should pay you a visit today. I hope we’re not disturbing you by showing up so suddenly,” I replied with an equally faint smile even though I had a really bad feeling about her.
It was obvious from her response earlier that she didn’t just see Michael as a friend.
“No, of course not! I’m incredibly honored by your visit!”
Leanne was very gentle and polite with her responses, so I could see why people would easily let their guard down around her.
Nevertheless, I trusted the accuracy of a woman’s instinct and was certain that Leanne had a thing for Michael.
Being an ordinary woman myself, it was only natural that I felt a strong dislike toward women who set their sights on my husband.
“What happened to you, Ms. Ryheim? Is your condition serious? Michael seemed to be very concerned about you in the past two days. If so, I could hire a caretaker to help look after you. Work itself is tiring enough for Michael, and he still needs to keep me and my child company after coming home.”
I maintained a smile on my face as I slowly made my way toward Leanne, but I had made my intention very clear through my words. Everything I just said was meant to assert my position as Michael’s wife and show her that he belonged to me.
The smile on Leanne’s face grew increasingly unnatural after hearing that. She then looked at Michael and explained with a guilty expression, “I’m terribly sorry for disturbing you two lately. I had no idea that Michael didn’t tell you about this. He’s my only friend in this country, so he was the only person I could think of contacting when I fell sick.”
I wasn’t sure if I was the only one who noticed it, but I could sense that Leanne was trying to tell me how much Michael meant to her.
“Looks like you’ll need to make more friends, Ms. Ryheim. Even if you are sick, it’s still hardly appropriate to have a married man look after you,” I replied coldly with a sneer.
Having noticed that Leanne was simply acting pitiful to gain Michael’s sympathy, I couldn’t help but wonder how the two of them even became friends.
Michael barely had any female friends at all, so it was awfully suspicious of him to give Leanne such special treatment.
As I had made myself crystal clear earlier, I believed that both Michael and Leanne were able to read between the lines and understand my point. It was really inappropriate for a married man like him to be taking such great care of another woman.
I noticed a hint of displeasure in Michael’s eyes when he frowned at me, but he didn’t say anything in response.
The look on Leanne’s face turned slightly gloomy after hearing what I said. “That’s a bit harsh, Ms. Garcia. Michael and I are friends, so it’s perfectly normal for him to look after me when I’m sick. Why are you being so mean toward me?”
“Of course, it wouldn’t be a problem if Michael were to do so while he’s single. However, he is a married man with a child now, and you are a single woman.
Anyone who doesn’t know about your friendship with Michael would probably think you’re a homewrecker of some sort! Won’t you agree, Ms. Ryheim?” I snapped back at Leanne with a sneer while looking straight into her eyes.
