Chapter 406 Familiar Feeling
Half an hour later, Michael arrived at my office. Even though I had already prepared myself mentally, I still couldn’t keep my heart steady when I saw him.
He was wearing a black suit and a cold expression, just like he did a year ago. The only difference was that he had an even colder aura around him.
His icy glare was making my skin crawl a little.
“Would you like some tea or coffee, Mr. Shaw?” I asked as I smiled at him.
“No need. I’m here today to tell you that you’re not going to get my partnership with Red Star. Don’t think that I didn’t know what you’re trying to do in the shadows.” He sounded cold in a professional manner.
The warning he gave had a hint of confidence in it.
My eyes flickered. I didn’t think that he would find out so quickly about the matter when we only had a meeting yesterday about taking Red Star away from Joyful Success. It seems like I’ve underestimated him.
Even though I was starting to panic a little, a plain smile persisted on my face. I wasn’t the person from a year ago anymore, so I should be able to control my emotions in front of him. “All is fair in love and war, Mr. Shaw. Those who are capable will be able to obtain what they want. It’s not unusual that our company wants to expand our business. Whether we can get Red Star’s partnership is our company’s matter. Don’t you think it’s inappropriate that you’re here to warn me?”
I still stared into Michael’s eyes with a smile. There wasn’t a hint of panic in my voice.
Shock and fury flashed past his eyes.
He stared back at me for a while before opening his mouth again and speaking in a plain tone. “You’ve changed a lot over the past year. Even your way of speaking is much more confident now. Are you still the Anna I knew?”
While there wasn’t a hint of emotion in his voice, it still wasn’t something I wanted to hear.
“I told you.” A hint of mockery was added to my smile as my stare became colder. “I’m no longer the Anna you knew from before. That person is already dead.” If I’m still the Anna you’re familiar with, I wouldn’t be sitting here, talking to you about business.
While fury burned in his eyes, calmness was present in mine.
I had no intention of showing him any sign of weakness.
After a while, he stood up. I raised my head, thinking that he was finally going to leave out of anger.
It seemed like I wasn’t capable of changing my habit of thinking things in an optimistic manner. Instead of leaving, he walked around my desk and glared at me with increasing anger.
“What kind of relationship do you have with Nicholas? Why are the two of you staying with each other last night? Are you two living with each other?” Michael questioned with a deep voice.
I could tell he was trying to suppress his fury.
He was probably asking me that question because he saw Nicholas at my place last night. Regardless, he didn’t have the right to question me. Does he think he still controls me? How childish.
I calmly glanced at him and sneered, “I don’t need to explain anything that’s going on between Nicholas and me to you, Mr. Shaw. This is my private matter, and we’re in a business discussion right now. Please mind what you say.”
He used to warn me domineeringly like that, as though I belonged to him and only him in this life. That was what I thought in the past, too. I was truly foolish back then.
If it wasn’t for Lincoln bringing me that signed divorce paper, perhaps I would’ve still thought the same way. However, when I saw him sign the paper with my own eyes, my love for him died completely.
A man who abandoned me didn’t have the right to question me like that.
“Listen to me, Anna. You are my woman! If you sleep with Nicholas, I promise you I’ll do anything to take him down!” Michael grabbed my shoulders emotionally.
The flame in his eyes looked as if it was going to burn me into cinders in a matter of seconds.
My heart quivered a little as I stared into his deranged eyes. When he said I was his woman, my heart still moved.
It had been a year since he abandoned me. That statement no longer meant anything. In fact, it sounded pitiful.
“You listen to me too, Michael. You said I’m your woman, but that’s in the past now. I’ve no relationship with you whatsoever. At most, the two of us are just strangers to each other!” Hatred was spilling into my sight as I stared coldly at him.
That’s right. I hated him with every fiber of my being. The amount of love I felt toward him was the same amount of hate I directed at him. He was the man whom I poured my heart out to, yet he was also the one who hurt me the most.
His grip on my shoulders was becoming stronger by the second. It was so strong that it was starting to hurt me. However, my eyebrows didn’t furrow, and I still calmly looked at him. I never wanted to show my weakness in front of him or the Shaw family ever again.
As his anger reached its peak, he snapped and began to kiss me like a mad dog.
I didn’t expect he would do that, which was why it stunned me. It was so sudden that my mind became blank. Even though it had been a year, his smell was still very familiar to me. Aside from the moment he touched me, everything I felt after that had changed.
I tried to escape, but he still hugged me tightly. No matter how I struggled, he didn’t let go of me.
That made me furious, but at the same time, deep in my heart, I didn’t want him to let go. If nothing had happened a year ago, if he hadn’t treated me that cruelly a year ago, everything would’ve been fine.
However, it did happen, and the two of us no longer had the same relationship as we did before.
I didn’t want to see or treat him as an enemy, but I couldn’t forgive or forget how much he hurt me.
Back then, he had let me know how little I mattered in his heart. Because of Josephine’s matter, he worked with the Shaw family to treat me cruelly.
Michael continued to kiss me without my consent. It was getting more and more difficult for me to breathe. I used all my strength to push him away, but he didn’t stop. In fact, I was pretty sure he was venting out his anger on my lips.
Just as I felt like I was going to pass out, he let go of me and stared at me with his black eyes furiously.
