The Apple of My Eye novel Chapter 1874

Charles returned to Dream Garden with a heavy heart.

His silence only added to the depressing atmosphere inside the house. Nancy had been quietly watching him. After some hesitation, she cleared her throat and asked, "Mr. Lu, is everything okay?"

Then it hit her. Charles must have just come from the hospital where Melissa was still recovering from her illness. It seemed that she must be seriously ill this time.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me, Nancy. You should get on with your work. I want to have a moment alone," Charles said, without so much as a glance at Nancy. His voice was devoid of emotion. Immediately, he sank into his thoughts once more.

There was just too much on his mind at the moment. He had no other choice but to direct all his mental energy into planning his next move because he had a long way to go if he was going to take Leila down. And even if he believed he had come up with the perfect plan to accomplish this, it would come with a price. He had involved his wife Sheryl, and yet he couldn't let her know about it. Charles' heart ached every time he thought of how much more pain and suffering it would cause Sheryl before the plan was fully executed.

Nancy, upon seeing Charles' brooding, grew more concerned, but if he was unwilling to say what was bothering him, then what could she do? She sighed heavily and left him alone. Suddenly, as if the spell was broken, Charles snapped out of his daze. It was his phone vibrating in his pocket, which had pulled him back to reality. With a frown, he fished it out. It was David calling.

He stared at the screen for a moment before finally picking up.

"Mr. Lu, everything is ready. Are you sure you're prepared to do this?" David confirmed. He wanted to make sure that his boss was in his right mind when he made the decision. David thought that even though they had planned everything meticulously, carrying out the plan was still too risky. They could not afford to fail. If they did, they would have to pay a heavy price.

"Yes, just do as I have asked you to do!" Charles said firmly. His mind was made up, and his voice, resolute.

David knew that his boss wouldn't back down now. Once Charles had come to a decision, all David had to do was to follow orders.

"Yes, boss," David finally replied. He dismissed the voice of doubt in his head and chose to put his faith in his boss.

"Great, David. We should both go back to work now."

Charles hung up the phone. Once more, he went over the plan in his head and felt a pang of regret. He had never imagined that things would turn out like this when he had gone missing. Suddenly, Charles became acutely aware that every single decision he would make from this point onward would require plenty of courage and thought. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead, and staying still made him restless. He thought he might benefit from a change of environment.

He left the living room to go to his bedroom. As soon as he was inside, he threw himself onto the bed and lay on his side. His gaze rested on a picture of him and Sheryl on his bedside table. They were smiling happily, safe in each other's embrace, their happiness frozen in time. Charles had his eyes glued to the photo and didn't dare blink. It offered him some consolation. Slowly, he was able to close his eyes and fall asleep.

The following morning came.

Isla and Sheryl had shared a hotel room the previous night, as Sheryl had been at her lowest, and Isla had stayed to provide comfort.

The bed was comfortable and large enough for the two of them. Rays of sunlight peeked into the room through the space between the curtain and the window. Yet, the two remained fast asleep. Back at home, Aron had gone to sleep in a horrible state the night before, as Isla had forgotten to inform him that she wouldn't make it home. Aron knew that she was with Sheryl the whole time, and he didn't feel the need to call and disturb them. However, waking up without her by his side was a different matter altogether. Unable to keep his emotions in check, he called Isla's number, effectively waking her up. When she picked up, Aron felt relieved. Isla, however, felt the opposite. Before Aron could even say a word, Isla already felt like exploding.

Aron only wanted to make sure that Isla was okay. Sometimes, he had these strange feelings toward his wife, and he felt quite uncomfortable without her around. The moment he heard Isla's angry voice, his heart knew peace, and after the call, he happily prepared breakfast for the kids and then left for work.

Isla impatiently hung up the phone.

The call had abruptly woken Isla up and had given her a terrible headache. Time froze as her head throbbed. She slowly propped herself on her elbows and tilted her head to check on Sheryl, who had just woken up as well. Sheryl squinted back at her friend. Seeing that Sheryl was in the same state, Isla felt amused. She reached out to pinch Sheryl's chin and teased, "What's wrong, Sher?"

"Why are we here?" Sheryl had drunk herself into oblivion the previous night. When she woke up, she had no memory of how many drinks she had had to deal with her sadness.

Isla smirked at Sheryl's question. She shook her head with a helpless smile and patiently reminded Sheryl of how she had ended up dead drunk hours earlier. She also made no attempts to suppress her laughter as she talked about how bold and fearless Sheryl had looked when she started drowning one shot after another.

Sheryl felt sorry for having terrified Phoebe this badly. She quickly patted the woman on the back. "Phoebe, I'm so sorry! I didn't expect you, or anyone for that matter, to be on the other side of the door when I opened it."

"No, no, no. I'm fine! It's all my fault! You don't have to apologize to me!" Phoebe responded anxiously.

Sheryl thoughtfully stared at Phoebe and knew at once that something wasn't right. "Phoebe, is everything okay? You look weird today."

Phoebe didn't dare speak, but she didn't need to. Her nervous eyes spoke volumes. At once, Sheryl knew that she had been right and that Phoebe was up to something. Anxious to hear the truth, she pressured Phoebe into speaking with only a strategic gaze.

Unable to keep mum, Phoebe gave in and sighed. Without looking Sheryl in the eyes, she confessed, "Mrs. Zhao is planning something, but I think what she intends to do is right. You worried yourself to death when Mr. Lu was declared missing, but now that he has been found safe, he did not even call or visit once. Clearly, you care much more about him than he does about you. Mrs. Zhao needs to teach him a lesson..."

"Isla? Really? Did she go to see Charles?" Sheryl asked, alarmed.

Phoebe cautiously nodded her head in confirmation. All the same, she regretted having told Sheryl when Isla had clearly told her not to.

Sheryl realized that Isla must be on her way to see Charles now. She couldn't help but worry that Isla's good intentions might get them in even bigger trouble than they were in already. Melissa was in the hospital, still unconscious, and Charles would not be in the best state of mind. The stress of taking care of his mother and everything that had happened recently must be affecting him. If Isla went to Charles now, nothing good would come of it.

With this realization, Sheryl promptly left the files with Phoebe, who instinctively held out her hands to receive them. Sheryl then dashed out of the building. She was unstoppable.

Sheryl arrived at Shining Company in no time. Without hesitation, she proceeded to the reception desk, only to be told by the receptionist that Charles had not shown up for work at all. Immediately, Sheryl knew that Charles must be at the hospital.