The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 100 The Hotel Fire

Sam pondered for quite a while before answering Abby, "I have known her for more than 20 years, if you ask me. We used to live in the same neighborhood, but lost touch when I moved abroad with my parents. It was not until recently that we met again."

"Then I presume that she is your childhood sweetheart?" Abby said while nodding her head lightly, "I saw the way you looked at her. And I dare say that you still like her very much, don't you?" "Abby, you have seen right through me. However..." Sam let out a bitter smile. Autumn had already married someone and there is nothing he could do to change this no matter how much he loved her. "I may have no more place in her heart," he said.

"Don't be so sure." Abby frowned and said, "As a woman, I understand her better than you do. And I suggest that you, as a man, should take the initiative."

"What do you mean?" Sam frowned and asked in confusion.

"You really need to follow my husband's example. He made a move on me back then, but I kept turning him down. He then skipped the courtship and proposed to me directly. I was deeply moved by his sincerity that night. I finally said 'yes', knowing that he really wanted to marry me, and would take care of me, for the rest of our lives. You see, we are happy to have such a lovely daughter as Cindy now." Abby poured Cindy a glass of juice and continued, "You two are close friends from childhood, and have known each other well enough. All you have to do now is to make the final push. In fact, I'm planning to fix you up with her today. Autumn is such a good girl, let her go again and you will regret it every single day, for the rest of your life.

Sam hung his head low without saying a word. Of course he knew that Abby was telling the truth. But the question was, did he still stand a chance of winning Autumn back?

Just then, Autumn came. When she saw Sam in the room, she frowned.

Although it was no big deal to have a meal with him, his presence made it abundantly obvious that Abby was resolved to make a match of them.

"Autumn, come and take a seat." Before Autumn could say anything, Abby stood up, took her by the shoulder and quickly sat her down. "You and Sam are good friends, and have really helped me a lot yesterday in the hospital. So I have also invited him to have dinner with us. Autumn, I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all." Autumn replied. What else could she say under such circumstances?

During the meal, Autumn had spent her time talking with Cindy, leaving Abby and Sam in a nice conversation. She had been busy taking care of the girl throughout the meal, and ate very little herself. "Autumn, may I say that I have invited you here to have dinner, not to look after my daughter. She can feed herself. Just enjoy your food." Abby said to Autumn.

Autumn smiled. She then started eating when she was sure that Cindy was full.

Sam knew that Autumn was ill at ease in his presence, so shortly after, he excused himself and left. Abby tried her best to make him stay, but to no avail.

On their way back, Abby still couldn't figure out why Sam instisted to leave, so she asked Autumn, "Autumn, what happened between you two? In my point of view, it is perfectly natural that lovers should have some friction once in a while. Just forgive him before things get worse. I do believe you two are made for each other."

Autumn looked at her in frustration and said, "Abby, I've been meaning to explain it to you, but you just wouldn't let me. Sam and I are ordinary friends. There isn't any affection involved. And I am telling the truth."

"How could it be?" Obviously, Abby didn't take Autumn's word for it. "But I have seen it all. Sam has been looking at you in exactly the same way Andy looked at me years ago."

"Even if we did have sort of a relationship then, it is now a thing of the past," said Autumn with a forced smile, "Abby, thank you for what you have done for me, but... please don't do it again. You will only put us in an awkward position. Sam and I... It will never work out between us."

It wouldn't work out. Autumn had known it even before she met Charles.

Back in her suite, Autumn took a shower. In her solitude, she suddenly missed Charles dearly. Although she had promised to distance herself from Charles, she just couldn't stop thinking about him at this very moment. Feeling overwhelmed by the longing, she couldn't help initiating a video call. She needed to see his face and hear his voice right now.

"Why are you still up? It's very late." Autumn heard the grumble once the call was connected, then Charles's expressionless face appeared on the screen. He could see Autumn lying on the bed, with water dripping drop by drop from her wet hair. "Why didn't you dry your hair before going to bed?" he slightly frowned and asked worriedly.

"I'm fresh out of the bath, and just feel like giving you a call first. I will blow dry it later." Autumn smiled and suddenly remembered the two beautiful young secretaries in the Secretary Department and couldn't resist asking, "How are you getting along with your new secretaries? Are you satisfied with their performances?"

"Of course. After all, you picked them for me personally." Charles said with his mouth unconsciously curled into a smile. He had been missing her, too. Although she was now hundreds of miles away, this conversation seemed to bridge the distance and bring her back right beside him. "Why? Are you feeling jealous of them?" he teased.

"Impossible!" Autumn exclaimed. He got on her nerves but had also amused her successfully. She giggled and said, "I'm glad you like them."

Charles couldn't help but burst into laughter. It took him quite a while to catch his breath and asked in a serious tone, "When will you come back?"

"It's only my second day here. Don't forget that you've booked the room for five days. It can't be wasted." Autumn said with a casual air, playing with her hair on the bed.

'Five days...'

Charles mumbled to himself. He was definitely going to question David tomorrow about why he had booked so many days.

"Well...in fact, your husband is a wealthy man, and doesn't care about the money. You can simply disregard the remaining days if you'd like." Charles said seriously.

"No way! Haven't your teacher told you to avoid extravagance and waste?" She was now teasing him back. While they were talking happily, the light in Autumn's room suddenly burst with a bang. She then found herself in complete darkness. The call was also cut off due to the network outage.

Before she could figure out what was going on, there came the sound of many footsteps from outside the door, accompanied by a lot of shouting, "Fire! Run! There is a fire!"

Autumn felt her heart drop to her stomach. The first thing that came to her mind was to replace Cindy. She quickly pulled the door open, but saw Sam standing right in front of her. He was about to knock on her door.

Having seen Autumn safe, Sam breathed a sigh of relief. He said to Autumn hastily, "Come with me. The hotel is on fire."

"No, I've got to replace Cindy." Autumn insisted. Once she had made a decision, few were able to change her mind.

"Listen to me, we must get out of here as soon as possible." Sam's efforts to persuade her were to no avail, so he scooped her up in desperation, and carried her out of the hotel. They ran into Andy at the gate "Andy, where is your daughter? Is she still in there?"

Standing on the open road outside the hotel, they could see the fire clearly.

It was raging skyward, spreading itself rapidly as if it were to engulf everything in its way.