The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 1173 What Are You Trying To Say

After circling around Dream Garden several times, Charles finally found Sheryl jogging along the sidewalk. He heaved a sigh of relief.

Sheryl showed no signs of showing down, so he quickened his pace to a quick jog and caught up with her. "What's going on, Sher? Is there anything you're unhappy about? Did you get into trouble? Whatever it is, please tell me and I'll help you solve it," he said quickly, taking long strides in order to be able to keep up with her. He still thought that Sheryl was facing some difficulties and just didn't want to trouble him. But Sheryl ignored him and just continued jogging, not even bothering to look his way. Charles felt as though he was talking to a robot.

"Sher, what's wrong?" Charles asked again, puzzled.

He had lost count of how many times he had asked her that question. He felt as if he had asked that question more times this morning than he had throughout their entire marriage. Sheryl continued to ignore him, which only made him worry even more.

Finally, he sped up and stood right in front of her, blocking her path. Sheryl had no choice but to acknowledge his presence. She came to a stop, glaring at him. He asked again for the umpteenth time, "Sher, what's the matter with you? Didn't you hear me talking to you?"

Sheryl's behavior was puzzling and scary at the same time. She wasn't angry, she wasn't stressed, and she wasn't scared-she was just different. It was as if she weren't his wife but just someone wearing her body. He had no clue what was going on and how to talk to her.

"Get out my way. I want to jog," Sheryl said in a distant, cold tone. It was as if she was talking to a complete stranger. Those few short words made it clear that she didn't want Charles anywhere near her. "Since when do you exercise?" Charles questioned, as he reluctantly moved out of her way to let her resume her jogging. All of a sudden, he felt like the person in front of him was truly a stranger. He had no idea what was running through her mind and why she was so worked up. He was scared to ask her any more questions in case he ticked her off even more. If she went back into her shell and refused to talk to him, he would have no way at all to replace out what was wrong.

"I have been neglecting my health for too long," Sheryl replied curtly. To be honest, she herself didn't know what was wrong with her. Just a few moments ago, she hated Charles with every fiber in her being. But when she saw Charles being so patient and persistent, she suddenly didn't have the heart to ignore him.

She couldn't bear to look at his face. She knew him well enough to know exactly what he was feeling just by his expression. Right now, it was a combination of puzzlement, disappointment, concern and also fear.

In fact, she wasn't annoyed by him following her and even his non-stop questioning.

At that moment, she realized just how much she loved Charles, to end up acting so crazy. Even though she knew that Charles was having an affair behind her back, she still refused to give up on him. "Where did you go last night? I thought you had an office party," Charles probed. He thought that something unpleasant had happened during the party, something that she couldn't get off her mind, leaving her in a bad mood that lasted until today and made her act so weirdly.

"Yes. We had a party," Sheryl nodded as she continued jogging.

"Well...did you have a good time?" Charles tried to keep the conversation flowing. He lengthened his stride to keep up with Sheryl's jogging. He didn't know what other tactic he could use to make her talk. Ever if he only got short one-word answers, at least he could try to piece it together slowly.

"Charles Lu, what are you trying to say?" Sheryl came to an abrupt stop and glared right into his eyes. If looks could kill, he would be dead by now.

All her pity had evaporated and was now replaced with boiling rage. Her heartbeat grew faster with the combination of the jogging and the fury burning in her heart.

'He must be feeling guilty about what he did. That's why he's suddenly being so sweet.

Either that or he must have figured out that I know about the affair. That's why he's acting this way to try and throw me off the scent. Under normal circumstances, he'll never ask this kind of question,' she thought to herself.

The more she though about it, the more hurt and wronged she felt.

"Don't get me wrong, honey. It's just that you're acting so weird. Something is definitely bothering you. You know you can share anything with me, right? Even if you're in any trouble, we can figure it out together," Charles said as he smiled at her gently and tried to reach for her hand. His words were 100% sincere, but he was worried that Sheryl would respond poorly to his words. He tried hard to hide his anxiety.

He knew it was silly to be so worried, but a part of him was scared that Sheryl was in serious trouble. What if the trouble was too big for them to fix?

"Don't be silly. I'm perfectly fine. Or are you hoping for me to be in trouble?" Sheryl snorted.

"Why would I wish for anything bad to happen to you?" Charles yelped in shock. He didn't understand why his wife would accuse him of such a thing. But now that he finally had an opportunity to really look at her, he detected a resentful look in her eyes. He had never seen such hatred in her eyes before and couldn't figure out what she blamed him for.

"Good to know. In that case, please get out of my way. I need to finish this round. I have to send the kids off to school in less than an hour," Sheryl said icily, looking straight into Charles' eyes again. She still couldn't detect any guilt in those familiar warm, brown eyes.

All she could see was a mixture of confusion and worry.

'Maybe he's worried about what I'll do now that I've learnt about his betrayal. Or he wants to figure out how much I know. But if that's the case, why would he be confused? He almost seems innocent,' she mused. She just couldn't figure it out.

'Whatever. He's just being a man. Why should I puzzle my brains about this? I'm supposed to be forgetting, not thinking about it even more,' she decided.

She nudged Charles out of the way and continued jogging, going slightly faster this time. He was about to follow her, before thinking better of it. It was no point trying to get any answers with Sheryl in this unhelpful mood.

'Since Sheryl refuses to talk to me, I'll just have to do some investigation on my own,' he decided.

With that thought in mind, he stopped questioning her. He allowed her to complete her run but silently trailed behind her, escorting her all the way home. Even though she knew he was behind her the whole time, she didn't talk to him at all. As soon as they reached home, she immediately went to take a shower.

She firmly decided that Charles' actions that morning were just a futile attempt to ease his guilt.

After her shower, she came down to replace that Clark and Shirley had finished their breakfast.

Nancy still hadn't come to work yet, so in the meantime Melissa had taken her place by fulfilling the typical grandmother duties and responsibilities.

Sheryl hadn't forced or even asked Melissa to do any of these things. It was all part of Melissa's manipulative plan. She was just putting up a performance for the sake of her son. In order to get Leila out early, she had to suck up to her son by pretending to be a good grandmother to the children.

It didn't hurt that she genuinely did adore her grandchildren just like any proud grandmother.

She held no grudge against the children at all. It was only Sheryl that she couldn't stand.

She loved cooking for her grandchildren. She made sure they always had nutritious meals so that they could grow tall and strong. Watching them enjoy her cooking while seeing them grow in front of her eyes was a great source of joy to Melissa.

She often fantasized about the bright future she had planned for the kids after she succeeded in kicking Sheryl out of the house. 'They will be running around every day, calling me Grandma and keeping me away from boredom. It will just be me, them and their father. Hopefully I can also get Leila to be a perfect daughter-in-law and also a good wife for Charles,' she dreamed happily.

"Thank you for feeding the kids, Mom. You really shouldn't have troubled yourself. You can get some rest, I'll take them to school now," Sheryl said to Melissa politely. Even though she still didn't fully trust Melissa, Sheryl was grateful that she took such good care of her children.

The other day when Sheryl had gone to fetch Melissa from the hotel, they hadn't gotten along at all. Melissa had been unkind to Sheryl and the latter had snapped back. Neither of them had gotten over the hurtful words they had said to each other. Nevertheless, they had an unspoken agreement not to mention anything to Charles. It was none of his business and there was nothing he could do to fix it even if he did know about it.

Melissa did not dare to give Sheryl a hard time due to her warning. When Sheryl observed how well Melissa treated the kids, she slightly regretted her harsh words towards her that day.

"Thank you, Sheryl. Drive carefully and take good care of the kids," Melissa answered in a suspiciously cheerful tone. She hadn't intended to be so nice. In fact, she hadn't planned to even respond to Sheryl's words. But she had spotted Charles coming down the stairs and immediately put on her loving mother-in-law act, even managing to smile warmly at Sheryl.

Sheryl was initially thunderstruck by Melissa's friendly response. But when Charles came into her line of sight, she knew immediately that Melissa had ulterior motives.