The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 1185 No Answers

"I will go home later. You can leave," Sheryl replied absentmindedly, struggling to hide her emotions. She focused her gaze on the screen to distract herself.

However, Isla thought that Sheryl was acting strange. 'Even when she was busy with her work, she never spoke to me this way.'

Isla decided to talk to her instead of going home. She closed the door and took a seat in front of Sheryl who was pretending to focus on work. With a concerned look, she said, "What's going on, Sher? If you have something on your mind, you can share it with me. I will always be here for you."

Sheryl shifted her gaze from the screen to her friend. Gazing into Isla's sincere eyes, she didn't know how to mention all that had been happening.

Each time she tried to tell her about the photos, words froze on her lips.

'If Isla learned about it, she would go straight to Charles and reason with him regardless of my opposition.

The situation might go out of my control.

I might end up in a weird situation with Charles, ' Sheryl mused.

"I am all right, Isla. I'm just a little worn out. After I take care of the rest of this work, I will go straight home and get some good sleep. You'd better head home too," Sheryl said with a faint smile. She hoped that her lie would convince Isla. That way, she wouldn't confront Charles.

"Are you really okay?" Isla asked, raising a brow in doubt. But when she looked at Sheryl's sincere face, she believed her words.

"Yes. If you don't have any appointment tonight, you can stay here and work extra hours with me. What do you say?" Sheryl asked deliberately as she sensed that Isla had begun to buy her story.

"I don't think so. My daughter is waiting to have dinner with me at home. Help yourself. I am not interested in playing with you here," Isla replied, shaking her head with a grin. 'I was buried in work all day. I don' need to work extra hours to prove that I am a hard-working employee,' she thought.

Her quick reaction amused Sheryl. She burst into laughter.

"I got to go. Don't work too late," Isla urged. She had promised her daughter that she would take her out for dinner. Since Sheryl seemed to be fine, she had no intention of wasting more time at the office. "Be careful on your way home. See you tomorrow." Sheryl drew in a deep breath as she watched Isla walking away. 'Thank God she didn't see through my lie.

I don't want her to worry about me now,' she sighed.

Isla's footsteps faded. Only Sheryl's slow breaths could be heard in the spacious office.

And finally, she dropped all her defenses.

Sheryl burst out crying, her chest rising and falling rapidly. But to her surprise, there were no tears coming out of her eyes. She was emotionally destroyed.

As she was being overwhelmed by these negative feelings, her cell phone rang shattering the dead silence. Resting her eyes on her phone, she saw that it was from Charles. With a hesitant face, she stared at the screen. More than a minute passed and she didn't pick up the phone.

The screen turned off. After a couple of seconds, the phone rang again. She didn't intend to take his call, but considering that he might be worried about her, she finally answered.

"Sher, I have a meeting tonight, so I might be home a little late. You and the kids go to bed early," Charles said as soon as the call connected.

'Charles isn't home...So he doesn't know that I am at the company,' she thought bitterly.

It dawned on her that Charles wasn't in love with her as she had imagined. Otherwise, he would have known somehow that she wasn't home yet.

Perturbed, she didn't respond. Anxiety swept over her. The insecure feeling swelled up inside her heart. She was at a loss and didn't know what was waiting for her in the future.

"Sher, are you there?" Charles asked as there was no response from her.

She wanted to ask whether he was attending a meeting or hanging out with Rachel. But it was a hard subject for her to bring up.

She decided to let it go. Biting her lower lip, she uttered, "I see."

"What's going on with you, Sher?" Charles inquired as he sensed the abstraction in her voice. He had no idea what was troubling her.

He assumed that Sheryl was still angry at him. But he didn't even know why she was upset with him in the first place. He was completely ignorant of what was going on. He had approached Isla, but she refused to say anything. Sheryl remained silent too.

'How am I supposed to figure out the reason for her fury if no one tells me what is going on?' he wondered. He was clueless.

He couldn't think of anything he had done wrong. He hadn't ever done anything to upset his wife, let alone cheat on her. 'I love her with all my heart and I would do anything for her. So why is she giving me the cold shoulder?

How did we end up here?' he brooded. But he was slightly disappointed by Sheryl's indifferent behavior.

'We have been married for so many years now. It upsets me that she is still hiding things from me. No matter what it is, shouldn't she share it with me so that we can face it together?

Why did Sheryl decide to keep this to herself?' he mused, frustrated inside.

Sheryl was upset for her own reasons, and so was Charles.

It would be difficult for a man if he was being neglected by the woman he cared about the most. And few in Charles' shoes could keep calm and not complain at a time like this.

Dejected as he was, he had faith in Sheryl. 'Maybe if I give her some time, she might think it over and fill me in on what happened.

I have been so nice to her that even our friends can feel the love I have for her. She is not a fool. She will learn to trust me and open her heart to me,' he reflected.

"I'm fine. Are you coming home tonight?" Sheryl asked gingerly. She shut her eyes to prevent the tears from falling. 'Now that he has chosen to see another woman, why would he be interested in my business?

Is he calling me because he still cares about me? Or is he doing this out of guilt?' she wondered with a troubled look.

She didn't have answers for her own questions. And she was afraid to think further into it, lest she replace the answers which might break her heart.