The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 1339 Reluctance

Charles didn't notice anything strange with Sheryl's face until he saw her reaction. He grew anxious, however, when he realized that she was intentionally lowering her head to avert his gaze. "Sher, what happened to your face? What happened tonight? Will you please talk to me?" Charles squatted down and gently asked Sheryl, who was sitting on the bed, twiddling her thumbs. No matter how many times Charles asked or what he said to her, Sheryl just kept her head down and her mouth shut.

Having run out of patience with Sheryl, Charles came downstairs. When Melissa saw Charles, she tried to grab his hand for a chat, but he just ignored her. He waved at Nancy and she walked to him. "Nancy, what happened tonight? Please tell me everything in details." Charles' voice was low and stern. It sounded like he was trying his best to suppress his anger.

Melissa recognized the timbre of Charles' voice and feelings of anxiety and apprehension arose within her. She was afraid of what would happen once Charles insisted on getting to the bottom of the matter. As if that weren't bad enough, Melissa knew that Nancy wouldn't have anything nice to say about her since she was on Sheryl's side. Anger took over Charles' face as he went upstairs. Melissa gritted her teeth in displeasure, almost certain that Sheryl must have gone behind her back.

"Yes, Mr. Lu." Every word Nancy said struck fear in Melissa's heart and made Charles angrier.

"At tonight's dinner, Miss Zhang complained that the dishes were too oily, so Mrs. Lu asked Sher to cook for her. Mrs. Lu was very picky and she scolded Sher, but she didn't say anything back. She just listened and remained silent. Then out of the blue, Mrs. Lu lost her temper and threw the dishes to the floor and slapped Sher."

Nancy reported everything to Charles, sparing no details. Judging by Nancy's words, Charles could feel her resentment towards Melissa and her sympathy for Sheryl in her voice.

As Charles listened to Nancy, his eyebrows furrowed and slowly a grimace spread over his face.

When Charles had heard enough, he cast a vicious glance at Melissa and said, "Mom, is that true?"

Melissa hemmed and hawed, deliberately avoiding Charles' eyes. "It's... it's not like that. Sheryl was the one who started it."

Unfortunately for Melissa, Charles knew her too well. As outrageous as it sounded from Nancy's mouth, he knew that she did not exaggerate a single word. Otherwise, Melissa wouldn't have hesitated to give Nancy an earful.

"Then why does Sher's face look like that? Did you slap her?" Charles squinted his eyes as if he was trying to read the information from her face.

"I... It was an accident. But that's because..." Charles snapped, his eyes filled with fiery anger and he didn't even bother to listen to Melissa's words.

"Mom, you can't just abuse Sheryl whenever you feel like it. Let me remind you that she is my wife. No one has the right to hurt her like that. Let's be clear, if you continue this nonsense then I am afraid that I will have to ask you to leave. It won't be difficult for me to replace you another place to stay. But I can promise you, it won't be as comfortable as the Dream Garden."

Charles would not condone his mother's abusive behavior, especially not towards his wife. He felt mad at Melissa and sorry for Sheryl, both at the same time. Needless to say, Melissa was dumbfounded by the harshness of Charles' words.

Her mind went back and forth in between two feelings. On one hand, she couldn't believe that her son would even consider kicking his own mother out of his house. And on the other hand, if indeed Charles kicked her out, what was she supposed to do?

Living away from Charles, without his care, would be difficult for her. Not to mention the rumors! What would people say about her? Even her own son, her flesh and blood, refused to live with her? The people who already hated her would have a field day, defaming her again. After all, there was nothing snarky people loved more than adding insult to injury.

Melissa had no intentions of returning to that life. No!

Melissa shook her head, without a conscious thought, struggling to replace the right words to defend herself with.

At this moment, even Leila, who was standing next to Melissa, felt intimidated by Charles' facial expression. In an attempt to hide herself, she took a step back.

In spite of everything, deep down, Melissa felt angry and aggrieved. Why was she being treated unjustly? Why did Charles value Sheryl over his own mother? Melissa was jealous of the way Charles treated Sheryl because even as his mother, she never received treatment of such kindness and generosity from him.

However, Melissa allowed none of that anger to seep through her expression. Her priority was to secure her residency in this house and the fastest way to do that was to calm Charles down.

After hesitating for a moment, Melissa broke down, shedding crocodile tears. "Charles, I didn't do that on purpose. I promise I won't do it again. Would you please forgive me?"

Charles stared at Melissa flatly, and finally he made a concession.

He knew that Melissa was a difficult person to deal with, but seeing her crying and begging softened his heart.

"Charles, please forgive Aunt Melissa. She made a mistake. I'm sure she didn't mean to hurt Sheryl." Leila held Melissa, to keep her from falling to the floor. Leila was a wolf in sheep's clothing. With two simple sentences she shifted the entire blame on Melissa. She sounded like she had nothing to do with it, as if she wasn't the one to add fuel to the fire.

Charles lowered his head, seemingly lost in thought. He looked as though he was carefully mulling over whether to believe Leila or not. All of a sudden, an awkward silence permeated the room. Melissa stole a few side glances at Charles, driven more anxious by his silence. A deathly pallor took over her face and she pursed her lips.

"Charles, don't you believe your own mother? Tell me!" Melissa sobbed unceasingly, hands clutching at his shirt. She put on a remorseful expression on her face, hoping to move Charles with her display of weakness.

Nancy, all the while, didn't feel an ounce of sympathy for Melissa at all. Melissa got what she deserved, nothing more, nothing less. After all the troubles she had caused, Melissa had to pay her dues on way or the other. Nancy hoped that Charles could understand what kind of person Melissa truly was so he wouldn't be fooled by her again. Otherwise, there would be no end to Sheryl's hardships.

After brief deliberation, Charles finally opened his mouth, "I don't care whether you are telling the truth or not. If this kind of thing happens again, you won't be allowed to stay in this house any more, I promise that. As for what happened today, I want you to apologize to Sher and tell her that you will never ever do that again."

'Me? Apologize to Sheryl? Are you out of your mind? I will never apologize to Sheryl. Who does she think she is?'

Melissa's face darkened with a mirthless glare. The fact that Charles wanted her to apologize to Sheryl was a bit over-the-top, even by his standards.

Charles continued, "Mom, if you have done something wrong, you need to fix it. You're not a child. I expect you to act according to your age."

Melissa and Leila had never seen this side of Charles before. It was as if he was engulfed in a ball of anger. Even his breath was cold and frightening. They wouldn't dare to get close to him, let alone cross him.

Finding no respite, Melissa had no choice but to agree to Charles' condition even though the reluctance on her face was obvious.