The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 1420 Examinations

Small children should be kept away from issues involving adults. The slightest conflicts among the adults have a profound impact on their little, innocent hearts, yet they can't help the situation in any way because they are far from understanding the complexities. Hence, the best thing is to stay away from it altogether.

"Come on now. Let's go home. We will come and pick Mom up tomorrow, and then we will all go home together!" Charles said as he led two children out of the room. The boy and the girl left the room one after the other with their eyes fixed on their mother.

After they had left, a sudden emptiness and silence filled the room. Sheryl started to feel rather uncomfortable as if the quietness was the only thing left in the room after her kids and her husband left. She could feel a sudden void in her heart. She wondered how much the three of them meant to her.

Lost in her own thoughts, her eyes suddenly fell upon Cassie who was standing silently beside the door with a pale face.

"Cassie? Why don't you come in?" Sheryl greeted Cassie with a smile and asked her to come in.

It occurred to Sheryl that when Nick visited her the day before, Cassie did not come. She wondered why Cassie didn't come. But then she thought that Cassie might be busy with something more important. Initially, Sheryl decided to ask Cassie about it but then stopped as she marked Cassie's demeanor.

"Sher," Cassie said after she came into the room. Sheryl stared at her face as she walked close to her bed. Cassie came close to Sheryl and stood still. The fact that she was not behaving like her usual self dic not evade Sheryl's eyes. She was too timid at the moment. Much opposed to her jovial and talkative self, she looked disturbed and distracted.

"What happened?" Sheryl took Cassie's hand in her own and asked with a lot of concern. "Did someone treat you badly? Or is it about your work? Do you have any problems?"

"I...I..." Cassie choked as she said. Her eyes swelled up with tears and suddenly she broke into an uncontrollable sob. Gradually, her weeping became louder. Sheryl became more and more anxious to see Cassie in that state.

Sheryl grabbed Cassie's arm and made her sit down. She patted her back to calm her down. "What happened? Did someone do something bad to you? Tell me. I will kick that bastard's ass off him." Sheryl's mind was getting clouded with all sorts of evil thoughts. At first, she thought that Nick must have done something bad to her. But Sheryl took Nick as her brother, so she would not say anything about it to Cassie directly.

After crying her heart out for some time, Cassie finally stopped and looked at Sheryl. "Sheryl, do you think that I am so weak that everyone can bully me and disrespect me as they like?" Her voice choked as she spoke.

Sheryl cupped Cassie's face in with one hand and picked a tissue with the other hand to wipe the tears off her face gently. Then, Sheryl comforted Cassie, "No, it's not like that, Cassie. Now, tell me what has happened. Tell me everything, so that I can help you."

After hearing Sheryl's words, Cassie started to recall everything. She quivered as the moment came alive in her mind. She felt the jolt in her heart and she could feel every bit of it through her entire existence once again. How Jordan held her tightly in his arms, his face approached her face slowly and his mouth touched her lips. Cassie felt bile rising her throat and had an instant urge to throw up. She covered her mouth and rushed into the bathroom.

It was like that the disgusting smell of Jordan was everywhere on her body and in her mouth. She couldn't withstand that disgusting feeling and it came out in the form of vomit. Sheryl observed her, completely clueless, still trying to figure out what had happened to cause this.

Sheryl frowned as she could hear the sounds of Cassie vomiting inside the bathroom.

Sheryl kept staring at the bathroom door with a frown on her face and then suddenly her brows straightened as if she had guessed the right cause behind Cassie's distress.

'Oh my God. Is Cassie pregnant?' Sheryl thought to herself.

Sheryl being a mother of two kids could understand the perils of an expecting mother. Somehow she felt that Cassie had symptoms of being pregnant.

A few seconds later, with a sound of flushing the toilet, Cassie came out of the bathroom, with her face even paler.

Looking at Cassie's face, Sheryl felt that her heart was broken.

'Is Nick the father of the baby?' Sheryl's mind was getting more restless to replace the reason behind Cassie's condition.

Cassie walked slowly towards Sheryl. Cassie did not know what Sheryl was thinking about, so that she said softly, "Sheryl, I didn't mean to hide this from you. I was just...I was just too ashamed to talk about it." Then, Cassie looked down once again, like she didn't want to face anyone.

By then, Sheryl had fully understood what had happened.

'Too ashamed? What can be more shameful for a young and unmarried girl? Getting pregnant?' Sheryl thought to herself.

'Cassie is so sad and fragile right now. I shouldn't talk about anything that will hurt her feelings or else I may hurt her self-respect.' Therefore, she decided to ask carefully, "Is this about Nick, Cassie?" 'Nick?' Cassie's heart wrenched at the very mention of this name.

It only added to her sorrow like adding fuel to the fire that was raging inside her heart. 'This is indeed about Nick. I am ruined by Jordan. If Nick comes to know about it, he will break up with me, ' Cassie thought to herself painfully, 'And even if Nick can accept me and forgive me afterward, I do not dare to face him anymore.'

Sheryl found that Cassie did not answer her directly. Instead, Cassie stood there and remained silent and unmindful for a long time. This confirmed Sheryl's suspicion. Yet, she wanted to confirm her doubt, because just in case, if her assumption went wrong, it will end up ruining their relationship. Hence, Sheryl asked again, "Tell me, Cassie. Is it about Nick, or not?"

Cassie nodded her head, but then she shook her head.

Although she was upset about how Nick would react to what happened to her, the one who did wrong to her was Jordan. If it wasn't because of Jordan, she would have been clean and innocent. She could have been with Nick honestly and faithfully.

Sheryl got utterly confused to see Cassie nodding and shaking her head at the same time.

'What does that mean?' Sheryl asked herself in her mind, but she didn't say that out.

'It doesn't matter. No matter what that means, Nick must be part of it,' Sheryl concluded as she thought over it. She decided to ask Nick about it and tell him to care about Cassie's feelings and her pregnancy, in case he had been acting like a fool.

Sheryl found that Cassie was not concentrating and constantly lost in her own thoughts. "Cassie, you don't look very well. Your face is turning pale. How about you go back and take a rest?" Sheryl asked with

concern.

"I'm okay, Sheryl. I'm just a little tired. I will be fine if I sit down for a while after I come back to my office," Cassie answered gently.

"All right, then. You go and sit down for a while. Don't worry about me," Sheryl said.

"Sheryl, I'm sorry that I didn't come to visit you yesterday. Did Nick...?" Cassie hesitated for a while and asked the thing she wanted to ask in her mind.

Sheryl smiled and said, "It doesn't matter, Cassie. And Nick didn't stay here for so long. He said that he had some important work to do in his office, so he left after talking with me for a while." "Then, did he mention about me?" Cassie asked. However, after saying these words, she stole her eyes from Sheryl once again.

"Nick said..." Sheryl paused for a moment intentionally after Cassie mentioned Nick's name. She observed every move made by Cassie minutely. As Sheryl stopped for a while, Cassie looked up at her face anxiously, waiting for her to speak. Sheryl marked the eagerness on her face and continued, "Nick said that he missed you too. But because he just came back from a business trip and there were a lot of things he needed to deal with in his company, he didn't have time to see you. And, Cassie, if you are available, you can go to his home and visit him. He loves the soup you make for him and he enjoys the meal you make."

Cassie knew that Sheryl was making fun of her by pausing and triggering her curiosity. But after hearing her words, Cassie felt much better. She heaved a sigh and then there was a tinge of redness in her pale cheeks, which made her look more beautiful.

"Thank you, Sheryl," Cassie said sincerely passing a very dull smile.

"There is no need to thank me. I would really like to see that you and Nick are in a very stable and loving relationship," Sheryl said as she smiled.

But once again Cassie's face changed. There was a mark of pain in her eyes as if something stung her heart once again. But she didn't say anything else.

After Cassie left, Sheryl took a nap. And it was time for rounds.

The attending doctor of Sheryl took very good care of her while she was in the hospital. And he was really responsible.

He came into the room with some nurses and did a series of examinations to Sheryl. After that, he took off the stethophone and smiled at Sheryl. "Mrs. Lu, I think you've recovered enough. It will be fine for you to get out of our hospital tomorrow."

Although what the doctor said was much within Sheryl's expectation, she still said gratefully, "Dr. Liu, thank you for taking care of me. Thanks to you, I could recover so soon. Thank you so much."