The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 1430 No Other Choice

With a deep sigh, Black patted Holley's shoulders to comfort her. Despite his fury, he calmed himself down and sincerely said, "Don't worry, Holley. I won't let this pass. I'll make him pay double what he had done to do! Trust me!"

"You will do that? You're so sweet, Black! It's nice to have you around," said Holley gently with a sweet smile and rested her head on Black's shoulder intimately. She was lucky to have this kind of guy with her, who was willing to push all his might for her.

"Goose! You should be used to it! I am your boyfriend. It's my job to take care of you!" Black whispered into her ear. As she heard Black's sweet comment, it made Holley get goose bumps. He cracked a silly smile and pinched her nose as if she was a little girl who just lost her favorite doll. Feeling warm, Holley flashed a shy smile and diverted her gaze elsewhere.

While in the back seat, Leila turned her head away from them with a hint of desolation in her eyes. A drop of tear welled up in her eye and fell down along her cheek like a crystal. She wondered whether she would have this moment her entire life. The man she loved and she racked her brain to be together with had never talked with or looked at her like that. Jealousy and regret were only she felt this time. An unspeakable sorrow was rising from the bottom of her heart.

But Leila had to suffer another mishap from life, and soon the news that Sheryl survived from her well-planned plot reached her. Although the scandal that a nurse tried to murder her patient was held back by the hospital, as a doctor, Felix had his own source to get what had happened at first place. Anxiety and panic attacked him, as his career and life were at stake. However, anger possessed him as he thought that everything was messed up.

"Damn it! We're doomed! What should we do now?

What if everything was revealed? If they know, we'll have to end up in prison! And my career is over! I might go crazy!"

Felix shouted anxiously over the phone. He was sweating already, so he harshly wiped his forehead. He couldn't help but grab his hair because of too much frustration.

It was too late for him to be regretful. After all, it was he himself that agreed to give Leila a hand. He was blinded by money and now he was at the edge of the cliff.

If the police came to Lillian, she would give him away. That was no doubt, and she was not a woman that could keep her mouth shut. Then, he would have to end up behind bars the rest of his life. Hilariously, he was reluctant to accept the fact, but he should blame nobody but himself. He had been a young doctor with a promising future ahead, and he destroyed it with his own hand, because of his hungry obsession of reaping without sowing. If he could only wait for some more time to earn money, he would not end up like this, anxiously waiting for doom.

On the other side of the phone, Leila was also feeling puzzled. She had been waiting for the good news and believed that she would make it this time. She was unable to understand where had gone wrong. She had tried her utmost to make a perfect plan and it should have worked. It must be God that kept bringing extra trouble to her. This was supposed to be a perfect crime.

'Why did it fail again? Why didn't you help me, God?' she cried loudly in her mind. Now, she was blaming the Almighty for the bad results of her plan. How foolish could she be? She gasped with her eyes blood red and shook her head repeatedly, still unable to take it. Her mind was blank, only thinking of negative things.

She didn't utter a word at first but staring at the blank wall in front fixedly. Actually, she couldn't focus on anything now. She dropped her shoulders, losing in her thought. But a moment later, she pulled herself together again and cracked a weird smile. Of course, an insane woman was not easy to tame. Leila would push through the limits to amend her plan and make it successful. There was still some time to fix things.

"Relax, Felix. It hasn't finished yet. We can get out of it as long as you do what I tell you to do," said Leila, no hint of panic in her voice. It was a now or never game for her.

Her words gave Felix the last tie to clutch on before he fell to the cliff. He cried impatiently, "What should I do, Leila? Tell me now! Tell me what I can do! I have already done the worst and I am going to pull every string that I got."

"We already got a scapegoat, didn't we? Think about it. Since we have gone this far, it will as well be hanged for a sheep as for a lamb. Then, we will become innocent," Leila said and smirked, leaving Felix to ponder about her metaphorical suggestion.

But Felix was too disturbed at this moment, and he didn't get her implied meaning. Instead, he thought that Leila was deliberately casting a mist before his eyes. He couldn't take it anymore. He was going to burst any moment now.

"Don't beat around the bush, Leila. Time is gold. My patience is running out. I knew it. I shouldn't have listened to you when you came to me. Otherwise, I was sleeping soundly without any worry now. You'd better keep it in your mind that if I'm arrested by the police, you will be the next!" Felix couldn't help but shout at the top of his lungs. His anger was furiously rising as if the top of his skull was blowing off. His nerves on his forehead were visible already.

Leila put her phone a little away from her ear. The discomfited shouting from the other side was almost deafening her. She rolled her eyes and got the urge to throw her phone away. How dare him to shout at her!

But she couldn't afford the consequence. Her involvement would be exposed if she could not compromise with this greedy doctor. Felix would definitely fly in rage if she did. To prevent him doing something regrettable, she had to calm him down with soft words as soon as she could and thus led him to the direction she wanted.

"You're scaring me, Felix. Please calm down. We'll be fine. We are in the same boat now. And we will make out this mess. Just listen to me!" she said patiently, clenching her teeth to restrain her anger. Felix sighed over the phone. He thought that the woman was ridiculous and that she was nothing but a bragger. If she was smart, things would have been different now. This woman was getting on his nerves that he might end up strangling her throat if he lost his patience.

But since they had gone this far, he would hold to any chance of survival, no matter how slim it was. 'Her plan should better be a useful one, ' he thought. Although he didn't trust her, he waited silently to what she was about to say.

"Our scapegoat is so far and yet so near. Can't you see? If the nurse has disappeared from the earth, no one could track down to us then. And it would have come to a close secret deal. No one in this world, apart from you and me, would get a chance to learn the truth. Very simple, right?" Leila narrated as if it had nothing to do with her and she was just telling a story. She was calm and composed.

By then, Felix completely caught what Leila was thinking in her mind-she wanted to kill Lillian to destroy all the traces. He felt a chill running down his spine, and he couldn't help but tremble. It freighted him how cruel and heartless this woman was. Suddenly he found that he hardly knew her, and he was bogged down deeper and deeper. What he didn't know was Leila could kill him either to lose all traces of that incident, if he would not obey her.

"But she is alive and kicking. I can't see any sign of a short life on her!" he said, pretending that he didn't get her true meaning.

"This is the job waiting for you, Felix.

Kill her to keep her mouth shut, and destroy all the traces that point to us. Then, it would be done there, and I bet that even the ghosts couldn't notice it. All our problem will go with the wind," Leila suggested with a smile.

Her voice sounded nothing different from the first time they met. For a moment, Felix thought that she was just talking about the weather but not another woman's life. She was not a human at all!

He was more frightened. This woman was completely beyond his cognition. It was right that he wasn't serious with Lillian at the beginning. He just took advantage of her because she was Sheryl's nurse. But it didn't mean that he wanted to take her life away from her. It was a life, and he didn't intend to or have the courage to take it away. Not to mention, he was a doctor.

He had dissected the corpse of countless animals when he was studying in medical school, but it was just for study and learning, not personal. After he worked in the hospital, he had witnessed the death of his patients many times. Sometimes, he believed that he had gotten used to it and took for granted that he had leaped out from the circle of birth and death. It was a natural occurrence for him.

But now, he knew he was wrong. He didn't care before because it had nothing to do with him. He was too busy uplifting his career and fame to care about those.

And he also couldn't imagine that he would take a person's life with his own hands, which were supposed to cure the sickness and save the patient. How could he, as a doctor, do that heartless thing?

He couldn't do that and he wouldn't allow himself to do such a thing. It was beyond his conscience, and he might not get to sleep a wink if he did that. There would be no turning back if he killed Lillian with his own hands. He would fall into the darkness forever. He might go insane!

He must stop now when it was not too late. He could clearly tell it was a path to the hell ahead, a hell flaming where mortal sinners were punished.

He dared not to go, not even a chance! He had done enough.

All he wanted was to spend the rest of his life in peace. It almost killed him to have lived in the fear of being arrested by the police the passing days. He couldn't sleep well at night and always had dreams that a pair of handcuffs glowing with silver was put on his hands. He then woke up in midnight with cold sweat all over and gasped because of fear. Then, how could he do worse than that? His conscience would kill him if that happened.

He murmured in a trembling voice, "No, I can't. I really can't do that! I have done enough, Leila! Leave me alone!"

His voice faded away, his face was as pale as the white wall, and he was almost driven crazy.

"Yes, you can and you must! You definitely don't want to end up in prison, right?" Leila said determinedly and cut his road of retreat. She thought Felix was foolish to be driven by his conscience, which she forgot what it was a long time ago. This was the only way to save them, no other choice to have. It was their last resort now, or else, they would let justice judge them both.

"No! No..." Felix shouted miserably and shook his head repeatedly in despair. He went totally blank, feeling that he was floating in the air. He couldn't believe that all of this was happening to him. He wished that all of this was all a nightmare.

Firmly closing his eyes, Felix didn't know what to do anymore. There was complete silence over the phone. None of them spoke again and only Felix's heavy gasping was heard, puffing as if he was running a long way.