The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 1469 Charles' Fury

This time, Sheryl didn't want Melissa to get away so easily. At the very least, she believed Melissa was a senior worthy of respect. As an adult, she had to be responsible for the mistakes she made. What Sheryl really wanted was to teach her a lesson. Pressing her lips together, she glared at Melissa pointedly as she thought of how she could punish her.

Getting cautious, Melissa grew alert as she looked straight into Sheryl's grim eyes-her heart seemed to sink, and she couldn't help but let her legs tremble. The Sheryl in front of her was like someone entirely new. No matter how hard she was on Sheryl, the latter had always surrendered eventually, in the interest of avoiding a long and bigger problem. Now, it seemed that Sheryl couldn't care less about Melissa's position as senior of the family, leaving no room for compromise.

Throughout the silence, Sheryl didn't pull her eyes off Melissa once. While Melissa put on a tough facade, Sheryl ran out of patience and began speaking. "Mom, I think you've had too much leisure time. It's brought you low. Now, you're not only lazy, but too bad-tempered! You were so bored that you resorted to beating the kids for fun? How about this. If you're so good at playing cards, you should take advantage of your skill and make a living on it. It must be challenging enough to pull you out of boredom. If you don't, I'll get Charles to stop providing you any finances for the next half-year."

Melissa's confused face turned livid. Her heart stopped shrinking as anger rose in her chest. Numerous things began running through her head-Sheryl had no right to make Charles do that. And without money, Melissa couldn't survive a single day and she knew it. Considering that, she couldn't help but react aggressively to Sheryl's intimidation.

Almost in despair, Melissa burst into a fit of rage. Her face twisted into something monstrous as she shouted angrily at Sheryl, "Who the hell do you think you are? You have no right to restrain my way of living! I'm warning you, Sheryl, don't get too conceited!" Her lips trembled as she yelled and her brows creased into a hideous frown. Not wanting to appear threatened, Melissa made it clear that she wouldn't allow Sheryl to do such a thing.

"I'm conceited? How dare you say that! You ungrateful wretch! You're the one who's been conceited all this time! You never know how to reflect and admit to your own mistakes! I don't want to argue with you, but I'm warning you, if you keep this attitude up, you won't be getting any money for much longer than half a year!"

It was no surprise that Melissa almost blew up just at Sheryl's words. Pointing at her accusingly, she shouted, "Well, let's see whether or not my son will allow you to insult me like this! You're a crazy woman!" "You're so full of yourself. Did you forget how badly you treated the kids? Why don't you worry about whether or not my husband will forgive you for that?" she challenged back angrily. With that, Sheryl paused and glared at Melissa fiercely-she knew it was useless to reason with her. All she intended was for Melissa to feel threatened and surrender for once.

Then, she continued, "Let me warn you again. This is a small consequence. If you dare beat the kids again, I won't let you get away with it!"

Making sure Melissa didn't miss a single word, Sheryl pronounced every syllable in her sentence slowly and clearly. Every word from Sheryl's mouth hit Melissa like a rock, leaving pits in her heart. Once again, Melissa was left speechless, wearing a pale face, barely managing to stand on her own two feet.

Seeing how ready Sheryl was to turn against her with determination, Melissa realized that there was no space left for her to negotiate anymore.

It was concerning.

Feeling helpless, Melissa dropped her head low, still trying to resist resigning herself to Sheryl's unfair deal. Recalling how submissive Sheryl normally was to her, she couldn't bear letting Sheryl rein over her. Suddenly, Melissa clenched her fists, as if she was preparing to strike Sheryl by surprise.

In truth, she wanted to ignore the consequences and shout at the younger woman to release her anger.

But Melissa didn't get a chance. With that, Sheryl turned and left in an instant without giving Melissa a second look.

As she watched Sheryl's retreating figure, Melissa was left at a loss, not knowing how to react.

All she could do was clench her fists tighter as she fixed her glare straight through Sheryl's back, inwardly cursing her and hoping for her downfall.

Meanwhile, a Rolls-Royce zoomed like a bullet on the highway.

It was too dangerous to drive a car so fast even. Luckily, it wasn't a peak hour when many people got off duty. The car seemed to go at high speed without a single pause.

Behind the wheel, Charles felt too stuffy, loosening the tie on his neck in frustration. After a long day at work, he was completely exhausted. But because the domestic affair kept him restless, his nerves were still all too tense.

For a man, a warm home and a comfortable bed were all he longed for after work. No matter how difficult it was out on the job, he could shed off the weight of the day so long as he thought about his loving family.

But the chaos Melissa had caused since she moved in was too hard on him. If his work exhausted him physically, then the family issue was the root of his mental exhaustion. All he wanted to do was retreat to a quiet place without a care in the world.

As a man, however, he was trained to solve the problems in front of him head-on, especially when it came to protecting his family.

Thinking of the mess, Charles couldn't help but grow more and more irritated with his mother.

Curving his lips into a helpless smile, he thought to himself, 'Why does she have to be my mother? Is this God's form of punishment because of the sins I've committed in my previous life?' Begrudgingly, Charles pulled over his car as he arrived at Dream Garden.

Without wasting another second, he got out of the car and went straight into the house.

Nancy was busy cleaning the kitchen when she heard the screech of brakes from outside, making her run outside to wait in the corridor. When Charles walked toward her, she greeted him as usual. "Mr. Lu, have you eaten? I can make you a midnight snack."

"No thanks, Nancy. Don't bother. I was already full when I left work," he replied blandly.

As he made his way upstairs, something struck him in his place. Turning to face Nancy, he asked, "Did my mom and Sher quarrel over something?"

Instinctively, Nancy turned her head up toward the stairs. Although she remembered how Sheryl shouted, she didn't believe Sheryl would lose her temper so easily again. In her opinion, it was always Melissa stirring up the argument. Unable to put up with her insanity, it was no wonder that Sheryl ended up answering back.

Still, Nancy didn't think too much of it, because she preferred to stand up for Sheryl instead of Melissa. So long as Sheryl wasn't treated unfairly, she didn't care whether or not Sheryl was in the right. In Lu family, Sheryl was someone who treated Nancy as one of her own since the beginning-Nancy couldn't count how many times Melissa failed to put her down because of Sheryl's help. As a servant of the house, Nancy was grateful for someone like Sheryl.

"Mr. Lu, I heard Mrs. Lu lost her temper when I was in the kitchen. The kids were scared to tears...

Sher was trying to comfort them," Nancy responded in concern.

"Alright, I got it. Thanks, Nancy."

Though he nodded at her with a faint smile, a heavy shadow cast on his face. At the next moment, he turned and headed upstairs.

Watching as he left, Nancy spoke a prayer in heart. 'I hope Mr. Lu can harden his heart this time. He can't keep tolerating Melissa anymore; or else, he will allow Sheryl and the kids to suffer. The only one in this family who can handle Melissa is Mr. Lu.'

When Charles got upstairs, he found that the door to Melissa was left open. Walking past her room, he paused to check inside, only to replace Melissa fast asleep.

In his anger, a thought came to him. 'She's getting more and more conceited. She loses her temper whenever she wants at anyone she wants without a care in the world. She shouldn't be sleeping so peacefully!'