The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 1607 Isla’s Outburst

Sheryl raised her head with much difficulty and looked into the nurse's eyes with a solemn expression. It felt as if everything around her was spinning. She then shut her eyes tightly. A few moments later, she murmured, mostly to herself, "Right. I need to take care of myself. Charles may need me. He will be mad if he catches me like this. I have to hold on. I won't lose heart!" She nodded at the nurse and put on a determining look.

"That's the Sheryl I know. Come on! Let's go back and get some rest." Isla felt her heart settle in her chest and heaved a sigh of relief before walking Sheryl back to her ward.

Somehow the nurse's words had comforted Sheryl and gave her some hope. In a matter of a few minutes, she fell into a deep slumber, breathing evenly.

Isla took a chair and sat beside Sheryl's bed, gazing down at her best friend. Sheryl looked like a carefree angel in her sleep. But Isla knew it was an absolute contrast to what Sheryl's life was like in reality. She sighed and hated that Sheryl had to go through all of this.

However, Isla had hardly enjoyed this momentary peace than she heard some noise coming from outside. Gradually it was becoming louder and louder. Isla frowned as she speculated who could possibly be so mindless to make such a commotion inside a hospital. She cast a quick glance at Sheryl, who seemed absolutely unaware of the noise, before tiptoeing out of the room, avoiding making any noise that could wake Sheryl up.

The moment she stepped out of Sheryl's ward, she spotted Melissa and Leila standing to one side and shouting at the top of their voices. Isla frowned deeply and donned a firm, yet cool expression on her face as she approached them.

"Where is Sheryl? I need to talk to her now!" Melissa yelled at the very first sight she got of Isla.

By now, Isla had become used to with her arrogance. She maintained her calmness as she took her time to move closer to them and replied with an ironic smile, "I'm afraid you have to talk to me first. Sheryl is unwell and besides, she has nothing to say to you."

"Don't you know what she has done?" Melissa sneered.

Isla was a little taken aback, wondering what Melissa was talking about. She stopped a few steps away from them and said curtly, "I don't think Sheryl is in a condition to do anything now. Please, lower your voice and behave yourself. This is a hospital, not the living room of your house! I'll call the security if you keep making such a noise."

Isla had always found Melissa's attitude intolerable. And especially now that both Sheryl and Charles had ended up in the hospital, she found it difficult to even bear the sight of the woman.

As Charles' mother and a senior lady of her age, she should have been more sophisticated. But she behaved as if she was a housewife in her pajamas bargaining at the vegetable market. Sometimes, Isla even felt sorry for her, but it seemed Melissa was completely ambivalent toward the impression she created with other people.

Isla couldn't help running her eyes over Melissa repeatedly. Melissa could have been more dignified if only she paid a little attention to her words and actions.

The woman was wrong in every aspect and lacked the bearing of an affluent old lady. If there was something about Melissa which could have aroused a little attention from other people, it had to be her delicate face, which was nothing other than a gift she had gotten at birth.

"Leila and I had left Charles alone for just a little while, and the nurse told us that he's suffering intracranial hemorrhage. Everything was alright when we left. You tell me whom I should blame for that development except for Sheryl!" Melissa came directly to the point.

Isla cracked another ironic smile and said, "Are you kidding? It is your son who lies inside the room. Melissa, you need to blame yourself for not looking after him well enough. Sheryl is also unwell, and what happened to Charles has nothing to do with her."

"Nothing to do with Sheryl? She's Charles' wife, the only person who is allowed to visit him. Don't ever try to pull the wool over my eyes!" Melissa started attributing all the problems to Sheryl as she always did. Isla then let out a loud laugh and contradicted, "Now you remember that Sheryl is your son's wife! Then can you tell me who the woman next to you is? And why does she follow you everywhere you go? As Sheryl's mother-in-law, are you really supposed to be with the other woman who is trying to come in between them? Tell me, Melissa! Huh, maybe you're older, but if you fail to behave like an elder, I can tell you how to do it?"

Isla's quick mind and tongue rendered Melissa speechless. Facts speak louder than words. She couldn't deny the truth.

At the same time, Leila's face also turned blue.

She sighed inwardly, wondering why Melissa could not do one thing right without embarrassing herself. She hated Melissa for being that mindless. However, the one valid point that she missed here was that the biggest and the most glaring example of Melissa being mindless was that she took Leila as her ally.

Leila set her disappointment aside and came up with an idea to get both of them out of here.

She bit her lower lip and clutched her hands before stepping forward to confront Isla.

On the other side, Isla crossed her arms in front of her chest, narrowing her eyes on Leila and waiting to see what she would say. But Isla changed her mind in one split second and said, shaking her head, "Stay away from me. People always say that a vixen stinks, and by now, I believe that they're right. I don't want to get any of it on me."

Isla was quite good at irritating people with her sharp tongue and quick mind.

However, Leila also had skills of her own. She stuck out her chest and looked at Isla with a disgusted expression. Actually, she had never taken Isla seriously before today.

"If I was a vixen, then you would be the bitch, who barks loudly for Sheryl. I won't waste any of my precious time on you. After all, you're nothing but an outsider!" Leila yelled, venting all her annoyance on Isla as well as Sheryl at the same time.

Initially, Isla hadn't wanted to create a scene here in the hospital, at least for Sheryl's sake. But now, she decided to put all of her concerns aside. Since Leila had invited the trouble herself, she should have a taste of it. She would teach Leila how to show respect to her and Sheryl.

Isla lifted her hand and slapped Leila right in her face. After that and without any hesitation, she grabbed Leila's hair and hissed from in between her teeth, "You're coming to the wrong person, Miss Zhang! It seems you'll never learn to keep low. Fine, I'll show you. You'd better grasp the instruction before my patience runs out!"

Left completely aghast, Leila covered her face with one hand and hurriedly raised the other hand to get her hair out of Isla's grip. However, Isla's hold was so tight that Leila felt as if her scalp would rip off from her head.

Also taken aback, Melissa began to scream in panic.

Isla cast a cold glance at her and shouted, "Oh, shut up, Melissa! Do you think anyone will come to help you? Forget it!"

Melissa came to a halt as if Isla's words had unplugged her power cord. She was well aware that people here would turn a deaf ear at them.

"Let go of me, Isla!" Leila screamed, choking on her sobs. Tears were welling up in her eyes. Isla couldn't tell whether it was because of the pain or humiliation.

Leila felt as if it was the end of the world. She had never been treated like that before. It was becoming increasingly intolerable being called the other woman and getting pulled by her hair. What was all the more humiliating was that by now she neither had the courage, nor strength to combat Isla. She felt like she was a puppet in Isla's hand and that she could easily be lifted and thrown to the ground.

Isla felt a kind of solace at seeing Leila and Melissa being intimidated like that. She looked viciously at Leila and said, "Okay, I'll let you go. However, I have but one condition. Behave yourself and watch your tongue. I can't promise what I'll do next time if I ever hear or see you behaving like that again!" Isla didn't mean to just threaten her. Rather she was serious. And the way she slowly uttered and emphasized every word, sent a chill down Leila's spine that even Isla could feel as she found Leila quivering under her grip. As a woman of awe-inspiring justice, and Sheryl's best friend, Isla was of a mind to throw Leila out of the window there and then. This would end matters for good.

The root cause of the entire problem between Sheryl and Charles was these two mindlessly self-centered and greedy women. And on top of that, Melissa and Leila did not have even an iota of guilt or regret for their conduct. Rather they had all the enthusiasm to keep harassing Sheryl in every new way possible. Isla had felt her palms twitching for a long time to teach them a lesson. At the moment, she really wanted to rip their heads apart and see whether these were filled with hay inside.

Finally, Isla had seized this chance at retribution when her patience had completely run out.

Leila didn't give her any response. Rather she stopped struggling, and sobbed silently. Isla slowly released her hair and let her go. Sheryl was still asleep inside the room, and she might be mad at this scene. Isla didn't want Sheryl to be upset because of these two shameless women.

As Isla loosened her grip all of a sudden, Leila staggered forward, almost falling on her knees. Melissa hurried forward to hold her.

Isla then said coldly with her finger pointing sternly at them, "Get out of here, right now! Never ever show up in front of Sheryl again. Next time, I won't show any mercy on either of you!"

She clenched her hand into a fist and waved at them to warn them. When all of these events had long passed, Isla would eventually tell Sheryl what she had done this day, which would almost make Sheryl cry with laughter.

Melissa immediately dragged Leila away from there. Apparently, she believed every word that Isla said.

Isla couldn't be happier to watch them fleeing in panic. If she had known that fists would speak louder than words, she would have beaten them up long ago. Then it would have saved Sheryl from lots of trouble.

Melissa only stopped once they had turned the corner, panting for breath. She grasped her heaving chest as Isla's threat kept reverberating in her mind. After a long time, she murmured, "That woman is a maniac! I used to think she was just ill-bred, but now I suppose she's lost her mind."

But Leila didn't give her any response as if she hadn't heard her.

After her breathing returned to normal, Melissa noted Leila's change in behavior. She turned to look at Leila, who was looking ahead with her eyes fixed on a distant point. Half of her face was swollen. Isla had really hated them and had slapped Leila with her full strength.

"Leila, does it hurt? Are you okay?" Melissa asked with a lot of concern, waving her hand in front of Leila's vacant eyes.

But Leila seemed to have become like a concrete doll and didn't even blink her eyes. This made Melissa all the more scared.

However, Leila had heard Melissa's words and had even noticed her tense expression. She mentally rolled her eyes and sighed, wondering why Isla hadn't slapped Melissa as well. Then Melissa would have known whether it hurt or not!

"I'm fine, Aunt Melissa," Leila finally said, feigning an innocent expression on her face.