The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 1612 Isla's Idea

Tom's face had become dark and cloudy. Although his lips were curved in an apparently gentle smile, Bernard could see clearly through him.

People's expressions were always deemed as a reflection of their feelings. But he had never bothered about that before. He always thought that was bullshit. As a hit-man, he was expected to be emotionless, and that was his protective cover. But now, he had to admit that it was true.

"Tom, I'll do exactly what you've asked me to do. Please, give me some time," Bernard answered with strong determination as he looked into Tom's eyes, hoping that he wouldn't have a falling out with him. Bernard was worried that things would become more complicated if Tom pushed him harder.

Hiding a dagger behind his smile, Tom remained silent. Then after a while, he said slowly, "You know that I'm in no rush, but my patience has its limits. We both know how precious Rachel's life is for you. Take your time."

Tom's words sounded like it came from a storybook, no pushing and no threatening, but it was evil enough to make Bernard's hair stand on end. He could feel his heart sinking down a bottomless hole. Bernard knew that Tom was serious. He had to get rid of Ferry as soon as possible.

"I'd better go. So long and take care." As if he was done visiting with an old friend for a quick chat, Tom turned around and immediately walked away.

The sun had already set in the west. Bernard shuddered as he felt the chilly breeze on his face, bringing him back to reality.

Tom had long gone, but Bernard could still see his dark and brooding face, and the image took up residence in his mind. Being occupied by thoughts on what he should do next, Bernard failed to realize how quickly time passed by.

Looking up at the staircase, he knew that the woman he loved was in his bedroom upstairs. Taking a deep breath, Bernard put his thoughts aside and ascended the stairs.

Pushing the door lightly, he quietly walked towards the bed. He lay down on it lightly, trying his best not to wake Rachel up. Looking at Rachel, who was sleeping peacefully beside him, he felt a sudden warmth in his heart. Reaching out his hand, he gently touched her cheek and then leaned down to kiss her forehead. The contact between his lips and her forehead gave him a sense of security, filling his heart with joy. Closing his eyes, Bernard finally fell into slumber.

The following days, Bernard went out early in the morning and returned late at night. Rachel was still in her dreams when he left and had fallen asleep when he returned. As much as she was curious about what he was up to, Rachel didn't dare to ask him due to the special nature of his work. She believed that Bernard would tell her when he felt it was necessary.

"Rachel, I'm going out to work tonight. It's no big deal, and I'll be back as soon as possible." Bernard didn't tell Rachel where he was headed to. Giving her a big hug, he bid her goodnight and left with the tools of his trade.

When Rachel reached the conclusion that he might be working on an assassin's mission, Bernard had long gone. Crossing her hands nervously, she prayed that nothing would go wrong and that her man would come back unscathed.

It would be a sleepless night for both Rachel and Bernard. Rachel had even noticed the bloodthirsty expression in Bernard's eyes. Remembering that he took the black bag with him, Rachel realized that his target would be hard to deal with. Her heart suddenly skipped a beat as Ferry popped up in her mind, causing her to tremble all over.

It was a clear night. The moon was hanging low in the sky, shining its bright light. At the outskirts of town, a shadowy figure climbed over the wall and swiftly crept into a villa like a ghost.

The villa was Ferry's secret safe house. Leaning against a cabinet in the living room with a wine glass in his hand, he browsed through the photos in his phone's gallery. Taking a sip of his wine, he smiled as he looked at a photo of him together with Holley. He was satisfied with Holley's hard work in bed, and she had just left the house a moment ago. Still soaked with the sweat of her entertainment, he murmured, "Oh, you will never know, Holley, but both you and Sheryl will have to die."

He hated these two women, and wouldn't spare Holley's life just because she had slept with him a couple of times. Licking his lips, he cracked a meaningful smile.

While Ferry was enjoying his night, Bernard was occupied with his mission. All he had learned about Ferry was that he led an underground gang. Tom had only provided him with limited information, and truth be told, that he had found Ferry's house in order to break into it was already a miracle.

"Someone is breaking in, boss!" one of Ferry's henchmen hurried in and reported. This was obviously something they didn't expect and might cost them their lives if their boss blamed them for their negligence. However, Ferry seemingly ignored him. Turning the wine glass in his hand, he seemed to be taking pleasure in its rich color.

Holding his breath and lowering his head to look at the floor, the henchman dared not interrupt his boss again.

After a long moment of silence, Ferry finally noticed the other presence in the room. Raising his dark eyes, he acknowledged his henchman's presence. "This is not a place where people come and go freely, Juan."

"What? I didn't quite catch you, boss?" Juan asked, feeling the sweat now dripping down his back.

"Are you nuts? Do you think I spent so much money on those traps just to show off?" Ferry shouted, raising his foot to kick Juan in his stomach out of annoyance.

Realizing that he had just received an order, Juan nodded and stumbled out of the living room hastily, disregarding the pain in his stomach. He ordered over his walkie-talkie, "We have a visitor. Make sure all the traps are armed!"

"Copy that, Juan!" replied one of the guards in the surveillance room. They had been waiting for instructions even before Bernard got close to the wall. Without any delay, all the traps were activated, ready to take Bernard out.

All of the henchmen had seen how their boss had designed these traps, but this was the first time they would see them put into use. Since a test subject had delivered himself at the gate, there was no way that they would kick him out before testing the traps.

At the same time, Bernard had no idea what was going on inside. The moment he slipped into the villa, he felt that something was not right. It was weird that there was no staircase. Bewildered, he had wracked his brain to replace a way upstairs. Now that he had broken into the house, leaving empty-handed was not his style.

Bernard moved around the ground floor a few times, at his wits end on how to replace a way to get upstairs. When he finally made it up, he had hardly taken a breath of relief when he triggered one of the traps. Although he reacted swiftly, it was too late. He had sustained an injury to one of his arms.

Feeling exhausted, Bernard was close to collapse any moment. He had been inside the house for over an hour now. Feeling the pain from his bleeding arm, he still couldn't spot a single figure inside. Bernard turned around and went back the same way he had come without any hesitation. He thought he'd better get out of there before it was too late. His instincts told him that he was being watched, and it was a trap But things didn't develop as planned. Bernard was surprised, seeing four or five muscular men blocking his way when he reached the entrance. Apparently, they had been waiting for him all along. Feeling like a rat in a hole, Bernard realized that he had nowhere to run.

"Hey, man! I'm afraid this is not a place for you to come and go as you like!" Juan shouted in a low voice, his eyes glistening in the moonlight as the ruffians began to stalk their prey.

Though not Ferry's right-hand man, Juan had worked for him for years. Building his reputation among other henchmen through his own abilities, he had been able to earn their respect as a leader.

But tonight, Ferry had blamed and kicked him because of this reckless intruder. Feeling humiliated, Juan decided to beat this man to a pulp to vent his own anger.

However, Bernard stared at them emotionlessly, with no intention of shrinking back from the fight. He had lived this hard life for as long as he could remember. Slowly taking out a knife from his bag, he ran straight towards his enemies.

Smirking at Bernard's stubbornness, Juan instructed his men to fight. Soon, they were all writhing against each other, none wanting to admit defeat.

Although Bernard was a well-trained hit-man, he only had two fists. Juan's group gained the upper hand by sheer numbers, beating Bernard in no time.

Understanding that his life would be in danger if he stayed any longer, Bernard waved his arm desperately, his knife cutting through the air and causing his opponents to step back. He then took his chance to dash to freedom.

Gathering all of his remaining strength, Bernard ran as fast as he could, wrestling the wind as he went.

Holding his breath, he hid in a tangled clump of wild grasses. Juan and his men came and went, until finally, the night was dead silent again.

Lying motionless on his stomach, Bernard was overtaken by exhaustion. He was badly hurt, but that was nothing when compared to having kept his own life. It was almost dawn when he finally got the strength to stand up from the ground. The place he had hidden in was quite a distance from Ferry's house. Bernard cast a glance at it before stumbling away. He had spent the whole night there and had even bled all over, but he had never caught so much as a glimpse of Ferry. Clenching his hands into fists resentfully, Bernard blamed himself for his lack of capacity.

On the other side of town, Sheryl was discharged from the hospital early the following morning.

Understanding that Sheryl would spend the rest of her day in the hospital, near Charles, if she didn't force her to go, Isla insisted that Sheryl should go to work instead.

For sure, Melissa and Leila would stay at the hospital as long as Charles was still there. They would certainly try their best to bother Sheryl. Isla didn't want her best friend to go through that, so she would rather have her at Cloud Advertising Company.

Even though these two women could do nothing but rattle around Sheryl's ears, Isla was afraid that Sheryl would take their words personally and become downtrodden.

At the same time, Isla was well aware that Sheryl was unable to concentrate on her work, so she made other arrangements.

She asked Cassie to keep an eye on Melissa and Leila. As soon as they left the hospital, Cassie would call Isla to bring Sheryl over to spend some time with Charles.

Despite knowing that this idea might require lots of effort, Isla would rather go to this trouble than let Sheryl stand toe-to-toe with these two shameless women. Heaven only knew what they would say or do next!