The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 1638 Utterly Exhausted

Lewis only stopped walking when he was directly in front of Sheryl. Then he stopped singing and playing, and just looked into her eyes passionately. Sheryl could see that he was about to say something, but he seemed too excited to utter a word. Sheryl just wanted to get away from there. She sighed and turned away from him, but Lewis grabbed her arm and blurted out, "Sheryl, will you be my girlfriend? We'll be so happy together. I'm serious this time."

Sheryl paused and turned to look at him. Rolling her eyes, she said, "You're serious? Then were you just joking with me back at the hospital?"

She had always thought Lewis to be a mature gentleman until this moment. She thought it would be okay to have a close, male friend. But he had crossed the line, and things were different now. He had hung a huge balloon by her window to show his love for her, and he just serenaded her like a love-struck teenager. She was irked, to say the least.

"Look, Lewis! I'm married. I have two kids! You think that you really want this, but you really don't. Think about it." Sheryl chose each word carefully, afraid to provoke Lewis.

"No, we're perfect for each other, Sheryl. Trust me! Just give us a chance, and you'll see how good it's going to be. You'll finally understand how I feel." Lewis didn't know how to take no for an answer, and he didn't listen to what Sheryl said either. He was so stuck in his own mind, that he refused to listen to anyone else. He believed what he wanted to believe and ignored everyone else.

That was why Lewis just did whatever he wanted to Sheryl without even bothering to consider what she really wanted.

While Sheryl knew that he just wanted to tell her how special she was to him, she was also getting pretty tired of it, and just wished that he would take no for an answer.

Sheryl smiled bitterly to herself, accepting the fact that Lewis was obsessed, and he wouldn't ever stop because he was crazy. She'd already tried to talk to him properly, rejected him to his face, and even purposely avoided him for days. She didn't know what to do anymore.

All she could do now was sigh and ignore him. She turned and went back to her office leaving Lewis standing there. Whatever he did next had nothing to do with her anymore. She wasn't liable for him. She decided to do as an ostrich does-bury its head under the sand, and wait for it to all go away.

"Ms. Xia, we can't just let Mr. Xu do stuff like that every day. Did you see what people were saying online? Everyone's talking about you two! We need to do something to stop him from doing that again!" Phoebe said anxiously. Even Phoebe couldn't stand Lewis anymore. It was the fifth day that he came to their office to make a scene.

Every day, Phoebe went down to the lobby to send Lewis away with whatever excuse she could think of that day. She was so tired of arguing with him. Her head just ached at the thought of having to deal with Lewis again today. She'd rather hit her head against a brick wall than talk to him.

"You're my assistant, darling! So your job's to help in whatever way you can. Okay, take a break from the business first. Can you honestly just sit there, and watch him torture me? No, you can't!" Sheryl knew she was putting Phoebe in an awkward position. Since she couldn't meet Lewis herself, she had no choice but to ask Phoebe to do it for her.

When Phoebe saw the look on Sheryl's face, she knew she had no choice but to do as she said.

"Okay, Ms. Xia. I'm going down now. I'm not coming back until I make him leave!" Phoebe toughened up and bravely walked out of Sheryl's face. Sheryl smiled and shook her head as she watched Phoebe stomp out.

She then turned and looked at the clear blue sky outside. Sheryl learned long ago to always look at things positively. Days came and went anyway, whether she cried or she smiled. With everything that had been happening recently, no one would blame her if she decided to take the rest of the day off. But she didn't. She chose to keep her head held high, and she tried to spend the rest of the day productively.

Even though she tried her best to turn a blind eye to the things people were saying online, and turn a deaf ear to the gossip people were spreading, she couldn't. This was because the rumors were getting more and more aggressive. People were saying that she was going to merge Shining Company with Blue Cloud Technology Company while her husband, the president of Shining Company, was lying in a hospital bed in a coma!

For most, it was just the affair that intrigued them, but the journalists and the media were in it for the juicy story of a possible hostile takeover of a corporate giant. They fanned the flames by reporting it everywhere.

Where there's smoke, there's fire. Shining Company's shareholders and employees-especially the ones who'd worked there their whole lives-couldn't help but be worried. They wouldn't let anything like that happen. After a discussion among themselves, they decided to talk to Sheryl and ask her what was going on.

Sean Zhang was probably the oldest employee in the company. He earned his position by working hard and committing to his job. His efforts were never overlooked because had it not been for him Shining Company wouldn't be where it was today. Not long after Sheryl and Charles got married, Charles introduced him to Sheryl, and they would have dinner every now and then. Sheryl always respected him, but today, the minute he opened his mouth, Sheryl was pissed.

"Sheryl, I don't care how many men you're dating, or who they are, but I would die first before I let anything happen to this company. You better watch yourself, Sheryl." Sean's voice was sharp like a knife. When he spoke, he glared at Sheryl.

"Mr. Zhang, I don't know how the hell you've ended up with that conclusion, but let me be as straightforward as you were with me, I'm not interested in Charles's company. I thought you knew that. Don't come in here talking to me like that, about something that you know was obviously concocted," Sheryl spat. He had clearly come here for a fight, so Sheryl was going to give it to him.

"Bullshit! Stop trying to make a fool out of me! We all know what kind of person you are. Rome wasn't built in a day. We won't let you do anything to the company, even if Charles isn't here right now." Sean triumphantly glared back at Sheryl as if he had caught her, and he alone was going to stop her evil plan.

Sheryl remained calm. She wouldn't deny anything she did, but she would never admit to something she didn't do. There was no use explaining because Sean and all the rest of them had already made up their minds about her. She decided to keep her mouth shut, and time would finally tell.

"I thought you called because you wanted to catch up, but it seems I was wrong. I don't think we should waste each other's time anymore, Mr. Zhang. I need to go. I still have a lot of work to do," Sheryl said as she put on a fake smile. Afterward, she got up, nodded towards Sean, and left without looking back.

Sean was taken aback at Sheryl's abrupt departure. It took him awhile to realize what had happened. He slammed the table and yelled, "Who does she think she is?"

"Take it easy, Mr. Zhang. It won't do you any good to argue with a woman like that. Just let her go!" Leila's voice suddenly intruded. She had found out that Sean and Sheryl had scheduled a meeting, so she decided to see for herself what was going on. She waited until Sheryl left. Knowing how proud Sheryl was, Leila had figured that Sheryl would've been too proud to tell Sean that she wasn't going to do anything to Charles's company. This was a great opportunity to get someone in a high position in Shining Company on her side.

"How do you do, Miss Zhang?" Sean greeted as soon as he saw Leila. They wanted to figure out what Sheryl was thinking because she was Charles's wife, and they had two kids. If Sheryl did this, it would be embarrassing for their family. But Leila was a different story. "What are you doing here, Miss Zhang?" Sean continued.

"I'm here because we have the same goal, Mr. Zhang. We both want the best for Shining Company!" Leila said with a smile as she took a seat across the table from Sean.

Sean's eyes lit up because Leila had gotten his attention.

"Oh? Then what's your plan?" Sean asked slowly. He leaned back against his chair and narrowed his eyes as he watched Leila.

Leila looked around cautiously before leaning towards Sean and whispering her plan to him.

Sean kept nodding his head as he listened to Leila's plan. Soon, his face broke into a wide smile. He guffawed and praised Leila, "Sounds great! I can't believe you came up with this idea all on your own. I didn't expect that from you."

"You're flattering me, Mr. Zhang. I'm only here because I want to protect Charles and the company he built from the ground up," Leila said as if she was the one who had married Charles. Her loyalty impressed Sean.

When they had finished discussing the details, they separated in high spirits.

Leila's plan was simple. All they had to do was deliberately mess up one of the company's deals and blame it on Sheryl. If it worked, Sheryl wouldn't be able to run to anyone because no one would believe her. The project that Leila picked was the one Holley mentioned. It was worth hundreds of millions, so if it failed, it would take quite a while before the company got back on its feet.

Even though it was risky, Sean decided to go with it. After all, he could always deal with it later on. He fell into Leila's trap that easily.

When Sheryl returned to her office, she was in a good mood. She found Isla sitting inside her office. She was smiling when Sheryl came in. Sheryl threw her purse at Isla and said, "What now, Isla? Why are you smiling?"

"Oh, la la! I should be asking the questions! Not you! I was just away for a few days, and everything's already changed. Tell me everything! What's up with that Lewis guy?" Isla grabbed her purse and put it away. Then she stood up and walked towards Sheryl, ready to gossip.

Sheryl rolled her eyes at Isla and sighed to herself. It seemed as if they were best friends, just here for the gossip and not to ask how she was doing.

Just as she was rolling her eyes, she cracked a smile. This was the Isla that she knew. Sheryl could be anything as long as she was with Isla.

Isla could tell from the look on Sheryl's face that she was utterly exhausted from everything that had been happening. Pursing her lips to show her sympathy, Isla then put on a serious look and asked, "Sher, did you tell Lewis to his face? Were you honest with him?"