The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 1639 Hide From Him

"Do you really think that I am that indecisive and careless in a relationship?" Sheryl was speechless. She didn't know what she should say to convince Isla.

Everyone in town thought the reason why Lewis was so obsessed with Sheryl was that she was playing hard to get and she never gave him a solid "No". It was impossible for Sheryl to come clean against the Internet and all those rumors.

"That's odd. I don't see anything attractive in you. Why is Lewis so in love with you?"

Isla teased Sheryl to lighten the mood.

Sheryl was used to her remarks. She rolled her eyes at Isla, and then asked for advice.

"So... how are you going to deal with Lewis?" Isla muttered seriously as she stopped making fun of Sheryl.

Sheryl told Isla in detail what had happened over the past few days.

As Sheryl narrated her own thoughts, Isla remained silent, keenly listening to her friend. She seemed to be in deep thought. A few seconds later, she uttered, "Hide from him. That's the only thing you can do now."

Sheryl rolled her eyes again when she heard Isla's suggestion. Hiding from Lewis was surely not a permanent solution. It couldn't get to the bottom of the problem and fix it once and for all.

"Why are you looking at me like that? I am giving you my sincere and sensible suggestion!" Isla spread her hands to explain herself and looked at Sheryl, pouting her red rouged lips.

"I know. But that's not really a good suggestion, okay?" Sheryl got even more frustrated, to the point that she couldn't even catch her breath. Talking to unreasonable people or even uttering a single word further would make pain her.

Seeing Sheryl's frustration, Isla pondered on the supposedly serious question again. Then she said without jesting, "Actually, there is one solution."

"What?" Sheryl's eyes lit up as she heard that Isla might have a helpful suggestion. She looked into Isla's eyes excitedly, waiting for her further explanation.

"Well, we can cut all ties with Lewis. But in that case, Cloud Advertising Company will lose one of its biggest clients," Isla had gathered all her courage to offer this suggestion to the company president, which also happened to be her good friend.

Sheryl remained silent. She squinted, tried to process it, and eventually became lost in thought.

What Isla recommended was the last thing that Sheryl wanted to see happen. Losing a client and a friend was a big problem for her. If she and Lewis couldn't be lovers, Sheryl wished they could remain friends. But if she had to do what Isla suggested, they wouldn't be able to retain their friendship.

"Oh, my gosh, Sheryl! Why are you that silent? Are you attached to Lewis?!" Observing how Sheryl hesitated, Isla was convinced that Sheryl really had some feelings for Lewis.

Sheryl lifted her head to look Isla in the eye. She then shook her head and said, "Of course not, Isla. What are you thinking? I just don't want to be completely alienated from Lewis. I mean, we can be friends, can't we? But there seems to be no other option,"

Sheryl said after a long sigh, taking out her mobile phone to call Lewis.

Lewis didn't expect a call from Sheryl, so he quickly answered the phone in excitement.

"Sher!"

Lewis didn't call Sheryl by her first name anymore and started calling her by her nickname since he had begun stalking her.

Sheryl knew she made the right decision when she heard the familiarity with which Lewis confidently greeted her. Losing a big client was way better than being in an ambiguous relationship, while being gossiped about by others.

"Lewis, I really don't think we are close enough for you to call me by my nickname. I hope you can call me Sheryl or President Xia," Sheryl responded coldly, trying to send a message.

Her cold voice sounded extremely harsh in Lewis's ears. From grinning from ear to ear when he picked up his phone, his fancy smile was now gone. "Sheryl, I..."

"Lewis, if you don't give up chasing after me, I think we need to end our companies' partnership in the next year. Don't worry, I will pay you the liquidated damages caused by this inconvenience. Let's cut off all ties from now on."

Sheryl could hear Lewis' sorrow from the other end of the line. But she had made up her mind and had decided not to give Lewis the chance to finish his words.

Lewis couldn't help his anger as it almost consumed him. He furrowed his brows and said in complete annoyance, "Sheryl, is that how you think of me? Me chasing you has nothing to with our company's partnership. That's very unprofessional of you to say such a thing!"

Lewis was wrathfully lashing out. Sheryl could feel his anger and disappointment even if they were just conversing on the phone.

It was like killing two birds with one stone. By stating her conditions, Sheryl would not only cut ties with Lewis, but also hurt his feelings to the point that he would stop chasing her. Still, it was the last thing that Sheryl had wanted. She had run out of options and had to do this for her own peace.

"I just don't want to have any relations with you. As for what kind of person you are is none of my business," Sheryl answered indifferently and harshly, shattering Lewis' heart into pieces.

Her remark sounded as if it was uttered by a total stranger to Lewis.

And it was indeed hurtful and insensitive, but Lewis reacted too soon.

His frustration was gone. Shaking his head, he said in his softest voice, "Sheryl, do you really think that I would give up if you say such mean things to me? You don't know me. If you end our contract, that will only give me more opportunities to chase you, because we are then not partners anymore. I no longer need to consider our business if that happens. However, since we have signed a contract, you can't break the contract unilaterally,"

Lewis hung up after his counter strike. Hearing the busy tone, Sheryl sighed in frustration. The last method she had believed would work didn't actually do so.

Although Lewis wasn't a gentleman, he was hands-on about his business. So he would never mix his personal affairs with his business concerns.

Lewis was in low spirits after he hung up. Although he understood why Sheryl would say such painful words to him, it did make him realize that she had never considered being with him in the first place. "Sheryl, how can you not understand? Spending your life with someone who loves you with his whole heart is a lot better. Why are you so stubborn and obsessed with Charles? He doesn't treasure you at all. All he does is cheat on you and break your heart!" Lewis murmured to himself. He had told Sheryl about this specific argument for a thousand times already, but clearly, Sheryl didn't take it seriously.

So Lewis decided to stop complaining about Charles in front of Sheryl and just chase after her instead.

"How did it go? Did it work out?" Isla could tell from Sheryl's expression that her suggestion had failed them.

Sheryl shook her head in defeat, not saying anything to prevent further conversation.

Isla sat on the sofa to take some time to think with Sheryl. They blankly stared at the ceiling, not knowing what more they could do.

Phoebe knocked on the door and walked in. Seeing the frustration on Isla's and Sheryl's faces, she thought that something bad happened to their company, so she asked anxiously, "Presidents, is anything wrong with the company?"

Phoebe's question made Isla snap out from the vast cloud of thoughts. Isla shook her head and explained to Phoebe, "Everything is fine, Phoebe. It's about Sheryl. Sadly she has gotten stuck in a non-existent relationship."

Hearing Isla, Phoebe felt relieved. As long as nothing happened to the company she would be at peace.

Phoebe knew about the relationship between Sheryl and Lewis. She thought their relationship was a personal and intimate one. Others shouldn't get involved in that. Sheryl could only count on herself to navigate through her own problems.

"President Xia, nothing forcibly done is going to be agreeable, especially in a relationship. I am sure that President Xu will figure this out soon, and then stop bothering you," Phoebe comforted Sheryl with her wisdom.

Sheryl lifted up her head and nodded at Phoebe in agreement. She smiled and said, "I hope so, Phoebe. What is going on with the company recently? Is everything alright? Do you have any contracts or other paperwork needing my or President Zhao's expertise?"

"Everything is under control, President Xia. You don't have to worry."

"Thank you, Phoebe. I appreciate your hard work. You can take a long vacation once you finish everything urgent, and the company will fund your trip. You will get reimbursement so you can have nothing to think about but enjoying yourself." Sheryl felt so indebted for Phoebe's help. At the same time, she also felt sorry for putting so many burdens on Phoebe, simply because she was busy with her personal affairs

She and Isla had been dealing with all her personal troubles for the past few weeks. And it was Phoebe who helped them run the company with as smooth sailing as possible. She really did an exceptional job in managing everything which was out of their control. Besides, Phoebe never complained about anything. Sheryl was moved by Phoebe's devotion and loyalty to them and the company.