The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 1659 Sheryl, Don't Leave Me Ever Again!

Charles pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. Patiently, he elaborated, "Mother, for one thing, I never asked Leila to take care of me. For another, no matter how much she helped me while I was unconscious, she had no right to hurt Sheryl on purpose. Helping me and harming Sheryl are two different things. She has to pay for what she did to Sheryl!"

As soon as he was done speaking, Charles stared at Melissa in silence.

"Pay? What does she need to pay for? You didn't give Leila a chance to explain herself. Was that fair to her?" Melissa was determined to defend Leila. She remembered every little thing that Leila had done for her son. Every one of Leila's efforts to look after Charles vividly remained in Melissa's memory. She couldn't allow Charles to take everything Leila had done for granted.

Charles frowned and fell silent. After a short pause, he said, "Let Leila in. I want to talk to her."

Upon hearing what Charles had said, Melissa felt elated. Without delay, she took out her phone and hurriedly dialed Leila's number.

At that moment, Leila had just arrived at the hospital's entrance. She felt the vibration coming from her handbag and almost immediately recognized her phone's ringtone. She fished it out of her bag and saw Melissa's name on the screen. Leila felt mild panic set in. 'Why is Melissa calling now? Is there anything wrong?' She took a deep breath to try to calm herself down. She didn't want to overthink things. "Leila, I'm in Charles' room. Come here, quick! He wants to see you in person!"

Melissa said abruptly and ended the call before Leila could even respond. Leila tensed. She wondered, 'Could this really be happening? That's odd. What's going on with Charles?'

Leila shook her head in an attempt to prevent herself from thinking too much. Remembering what Melissa had just said, she quickened her pace. To some of the people around the hospital halls, it looked as though she was almost running.

In a couple of minutes, Leila made it into Charles' hospital room. She leaned against the frame of the door and tried to catch her breath.

"Leila, look at you! You must have been running this whole time. Sorry if my call has alarmed you, but there is really no need to be in such a hurry!" Melissa softly greeted her, as she quickly took Leila's arm. She put on an inexplicable smile.

Leila didn't understand what Melissa's smile meant, but she managed to smile back. Then, still panting, she turned her gaze upon Charles. She thought, 'Charles asked me to come. He said he wanted to talk to me. It must be important.'

"Leila, I have to make this clear to you. Before you took up a position in my company, you should have asked for my approval!" Charles blurted out.

Taken aback, Leila couldn't fully comprehend what Charles meant. Melissa was equally astonished. Leila shot her an anxious look.

'Does Charles intend to bring this up again? How could he still remember? And how could such a tiny thing still bother him?' Melissa thought.

Leila was overcome with apprehension. She had been working in Shining Company for so many days, and now, it seemed that she would have to step down.

'No, I won't allow it! I would rather die than leave the company! I will be a mockery if I get fired. I don't deserve all this humiliation!'

However, Leila surprised herself when she merely said, "I get it." Leila's response was brief. She realized she still didn't have the nerve to say how she really felt out loud in front of Charles.

She knew that no matter how hard she fought, it would all be in vain. Charles only listened to himself. If his mind had already been made up, there was no point in arguing. Whatever decisions he made, they were impossible to change.

"I'm glad you do!" Charles replied. With a snort, he continued, "By the way, Sheryl's returning to Dream Garden. I'm allowing you to stay there temporarily, but if you dare cause any trouble or put Sheryl in harm's way, I swear I will have you evicted!"

Charles' tone sounded unfriendly. His indifference toward Leila left her speechless.

Leila had looked forward to seeing Charles wake up. Now that he was finally up, she couldn't believe that what she had waited for turned out to be such a cruel slap to her face.

She felt broken and distressed.

Finally, tears fell down her cheeks. She had tried to keep them from falling, but that proved impossible. She didn't know what to do. The only thing she could do was weep.

Melissa, who deeply cared about Leila, became visibly worried. She immediately cut in and said, "Charles, what are you doing? Why are you treating Leila like this? This was supposed to be a nice, civil conversation, but look at what you've done! You've made Leila cry!"

Charles ignored Melissa. In his opinion, he had just said what he had to say. How they felt was their business.

"It's okay. I get it!" Leila nodded as she wiped her tears away with the back of her hand.

Charles watched Leila for a while. Her reaction surprised him.

He hadn't expected Leila to be so compliant, and not to put up a fight. Also, from what he knew about her, she was not a woman who easily showed vulnerability.

"You two should get going. I want to be alone now. I'm tired," Charles said curtly and closed his eyes. He pretended to be sleeping so that Leila and Melissa would leave.

"Okay, we're leaving now. You should get some rest. We will see you later." Melissa turned away. As she made her way out, she grabbed Leila by the arm. Leila, still somewhat disoriented from the humiliation and Charles' dismissal, simply obliged.

When they had left the room, Leila asked, "Are we really leaving now, Aunt Melissa?"

"Didn't you see? Charles didn't want to talk to us anymore. He's feeling annoyed and impatient right now. We should let him be for now. Besides, we have a lot of time to plan our next move. We should take things slow," Melissa comforted Leila and gave her a gentle pat on the back.

Leila felt helpless, but there was nothing she could do at the moment, except to follow Melissa's advice.

The ward fell silent. This solitude was peaceful for Charles. Without him noticing, he fell asleep.

"Dad..."

Shirley and Clark's voices slowly entered Charles' subconscious. He thought he was dreaming.

Charles awoke to the familiar sound of his children murmuring. Steadily, his eyes began to focus on his surroundings. Sheryl and the kids were standing by his bed. He lifted his wrist to check the time and realized he had dozed off and had been asleep for almost an hour. But it didn't feel as though an hour had passed. He felt like he had only closed his eyes a second earlier.

"Did you miss your dad?" Charles asked with a smile. He opened his arms, inviting the kids in for a hug.

"Very much!" Shirley was the first one to throw herself into her dad's arms. The clarity and beauty of her voice immediately comforted Charles.

"Dad, did you get hurt? You're here in the hospital. But why did Mom say that you went on a business trip?" Clark, carrying his sister's backpack, slowly walked closer to Charles. As he was asking his questions, he shot his mother a confused look.

Sheryl was embarrassed. She hadn't expected Clark to remember the story which she had made up to explain Charles' disappearance.

Charles studied Sheryl's expression and quickly understood. To rescue his wife from their son's interrogation, Charles said, "Dad's fine! I'm not sick. I just needed to get a quick check-up... For work." "Really?" Clark looked Charles in the eye. He wasn't entirely sure if he believed his father.

Sheryl walked over to them and stopped beside Clark. She listened attentively to their conversation and did not say a word. After looking at them for a while, she realized how much Clark resembled his father. Amazement, gratefulness, and delight escaped her lips in the form of a chuckle.

"Has Dad ever lied to you? Once I'm allowed to leave the hospital, I'll take you and Shirley to the amusement park, okay?" Charles then turned to Shirley and caressed her hair. The little girl was overjoyed to hear the good news. She nodded and offered her little finger, an invitation for Charles to make a pinky-promise. Charles happily accepted.

For the next hour, the ward, despite its drab walls, lack of furniture, and various hospital smells, felt like home. Sheryl, realizing that Charles might need his rest, called Joan to take the kids.

After the kids had left, it felt as though the world belonged to Sheryl and Charles alone. It had become much quieter like they were the only two people on Earth. Sheryl approached her husband and held his hand. "How are you feeling?" she asked, her voice heavy with concern.

"I'm fine! The doctor just run some tests earlier. He suggested that I stay several more days. Once I'm stronger, I'm allowed to go!"

Charles regarded Sheryl with a huge grin. He noticed the concern in her eyes, and he immediately felt sorry. With a frown, he gently pulled her closer to him. She lay lightly against his chest as he continued to say, "Sher, don't leave me ever again. I can't live without you."

"I won't! I promise!" Sheryl replied without hesitation. Charles, in his happiness, failed to notice the sadness in Sheryl's eyes.

Sheryl thought about Ferry. A part of her knew he would be coming for her. He would be back to threaten her and her family again. She just didn't know when. But as long as Charles was by her side, she convinced herself that she had nothing to fear. She felt like she could defeat anything that came her way.

As the night deepened, Charles fell asleep once more. Sheryl took a good, long look at him and then quietly made her way out of his ward.