The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 1678 Charles Slaps Sheryl

Sheryl stopped talking, and shot Charles a decisive look.

"Smack!" The crisp sound of a slap was heard.

The silence was broken by a sudden harsh slap.

Charles drew back his hand. Trying his best to contain his feelings, he still couldn't help but tremble in a blind rage. His palm felt the pain and stung, as much as Sheryl's cheek did. Anger rose and coursed through his veins. His eyes were fierce and then reddened, as his heart pumped faster.

He had never thought that one day he would lose his temper at Sheryl, his wife. The woman he loved the most! Charles had never expected that he would ever hurt her physically.

The very instant that Charles slapped Sheryl's cheek, he immediately regretted it. However, there was no point in crying over spilled milk; what was done was done. No matter how remorseful he felt, he could only be realistic about it.

Charles didn't dare to look Sheryl in the eyes. But he was stunned when Sheryl seemed relieved, after suffering the slap.

Even though she tried to keep her pride, bitter tears welled up in her eyes. The side of Sheryl's face had swollen angrily after the slap. She put one hand gingerly to her pink cheek, while she held onto the table, to keep herself from falling with the other.

As the atmosphere turned more and more charged, no one was happy at the moment, except for Leila.

Leila was singing in her heart when she observed the red mark on Sheryl's face, which had been left there after Charles' slap.

She wanted to add more fuel to the fire and make the situation even messier for Sheryl. At the end of it all, Leila was waiting to be the one who would stand out to Charles.

Thinking of that, it didn't take long for Leila's devious mind to concoct a plan at once. She quietly approached Charles before she put her hand on his arm and gently comforted, "Charles, you shouldn't get so angry. It's bad for you. I guess what Sheryl said was just on a whim. How could she possibly want to divorce you?"

Leila had no intention to be their conciliator. She just wanted to make the situation worse. She stressed the word 'divorce' on purpose, to provoke Charles even more.

"Shut up!" Sheryl shot a fierce look toward Leila as she shouted.

Her eyes were burning with rage.

Sheryl's sudden aggressive outburst intimidated Leila, who stumbled a few steps back.

Turning to face Charles, Sheryl continued, "Sign it or not, I won't be coming back to Dream Garden anymore! Also, the kids are going to live with me!"

Then Sheryl threw the divorce papers at Charles before she turned on her heel and left.

It all happened so quickly that Charles didn't have a moment to brace himself.

Watching the door slam shut after Sheryl left, Leila was thrilled. An evil grin crept onto her lips.

But Leila quickly contained her feelings and hid her expression from Charles. She realized that this was a golden opportunity for her. With a concerned frown, she gazed at Charles with a meaningful look and asked, "Charles, are you okay?"

She received no response from Charles. He only stared blankly at the doorway.

Leila didn't give up. She continued, "Charles, don't worry! Even if Sheryl has left you, you still have me! I'll never leave you! I'll stay with you for the rest of your life!"

It was the perfect moment for Leila to show her loyalty to Charles. So she didn't want to miss it.

Still, with no response. Charles just clenched his fists tightly. With a gloomy face, he still stared at the doorway without blinking.

"Charles, calm down. I'll take care of your mother. I won't let Sheryl near her, or give her a chance to hurt her," Leila added.

"Shut up! And get the fuck out!" Charles had finally had enough of her and shouted out loudly.

Leila had been complacent about the progress she had made at first. She thought Charles had sunk into contemplation because of her words. Although much to her surprise, Charles was actually annoyed by what Leila had said. As a consequence, he now even vented his anger out on her.

The daggers in Charles' eyes had scared the wits out of Leila.

She cleared her throat and said, "Well, I'm leaving now..."

Leila wanted to say something else before she left the ward. But after seeing Charles' cold glare at her, she was discouraged. She sensed that he had lost his mind at the moment, and it would be pointless to say anything because he wouldn't listen to reason.

Reaching the door, Leila held her step and turned around. Instead of leaving at once, she stayed there for a moment while sneaking a peek at Charles inside the room.

Charles remained rooted to the spot, and his face was still gloomy.

A cynical smile appeared at the corners of her lips again.

'Sheryl, what a pity! I didn't expect that you would give up so easily. Still, you should feel grateful. And you'd better do as you said you would, and divorce Charles immediately! Or else you will continue to suffer!'

With a cold snicker, Leila turned and entered the ward next door to Charles'. She put on a new face before she went in to see Melissa.

Melissa had just woken up from a nightmare. Realizing that it was just a dream, she wiped the sweat from her forehead and sighed with relief. Suddenly Leila barged through the door with her eyes full of tears. When Melissa saw her, she became anxious and asked without hesitation, "What has happened?"

"Auntie, it was terrible! Sheryl just broke into Charles' ward, and demanded a divorce," Leila said, looking at her with reddened eyes.

Upon hearing the news, Melissa immediately burst into hysterical laughter. She cheerfully held Leila by the arm and said, "That's great news! Why are you crying?"

Melissa gave her a puzzled look. She thought perhaps Leila had become too excited by the news and had burst into happy tears.

However, Leila only cried even harder and louder when she saw Melissa's reaction.

Melissa was perplexed now. She tried her best to calm Leila down. But it seemed that time was more effective than Melissa's consolation. After a while, Leila finally stopped crying, and Melissa tried to ask her again, "Leila, what happened to make you so upset?"

"Aunt Melissa, just now I heard Sheryl demand a divorce from Charles. She threatened to hurt you if Charles wouldn't agree to it. I was so worried about you when she said those spiteful words. I was scared!" Leila began to cry again when she finished her words, and the crocodile tears rolled down her cheeks.

"What? Really? Did she really say that?" asked Melissa, while staring at Leila in half disbelief. Her eyes were as wide as saucers, and she straightened herself up. Her smile was replaced with a startled expression.

Leila nodded her head in rapid succession while weeping her heart out.

Melissa was shocked. She pondered in silence for a long while and finally laughed in a helpless and mocking tone. Then Melissa brayed to herself, "Such a crazy woman! Insane! She must have gone mad! What is it that makes her so desperate to divorce Charles? I really want to know that!"

"It's because of Lewis! Auntie, I can assure you of it! Sheryl said she wanted to start a new life with Lewis. She's tired of Charles and the Lu family. She can't wait to sign the divorce papers!" Leila said as she continued to twist the truth.

She knew that Melissa's participation could make a difference. To set Charles and Sheryl's marriage on the wrong path and make sure it wasn't repairable, Leila needed Melissa to meddle as much as possible. Leila smirked in her head, pleased with herself, 'Even if Sheryl and Charles failed to reach an agreement on the divorce, it's only a matter of time.'

"Lewis! It's that man again! Divorce! Charles must divorce Sheryl! Sheryl and Lewis, both of them are disgraceful and shameless. They're a perfect match for each other!" Melissa scoffed in rage.

"Wait! Perhaps she has an ulterior motive on her mind that's not as simple as we have expected. She might be planning to steal a portion of the assets from the Shining Company!" Melissa narrowed her eyes as she also came to that conclusion. At the thought of that, she couldn't help but tremble in fear.

"No, she just demanded custody of the children in the divorce. But Charles won't give them to her in the divorce." Leila promptly dispelled Melissa's suspicion.

"Why? Why did Charles disagree with the divorce? She has been so eager to dump him, and throw herself into that rogue's arms. Then why won't Charles grant her a divorce?" None of it made any sense to Melissa. She wondered what was going through her son's mind.

Melissa looked blankly at Leila, waiting for her to fill her in on the answers.

However, Leila looked even more confused than Melissa. She couldn't understand why Charles had tried so hard to stop their marriage from breaking. Sheryl had been clear with what she wanted and completely unemotional about it. Charles should know better than trying to salvage their marriage and divorce her without more delay.

Leila knew she had to act fast to make the divorce happen as soon as possible. The longer the marriage lasted, the more complicated it would become.

There was nothing that Leila wasn't prepared to do to make that happen.