The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 1691 Suing For Divorce

"Alright. I get it. Keep an eye on Holley the next couple of days. Notify me of her movements!" As soon as Rex gave his order, he hung up the phone.

'Okay, Holley and Ferry. Let's see what you're up to, ' Rex thought.

The following morning came. Melissa went downstairs and was surprised to see Charles lying on the couch in the lobby.

She quickly walked over to him and noticed something curious--Charles hadn't changed his clothes. Melissa concluded that he had spent the night on that very spot.

"Mom, you're here," Charles said sleepily. He had heard Melissa's footsteps and was awakened by them.

Melissa's eyes were immediately filled with sadness. She asked him, "Charles, didn't you go back to your room last night?"

"I was taking care of things and happened to fall asleep. By the way, Mom, you can go ahead and have breakfast without me. I'm going upstairs to take a shower!" Without waiting for a response, Charles stood up and made his way up the stairs.

Before he reached the landing, Leila came out of her room.

She beamed at Charles and greeted him with an enthusiastic tone, "Good morning, Charles!"

Charles nodded and didn't say a word.

When Melissa was sure he had gone into his room, she urgently signaled for Leila to come to her.

Confused, Leila quietly asked, "What had happened, Aunt Melissa?"

"Leila," Melissa began to explain, "Charles didn't go back to his room last night. He had slept on the couch. How uncomfortable it must have been!" While she spoke, she worriedly looked in the direction of Charles' bedroom door.

"He slept here?" Leila asked, pointing at the couch and frowning in disbelief.

Melissa nodded her head in response.

Shaking her head helplessly, Leila said, "Aunt Melissa, we should make Sheryl leave as soon as possible. Take a look at what's happening! Charles is suffering because of that woman!"

Leila had a hand on her chest, looking genuinely heartbroken. She looked like she was about to cry.

Melissa hurriedly motioned for Leila to sit down. She helped her onto the couch and asked anxiously, "Are you feeling alright?"

"Aunt Melissa, I feel uneasy. Charles loves Sheryl so, so much, but that woman keeps torturing him. I feel so sorry for him!" Leila exclaimed. This time, tears trickled down her cheeks.

Melissa patted Leila on the back and sighed. "I won't allow them to stay together," she said. "Don't be sad, Leila. Now that Sheryl has a lawyer involved, it won't be long before they bring the issue to court. I'll make sure that Charles divorces Sheryl. I'm confident that he won't choose Sheryl over me."

Melissa had already made up her mind. She was determined to break the couple up. Otherwise, she wouldn't have said such a thing. Leila had been waiting for this moment as well. Having just heard Melissa's vow, she knew that Charles' mother was on her side.

After breakfast, Charles promptly made his way downstairs.

"Charles," Melissa called out. "You're going to the office anyway. Why don't you take Leila along?" Although Melissa had made it sound like a suggestion, she had already asked Leila to pack her bag and wait at the door.

It was early in the morning, and Charles was not in the mood to argue with his mother. He was annoyed, but he agreed.

After Charles got into his car, he positioned himself at the steering wheel without opening the door for Leila. While slightly offended, Leila decided not to pay attention to this act of rebellion. Instead, to avoid aggravating him any further, she opened the door to the backseat herself and quietly sat down.

"Remember to drive carefully. If you're free tonight, do come back for dinner!" Melissa's voice rang as she stood by the doorway. She looked on as the two were about to leave for work.

Leila felt quite touched by the gesture. It was as if Melissa was seeing her son and daughter-in-law off. Smiling, she responded, "Okay, Aunt Melissa!"

Without another word, Charles started driving.

During the drive, Leila had wanted to strike up a conversation with Charles, but he looked grim the entire time. More than once, Leila had opened her mouth to speak, only to clamp it shut again. But the time came when the silence and the tension made Leila feel like she was suffocating. She took a deep breath, mustered up all her courage, and said, "Charles, can I follow you to the dinner?" "There's no need for that. David is going with me," Charles said coldly. He didn't even look at Leila in the rear-view mirror.

"Then... how about lunch?" Leila was scrambling to replace a topic for conversation. After speaking, she bit her lower lip and eyed Charles with anticipation.

However, her invitation was met with total silence.

Thinking that he might not have heard her, Leila decided to repeat the question, but Charles spoke first.

"No!"

This single word temporarily extinguished the remaining hope in Leila's heart.

Luckily, Leila had gotten used to consoling herself. She understood that Charles must be furious about his pending divorce. In fact, it was already kind enough of him to not have chased her away. After some reflection, Leila found that Charles' cold responses had not upset her. Instead, they only made her more determined to see this through.

When they arrived at Shining Company, Leila made it a point to wait in the parking lot for Charles so that they could get on the elevator together. That would not only give her the chance to spend a few more minutes with Charles. It would also let everyone else in the company know that she and Charles had come in together.

"Is the CEO really divorcing Mrs. Lu?" one of the secretaries whispered to the employee next to her.

The employee looked around to make sure that no one was listening in on their conversation. Then she turned to face the secretary again and replied in a low voice, "I think it's true. I heard that Leila was the CEO's secretary for some time, but then she got fired because of a mistake she made. Now that she's back with the company again. Can't you see what that means?"

The two exchanged glances and smiled knowingly.

"Don't you have work to do?"

Leila asked. She had remained hidden when she heard people talking about her. In truth, she had been hoping for this all along. She had wanted everyone to think that she was going to be Charles' new love. Leila would have remained hidden if the two gossiping employees hadn't mentioned her past. That was one thing she didn't want more people to know.

The two employees smiled in embarrassment and went back to work.

Feeling satisfied, Leila walked away.

At the Cloud Advertising Company, something big was about to be revealed.

Isla, having just finished a project, was exhausted. The moment she walked into Cloud Advertising Company's main office, she saw Phoebe's gloomy face. "What's going on, Phoebe? Did you just get dumped?" she joked.

"You're teasing again, Ma'am," Phoebe groaned.

Isla asked with a smile, "Why do you look so sad, then?"

She handed Phoebe some documents and kindly asked her to finish up.

"Ma'am, are you heading out?" Phoebe asked Isla when it looked as though the latter was about to leave.

"I am. Why?" Isla asked. She looked at Phoebe with a confused expression on her face. 'Why is Phoebe acting so strange today?' she thought.

Phoebe took a deep breath before she said, "Yesterday, Mrs. Lu asked me to replace her a lawyer. She needed one to draft a lawyer's letter for her. Mrs. Lu is planning to sue her husband for divorce!" After much hesitation, Phoebe was finally able to tell Isla what had happened. She thought Isla should know.

"Sue Charles for divorce!" Isla exclaimed. Her smile quickly faded, giving way to a look of combined disbelief and shock.