The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 1975 Vicky's Defense

In the Dream Garden

Charles spent the day inside the study, hoping the silence would give him more time to think. He browsed through an album of Sheryl's photos, staring at each and every one of them until he finally felt better. It had been a few hours when he remembered that he should speak with his mother, knowing she was probably worried about him. Leaving his study, he went downstairs to talk to Melissa, but she was nowhere to be found.

Calling his mother's name a few times, he got no answer. He was starting to get worried. He went inside the kitchen and found Nancy closing the fridge. "Nancy, did you see my mother?" Charles asked Nancy in confusion.

Nancy gave him a quick glance instead of answering him. She lowered her head as she walked towards the table to continue cutting some vegetables, not daring to look into Charles' eyes.

Nancy's reaction worried Charles even more. Furrowing his brows, Charles asked in a low voice, "Nancy, where is my mother?"

Nancy stopped what she was doing and tried to look at Charles, but still avoided his eyes. "Mr. Lu, I'm not sure. All I know is that she has gone to the hospital."

"The hospital?" Charles repeated, shocked. He felt his heart tightened the moment he heard Nancy's answer. 'I knew it! She wouldn't listen to me and stay at home!' Charles thought to himself. Without thinking twice, Charles grabbed his car keys and headed to the hospital directly. He was afraid that Melissa and Vicky would get into a fight, so there was no time to waste. Meanwhile, in the hospital

Sitting on her bed, Vicky was shouting out loud like a psycho while crying really hard. 'Look at her,' she thought. 'This lady thought she can just get rid of me that easily.' Vicky couldn't help but laugh inside, while frantically shouting her heart out.

On the other hand, Melissa stood a few feet away from her, not knowing what else she could do. She had never seen anyone who was more stubborn and shameless than Vicky. She was not buying her crocodile tears. And she was getting annoyed with her acting.

"Stop it, Vicky! Your pathetic act will not work on me. I'm not afraid of you," Melissa snapped at Vicky, pointing her fingers at her nose.

Vicky didn't try to fight back against Melissa; instead, she cried harder.

Her crying was so loud that it caught everyone's attention, even when the door to her ward was closed. Soon enough, a doctor and some nurses came in to see what had happened. As they entered the room, they saw Melissa scolding Vicky, while the latter seemed to be heartbroken. Not knowing what had happened earlier, the doctor stepped in Melissa's way. She furrowed her brows, and started giving Melissa a warning, "What are you doing, ma'am? Our patients need some peace and quiet. Please, lower your voice."

"I can do whatever I want. Go away!" Melissa snapped back as she shook off the doctor's hand, wanting to walk past her to get closer to Vicky. She could feel her face burning red, and she was too angry to listen to anyone.

However, the medical staff stopped Melissa, blocking her way.

On the other hand, Charles and David were on their way. Good thing the traffic was light, and if they were lucky, they would reach the hospital within the next half an hour.

Taking a quick glance in the mirror, David could see Charles' dreary face. Charles knitted his brows and pursed his lips, not making a single sound along the way. Turning his head, David finally had the courage to ask Charles, "President Lu, what happened? You look so anxious."

"I'm worried that my mother and Vicky will get into a huge fight." Charles knew that he was overthinking too much, but he couldn't help it. Considering how dramatic Vicky could be and how impulsive his mother was, that thought may even be an understatement. He just hoped that he would get there in time.

Not knowing what to say, David could only shake his head and sigh before he urged the driver to speed up. He personally knew how hard handling Vicky was, and he knew Melissa surely wouldn't hesitate to fight back against her.

Soon enough, the car stopped in front of the hospital. Charles got out immediately and walked straight towards the entrance. David almost stumbled while trying to keep up with his pace.

But they were too late. Melissa and Vicky had already caused a scene, and the situation seemed to have gotten out of control. They could see some patients and nurses already standing outside the ward, trying to check out what the commotion was about.

"Aunt Melissa, I know it's all my fault," Vicky burst out into tears out of the blue. "Could you please forgive me? I'm sorry, I really am!" Vicky pushed the doctor away all of a sudden, dropping herself to kneel in front of Melissa. Her eyes were now swollen after crying so hard for the last hour.

She reached out to grab Melissa's sleeves and begged her.

Vicky's actions left Melissa very confused. She found it strange that Vicky had started to beg her all of a sudden. Wasn't she fighting with her just a while ago?

Vicky was talking non-stop, even Melissa found no chance to interrupt her.

"Aunt Melissa, I didn't mean to do that. Charles is my husband, and I just want to be with him. Please, don't separate us. I beg you!" Vicky's words sounded more like hallucinations to Melissa. She wasn't sure why Vicky started saying how much she loved Charles and that she couldn't live without him. Melissa thought Vicky had gone insane.

"Enough! You and my son are not even married. Stop messing with him!" Melissa replied indifferently, trying to calm herself down.

Vicky, however, started to kowtow to Melissa, surprising everyone in the room. Her actions started to make the people in the room feel sorry for her, gaining their sympathy.

"Poor lady. I feel sorry for her for getting such a mean mother-in-law," the people who were watching them from outside whispered to each other.

Hearing those comments, Melissa was pissed that these people were judging her when they knew nothing about Vicky, or about their family. Just when she opened her mouth and wanted to defend herself, Melissa saw Charles walking towards the ward.

It didn't take a scientist to understand what just happened. 'No wonder Vicky started apologizing all of a sudden. She must have seen Charles coming,' Melissa thought.

Making his way towards the ward, Charles could see Vicky kneeling on the ground while Melissa glared at her from a distance.

In fact, he had anticipated this. But he hadn't expected that they would be creating this much of a scene in the hospital.

His face grew dreary. Quickening his pace, he said to David in a low but audible voice, "Wait for me here."

"Yes, President Lu," David nodded as he watched Charles walk away.

Convinced that Vicky was only feeling apologetic because she saw Charles had arrived, Melissa felt even more infuriated. She knew that everything that was coming out of her mouth was bullshit. She was definitely faking it.

But she couldn't tell people about this now. She didn't want to cause more troubles for her son.

Charles had just entered the room and approached them. "What happened?" Charles asked. Holding one of Vicky's arms he urged her to stand up.

Vicky sobbed, trying not to cry as hard as before. When Charles grabbed her arm to help her stand up, she buried her face in his arms.

Seeing this, people in the room got more sympathetic with her. They were now more convinced that Melissa was making Vicky's life hell, just like those vicious mothers-in-laws in every soap opera. "How can you do that to your daughter-in-law? Aren't you a woman too? Shame on you!" someone scolded Melissa from the crowd as they stepped forward. Some of the crowd started whispering with each other.

"I..."

Feeling anxious, Melissa opened her mouth and tried to talk back, but another lady interrupted her.

"Shame on you. How can you do that, ma'am? Your son seems to love your daughter-in-law so much. You have to accept the fact that kids will grow up one day. You have to let him go!"

Hearing one comment after another, Melissa felt it was hard to reason with so many people. After all, she was the only one who could answer for herself. However, every time she tried to say something, another person would interrupt her.

"All right, guys. This is our family issue, and it is none of your business. Everyone, please leave the room now," Charles looked around and said coldly. He couldn't take how everyone had been treating his mother now.

These people came here to watch a drama. Now that it was over, they started leaving the room. Some were still giving Melissa hateful glances before they left. Soon enough, only the three of them and the doctor were left in the ward.

"Sir, the patient hasn't fully recovered yet. I hope you can take your mother out of the hospital as soon as possible, so our patient can get some rest," the doctor reminded Charles before she left the room. He nodded to acknowledge but never said a word.

Now that everyone was gone, Melissa found her chance to explain her side. She opened her mouth and tried to speak with Charles.

However, she got interrupted again.

It was Vicky this time. Holding onto Charles' arms, she said between sobs, "Charles, Aunt Melissa demanded that I leave you. I refused to, so she offered me money. But I rejected her again. That was when she got angry and started to scold me. I'm sorry, Charles. I barely defended my position. But I really don't want to leave you."

Vicky seemed to have everything well-planned. Before Charles could say even a thing, she turned to look at Melissa and said sincerely, "Aunt Melissa, I am sorry, but my love for your son is far deeper than what you think. No matter how much money you offer to give me, I won't leave Charles. Can we please have your blessings for our relationship?"

"You..." Melissa was too pissed to complete her sentence. She shivered, pointing her fingers at Vicky. How she wished she could slap this woman in the face. She felt her patience was being put to the test. Melissa knew that Vicky wasn't sick. She was just faking it to get Charles to stay with her. If anything, Vicky was a psycho, who had been using her talent in playing these dirty games.