The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 1976 The Grievance

"Mother, go wait for me in the car. I will be with you shortly."

Charles was deeply troubled by Vicky. What he'd just seen showed what a terrible woman she was and that she was capable of so many more terrible things.

"Charles! Please believe me." Melissa grew anxious as she thought that Charles had chosen to believe Vicky.

"It's fine, mother. Just go home. I'll be there soon." Charles didn't want to talk to Melissa before he dealt with Vicky.

Melissa looked upset, thinking that Charles didn't believe her. Charles looked annoyed already.

Meanwhile, Charles just wanted to concentrate on Vicky first.

When Charles didn't say anything, Melissa left in embarrassment.

David followed Melissa from behind in case she did anything.

Vicky smiled when she saw that Charles had asked Melissa to leave. The smile was gone as soon as it came, and she immediately replaced it with a look of concern.

"Charles, please don't fight with Aunt Melissa over me, okay? She's still your mother. I bet she was just worried about you," Vicky said, acting concerned. She pretended to be understanding as she looked Charles in the eye.

"All right. Don't worry about me. I'll talk to her later when she's calmed down. Are you okay?" Charles acted concerned toward Vicky in fear that she'd do something to retaliate if he didn't. He hated this woman from the bottom of his heart.

At that moment, Charles just wanted kick Vicky out so he wouldn't have to see her obnoxious face again. However, he knew better than to do something as rash as that. "I'm fine!"

"Good. Now, let's get you back to your room so you can rest." Charles helped Vicky up and headed upstairs. He made sure he moved quickly, so Vicky couldn't refuse anymore.

Meanwhile, Vicky liked the feeling of Charlie being in charge, so she obediently followed him.

Vicky walked so slowly that Charles had to constantly wait for her to catch up with his pace. She did this on purpose, of course.

"Charles, I don't think I have the strength to walk anymore." Vicky looked at Charles with a face that hoped he would offer to carry her in his arms instead.

"Then let's walk slowly, so you can catch your breath." Charles could obviously see through Vicky. He knew that she was doing this on purpose, and he wasn't going to give her what she wanted, no matter what.

Vicky was a bit displeased to hear this, but she just let it go because she knew she shouldn't be pushing him too hard. She decided to walk just really slowly, so she could spend more time with Charles. Thus, the walk back to her room, which would normally only take a couple of minutes, took them over half an hour, which Vicky thoroughly enjoyed.

When they reached the ward, Charles turned to the nurse and reminded her to take care of Vicky.

"Charles, are you leaving?" Vicky looked at Charles with much disappointment in her eyes. She wanted to spend more time with him.

"Yes, I'm afraid so. There are a lot of things that I need to attend to first. Now you stay here and rest well. Call David if you need anything, he will take care of it and will let me know." Charles didn't want to explain himself to Vicky at first but, upon second thought, he realized it would be better so that there was no room for misunderstanding.

"All right, Charles. Then will you come and visit me later on? I could really use some company." Vicky was already calmed down, but she still acted as if she was weak and fragile in the belief that she was going to get Charles' love and affection if she acted as such.

Meanwhile, Charles loathed her. He was simply pretending to care about her because he knew it would be much bigger trouble if he didn't.

"Okay, I will. I really have to go now. You take good care of yourself, okay?" Charles pretending to care about Vicky was the best thing she was going to get from him. That was it.

After helping Vicky settle in her bed, Charles immediately left.

Vicky's smile faded as she watched Charles leave, and he didn't even look back at her one last time.

"Ms. Yuan, it's time to change your medicine." The nurse immediately came in when she saw Charles leave.

"Get out!" Vicky yelled as she glared at the nurse. She was still angry about what had just happened with Melissa, and she decided to take it out on the nurse.

The nurse looked terrified. It seemed as if she didn't know what she had done to piss Vicky off.

Upon noticing that the nurse had frozen in shock, Vicky immediately apologized. She put on an embarrassed look and said bashfully, "Sorry, I lost my temper. Could you change it later, please? I'm tired, and I just want to rest for now."

"Of course." The nurse then hurriedly left the room in fear of Vicky.

Vicky clenched her hands into fists as she recalled what Melissa had said to her. She didn't expect that of Melissa, especially since they barely knew each other. She figured that Melissa was probably high maintenance as everyone had been saying.

A new plan began to form in her head. She decided she needed to take care of Melissa first, or else this wasn't going to be the last time that Melissa would give her a hard time. Meanwhile, Melissa was in a trance.

She idly sat in the car without saying a word. David couldn't help but be concerned. As much as he wanted to console her, he didn't know what to say.

At this moment, Charles had just left the hospital.

"Sir, she's been like this since you left. I didn't know what to say to her," David told Charles. He'd gotten out of the car so he could talk to Charles.

Charles sighed. He knew he'd been out of line with his mother earlier, but he had no choice. He had to alienate Melissa so that Vicky would let her guard down.

"It's all right. Wait outside first. I need to discuss something with my mother." Charles patted David on the shoulder and gave him an understanding smile before he got in the car with Melissa.

When Melissa saw Charles getting in the car, she turned her head elsewhere so that she wasn't looking at him.

"Mother, are you still mad at me?" Charles looked at Melissa with an easy smile on his face.

Melissa was angry, but this all dissipated the minute she saw the smile on Charles's face. She rolled her eyes then looked at him and asked, "That Vicky means business, what are you going to do about her?" "Mother, stop worrying about me. I promise that I will take care of everything!" Charles knew that his mother was worried for a reason, but he was very confident that he could take care of this. Melissa grew even more worried as she noticed that Charles wasn't taking the situation as seriously as she would have liked. She grabbed his hand and frowned. When she spoke, she sounded concerned, "My son, that woman is fake. I didn't yell at her. I merely asked her to stop bothering you and to leave you alone."

After the incident with Leila, Melissa had decided that she would never lie to Charles anymore. So she was definitely telling the truth now.

"I know you're not lying. I promise you that I know what I'm doing. I really am going to take care of this," Charles said, this time more solemnly.

However, Melissa only shook her head in frustration, not saying a word.

"Mom, what's wrong this time?" Charles figured she must not have liked being treated like that first by Vicky, then her own son. He'd never meant to do that, though.

"I've never been treated like this before. I feel like someone just slapped me across the face, and I can't even strike back. It doesn't feel good." Melissa started crying, and her eyes were red. She'd have cried earlier if she hadn't been holding it back.

"Mom, I'm sorry for putting you through something like this." Charles hugged Melissa tightly as he really did feel awful.

"So when are you going to get rid of that woman? I don't want to see her again." Melissa thought that the longer Charles let this go on, the worse it was going to be.

"Of course, you won't have to. I'm handling this. Can you just stay at home for the meantime then?" Charles didn't want Melissa talking to Vicky anymore as things could get worse.

"Yes, I know you're going to handle it. I believe you. Don't worry. I'm not going to come looking for that woman again. I've had enough of her. I never want to see her face again." Melissa immediately understood Charles, so she assured him that she wasn't going to cause trouble anymore.

When they had finished speaking, Charles called David so he could drive them home.

During the car ride, Melissa's mind was racing.

Charles could tell something was up with Melissa, so he grabbed her hand and asked, "Mom, are you okay?"

"It's just that I miss my grandson and my granddaughter already. When will I get to see them again?" Melissa began to cry once again as she had not seen her two grandchildren for too long. Charles's heart skipped a beat when Melissa brought up his two kids. He missed them deeply too.