The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 1996 Are You Married

"No...nothing. Just take care of Sheryl, okay? Give me a call if anything happens. I'm gonna leave the company for a while." Isla left in a hurry.

Phoebe had no idea what Isla was doing, but she could vaguely sense that something wasn't right. She heeded Isla's order to keep an eye on Sheryl, afraid that something bad might happen to her. After leaving the Cloud Advertising Company, Melissa didn't return to Dream Garden. She asked around and learned that one of her friends actually knew Jackson.

Melissa planned to ask Jackson to give up on Sheryl. Since Charles was busy with his own things, she had to do something to help him.

Actually, this had been her plan from the moment she saw the flowers. But now, she was even more determined to carry out her plan. She would have to plan carefully to ensure her success.

Her friend's name was Henry. He was the kind of person who had a large circle of friends, and he was a bit of a social butterfly.

"Mrs. Lu, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Henry was startled by her phone call.

Smiling and feeling slightly embarrassed, she replied, "Hello, Henry. It's been a long time since we last met. Would you like to get together? Maybe grab a bite to eat?"

"Since you've invited me, how could I say no? Where would you like to go?" Henry happily agreed.

Henry was the CEO of another company that had held partnership projects with the Shining Company during Melissa's term. That was how Melissa had gotten to know him. They had kept a relatively good business relationship since. After Charles took over the company, the two companies still had some collaboration.

Melissa heaved a sigh of relief when Henry agreed. She suggested a restaurant nearby. Close to the end of the call, she suddenly added, "Do you know Jackson from the Leon Company?" This was her sole reason for the call.

"Yes. Why?" Henry was baffled.

"No reason. I just wanted to get to know him. I've heard that he's a capable and promising young man. Do you think you could invite him out as well?" Melissa made her request.

'Melissa has never asked for any favors from me before. This is the first time. I guess it must be something quite important for her. Anyway, there's no harm in doing so, ' Henry pondered.

"Okay. I'll try to contact him." Melissa thanked Henry and quickly hung up the phone, not giving him any chance to go back on his promise.

Henry then dialed Jackson's number and told him that Melissa would like to connect with him. He agreed, despite the fact that he found it rather strange.

Melissa arrived at the restaurant early and waited there for half an hour or so. When she almost thought that they weren't coming, Henry and a young man suddenly showed up.

'The young man must be Jackson. He looks shorter than Charles. And he's quite handsome, 'Melissa thought to herself.

After they introduced themselves, they were seated. Jackson studied the woman who had invited him. 'I don't think I know this woman, ' he thought.

Even though Melissa was now an elderly woman, she still looked rather spirited and elegant. Jackson said politely, "Mrs. Lu, you look gorgeous." "Really? Thank you," Melissa replied in a cold tone.

'This young man starts a conversation by praising me. It must be a habit that he picked up while flirting with other girls. He is a master of flattering women. So despicable!

He must be trying to hook up with Sheryl. After he gets Sheryl's body, he'll surely dump her. I wonder how he is going to beguile Sheryl!' Melissa thought to herself. She had a wild imagination, envisioning the chain of events that were going to happen, based solely on her first impression of Jackson, which was, of course, totally off-track.

Jackson had only meant to be polite. As Melissa had reacted rather coldly, he was now put in an embarrassing situation.

'Isn't she the one who invited me? Why does she look so indifferent?' the young man wondered.

Henry also noticed that there was something wrong. 'What does Melissa mean? Is she just planning to humiliate Jackson?' he wondered.

"Would you like some coffee? I heard that this restaurant is famous for its coffee. And their steak, too. How about it, Jackson? Some steak sounds pretty good, no?" Henry attempted to ease the tension in the air.

Jackson smiled back at him. He wasn't sure of the reason for Melissa's behavior.

Melissa kept quiet after her cold reply to Jackson. She kept staring at him during the meal.

She had thought of cutting to the chase. However, Henry was right there. It would be humiliating to Henry if she directly told Jackson to stay away from Sheryl.

As time went on, she became more and more agitated.

When she became so agitated she couldn't bear it, she stood up and said, "I'm going to use the ladies room." And with that, she left the table.

When there were only the two of them left at the table, Henry tried to explain to Jackson that Melissa might be bothered by something and that she might simply be in a terrible mood.

Even as he tried to speak on behalf of Melissa, Henry didn't believe his own words. He was as equally nonplussed as Jackson was, but that was the best reason he could think of. "It's okay. I fully understand."

Jackson put on an understanding smile. The air became much less awkward in Melissa's absence.

They discussed issues over the partnership between the companies while Melissa was having a hard time in the bathroom.

"This Jackson seems to be hard to deal with. I have to come up with a solid plan," Melissa told herself.

Suddenly, an idea popped into her head.

Her irritation soon vanished. Watching herself in the mirror, she nodded heavily as if she had made up her mind.

Returning to her seat, Melissa grinned from ear to ear, which was the complete opposite of her indifferent expression from earlier. Jackson and Henry exchanged glances with each other. Both felt confused by Melissa's odd behavior.

"Jackson, I'm sorry if this offends you. But are you...Married?" Melissa looked like a caring senior.

The harmless look on Melissa's face successfully beguiled Jackson. He scratched and then shook his head, smiling back at her.

"I see. Great." Melissa heaved a small sigh of relief. Obviously, she was rather satisfied with the answer. Beaming at him, she said, "I have this friend. I think her daughter is around the same age as you. She's beautiful and gorgeous, and her business intuition is pretty good, too. I think you two would make a perfect match! Let me introduce you!"

"Hmm...I don't..." Jackson blushed. As he was about to reject, Melissa interrupted him.

Disregarding Jackson's declination, Melissa took out her phone and found a picture of the girl that she was referring to. Passing her phone to him, she said, "What do you think? Do you like her?"