The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 2002 Going Window Shopping

Immediately after Isla had left, Sheryl called Phoebe to her office.

"Did you call to see me, Ms. Xia." Phoebe gently knocked on the door and entered the office. She softly asked while she glanced at Sheryl.

Sheryl hesitated for a second before she commanded Phoebe, "From this day onward! If Melissa ever shows up at our company, bar her immediately from entering the building right at the front desk. You know it is easy to replace an excuse, I just don't want to see her here at any cost."

"What? Are you serious?" Phoebe was astounded upon hearing this from Sheryl. She had not expected that Sheryl would state the same words as Isla. She had told Phoebe the exact thing only a minute ago.

"Hey, are you alright?" Sheryl asked her instantly when she saw her bewilderment. She had noticed Phoebe's expression and sensed the astonishment in her tone.

"Oh, yes, I am perfectly fine. Never mind! I was just wondering that Isla told me the same words as yours just a few minutes earlier." Phoebe had indeed stated the truth.

Upon hearing this, Sheryl tried hard to resist, but finally flashed a wide smile of amazement. She realized that Isla was no less than her soul-sister since she knew Sheryl so well. "Well, I got it! You can leave now!"

Sheryl became lost in contemplation shortly after Phoebe had left her office. 'Now even Isla looks a bit odd, and there is certainly something strange in her voice. I have decided! From this day onward, I do not want to keep in touch with Charles or any other person associated with him. Regardless of why Melissa wanted to see me today!' Sheryl mused.

When Isla left the company, she thought to walk for a while before returning to her office. However, at that hour, a valued client insisted on inviting her for a cup of coffee. Isla respected the kindness of an esteemed client, which made it difficult for her to refuse. She was left with no choice, and she accepted the invite.

Isla immediately finished up her coffee by taking hasty gulps. She was rather in a hurry to leave when, suddenly, the discussions among the other customers attracted her attention and ignited her curiosity. She vaguely heard Charles and Melissa's names in the discussion, making her intrigued to know what they were talking about. So she decided to stay there listening attentively to them for several minutes. Several minutes later, Isla was stunned into deep silence.

"Are you alright, Isla?" the valued client asked anxiously as she suddenly saw Isla stiffen like a plank of wood.

"Oh, yes, I am. Never mind. Let's go," Isla quickly responded while snapping out of her trance with a forced smile on her lips.

She bade farewell to the client while walking out of the coffee shop. They parted at the entrance of the coffee shop, and she immediately rushed to the Cloud Advertising Company without wasting even a second.

When Isla arrived at the company, she immediately headed towards Sheryl's office and burst in through the door.

"Has something terrible happened with the project? Have you suddenly heard some breaking news?" Sheryl asked out of sheer curiosity. Yet, she did not even glance at Isla for a second when she entered the office so haphazardly.

"Sheryl, did you spy on me? Or are you an astrologer with the ability to predict the future?" Isla questioned wittily as she involuntarily walked up to Sheryl.

"Don't be sarcastic Isla! Just spill the beans, what is happening?" Sheryl asked and flashed a smile as she gazed straight into Isla's eyes.

"Do you know what happened yesterday?" Isla sat opposite to Sheryl and spoke sternly.

"What happened yesterday? How am I supposed to know?" Sheryl was aware that Isla was stirring up a storm in a teacup and mystifying things again. Or, even Isla just didn't know what she was going to say to her?

"You sound kind of boring today. I don't want to be disappointed! Now, please listen to me." Isla rolled the whites of her eyes and groaned. She nearly got hot under the collar because of Sheryl's straightforward questions.

"My client invited me for a cup of coffee half an hour ago. I heard about it from an acquaintance that Melissa smacked Jackson yesterday. There was a fierce dispute between them," Isla replied while stopping Sheryl from interrupting her as she spoke. The word for word, Isla told Sheryl exactly what she had heard in the coffee shop.

All of a sudden, Sheryl thought the whole matter through. Everything was now making sense! Especially when considering her observations of Melissa and her abnormal behavior during the past few days. It seemed that Melissa had already known that the two bouquets had been sent by Jackson. However, why would it even matter who had sent the flowers? What did these things have to do with Melissa? "Are you okay, Sher?" Isla knew that her words might sear Sheryl's soul. She saw Sheryl suddenly lapse into a brooding silence. At that moment, she felt like her words had crossed the line and gone too far, piercing through Sheryl's heart. Isla felt guilty.

"Oh, it's nothing! Don't fret! I'll deal with these problems. You can go back to work now. I need some time alone," Sheryl said softly as she briefly glanced at Isla.

Isla had sensed something was wrong with Sheryl, but she gave a nod and said goodbye. "Are you really fine, Sher?" Isla added, wanting her reassurance before she left. "Don't worry about me, I'm fine. What could possibly happen to me? Stop worrying for no reason!" This time, Sheryl spoke a few words of comfort to Isla instead.

Isla wasn't sure that Sheryl had remained emotionally attached until that moment. Then she walked straight out of the office in dismay.

As soon as the Isla had left the office, an expression of gloom settled all over Sheryl's face.

Sheryl had just managed to resolve the recent issues. Now she sat in the office alone as her heart wrenched when she recalled Charles' heartless actions and words.

She pondered for a while before she unconsciously clicked Charles' WeChat profile.

At that moment, Sheryl inadvertently typed a line of words. It was composed of a mixture of words that appeared in her mind right at that moment.

"Don't let your mother do those disgraceful things ever again!" Sheryl froze as she stared at the letters on her iPhone's display. Seconds later, she moved her right index finger as if to double-tap and send the message out as soon she removed her finger. She was stuck and between two minds as to whether to send out this message or not.

"Bang!"

The door of the office was suddenly pushed open with violent force.

Sheryl was taken aback by the sound of the bang. She felt a quiver of agitation, and her right index finger involuntarily hovered over the button. And as a result, the message was successfully delivered to Charles. There was no point left to remain stuck and of two minds whether to send it out or not. For fate, had already spread its sash.

"I'm really sorry, Ms. Xia. I forgot to knock on the door. Here is an urgent document." As soon as she entered the office, the secretary realized her recklessness, and she made a hasty apology on the spot as she saw Sheryl's face grow grim.

At this time, Sheryl was not aware that the text message had been delivered. She shook her head gently as she took the document from the secretary and signed it right away.

When the secretary had stepped out of the office, Sheryl bent her head to swipe over the screen. To her surprise, she realized with a shock that the text message had been sent out already. The dilemma had just begun!

Sheryl's face turned blue, and she sighed dramatically. She moved her fingers on the screen, hitting and tapping the screen frenziedly. She failed to calm her nerves.

Nevertheless, the die was already cast. The outcome was fixed and inevitable.

With a grumpy look on her face, Sheryl gave a long, loud, and tired sigh.

She gasped as her iPhone received a text message at that very moment.

Sheryl tapped the screen lightly and saw a line of letters as she unlocked her phone. She saw a text preview; hence, Charles could not see that the recipient had read it yet. "Take it easy. I promise you it won't happen again!" the message stated.

Sheryl felt her soul was charred by these few words. She regretted having typed that message, but by then it was too late for any regrets, for it's of no use crying over spilled milk.

At the Dream Garden

At that same instant, Charles opened his eyes and glanced around, having a strained feeling in his chest. Just like Sheryl, he also inadvertently swiped through the WeChat on his phone and casually tapped Sheryl's profile.

To his surprise, Sheryl's message was so straightforward and ruthless.

Charles' heart sank, and he felt as if his heart would jump right out of his mouth when he viewed the message.

Having only slept in snatches last night since he was tossing and turning on all sides in the bed, Charles was in a vicious mood even at this hour.

He thoughtlessly returned Sheryl's message on WeChat. Then he laid his phone aside and closed his eyes in extreme frustration.

At the same moment, Sheryl became quite agitated when she thought about Charles' message. On the spur of the moment, she walked into Isla's office and asked Isla to go on a window-shopping spree with her.

"What has happened to your intellect? Sher, why did you ask me to go window shopping with you at this odd hour?" Isla hadn't declined Sheryl's invitation. She just wondered why Sheryl wanted to go window shopping with her during office hours. It was something that had never happened before, for Sheryl had always been a diligent worker.

"Ah, nothing. I just want to go window shopping with you. Are you not up for it?" Sheryl questioned as she pretended to be angry with Isla.

"I am definitely up for it, Sher! You know how much I love going to do window-shopping with you," With that, Isla held Sheryl's hand in hers, and they rushed to the car, where, hopping in, they raced off to go shopping.

Sheryl was fully aware that she lacked the guts to come to terms with Charles. She thought that it was better to go window shopping than just having a fit of the sulks in the office.