The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 2013 The Last Straw

"Charles, I'm fine. I know that you didn't mean it. It's alright, I don't blame you." Vicky's face reddened in embarrassment. She felt that she needed to say something to make him feel better. "Alright, let's go," said Charles. He neither cared nor felt sorry for Vicky.

Vicky slid into the car and rubbed her injured arm while glancing at Charles from time to time. But Charles had completely ignored her. He hadn't looked at her on the way-not even once. With Charles ignoring her, the one hour journey seemed longer to Vicky.

She was frustrated and finally gave up. Vicky understood that Charles wouldn't look at her.

As soon as they arrived at the villa, Vicky got out of the car. David grabbed her luggage and helped her get inside. But Charles had no intention of going inside.

"Charles, don't you want to come in?" Vicky's heart sank when she saw that Charles was going to leave.

"I'm going to the Dream Garden. My mom is still mad at you. You'd better stay here," Charles answered impassively, as he was losing his patience.

"Fine. I'll listen to you, but only if you come to visit me regularly." Vicky stepped closer to Charles and batted her lashes, trying to look sexy. She was becoming cranky as Charles wasn't paying any attention to her.

Charles immediately retreated, creating enough space to prevent her from touching him again.

"I should go now. Rest well. I've arranged for Stella to take care of you." Charles walked out without giving Vicky a chance to utter another word.

Charles hadn't arranged for Stella to take care of Vicky. He wanted her to keep an eye on Vicky-to see what the woman was up to.

Vicky hadn't complained. She felt that things would be much easier when there was someone to take care of her, rather than do all the housework on her own.

After Charles and David were gone, Stella came out of the kitchen. "Miss Ruan, are you hungry? Do you want me to bring something for you to eat?" Stella asked politely.

"No," Vicky said sternly. She had always concealed her true self and tried to be a sweet, well-behaved woman when Charles was around. Now that he was gone, she didn't try too hard. She was her true, bitchy self.

Stella didn't dare to question her any further. She watched Vicky stomp off to her room.

The next morning

Melissa was having a date with her friends. They were planning to play a game of cards. So, she left the house without informing Charles about it.

Unaware of what Charles had been up to, Melissa wasn't worried at all. Charles had promised her that he would solve the problem regarding Vicky. She knew that her son always kept his promises. So she forgot all about Vicky and happily headed out to have fun with her friends.

She had had a ball of a time, playing and chatting with her friends the previous day. She wanted to do the same again.

The moment Melissa arrived at her friend's place, she was too excited to start the game. But the woman seated in front of her was grinning at her-as if she knew something.

"What are you smiling at? We haven't even started the game yet. Why are you smiling as if you've already won?" Melissa looked at her in confusion, oblivious to why her friend had been grinning at her. "Mrs. Lu, don't you know?" Mrs. Xu asked, fighting back her laughter.

"What is it, Mrs. Xu? What do I not know? Am I missing something?" Melissa frowned, utterly confused at her friends' weird behavior. "Mrs. Lu, your son just divorced Sheryl. I'm surprised that he's able to replace a new girlfriend so quickly!" Mrs. Lu smirked at Melissa.

"W-What? He has a new girlfriend now?" Mrs. Lu's words pricked Melissa like a needle. She stood up abruptly, unable to contain her shock.

"Yes. We heard that a beautiful woman is living in one of Charles' villas-the one on the Qingyuan Road. She's definitely his girlfriend." Mrs. Xu gave a gentle pat on Melissa's shoulder. Melissa was taken aback. She wasn't in the mood to play cards anymore. She needed to replace out what Charles was doing. "You guys carry on. I've got to go." Melissa stormed off. Melissa's brain was about to explode in confusion. Vicky was at the hospital, and now her friends were saying that another woman was living in his villa. What was Charles thinking? She decided to drive to the villa and replace out what was going on.

She called Charles on her way to the villa, but he didn't answer.

Charles was engrossed in his work at the Shining Company.

They were in the middle of an important meeting, and Charles had turned off his phone.

When the meeting was over, Charles leaned against the chair and asked David, "Did you replace out anything unusual regarding Vicky?"

"Don't worry, Mr. Lu. Stella will inform us if something happens," David said reassuringly. He knew exactly what Charles was worried about.

"All right. Keep a close eye on her."

David was about to answer him, but the missed call from Melissa caught his attention when he turned the phone back on.

"Mr. Lu, your mother has called you." David handed the phone to Charles.

He wondered why his mother had called him. He felt that she was perhaps worried about everything going on with Sheryl and Vicky. "Never mind. She'll call again if it's something important." "Okay, Mr. Lu. I've got to get back to work right now. You've got a teleconference in an hour," David said before walking out of Charles' office.

Charles had been packed with work and didn't have the time to replace out how Sheryl was doing. He wanted to know if she was ok.

After work, Charles instructed David to drive him to the Cloud Advertising Company.

He had a sudden urge to see Sheryl.

Charles caught David sneaking furtive glances at him-as if he was trying hard to say something. Although Charles initially avoided him, he wanted to replace out what was bothering David. "What's the matter? Do you have anything to tell me?"

"Err...Mr. Lu, something recently happened. I'm not quite sure if I should tell you or not." David looked uneasy. He was replaceing it difficult to open up to Charles.

"Tell me." Charles looked at David intently.

David had no other option but to tell the truth.

"Your mother caused a lot of confusion the other day. But it's all good now; Miss. Xia has already solved the problem," David said, trying to replace the right words to say. "She had gone to meet Belinda-Jackson's fiancée and almost got them to break up. Luckily, Miss. Xia handled the matter well and cleared up the confusion."

"What?"

Charles was appalled by his mother's behavior. He never thought that she'd do such a thing. She hadn't listened to what Charles had told her the last time, after all.

"But your mother behaved well since that incident, Mr. Lu. Miss Xia didn't go after her later." David didn't want this to be the last straw for Charles. So he wanted to make things clear to him.

"I see. Stop the car. I want to see Sher." Charles gazed at the gate of the Cloud Advertising company, lost in thought.