The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 2097 Sheryl's Indifference

"Did you buy the tickets?" Sheryl asked calmly as she tried to control her emotion, after wiping off the tears at the corners of her eyes.

There was a strange indifference in Sheryl's attitude as she fixed her gaze at the screen while speaking with Damian. Damian was quite intimidated by her behavior, so much so that he couldn't make out how to answer her question. After giving it some thought for a moment or two, he decided not to deny it. He turned his head to look at Sheryl's that was turned towards the screen and said, "Yes, I bought them for us!"

"Why?" Sheryl asked.

"Because I wanted to invite you to see this movie, but I was afraid that you would refuse. So..."

Sheryl heaved a sigh and shook her head, expressing her disapproval of what Damian said. She maintained a long face and refused to look at Damian's face while talking. She spoke absolutely to the point and avoided any kind of casual conversation.

"Don't do this ever again!" Sheryl made her point clear in a cold tone.

Sheryl's words pierced through Damian's heart like sharp arrows. He felt deeply hurt, and it showed on his face immediately. Yet Sheryl didn't have the heart to look at his face for even once. "Sheryl, don't you like..."

"Let's focus on the screen. The movie has started," Sheryl interrupted. Evidently, she didn't want to talk about it anymore.

Sheryl's indifference made Damian get cold feet. He didn't know when, or how he might have said, or done something wrong to Sheryl. Not wanting to displease Sheryl any further, he swallowed the words down his throat.

He thought there would be other chances for the two of them to talk, so he decided to wait. During the movie, Damian tried several times to talk to Sheryl, but every time he turned his head toward Sheryl, her frozen expression stopped him from even uttering a word.

This was the first time Damian had seen Sheryl be so cold and indifferent. He thought that Sheryl must be in a bad mood this time. Helpless, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart, thinking, 'Indeed, it is true as the saying goes-you should pay attention to what you say in front of a woman.' While Sheryl kept staring at the screen expressionlessly, Damian could not enjoy the movie either. Sitting beside Sheryl at that moment seemed to be the most difficult thing for Damian to do right now. He could even feel a chilly air coming out of Sheryl's body that gave him the shivers.

As long as the movie continued, Damian couldn't put his mind at ease. His entire attention was on Sheryl. As the movie came to an end, the lights in the movie theater were turned on. However, Damian was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't even notice it. "Damian, the movie is over. I think I should go home now. You don't have to drive me back. Please don't bother yourself," Sheryl said as she stood up from her seat. After that, she headed towards the exit. Neither did she wait for Damian to reply to her, nor did she bother to wait for him.

"Sher, wait!" Damian pulled himself out of his reverie and chased after Sheryl.

Sheryl walked swiftly out of the theater, hoping to see Isla waiting for her outside the movie hall. Sheryl's eyes combed the entire place to replace Isla, but she was nowhere to be seen.

'Did she just go back, leaving me alone here? How thoughtless can Isla be sometimes?'

Sheryl thought to herself. She bit her lips to vent the sudden surge of anger in her heart. She couldn't believe that Isla had just gone away without even informing her. Since Sheryl didn't have her car with her that day, she was left with no option other than to call a taxi.

She quickly slipped her hand into her handbag to replace her phone. While Sheryl was dialing Isla's number, she saw Damian coming towards her.

Sheryl immediately dropped her head and looked away, pretending she didn't see him at all.

"Sher?" Isla finally answered the call. Sheryl could hear a lot of commotion from Isla's side. She couldn't help but think, 'Why is there so much noise at Isla's side? Is she still inside the theater?' "Where are you? Are you still here? The movie has ended. I am right outside the theater. Let's go home together!" Sheryl replied at once and waited for Isla to answer.

Isla was in the cinema, but she hid around a corner so that Sheryl could not replace her. She could see Sheryl's back from a distance. But she decided not to appear in front of Sheryl to create an opportunity for Damian to spend some time with Sheryl.

"Sher, I received an urgent call and had to leave early. Now I am already out of the cinema. You replace a way to go back on your own! Sorry! Now I have to end this call!" Isla lied. She pretended that she was in a rush to attend something urgent.

"What? Wait! Isla," Sheryl called out. She became anxious. She was nearly pissed off. She even wanted to punish Isla for deserting her like this.

"Sheryl, I am really sorry this time. I know you must be angry. I called Damian to drive you home. Is he still there with you?" Isla asked.

"What? Wait, you called Damian? Why did you call him? As regards this movie invitation, was it you? You asked him to come to a movie with me, didn't you?" Sheryl questioned in surprise. She grew more and more speculative. She had a strong feeling that Isla must have something to do with all this. She even doubted that it must have been Isla who had suggested to Damian to invite Sheryl to the cinema.

"Yes, you know I had to leave right after I received the call. It was very urgent. I knew it would be inconvenient for you if I left you alone in the movie hall, so I called Damian to accompany you to the movie. And he could also drop you at home after the movie."

"Isla, there was no need to call him for this! You could have just told me that, and I would have hailed a taxi to go back home!" Sheryl was seething with anger by then, and it came out through her voice. As much as she was jittery about Isla's persistence for her to see another man, her deliberate attempt to bring Damian closer to her made her really disturbed. How could she leave her uninformed?

"No, Sheryl. Let Damian drive you back. It's much safer than going via taxi! Besides, Damian has always been nice to you. He must be happy to drop you at home. So don't worry. I am sure he won't be troubled by this. And besides, it's safer to take his car home, right? Okay, I have to go now. See you..." Isla hung up the phone without giving Sheryl a chance to retort.

The line got disconnected, and silence set in. Sheryl held the phone to her ear for a moment or two but could not hear anything from the other side. Dejected, she put the phone in her bag. For a moment, she felt cheated by her own friend.

Damian stood aside silently and waited for Sheryl to put her phone down. Only after he had confirmed that Sheryl was done with her telephonic conversation did he approach her slowly.

"Sher, are you going back now? Let me drive you back!" Damian offered politely. His face was full of sincerity.

Sheryl ignored what Damian had said. Without a second of hesitation, she refused his favor and said flatly, "No need to bother. I will hail a taxi."

"I don't think it's a wise decision. Let me drive you home. It will be quick and safe. Trust me!" Damian continued to urge.

Even though Sheryl tried hard to look tough and cold, her softer self took over after some time. Besides, she remembered that it was also time for her to pick up her kids from school. Indeed it wasn't a wise choice to take a taxi to pick up the kids.

Sheryl pondered for a while and finally gave a nod.

"Okay, I will come with you then." Sheryl added, "But I want to tell you something, Damian. Please don't respond to Isla, if she reaches out to you for any more favors like this."

"Why not?" Damian was left baffled by Sheryl's reaction to the entire incident. Why was she being so difficult? And where did this request come from? Damian said, "Sheryl, I am really happy to do any favors for you. And since Isla is your friend, I am also happy to help her. Today Isla asked me to do her a favor, which was for you. How could I possibly say no to her? Honestly, I couldn't have been happier when Isla called me..."

"We should get into the car," Sheryl interrupted. She sounded disinterested in what Damian was saying. She had made up her mind to draw a line between her and Damian.

However, Sheryl's indifference and cold behavior did not upset Damian. He was satisfied merely because he still got the chance to give Sheryl a ride. As long as he could stay beside Sheryl and do the slightest things to help her, he would be more than grateful.

They started heading towards the underground parking lot. Sheryl walked ahead silently, while Damian closely followed after her. Remembering the hotel incident just a few days back, Sheryl was cautious enough to keep Damian at a distance, to avoid any unnecessary trouble.

The wide-spread gossip across the Internet had left a deep yet traumatic impression on her mind. This time, she didn't want to give any chances to any paparazzi or any other plotters.

Damian could read Sheryl's behavior in his own way. The first thing that came to his mind was that Sheryl did all this for Charles. Damian thought Sheryl still had Charles in her heart, so there was no space for anyone else in her life or her heart.

The very thought of Charles irked Damian. How can a man be such a control freak that he did not want to let go of his ex-wife, even after they were divorced? Besides, Damian kept on collecting all the latest information about Charles. And the fact that Charles was having an affair with another woman named Vicky made Damian all the more resentful.

Damian held a hostile feeling toward Charles. In his eyes, Charles was no different from those rich hypocrites. If Sheryl continued to be entangled with him, Damian worried that she would hurt herself. He felt it was his duty as a friend to keep Sheryl away from that irresponsible man.

All he knew was that Sheryl was a wonderful woman, and he only wanted her to be happy. To make sure of that, Damian had made up his mind to protect Sheryl.

Damian kept gazing at Sheryl while he contemplated all this. The determination grew stronger and stronger in his heart.

Sheryl had no idea why Damian kept staring at her, nor did she know what was in his head. Yet she felt extremely uncomfortable to be alone with Damian in that way. As soon as she got into the car, she just told him to go to the kindergarten first, and then she remained silent.

Damian was happy that he was going to see Sheryl's two lovely kids. He was elated by the fact that Sheryl agreed to allow him to appear in front of her kids.

At Shining Company

Charles was winding up his day's tasks. He had just finished the last pile of papers on his desk. Suddenly, his phone rang, and Melissa's name flashed on the screen.

"Charles, I am hanging out on the street now. But I am facing a problem with hailing a taxi. I had the driver go back because I thought it would be easy to replace a taxi. It seems that I have been wrong. So where are you now? Are you free from your work now? Can you pick me up?" Melissa asked.

Charles frowned as he heard his mother speak. He was worried as he learned that Melissa was stranded on the streets without any means to come back home. He immediately responded, "Where are you now, Mom?"

Melissa gladly shared her location in detail with him. Much to Charles' surprise, the place where Melissa was stuck at was just a few bus stops away from the kindergarten that Shirley and Clark went to. Charles could not help but grow suspicious.

The obvious question that came to his mind was, 'Why did Mom pick that place to hang out?'

"Okay, stay where you are. I will be right there," Charles told Melissa. More than anything else, Charles was worried. He feared that Melissa was too old to be safe when alone in that place. Charles cautioned Melissa, "Don't move around. Stop hailing any taxis. Just stay where you are and wait for me. Mom, you promise me that!"

"Okay, I won't move an inch, until I see you. I promise you, my boy!" Melissa said with a happy smile. She was so pleased that Charles cared about her so much.

Charles immediately opened the drawer, picked up the car keys, and rushed out of his office. He didn't even take a moment to sort out the messy files lying on his desk. Thinking that David could take care of the mess, he just wanted to reach his car as soon as possible.