The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 2103 One More Time

"Sheryl, you didn't do anything wrong. Do you know how I've wished you'd call me that? I've even dreamed about it, Sher. I am so excited to hear you call me that!" Melissa burst into joyful tears. Sheryl was a bit embarrassed. She was still so worried about Shirley, and she just wanted to see her daughter, but Melissa was getting emotional, so she didn't want to say anything yet. As Sheryl kept silent, Damian was getting agitated.

"Sher, how's Shirley?" The instant Damian heard Sheryl address Melissa as 'mom, ' his heart skipped a beat. Sheryl couldn't ask about Shirley anymore because Melissa was so caught up with how Sheryl had called her. So he purposely asked this question so they could finally know what had happened to Shirley.

"Who's this?" Melissa was startled to see a stranger suddenly come in.

He seemed to be close to Sheryl as he called her by her nickname.

It was only then that Sheryl remembered that Damian was with her. She then introduced him to Melissa, "Aunt Melissa, this is Damian, my... my friend." She gestured to Damian. "This is Aunt Melissa, Clark's grandmother." She then gestured to Melissa.

"Nice to meet you!" Damian greeted Melissa courteously, even though he could sense that Melissa really didn't want him here.

As petty as Melissa was, she didn't greet him at all as she could tell that Damian liked Sheryl as more than a friend.

"Sher, what do we do now? Shirley's still in the hospital. I'm so worried." Melissa seized Sheryl's hand, her eyes turning red.

Sheryl could understand that Melissa was worried about Shirley, so she just ignored that she had been a bit impolite to Damian just now. She pacified her by saying, "Mom, don't worry. Just tell me what happened as I really don't know what happened yet..."

"Okay, okay. So after dinner..." Melissa narrated the whole thing to Sheryl.

When Melissa was done telling the story, Sheryl exclaimed, "Shirley had dessert and ice cream after dinner?"

"Yes. The kids loved it. I even asked Nancy to give them one more serving of ice cream. Clark was fine, but Shirley's stomach began to hurt. She was sweating profusely, so I was scared..." Melissa then started regretting giving the kids ice cream.

"Mom, you're..." Sheryl couldn't help herself. "You didn't know that Shirley can't have cold food? Especially ice cream? She had hot soup during dinner, and then she had ice cream immediately after? No wonder she got a stomachache!"

Sheryl wasn't able to control the blame in her voice. Melissa lowered her head apologetically. She knew it was her fault. She didn't know that Shirley couldn't have cold food. It hadn't been her intention to get her granddaughter sick.

Sheryl realized she might have been too harsh on Melissa, especially since she was visibly remorseful.

Damian couldn't help but feel uneasy upon hearing that Sheryl had referred to Melissa as mom multiple times.

'She's already divorced from Charles. Why is she still calling Melissa mom? I hate it!' he thought to himself.

Clark noticed that his grandma looked remorseful, and his mom seemed upset too. Trying to fix the situation, he said, "Mom, Grandma, let's not talk about it anymore. Should we visit Shirley? She must be missing you already, Mom."

Clark was right on time. "Mom," Sheryl said urgently, "I'm going to the hospital. Can you watch Clark for now?"

"Okay," Melissa replied. "Don't worry about it. You should leave now. Remember to call Charles first. He's the one who took Shirley to the hospital."

"Okay." Sheryl nodded. Then she turned to Clark. "Clark, you should be a good boy and listen to grandma. Mom's going to visit Shirley."

"Mom, don't worry about me. I'll be alright," Clark replied.

Not wanting to waste any time, Sheryl then headed out of the house.

Damian gestured a quick goodbye before he followed behind Sheryl.

Melissa frowned as soon as they both left.

'I wonder what their relationship is. Why does he keep following her?' she wondered.

Clark noticed that Melissa seemed upset or rather bothered. He figured it had something to do with Shirley, so he said, "Grandma, don't blame yourself. Mom's going to visit Shirley, and she will be fine!" Melissa snapped out of her trance and fondly caressed Clark's head. She nodded and said in agreement, "That's true. She'll be fine!" Still, she couldn't get her mind off Sheryl and Damian. She then decided to ask Clark.

"Clark, I'm just a bit confused, so I have a question for you. Can you answer me honestly?" Melissa asked seriously as she knelt down to look Clark in the eye.

Clark slowly nodded his head.

"Do you know who that man is that Sheryl was with?" Melissa inquired.

Clark nodded his head again. "Yes. He's my mom's friend."

"Would you know more than that?" Melissa pressed. The question might have been too complicated for a little boy to grasp. Upon noticing the dumbfounded look Clark had on his face, Melissa rephrased her question. "Hmm, what I'm trying to ask is, do they often see each other? Are they very close?"

This was the best way Melissa could think of putting it. Initially, she wanted to ask Clark if Damian was Sheryl's boyfriend, but she was worried that Clark might get confused.

Clark answered in the only way he knew how. "Yes, he's very close to mom. When we traveled abroad, mom would invite him to our house, and he would bring us food. We love him. He's great!"

Melissa wasn't pleased to hear this. While she really wanted to know more about the two, it also irked her to hear stories about them.

Clark wanted to tell Melissa more, but it seemed that she didn't want to hear it anymore.

Based on Clark's stories, Melissa knew that Damian had feelings for Sheryl.

'Hmm, it looks like this guy is even better competition than the guy who had sent Sheryl flowers. He's chosen a foolproof way of getting closer to Sheryl. I'm sure he's looking for every chance he could get to be with Sheryl, 'Melissa pondered inwardly.

The more she thought about it, the more anxious she became. If Shirley wasn't in the hospital right now, she would have called Charles and told him all about this.

She wanted to warn Charles about Damian.

Clark was starting to get confused. 'Why does grandma look like this?

Didn't she want to hear the stories? Why would she make me tell her if she didn't want to hear them in the first place?' he wondered.

He then realized how much he didn't know about being an adult. 'It must be difficult to be an adult,' he thought to himself.