The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 297 Late Night Call

Autumn nodded to Amy's question and responded, "She is very tired and is already asleep. Grandma, thank you so very much for taking care of Emily these days. I cannot begin to express how grateful I am!" "Sweetheart, we are a family. Don't be so civil to me, " Amy returned with a tender expression, as she grabbed Autumn's hand, and then they sat on the sofa.

"What are you two going on about?" Autumn asked Charles and Andy with Cindy now in her arms, who had eaten some fruits.

"Just some stuff about the collaboration, " Charles answered with a warm smile. "How is Emily doing?" Charles asked with concern.

"Well, she is still the same. The illness has not gotten worse or better, "Autumn replied in a low tone. 'As there are no treatments for Emily's illness at this stage, I will spend as much as time I can to keep her company. I'm... losing her, 'Autumn said to herself in grief and disbelief.

"Well," Charles attempted to change the topic as he noticed her dejected expresion. "You asked me to replace a good school for Cindy. And now I have found one," he turned to Abby.

"Is that so?" Abby responded with happiness glimmering in her eyes. Lately she was very stressed and worried, in the recent past, about replaceing an appropriate school.

"This is his business card. Please do call him directly whenever you replace the time, " Charles said, as he handed over the visiting card to Abby.

"Thank you!" Abby responded with gratitude, as she took the card. "Autumn, we have booked a hotel to celebrate your birthday next month. We would like to throw a party. As for the media... If you don't have any issues, I will contact reporters from different media houses too, "Abby requested Autumn.

"No problem. It all sounds okay, "Autumn returned with a little nod in acknowledgement. 'Oh finally the day has arrived when I will disown Wendy and be rid of her from my life forever, 'Autumn thought with relief.

"Oh it is pretty late now. We should head home," she continued. The drive from Zhao family's residence to Dream Garden was quite a short one. Autumn and Charles arrived home within minutes. Upon reaching, Charles directly went upstairs to check on mails, while Autumn walked up to Chris. "What's ?up? You look in low spirits," she asked, seeing Chris sitting on the lounge absently.

"Autumn," Chris said as she took a moment to get over from her daze after hearing Autumn's voice. "You're back. I have to discuss something with you," she continued.

"What is it, Chris?" Autumn asked with concern as she took a seat beside Chris.

Chris glanced down at her coffee with a scowling expression. "Is this about Sam?" Autumn guessed to nudge her as she noticed Chris's hesitant look.

"Yes, it is..." Chris answered in a sad tone. "After Aunt Jane picked on you in your company and stirred all that chaos, I had a fight with Sam. And today I did not receive a single call or messege from him. I don't know..." she struggled to complete her sentence as she glanced at her phone with an injured hope.

She was scared that maybe he did call and it was her phone that was not working.

"He hasn't contacted you all day, so you're worried that he may be angry with you, is that it?" Autumn asked bluntly. 'This is quite strange. Sam seems to care so very much about Chris, why would he behave like this? Even Jane came to appologize to me, then why didn't he come to Chris?' Autumn wondered.

"Autumn, I know nothing that happened was his fault, but I still snapped at him. I felt sorry and guilty for what happned with you. After all, you were ambushed by Aunt Jane after a misunderstanding caused by me. But now I am feeling insecure and uneasy as he hasn't contacted me all day. You must think that I'm a stupid girl," Chris tried to smile despite all the stress clouding her thoughts, after nodding at Autumn.

"I think it is safe to say you are stuck with Sam for this lifetime for sure, "Autumn giggled as she cracked a joke to lighten the mood.

"Autumn, please don't make fun of me..." Chris said bashfully.

"Please don't overthink for another moment. Sam was probably extremely busy today, and so he couldn't spare enough time to contact you. Don't worry, "Autumn comforted Chris. "Also yesterday Aunt Jane came to my company again but this time she apologized to me sincerely. It seems that she is quite pleased with you. Now I hope you see what is happening? There is absolutely no need to worry." "Did she?" Chris brightened her eyes in suprise. She had not expected that Jane would apologize to Autumn.

"Of course she did, "Autumn replied with a warm and reassuring smile. "When have I ever lied to you? Please don't act so immature again. Also don't forget to go to your work tomorrow, will you?" "You got it," Chris answered with excitement. "Does Charles... know this?"

"I told him all about it and he seems to be fine with Jane." Autumn replied. 'She still behaves like a child. I was so scared because she had a concerned and unhappy look as though the world has come crashing down to an end. And now within minutes she is overjoyed, 'Autumn thought to herself.

"Thank you, Autumn," Chris said cheerfully. "Okay so now I will head upstairs to have good night's sleep. And tomorrow morning I will head straight to the company."

"Good night!" Autumn replied gently. After she saw Chris run upstairs delightfully, she went to the kitchen and poured a mug full of milk for Charles. As Autumn knocked at the study door, Charles was engaged in a video conference. She pushed the door open, and stood beside him quietly.

"You didn't eat properly during the dinner. What happened? Is there too much of stress from work?" Autumn asked with concern tenderly, handing the mug to Charles once his conference was over.

"Yeah, I had quite a hectic today," Charles sighed, as he leaned back into his chair with a fatigued look.

Autumn couldn't bear to look at Charles this way. She walked behind him, and massaged his temples, in a bid to provide some relief.

"I'm feeling better, " Charles said to Autumn, gripping Autumn by her hand after five minutes. "I still have a pile of papers to read before I can sleep. Please you go to sleep, I will join you after finishing them." "Don't stay up very late. You look very exhausted, "Autumn said in a soft tone. She felt that she could not help Charles beyond leaving him alone so that he could devote his attention and finish it fast. "Please don't forget to drink milk," she reminded him.

"Got it," Charles nodded. Around 2:00 am, he finally finished all his pending work and dragged his exhausted body to the bathroom. After taking a shower, he got into the bed.

As soon as he got into the covers, Autumn cuddled him in her arms. "Did you just finish your work?" Autumn asked in a drowsy voice.

"Yeah," Charles replied, as he held Autumn closer to his chest with relief. "Why are you still awake?"

"I couldn't fall asleep without you," she answered, moving closer to Charles.

Upon hearing this, Charles gave a content smile. "Have a good dream, " Charles said to Autumn with affection as he kissed her forehead.

It was true that Autumn was accustomed to sleeping with Charles. Within minutes of him getting into bed as she started dreaming, she was awakened by Charles's phone.

Charles received the call with a frown once he realised it was from Leila. He recognized her voice from across the line. "Mr. Lu, I'm sorry to disturb you at this hour. Is it convenient for you to speak?" "What is happening?" Charles asked with concern.

"You asked me to prepare documents for tomorrow's meeting with our clients, but I found that one was missing. Do you have it? If you don't, I will work out another one," Leila explained. Autumn could hear exactly what Leila said. Even though she had called for work, Autumn still felt uncomfortable.

"Are you talking about the price sheet? I have only one copy, " Charles replied.