The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 495 Leaving Charles

Autumn lowered her head dejectedly. She didn't want to talk about what happened. Anthony sighed resignedly and changed the subject. "You've been unconscious for several days, so you must be hungry. I will bring you steamed chicken soup. I'll be back in a moment," he said and went to the kitchen.

Anthony was relieved that Autumn had regained consciousness. She had been through an ordeal and needed nourishing food to restore her health. Anthony prepared chicken soup every day hoping that Autumn would wake up. He wanted to serve her tonic food once she woke up to speed up her recovery.

He had examined Autumn thoroughly and he knew that she had regained consciousness but she was unwilling to wake up. Knowing that Autumn was pretending to be unconscious, Anthony was unwilling to disturb her.

He was still unclear what had happened to her, but he knew she must have suffered a lot.

Anthony came back with a bowl of steamed chicken soup and handed it to Autumn. "It may be a bit bland. I only added a little salt. Drink it up. Now that you have delivered your babies, you need to take good care of your health," he said gently.

"Thank you!" Autumn looked at Anthony gratefully. She owed him a lot for letting her stay in his place and taking care of her.

"No need to thank me. What are friends for?" Anthony returned with a smile. Autumn drank the soup slowly. Anthony watched her for a while, and then told her softly,"Rest more today. You have to regain your strength. I'm leaving now."

He knew that Autumn was not yet ready to talk to him about what she had gone through, so he decided to wait until she would approach him voluntarily.

"Wait," Autumn stopped him, biting her lip hesitantly. After all the unpleasant things that took place in a short time, Autumn needed a friend to confide in. In her eyes, Anthony was the best confidant. "Are you busy today? I... I want to talk to you," Autumn asked, looking at Anthony pleadingly.

Nodding, Anthony walked back to her and settled himself at the edge of her bed. Finally, she was willing to talk. But Autumn was silent for a while as if marshaling her thoughts. Anthony frowned and said, "Charles has been combing Y City during the past days and it's only a matter of time before he replaces that you're hiding in my house. You have to tell me the truth so I can help you. Otherwise, I can't stop him if he comes here to bring you and the baby back."

"Never! I won't return to that house," Autumn returned vehemently. A hint of anxiety passed her eyes before she turned cold with anger. Giving Anthony a pleading look, she said, "Please don't tell him that I'm here."

"Tell me what happened," Anthony urged her, confusion in his eyes. 'As far as I knew, they were on good terms.

Now, suddenly Autumn seems to hate Charles. I noticed the pain and anger in her eyes as she mentioned her husband's name. Autumn seems to regard Charles as a bitter enemy now and not anymore her loving husband. What's really going on here?' He shook his head at his confused thought.

"Autumn, if you don't tell me what happened, I can't help you," Anthony reminded her sternly.

Autumn leaned her head back against the pillow. The sound of Leila's voice echoing in her head made her burst into tears.

"Don't cry. You will have a relapse if you don't stop," Anthony comforted her. "If you guys have a misunderstanding, you can sit together and work it out," he reasoned with her.

"You don't understand," Autumn sighed, smiling bitterly. 'No one can understand how desperate and depressed I am now,' she thought sadly.

Autumn took a deep breath and recounted Leila's hateful words to Anthony. Upon hearing the story, Anthony frowned and said, "I don't know what's going on between Charles and that girl. But as for the matter regarding Emily, I'm sorry, but I'm a part of it, too." he confessed guiltily.

"You, too!" Autumn exclaimed, dismayed at what she just heard. "How could you lie to me? Why? You knew how important Emily was to me. How could you have kept me in the dark about her death?" she reproached him bitterly.

"She brought me up and she sacrificed so much for me. But I didn't even attend her funeral. Do you know how much I regret that? She was everything to me and I didn't even get the chance to say goodbye to her," she cried.

"Please listen to me, Autumn," Anthony begged as he hurriedly explained, "We didn't want to keep you in the dark at first. But when you found that Emily was in the operating room, you were so distraught that you almost had a miscarriage. I'm your doctor, I couldn't risk any chances. Charles agreed with me to keep Emily's death a secret and tell you after you gave birth. But we didn't expect..."

They didn't expect that Leila would come to Autumn and tell her about this. Anthony admitted that they made a rash decision keeping her grandmother's death from her. It was a big blow to Autumn. "I trusted you, Anthony. How could you help them lie to me?" Autumn told him in a hard disappointed tone.

Anthony couldn't defend himself. 'It's my fault. I shouldn't have lied to her,' he told himself with regret.

Looking seriously at Autumn, he said, "You can't trust that woman's words. She has an ulterior motive in telling you that. You should go home and talk to Charles and figure out this matter."

"Go home?" Autumn laughed cynically. "I told you, never! Never would I set foot in that house again. I have seen their naked pictures. I'm through with him," she said roughly.

There was nothing to work out. The pictures said it all. She was certain that the pictures that Leila had shown her were original and not processed.

"Don't be too rash, Autumn," Anthony advised his friend with a frown. "I haven't known Charles for a long time, but I think he is a man of integrity. He doesn't strike me as an unfaithful husband. I think you should go back to him."

"If you insist on asking me to go back to him, I'll leave here with my child immediately," Autumn told Anthony, getting up from the bed.

Anthony panicked at Autumn's words and hurriedly put her back in the bed. "Stay, Autumn. You're too weak to go anywhere," he said with a concerned look.

Autumn got up again and started putting on her shoes and walking towards the door. Anthony grimace. Looking at her resolute face, he knew that she was not bluffing. Anthony raised his hand to his heart and promised, "I promise I won't force you to come back as long as you don't want to. I want you to stay here and take good care of yourself and your baby, okay?"

Autumn turned around and walked back towards the bed when she heard Anthony's words.

There was another thing he had been meaning to ask Autumn, so he asked hesitantly, "What about the other baby?"

Autumn's heart broke as she thought about her baby boy. The mention of her other child brought a constriction in her throat and she swallowed. After a while, she said,"He was taken by Leila.

Leila took him and said she would bring him to Charles," Autumn said bitterly. 'Charles has my son. This way, I owe him nothing,' she convinced herself but her heart felt hollow at the loss of her son. The moment Leila had taken the baby away, she knew that she couldn't stay with Charles anymore.