The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 537 Adults Make Mistakes Too

A flustered Leila responded, "Impossible! I will never agree to it." The woman had been planning this for so long. She had always intended to use the child to get Charles to marry her. Leila became frantic after hearing the proposal to take Charlie away from her. She needed the boy to succeed in her plan.

"Mr. Lu, he means everything to me. I will never part with my son," Leila declared. Her eyes and voice were steady as she spoke.

The only way Charles would get his son was to accept her as well.

"Is that so?" Charles asked, looking at Leila with bored eyes. "It is not my wish to separate the two of you. If you want to stay with the child, I am okay with it. I will give you money every month for your needs. But that's all I can do," he explained.

She stared at him in disbelief. "How can you be so mean to us, Charles?" she cried out. Leila was confident that everything would go as planned. But hearing Charles' proposal made her realize how na?ve she was, and how ridiculous her plan had been.

'The only woman Charles would ever treat with respect is Autumn,' she conceded.

"I should have learned my lesson from the past. So I wouldn't have gone through all this scheming. But, there is no turning back now. I still have to try," Leila mumbled to herself.

She took a deep breath before speaking again. "I gave birth to your son four years ago. You can never imagine what I suffered during this whole time. I never dared approach you because there was Autumn. But she's been gone for three years already. Will you continue to hold on to her memory and stay single the rest of your life?" Leila argued. Glancing at Charles, she continued, "You came to me first. If only for your son, you should consider marrying me so he can grow up with a happy family. Have you ever thought of that?"

The man's eyes turned cold. "Whether I decide to get married or not is my business, and it has nothing to do with you!" he snapped. This time he sneered,"Since you bore the child, I will not turn back on my responsibilities for him. I will take care of his living and other expenses. But, it is not my duty to care for you. If you allow him to live with me, I promise to give him the most comfortable life and let you visit him regularly. However, if you intend to keep him with you, I will send you money every month for expenses. Those are your only two choices."

"You.. you..." Leila stammered, and was suddenly at a loss for words. Then she let out a desperate laugh. "I did so many things to please and serve you. But in your eyes, I am still nothing compared to Autumn!" she said bitterly.

"Don't degrade her," Charles responded coolly, as contempt glimmered in his eyes. Being compared to a shameless woman would dishonor his wife, and he would never allow that.

His words stung, so Leila quickly changed the subject. "Why don't you go talk to our son?" she suggested. With a confident smile, she said, "I'm sure he'll make you change your mind."

She looked Charles straight in the eye, and uttered, "The best gift you can ever give children is a complete family. He yearns for nothing but his parents' love."

"I'll talk to him," he agreed. "Yes, living with both parents is always good for a child's development, but..." he paused. "If his parents get together against their will, it will be a disaster for the child," Charles said, with a hint of guilt in his voice.

Leila didn't have to ask that he speak to Charlie. Charles had every intention of talking to his son. And even if he detested the boy's mother, he would never be cruel to his son.

Charles stood up and headed towards the child's room. He hesitated before knocking. After two short raps on the door, he asked softly,"Can I come in?"

A young voice from behind the door called out,"Come in!" Charlie didn't want to overhear what the two adults were talking about outside his room, but their voices carried through his bedroom.

The man opened the door gently and found the little boy in bed reading a book. He stared at the child and was overwhelmed with joy. He was cute, Charles thought. Had his mother been anyone else but Leila, he would feel more affection for him.

Guiltily, he thought it was a pity for the innocent child to live under such circumstances.

Awkwardly, he addressed Charlie, "Hello there." He never thought meeting his son for the first time would make him feel nervous, but it did. He also felt a little guilty at the thought that he had never done his duty for the boy.

But while he despised Leila, Charles kept in mind that the boy was innocent.

"Hi!" Charlie answered back, imitating his father's serious tone. They gazed at one another, amazed by their strong resemblance.

'He has the same eyes, nose and mouth as mine. There is no doubt that he's my son, Charles thought proudly.

"I've seen you," Charlie blurted out. The man was taken aback.

"Have you?" Charles asked. Sensing that Charlie wasn't uncomfortable around him, the father found the courage to move closer. "Where?" he asked gently. Charles slowly sat down on the edge of the bed. "She has a picture of you in her room," the boy replied. He was referring to his mother's room. Although he acknowledged Leila was his mother, he never felt the urge to be close to her.

"Has she ever mentioned me to you?" Charles inquired, a little flustered over their conversation. Somehow, he wanted to know what the child thought of him.

"Sometimes," Charlie answered casually. Then the boy frowned and turned serious. "She told me you were a wonderful man and that she wanted me to become a great person like you when I became an adult. But I don't want to be like you when I grow up."

His words stunned Charles. "Why not?" he probed.

"You don't like her, do you?" the boy pointed out. He tilted his head while looking at his father.

Charles decided honesty was best. "No, I don't like her," he admitted. It astonished him that even the little boy could sense that his father could never love his mother. But Leila refused to accept that. "So, if you don't like her, why did you date her? And why did you have me?" Charlie fixed his eyes on the man that was his father, while peppering him with questions. He may only be four, but his wisdom was far beyond his age. But as intelligent as he was, there was one thing that he couldn't understand. The boy could not help but wonder what was going on between Charles and Leila.

To his mind, lovers were supposed to be together. So, he couldn't comprehend why two persons who didn't even like each other would have a baby. He bowed his head and played with his fingers like confused children usually do.

Finally, Charles spoke and using a fatherly tone, said, "Come here." He gestured for Charlie to come closer. After a brief hesitation, Charlie flung the quilt that covered his legs, and crawled towards his father. Charles took the boy in his arms and began to explain, "It was a mistake."

Unsure whether the boy could comprehend what he was saying, he thought carefully before continuing, "Like kids, adults also make mistakes. It's not a shame to do something wrong. And for as long as you can make things right and take responsibility for your actions, everyone deserves to be forgiven. Do you understand what I'm saying?" He looked at his son in the eye.

Charlie was watching his father intently and nodded in agreement.