The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 561 Is He Your Boyfriend

"Miss Ye," Sheryl addressed her from a distance. "May I ask if there is anything I can do for you?" Her investigative eyes locked with Holley's while she was waiting for her reply.

"George told me you didn't sign the contract, so I wanted to talk to you about that," Holley mentioned with a nonchalant smile on her face. "Is there any problem with the contract?" she then inquired. "No, it has nothing to do with the contract," Sheryl said decisively. "Relocating to another city is not an easy thing. I would definitely need more time to consider this," she explained.

"But aren't you a native of Y City, Miss Xia?" Holley blurted out. That was definitely not a smart move of her. She regretted it as soon as the words came out of her mouth. However, it was too late to do anything about it at that point.

Surprised by Holley's question, Sheryl aggressively asked for a clarification, "How did you know my hometown is Y City, Miss Ye?"

'Only a few people know I was born in Y City; how would Holley know that?

It isn't as if she has known me for that long... Or has she?' Sheryl wondered failing to replace a good explanation.

The last thing Holley wanted was to raise any more suspicions in her mind. She had to play it safe this time. "Oh, don't get me wrong," she explained kindly. "I simply heard Miss Wang mention it at the party, the other day."

Then, on a more cautious tone, she continued prying, "I also heard you lost part of your memory. Wouldn't you want to get it back? It's a big part of your life, after all. Doesn't it bother you not knowing your past?"

Holley noticed Sheryl was seriously contemplating on her words, so she went on,"I have a friend who is a doctor. He explained to me that spending time in a familiar place could help someone who lost their memories remember some of them again."

Suddenly, Sheryl cut her off by asking, "Why are you so interested in me, Miss Ye?" Something was off, and Sheryl couldn't quite put her finger on it.

Holley had always kept things to herself, so this change in attitude was strange. 'Even though she is actually trying to be nice to me, I still feel that I can't trust her,' she told herself.

"Do I look like a bad person to you?" insisted Holley through her reversed psychology tricks. "I can relate to you because Y City is also my hometown. Though I lost my parents, not my memories. So, in a way, feel both close and distant towards it. I believe you feel the same, don't you?"

Sheryl glared at her wistfully, pondering, 'I do have the same feelings as hers. Despite all the time I've lived here, I don't feel like I belong in this place.

It is totally a foreign place to me.

I guess I can understand how Holley feels about it too. But I wonder if what she's saying has anything to do with me deciding not to stay here.'

Noticing Sheryl was still lost in her thoughts, Holley continued, "It has been a while since I left this place. To be honest, I hesitated for a long time because I wasn't sure whether I should come back or not. My parents passed away here and I feared that coming back would remind me of their deaths. But when I set foot in this place, I realized I also had wonderful memories. I walked past familiar streets and ate some of my favorite comfort foods." A hint of nostalgia appeared on her face as Holley went on,"The only drawback is that I don't have any family here anymore."

Sheryl was listening to Holley without saying a word. After a short pause, Holley confessed, "You're the first friend I made after I came here. We have similar experiences; so I feel like I can talk to you, like you can understand me. I think we can be good friends, and this is why I'm showing this kind of interest in your life."

Eventually, realizing Sheryl's reluctance towards her goodwill, Holley began apologizing,"If I made you feel uncomfortable, I'm sorry. I mean no harm. I just want to be friends with you."

Looking at her seemingly sincere eyes, Sheryl wasn't sure how to react. 'It seems that Holley is a good person. Perhaps I misunderstood her, Sheryl thought.

In the absence of any reaction from Sheryl, Holley decided to conclude her remarks,"Anyway, I can't force a friendship. I will understand and respect whatever you decide to do." With an unenthusiastic smile, she added, "Well then, I guess I'll leave now."

The disappointed look on Holley's face made Sheryl feel a little guilty. 'She was just trying to be friends, and I didn't even give her the benefit of the doubt,' she argued with herself.

Even though still conflicted, Sheryl let her guard down for a minute and began expressing her thoughts, "Well... first of all, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have judged you."

"It's okay," Holley responded. She smiled at Sheryl and stated encouragingly, "I'm known to be a persistent person. So I would have simply tried to prove to you that you can trust me and that perhaps we can even be best friends."

With a playful smile on her face, Sheryl replied, "I thought we were friends."

Holley liked her witty comment. Even though it surprised her, she couldn't help but let out a short laugh. In an equally playful and witty manner, she commented back, "Oh, yeah, of course... what am I saying? We're already friends." She ended that with a wink.

Holley then proceeded to leave, when she heard a familiar voice. "Miss Xia," said the manly voice from behind her. She quickly turned around and was immediately petrified by her utter confusion and awe. There he was, as handsome as ever! Charles' striking appearance left her speechless. However, her excitement soon turned to anger as the dashing man walked straight past her and towards Sheryl. 'Are you kidding me? Three years! Three years have passed, and he is still under her spell. Why doesn't he ever notice me?' she wondered frustrated.

Clenching her fist, Holley found it hard to control her anger.

'Why? When I was Yvonne, Charles was in love with her.

Now I'm Holley, a different person, and Autumn is still the same but named Sheryl.

Despite this, he still prefers her over me. Why does she always get to be so lucky?' she thought filled with hatred.

Tightening her fist even harder, she could feel her fingernails cutting through her palms. Overpowered by fury, she was not about to go anywhere anymore.

'I completely changed my appearance and even now you can't pay attention to me, Charles? What does it take to get you to look at me?' she asked herself.

But asking herself was not enough anymore. She had to intervene, "Miss Xia, is he... your boyfriend?" Holley forced a fake smile as she struggled to spit those last two word out. Charles was finally taking cognizance of Holley, who had been standing beside Sheryl all along. As he was observing her fine facial features, he couldn't shake the familiar feeling she brought him.

However, his gently squinted eyes looked wary. It felt like he had his guard on, like he would step back if she drew any closer.

"No, no, no, it's not like that," Sheryl denied her inference. Quite embarrassed and flustered at that point, she lowered her head in an attempt to collect her thoughts.

"I already have a boyfriend, and he is abroad," clarified Sheryl eventually. "He... is just a friend I've met here," she continued explaining. Charles felt quite irritated by those words. 'And I can't do anything about it! Sheryl lost her memory, so I'm just a stranger to her now,' he realized.

"Is that so?" Holley asked rhetorically. 'You really think he is a stranger?' she giggled silently. 'Autumn, did you really forget this man? He is your husband. You used to love him so much and promised to spend the rest of your life in his company. How ironic!' she continued snickering covertly.