The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 705 I Want to Stay

"In my opinion," the model sneered as she addressed Charles, "Sheryl is the one who should be blamed for all that happened here. She sowed the seeds of discord among the models which eventually led to this debacle. Mr. Lu, if you really want everything to go well here, you have to fire Sheryl rightaway, because she is the real cause of all our discords."

Sheryl was totally speechless. She glared at the model and thought, 'How could she just mindlessly blame it all on me. How could it be my fault when I was the one who got framed and nearly drowned?' She was just about to retaliate when Charles spoke. He sneered at the model and asked, "And what if I don't do that? What will you do?"

"Then don't blame us for disregarding your feelings," the model replied cheekily with a contemptuous smile on her face. She was confident that they made an excellent team and what Charles said was nothing but a threat. But if they united and threatened him with a strike, Charles might come under the pressure and dismiss Sheryl. She just wanted to gamble on this.

She looked straight towards Charles and spoke in a very calm voice, "Mr. Lu, you are rich and powerful. There would be millions of expert professionals willing to work for you. And since you look down upon us to such an extent, how about we simply quit and you can replace some better models to work for you?"

Then she just turned to Sheryl and continued in a sarcastic manner, "Oh, I'm mistaken. How could I forget? You still have Sheryl to help you, don't you?"

Both Charles and Sheryl were amazed to see her audacity. Both of them remained quiet as she continued with her rude and cheeky manner as she addressed Charles. She laughed and muffled her mouth looking at Sheryl. She said, "Sheryl, ah, she is a little older than us, and she is a mother. But you do rest your heart, her stage manners is not so bad. Perhaps she can get the show done perfectly all by herself." She thought she played her cards well.

"Are you threatening me?" Charles's face was calm and absolutely bereft of any emotion. "You think you could get away with it by saying so?" he asked.

"Oh no! I dare not," she said. She chuckled, "I'm just telling you the truth. We have been friends for many years. We have been together through thick and thin for all these years. We stand by each other no matter what. If you're really going to fire Kitty for fussing over the trifles, we will just quit."

"Are you sure?" Charles paused for a second, and asked, "Is that what you all think?"

The models were standing there as quiet as a mouse. He said, "I'll ask you for the last time, are you really going to quit for Kitty?"

They still kept silent. Charles turned to spoke to David, "David, get their dismissal contract ready. I want it the first thing in the morning tomorrow on my desk."

"Yes, Mr. Lu," David spoke in a somber voice. He glanced at those models and his face turned grim wondering how dare they compare themselves with Mrs. Lu. That was so ridiculous.

"Alice," said Charles, "is that bottle of wine still here? Give it to the police, and check it out. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Mr. Lu. I will take care of it," said Alice, nodding her head. A weird silence spread all over the room where everybody was just too scared to speak. Both Alice and David proceeded to carry out their designated task. Sheryl stood there with her eyes lowered and a frown on her face.

Charles had a much controlled temper at present. If it had happened earlier, he would had fired all these people without giving it a second thought. Waiting for them to make their own choices was something absolutely unimaginable.

Such naive girls. How could they think that they could threaten Charles? Now their plan had backfired.

Kitty's face became white as a sheet of paper as she heard Charles mention the wine but she tried to behave as if nothing had happened. The truth was that she felt her feet stuck to the place where she was standing.

No wonder Charles did not react when he drank the wine. Her plot had already been discovered already! How ridiculous she was!

After this, it was clear to the model that Charles had got things into an impasse. The sudden shift in the behavior of Charles was a complete surprise to her. She looked at Charles in dismay and asked, "Mr. Lu, are you going to be on Sheryl's side?"

"Of course I am," said Charles with a calm face. "I'm by Sheryl's side always in Shining Company. If anyone dares to bully her, he is bullying me too. You can try if you don't believe that."

Charles spoke in a determined voice and stared at the models. After hearing that, a model who had been hiding behind, said to Charles in a meek voice, "Mr. Lu, I... I want to stay in Shining Company."

"Me too!"

"Me too!"

Only one of them had to speak her mind and the rest followed gradually. At first it was single voices coming from different models who had gathered there. Soon the entire crowd spoke together in an unified voice. Kitty and her ally remained silent and watched how the crowd moved from their side leaving them alone. There was a rush among them to get Charles' permission to let them stay.

The model who had spoken against Sheryl got furious. All this while she had seen all the models dancing to the tunes of Kitty. She addressed them and said, "Look at you! What are you doing? Have you all gone out of your mind?"

"Tammy, it was the two of you who invited this trouble upon yourself. But why should all of us take the consequences?" said a model who was the first one to say that she wanted to stay with Shining Company. Her words drew the attention of Charles and Sheryl towards her. The cat was coming out of the bag. She continued, "I can't say what kind of person Sheryl is because we seldom got along with her. But we all know in our hearts, you just thought that it was easy to bully her, and that's why you've done this."

She laughed scornfully and said, "You said that you would teach her a lesson tonight, so you must know clearly whether Kitty did it or not."

"You..." Tammy Tian didn't expect that they would betray her at this critical time. She sneered, "Well, now you guys think that you can challenge me, huh?" Her face went red in anger and embarrassment. Charles and Sheryl had their eyes fixed on her as the smart cover on her face was being pulled down by her own mates.

"We are just concerned about our future," said one model. The salary offered by Shining Company wass so attractive. It was just not worth giving up such a large sum of money for Kitty.

"Mr. Lu, we're not with Kitty. We're willing to stay."

In an instance, the rest of the models changed their sides from Kitty towards the company. With that the matter was resolved once and for all. After that, Charles didn't pursue this matter any further.

At the end, Kitty and Tammy Tian were fired. On their way back home, Sheryl turned towards Charles, and asked, "Is it worth doing so just for me?"

"Why not? You deserve it." Charles turned towards her and smiled. He said, "I have already told you that I will be your strongest supporter here."

Sheryl lowered her head without uttering a single word.

Charles' attitude really put her in a dilemma. No matter how much she wanted to stay away from him, fate always had a different plan for them. Circumstances brought them together time and again. And she could feel her mind changing towards Charles slowly.

When he got to the door of Sheryl's house, Charles stopped and said to her, "Have a hot bath and go to bed as soon as you can."

"You too," Sheryl said in a calm voice.

The next day, Sheryl woke up late. The exhaustion of the previous day left its mark on her. When everyone gathered in the hall, they couldn't see Kitty and Tammy Tian there.

Alice had received Charles' instructions and sent them back overnight. She had already told Holley about what happened. Holley promised this must be dealt with seriously in accordance with the policy.