The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 716 Don't Go Too Far

Sheryl was taken aback by Laura's sudden appearance and snarky remarks. Her mind suddenly went blank. She was glued to the spot. It made Charles' heart ache to see Sheryl suffer. He gathered her into his arms in the twinkling of an eye to protect her. His only focus was to shield Sheryl at that time. He accidentally brushed against Laura while moving towards Sheryl. Also as Laura had slapped Sheryl with too much force, she lost her own balance and fell down.

"Oh my God..." Laura howled in pain in an exaggerated way to draw Anthony's attention. When he saw his mother on the floor, Anthony rushed forward to help her to her feet. Though Sheryl was also slapped hard on the face, he was more concerned about Laura's health. Laura had high blood pressure and a tumble like this could threaten her life. Anthony chose to help Laura at that moment.

"Are you all right, Mom?" Anthony asked in a worried voice as he helped Laura stand on her feet.

Meanwhile, Charles held Sheryl protectively in his arms. Charles gazed at her red and swollen face and asked lovingly and tenderly, "Does it hurt very badly, Sheryl?"

"It's fine, not too bad." Sheryl shook her head slightly. She had been through a very rough day. She had too much on her plate and she was unable to think straight at the moment. Everything that happened today went against her wishes.

After she regained her balance, Laura shot a venomous look at Sheryl. Then she took Anthony's hand and complained at the top of her voice, "Son, do you really want to marry this woman? You are truly blinded by love. She has a daughter out of wedlock. Even worse than that, she flirts with other men. Now one of her lovers even dared to push me. Did you see that? Just remember, you can only marry her over my dead body."

Laura's angry words caught people's attention. A large crowd gathered around to see what was going on. Although they didn't know the actual story, they put two and two together and made five. They assumed that Sheryl was promiscuous. They pointed at her with one hand and whispered comments about her behind the other. They murmured she was a shameless temptress. Their words were so shaming that Sheryl couldn't bear them any more.

Her face turned crimson and her head was filled with the hum of people's voices. Charles put his hands over her ears to block out the sound after he noticed her stupefied expression. He said gently to her, "Ignore them."

Although she couldn't make out what Charles said, she was comforted by his act. She looked up at his face and felt emboldened all of a sudden. She pleaded in an undertone, "Charles, please take me away from this hellhole."

She didn't want to stay here any longer. Everything about the present situation was driving her crazy. Her head was within an inch of exploding.

"You got it. Let's leave." Charles nodded his approval. Then he immediately held her hand and tried to leave.

Laura clicked her tongue in contempt and stopped Sheryl. She deliberately raised her voice for everyone to hear, "Are you trying to run away? Too ashamed to stay, huh? I warn you, if you step out of this restaurant, do not come and bother Anthony any more. A woman of easy virtue like you can never become my daughter-in-law."

"Mom, what are you talking about..." Assured that Laura was all right and back to her authoritative self, Anthony shifted his attention to Sheryl. He wanted to move forward and ask how was her face. But he saw her standing close to Charles and holding his hands tightly. Judging from that, he knew her choice between him and Charles was crystal clear. His heart sank.

Anthony smiled bitterly. Despite all his efforts to take Sheryl to the US to have her all to himself, she eventually united with Charles.

"Sheryl, so is this your decision? You choose Charles? Are you sure?" Although he had already known the answer by lunchtime, Anthony asked in a last-ditch attempt to make her stay. He felt a lump in his throat, but he managed to sound normal.

Sheryl suddenly stood bolt upright. She didn't know the exact answer to Anthony's question. Her brain was completely frozen and had stopped working. The only thought that was clear in her mind was that she wanted to run away from this place right now.

Then Sheryl motioned Charles to loosen his hold on her hand. He released her and watched from the sidelines to let her handle the situation. She turned her head to face Laura and gave her a deep bow. "Aun Laura, I know you don't like me. If my presence gets on your nerves, I will leave now."

"What do you mean by that?" Sheryl's words ruffled her feathers. "You flirt with other men and embarrass Anthony. Can't I give you a piece of my mind? Don't act like I am the one who is forcing you to leave." "No, I am leaving out of my own will," Sheryl said with a bitter smile. After a pause she continued, "Shirley is all I have. If I have to give up Shirley to marry Anthony, then that is definitely not acceptable to me at any rate. I meant to tell you that during dinner. I'm afraid Anthony is out of my reach because of this."

She then glanced at Anthony and spoke to him calmly, "Anthony, I think our relationship comes to an end. Shirley is my life line. You know that. I won't let any person lay a finger on her, even though they may wish to do so. You will meet many other beautiful girls in your life. You deserve better. My sincere and best wishes to you."

Anthony cried out in frustation, "Sheryl, don't act like a saint. Speak your mind. Tell me the true reason. You want to be with Charles after you get rid of me, don't you?"

"You can say whatever you like and think whatever you want." Sheryl didn't want to waste her breath to refute him. She did not yet figure out her exact feelings towards Charles. At this moment Charles was nothing but a straw to clutch on and prevent her drowning.

"Let's go," Sheryl wheeled around to address Charles.

Charles gazed at Sheryl affectionately. Although he didn't know what Laura had said over dinner, he could guess it by piecing together what he had just heard. He understood that Sheryl must feel deeply wronged by all the untrue and acid allegations.

When they were about to leave, Laura stopped Charles. She said in exasperation, "Sir, Sheryl is a shameless whore. If you insist on being with her, you will come to a sticky end like Anthony. You'd better break up with her as soon as possible. She will make you a cuckold if you marry her. Listen to me. It will be too late to regret in the future."

At sound of her mean words, Sheryl couldn't tolerate her further. Since Laura was Anthony's mother, Sheryl wanted to be respectful to her. Earlier, no matter what she said or did, she had respectfully tolerated it. But Laura seemed to treat her worse than a doormat. She had gone too far with her words. Sheryl decided not to pay any further respect to her.

Sheryl's eyes bore into Laura and said to her determinedly, "Aunt Laura, you are Anthony's mother so I respect you and have avoided fighting or arguing with you. You can say anything you like, but that won't change who I am. You deliberately demean me because you want Anthony to break up with me. But I also have feelings. If you keep on slandering me, you'll suffer the consequences."

"Anthony, look! Listen to this bitch! Did you see that?" Laura was pleased to see Sheryl boiling with anger. Her lips curved upwards into a wicked grin. She yanked at Anthony's arm and said to him, "She reveals her true colors in a few minutes. Anthony, take a close look at her. Do you still love her? I had a problem with your relationship because I have seen through her. She thinks you are beneath her and considers you as a back-up boyfriend. Haven't you realized that?"

Laura smiled coldly and continued, "She says she doesn't remember her past. I don't think so. She is just trying to mislead everybody. It's very likely that she had a promiscuous lifestyle so she doesn't want her shameful past to be revealed. A woman with a child born out of wedlock wants to be my daughter-in-law? That's hilarious."

"Aunt Laura, don't go too far. You are dragging my daughter into all this ugliness." Sheryl gnashed her teeth. She was really pissed off. She would never forgive Laura for labelling Shirley as an illegitimate child.