The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 754 Crossing The Line

Sheryl was done with all of it. Laura had been pestering her for far too long, and if she could only get a hold of Anthony, she wouldn't have to deal with it anymore. She turned to Sue and said, "I know Anthony's at your place. Please just tell him I need to speak to him."

Sue didn't know much about the Laura issue. All she knew was that Anthony didn't want to see Sheryl at all, so she plastered on a crafted, innocent expression. "Don't be silly. Anthony is your boyfriend. Why would he be in my house?"

Sheryl's jaw tightened. "Stop pretending." "Sue, we used to be good friends. I don't care what you and Anthony do together, that's your business. Right now, I just need to replace him and have him sort things out with his mother so that they'll leave me alone. I just want to be with my daughter as soon as possible."

It was quite a plea, but Sue remained stubborn. "I told you. He's not here." She wasn't certain about Sheryl's motives. But judging from the people coming with her, there must be something bad. She would not sell Anthony.

"So? Will you let me see him?" Sheryl's expression turned hard, and determined. "Or should I just go in and replace him myself?"

The words ticked Sue off. "Excuse me?" She stepped forward in warning. "Don't go overboard, Sheryl. This is my home. You have no right to come barging in when you want to."

The smile on her face was quite hostile. "You're his girlfriend," she taunted, "he's missing, and this is where you look for him? You're being ridiculous."

Something snapped in Sheryl, and that wasn't lost on the other woman. "Sue," her voice went dangerously low. "You'd better bring him out here, right now, or you're not going back in that house with your face in order." Sue could hear the deep anger in her voice, but she resisted.

Sheryl took a deep breath to calm herself, and yelled, "Anthony, get out here now! You think you can get away with what you've done without facing the consequences? Be a damn man and sort this out yourself. I'm not going to keep fixing the mess you've made."

Anthony was hidden away in Sue's bedroom, trying not to listen to what was going on outside. But he couldn't ignore Sheryl's raised voice.

A wry laugh escaped him. He wanted to explain himself to Sheryl and make it right. He weighed his options in his head, and he knew that it would be a bad time to come out.

If he proved Sheryl right and came out of Sue's bedroom, it would mean a definite end to their relationship.

To Anthony's mind, it was just a little spat with his girlfriend. Once she calmed down, they could go back to normal.

His head was full of excuses, trying to justify himself, so he wouldn't dare come out and ruin their relationship for all those years.

While he was lost in his own thoughts, the door burst open with a loud thump. It was Sheryl. He was stunned frozen in his place. The shame took over him. "Sher, I..."

"I don't care," Sheryl cut him off. When she pushed past Sue and walked into her bedroom, she was not at all surprised to replace Anthony there.

"I'm not here to deal with you. Someone's looking for you, and I need you to sort things out with her so she'll leave me alone."

She turned around to someone Anthony couldn't see. "Just get in. You're looking for him, aren't you?"

When Anthony took a step forward, he wasn't pleased about the surprise. Laura and Junia were standing just outside. "What are you doing here?"

Even with her feet getting better, Sue had to limp back to her bedroom when they burst in. She couldn't stop them. "Are you serious? This is my damn house!"

When no one responded, she shoved Laura back. "Get out for Christ's sake!"

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Laura didn't even budge. She smirked at her. "I'm looking for my son, here. You think you can stop me?" Laura's words were furious. Sue was stunned silent.

This woman was Anthony's mother. 'What have I done?' Her thoughts started racing. She had just offended her future mother-in-law.

Paying no more mind to Sue, Laura went over to Anthony's side. She looked at the gauze on his forehead and was filled with concern. "My dear, what happened? Why..." she began. "Why are you injured?" Her concerned tone turned a tad angry. "Did someone do this to you?"

She couldn't worry too much about anything but her son's health.

She moved in closer to reach for him, but Anthony noticed and moved out of her way. He didn't want his mother there. "I'm fine. Why are you here?"

"I'm looking for you," Laura replied. Arthur's words suddenly came to her mind, and she asked with a frustrated expression, "Uncle Arthur, I have my son here now. Could you repeat what you said? Now that everyone's here, you can deal with my son."

Arthur, however, was quite done with it. Without a second thought, he blew Laura off and turned to Sheryl instead. "Sher, we should head back now. Shirley is waiting for us."

Sheryl nodded, feeling some relief to get out of there. Before leaving, she turned to Laura. "I found your son for you. You'd better remember what you promised me. I don't appreciate those who break their promises to me." Her words were subtly threatening.

Sheryl usually respected elders very much, but Laura was not worthy of her respect. Laura had gone way too far. She was like a child throwing a tantrum, and it put everyone around her in distress. In spite of what Sheryl said, Laura called her out as she walked away. "Stop right there. Have I allowed you to leave?"

She then went to pull Sheryl back by her arm. "I told you before, you have to break up with Anthony in front of me, and guarantee on paper that you're never to see him again. This was your promise. You'd better do what I ask, otherwise your daughter will suffer," she added viciously.

Perhaps Laura didn't realize that threatening Shirley was beyond any threat she could make to her, and Sheryl went livid.

"What..." she said dangerously slowly. "What did you just say?"

Laura's expression went cold. "I said..." "That's enough!" Anthony stopped her.

He glared at his mother in disbelief. "Haven't you had enough, mom?"

He laughed, almost hysterically, in defeat. There was no more hope for him, after all that had happened. He would never be with Sheryl again.

His mother didn't know how dear Shirley was to Sheryl. She didn't know that Sheryl would die for her daughter, that she was more of a mother than Laura could ever be to Anthony, and he knew that she crossed a very dangerous line when she threatened Sheryl's daughter.

And yet, Laura thought she could use Shirley to get to Sheryl and come out of this situation unscathed. How stupid Laura was!