The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 765 Not As Good As Charles

Anthony stared into his empty hands as if he were hoping that, there, he could replace the words he wanted to say. After a moment he said, "I fell in love with you that first moment that I saw you, but you were married to Charles, and carrying his child. It left me with no other choice but to bury my feelings for you deep in my heart where only I knew the truth."

Then, a rueful sigh escaped his lips, and he continued, "I had even planned to take myself on a long trip abroad after you gave birth to the babies. Thinking, maybe, if I don't see you, I won't constantly feel this heart wrenching pain I feel every time I see you and know that I can't have you; maybe, my feelings for you will disappear over time, and then I can truly move on and start anew."

Unfortunately, fate had other things in mind, and his plans were interrupted by a disaster. Anthony looked up at Sheryl, his eyes reflecting his anguish. He had never told anyone before about the struggles he had been facing back then. But today, he wanted to let her know all of the things he had endured, and every trial he had to deal with on his own.

"But I didn't expect you to be as determined as you were with taking the medicine. It allowed me to grasp at a glimmer of hope in the back of my mind. How could I leave you alone? So I..."

"So, replaceing out that I had lost my memory, you manipulated the situation, you lied to me, and told me you were my boyfriend? Does that sound a bit right?" demanded Sheryl with an emotionless nod. She could understand what Anthony had done, but she could not, by any stretch of the imagination, comprehend, nor stand the fact that he had framed Charles just so that he could be with her. What kind of person could do that?

"Yes," Anthony replied in a tone not much louder than a whisper. She could clearly see traces of shame and embarrassment strewed across his face. "Listen, honestly, I was hit with an insurmountable exhilaration when I learned that you had amnesia. Then, when I told you that I was your boyfriend, I did it almost without hesitation or thinking. I was being impulsive because I knew how I'd always wanted the opportunity with you, but was unable to pursue it because your heart belonged to another. I simply could not see my chance to finally do so, and let it... let you just pass me by."

Then he thought to himself, 'Now that I've told Sheryl this, there is no need for me to hide anything else.' He slowly took in a long, deep, centering breath and decided to come clean about the other bad things he had done privately. "I went above and beyond, doing everything in my power, to make sure that no one was able to replace your whereabouts. Despite my best efforts, Andy started asking questions. He was suspicious and was sure I was hiding you. I knew Andy's son had a heart problem, so I used all my connections to help him replace a replacement heart. My only request was that he should not reveal your whereabouts, and he agreed."

Sheryl was shocked and appalled to learn that Anthony and Andy had partaken in such collusion in secret.

With a tone so contemptuous, she could feel the chill as the words flowed from her lips, "You've really impressed me, Anthony." With a hint of disgust written all over her face, she stared intently right at him, silent for a moment.

Anthony stared right back at Sheryl looking mystified about what she had just said. It suddenly dawned on him that each of them was talking about two completely different things. And the fact that he had confessed the vile things he had done made him more confused. With an ashamed tone, Anthony asked, "Is... isn't that what you were talking about?"

"No, of course not, but..." Sheryl sniffed. "I never would have expected you to do such a thing. I am dumbfounded!"

Then she shot a quick glance at Anthony and added, "Anthony, I don't even know who you are anymore. No, better yet, I don't think I've ever really known you. How many of these selfish, manipulative, deceitful, and malicious things have you done?"

Anthony was silent. He had been willing to do anything he felt he had to do. To him, as long as he got to be with Sheryl, the end justified the means.

"I'm talking about Mr. Jiang of Eagle Group. You've got to be familiar with him as well, right?" Sheryl asked in a sarcastic tone.

As soon as Sheryl mentioned this man, Anthony understood what she was talking about. He was very quick to jump to his own defense. "Sher, don't listen to Charles. he was talking nonsense. I don't know Mr. Jiang at all..."

"Who said anything about Charles," Sheryl interrupted his excuses. "Since you want to bring it up, then how did you know this is about Charles if you don't know Mr. Jiang? Tell me the truth!"

Anthony froze and silently scolded himself for being too eager to defend himself, which made him look that much more guilty. Looking at Sheryl in embarrassment, he explained, "The news that Charles and Judith were getting engaged was surfacing around Y City some time ago. How could I not have guessed that you're talking about Charles?"

"That's enough, Anthony!," Sheryl stopped him from continuing. She didn't want to go back and forth with Anthony any more. "I'm not a fool. I have my own mind. I know what I see. We all know what was going on, don't we?" she snapped.

After a brief pause, she continued, "Even if there was nothing you did about it, Shirley is autistic now because of us. Besides, your mother is dead set against our marriage. Do you still think there's a possibility that there could still be a future for us?"

Sheryl gave a bitter smile, and concluded, "Anthony, just stop that now. It will work out better for both of us."

"No! You can't mean that!" Anthony shook his head as he grabbed Sheryl's hand, afraid that she would leave. He looked at Sheryl with beseeching eyes, and vowed solemnly, "If you don't like what I did, then I will never do it again, I promise. As for my mother, you don't have to care or worry about her thoughts. This is a matter for you and me. It has nothing to do with her."

He tightened his grip on Sheryl's hand as he continued, "If you don't want to see her, we'll never live with her. Anyway, I can assure you that there will never be a time when there is anyone more important in my heart than you."

"Anthony, just forget about it." Sheryl glanced at Anthony. "There is no going back," she stated dryly.

"No, that's not true. We can, we can always go back!" Anthony felt a wave of panic spread through every fiber of his being as the reality of the situation was starting to set in. He tried again to give her another option. "As long as you can let Charles go, we can go back. Sher, I don't care about what happened between you and Charles, I just want a future where you and I are together," he said, unable to hide his anxiety and fear.

Sheryl looked at Anthony wearily. "Now, you still think that we're having problems because of Charles?" she asked.

Completely oblivious to the facts, he gave a confident "Yes". "All of our problems are all about Charles. I know that Charles means a lot to you. After all, he is Shirley's dad, but believe me, I will do better than him.

Have you forgotten that I have been the one with Shirley since she was born?"

"Anthony, that's enough. Just stop." Sheryl did not feel any anger, sadness, or regret at this point. She calmly looked at Anthony and said, "I agreed to see you today because I thought we needed to be able to formally say goodbye. You know, get some closure. You're right though. You did take care of me and Shirley for three years. I have been grateful for your thoughtfulness to Shirley and me all this time." Looking into his eyes, she continued earnestly, "However, in the end, gratitude is not love. I tried, for three years, to make myself fall in love with you, but I failed. I never felt any kind of romantic connection to you. At least now I know the reason."

With a heavy sigh, she added, "It's going to be hard for us to even remain friends, so I think it would be best if we do not keep in touch."

Anthony was stunned and taken aback by what Sheryl had said. After a moment's silence, he forced a smile and asked, "So... tell me please... even though I've been with you for three years, I'm still not as good as Charles?"

"Anthony, you don't have to compare yourself with Charles. You two are totally different people." Sheryl grimaced at his words. She could not understand why, for the life of her, Anthony had to drag Charles into everything between them. "I'm sure you'll meet the right person for you. I'm just not it. I wish you well."

With that, Sheryl broke free from Anthony's grip. Still, Anthony was reluctant to give up, but Sheryl had had enough of this. When Anthony grabbed her hand again, Sheryl immediately pulled away from him.

She looked at him indifferently and questioned, "Anthony, there are several things that I didn't mention, but that doesn't mean that I don't know. One last thing... By the way, have you ever thought of Sue when you are wrapped up with me?"