The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 803 Meet Anthony Again

Sheryl decided to hold her words after eyeing Charles wearing a sulky expression on his face. She knew she would have to wait. When she noticed that his countenance was a little calmer, she then continued, "Initially, I planned to stay in the hotel for several days. As soon as I replace a good place to settle, then I will move out. But unfortunately, Grandpa disagreed. So I was left with no choice but to move to the Zhao family house for a while."

"But Sher..." Charles quickly cut in. He let out a deep sigh as he carefully studied her. He looked impatient, as a small frown could be easily seen appearing on his forehead. But his voice sounded warm and worrying at the same time when he questioned her, "Dream Garden is also your home. Why didn't you call me after such a thing happened?"

Sheryl could only respond by staring openly at him. And she started to feel that his intense gaze burned with conflicting emotions. Though she was mentally groping for words in her head, she still couldn't replace her voice to say something.

The truth was, she had no idea why she did it. Maybe she didn't want Charles to get involved and be over worried about her. Besides, she was the one who provoked Anthony.

"Alright." She conceded after a brief moment. She held his gaze and begged, "Charles, I do understand your feelings. But I would appreciate it should you consider mine as well. Until now... I'm still not able to visualize what is going to happen in our future; and what will lay ahead of us. So please, give me some time and personal space to think it through."

After Charles heard what she said, a sudden pang of sadness engulfed him and made him silent. Lowering his gaze briefly to conceal his disappointment, he began to start mulling over something. Then in a low mutter, he complained, "You have been saying this for countless times. But Sheryl, I really don't know how long I need to wait for that day to come."

"Soon. I'm almost there." Sheryl leaned forward while eyeing him and gave him a flat response.

No sooner had she finished her sentence, than the waiter came over to serve their orders. Sheryl feasted her eyes on the spread of food on their table. Then she helped herself to the delectable dish near her, gave it a bite and savored its taste. A small smile crept on her lips and she commented, "Well, the taste is exactly the same as it was three years ago."

"I'm so glad to hear that. You can eat as much as you want," Charles quickly replied as he smiled at her appreciatively. To his heart's content, Charles helped Sheryl in refilling her plate while she ate silently. Since Sheryl was too engrossed in nibbling at her food, she didn't notice Charles' kind gesture at all. And whether or not she undeniably enjoyed the food or the place, she didn't care in the slightest anymore. Charles appeared to be happier seeing Sheryl's hearty appetite back. It was quite a satisfying feast for him that finally, Sheryl could eat a lot.

After their sumptuous meal ended, they readied themselves to head back to the company. While on their way out, Sheryl forced a small smile and mentioned about Shirley. "Charles, Shirley asked me last night if you were her father, and I told her the truth."

"Excuse me?" exclaimed Charles when he heard the matter-of-fact tone of voice used by Sheryl. His heart was skipping a bit. And he halted his steps. Charles whirled around to glance at Sheryl. He was getting a little bit nervous as he confirmed that he heard it right. Zoning out, he remained motionless. He then took a moment to gather himself and asked her, "You... Do you really mean what you said?" When Charles learned that Shirley was his daughter, he always found himself contemplating. And the mere thought of 'how to make Shirley accept his presence' incessantly haunted him. And now, a sigh of relief escaped his mouth; there seemed nothing to be worried about as Shirley had known about it all. But strangely, why was he still so nervous?

"Of course I do. I mean it." Sheryl slightly nodded her head to reaffirm him about it.

Since the restaurant was within walking distance near the company, Sheryl had previously expressed that she preferred to take a walk after the meal. That was why they were trailing their way back on foot. As they were walking, she found Charles quite amusing with the way he was acting. She realized that they had known each other for years, but this was the first time she saw him in his unguarded moments, revealing her his predicament.

"Hey, what's going on in your mind? Are you all right? Why do you suddenly blank out?" Sheryl made a series of questions to snap him out of his musings. Charles was startled, but he did not show any sign of a desire to move at that precise moment. So in the interests of time, Sheryl intended to give him a fun prompt. "Let's move faster, shall we? Otherwise, I'm afraid I will be late for the rehearsal this afternoon." "Err... Wait," Charles stammered. Panic-stricken, he immediately held on to Sheryl's hand and asked, "Hmm, tell me, how did Shirley respond? I just want to know whether... whether she likes me or not? Or was it that she found it hard to accept me as her father? So what was her attitude towards me in the end? What did she say? Quick, tell me! I want to hear the truth. I'm just wondering."

By the end of his words, Sheryl was completely amused by this man standing in front of her. She tried suppressing herself hard but she let out a giggle. Then she could not help bursting out laughing as she couldn't contain it any longer. This scenario really intrigued her, to the extent that she utterly could not stop laughing at him.

While Sheryl was laughing hard at him, Charles, who was looking helpless, became even more nervous. He was puzzled by her laughter. He then tried to guide her back to the focus of their conversation. "Can you not laugh like that? Can you just quit laughing? You haven't answered my question yet. How was her attitude? I just want to figure it out, okay?"

"Oh, are you so much bothered by what she thought about you?" Sheryl retorted back. Sheryl was obviously having fun teasing him. She had never had a good laugh like this. So instead of giving him the answer he longed to hear, she answered him back with a question.

"Of course I do. I do care about how I am in her opinion," Charles explained almost pleadingly. He was oblivious of the deliberate playful act of Sheryl. Charles nodded giving Sheryl a positive confirmation. Then he said, "After all, she is my daughter. She is also an extremely important girl in my life, just like you."

At this point, Charles was already hell-bent in trying his best to urge Sheryl for the answer. "Just tell me her real response. I have been waiting for so long now. And we have wasted much time already. You still have your rehearsal."

Sheryl found the whole scene hilariously comical. She couldn't bear seeing him on the verge of breaking his calm demeanor and composure. He was looking impatient and at the same time feeling dejected. Sheryl shook with laughter until she gasped for air. She then steeled herself to quit chuckling at his antics. Glancing at Charles, she squeaked, "Oh my! Just give me a minute! I need to catch my breath. I could have died laughing and my tummy hurts."

"Alright..." Charles said as he dubiously stared at her flushed face. Charles lifted his hand motioning her to go on and calm herself down. He let out a deep sigh. His face showed both patience and indulgence. Inside his heart, he thought, 'What could I do about it? Nothing at all. I have no choice but to wait, wait, and wait some more.' He was mentally preparing himself when finally she was more than ready to resume the conversation. However, he felt that he was already at his limit, so he urged her, "Oh my goodness, have you had enough fun of this? Couldn't you just let me know what happened? Tell me how she reacted."

"Huh, easy, man, take it easy. You know, Shirley is a quite understanding girl at her age." Sheryl finally conceded and decided to satisfy his curiosity. She said, "Okay, let's get back to your burning question. Kidding aside, I did ask her how she thought about it last night right after I shared her the whole story. It might sound surprising but she did not show any sign of rejection against you. And she seemed to be quite glad about the fact that Charlie is her brother. Well, I guess you are accepted by her mainly because of this. Ha! Ha! Ha! So, you are supposed to thank Charlie for he has left a good impression in Shirley's mind."

"That's indeed a piece of good news. It sounds great. So glad to hear that! And of course, I will surely consider Charlie's help." Charles felt a surge of overwhelming happiness engulfed him when he heard that Shirley didn't reject him at all. And like a fool, he couldn't stop grinning from ear to ear.

But Charles did not stop there. He enthusiastically began concocting plans to win her daughter's heart and to heal the gap between them. Then he suggested, "Sher, why not we bring Shirley out for dinner tonight? I just realized that we -- four of us -- have not had a meal before as a family."

"Well, tonight is not good timing as we won't be available," Sheryl replied amiably. Lifting her eyes at Charles, she explained, "I promised Amy that I would have dinner with her this evening. Then why don't we plan this way? The conference of Shining Company will be launched the day after tomorrow. Since both of us will be there anyway, we can bring them along. After that, our four family members can officially have a meal together. What do you think? Is it a good idea?"

"Alright, alright. Sure, I agree with that," Charles happily chimed in. The phrase "our four family members" sounded very pleasing to his ears; for these sweet words were said by his dearest Sheryl.

It was already very late when the rehearsal in the company wrapped up. Sheryl grabbed all her things and quickly made her way out to get home. She was longing to have a quick shower as her entire body was full of sweat. She could no longer stand the uncomfortable feeling in her own body.

As soon as she came out of the company, she caught a glimpse of the silhouette of a man standing right at the main entrance. He looked vaguely familiar from afar. She felt hopeless when it turned out to be Anthony, the last person that she would want to see in this lifetime.

She purposely moved to live in another place to stay away from this man. But why did she have to see his face again?

"Sher!" Anthony shouted. Sheryl wanted to hide herself the moment she saw Anthony, but it was too late. Anthony hastily rushed towards her after recognizing her presence.

Having no choice but to talk to him, she impatiently turned her head to face him and coldly asked, "Anthony, why are you here? Didn't I make everything crystal clear to you? What brings you here? What on earth have I done wrong? Did I make you suffer that much? That you have to treat me in this way?" Her voice was filled with miseries and pain.

He was deeply hurt by Sheryl's indifference. She was no longer the same Sheryl he used to know. He watched her silently as he tried to gauge her expression.

He knew she was annoyed and angry at him, but he was left with no other choice. He had to do it for his parents -- for Carlson and Laura.

Feeling somewhat embarrassed he promptly said, "Sher, I know that you may not want to see me right now. But... I have come for you. I... I really have to get your help on something."

"Help?" Sheryl scoffed. Then she raised her eyes to look at Anthony with growing impatience and asked, "Anthony, have I not made myself clear enough? Listen, I want you to get out of my way. You will have your own life as I will have my own. And I also want you to remember that we don't owe each other a single thing. Your family must stay away from my daughter and me. Such a simple wish, isn't it? Is that too hard for your family to grant? Is that too much to ask?".

Sheryl stood her ground as she glared at Anthony. And in total exasperation, she sarcastically said, "You consider yourself a man of power, don't you? And I thought you could handle everything? What is it that you cannot fix which you think I can?"