The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 891 A Crisis

Anthony smiled profoundly and started confessing wholeheartedly, "Therefore, Sue, my love for you is pure and sincere, and I have made up my mind to be with you. I know I have made a lot of mistakes and have treated you wrong and I want to apologize for all of these that hurt you. I want to know if you are still willing to love me as you did like before?"

"I..." Sue paused as her voice trailed off. She smiled bitterly. If Anthony had said these to her before, her heart would be overjoyed. She would be blissfully happy.

But she could not bring herself to give him a response. She couldn't think clearly. Millions of thoughts were running in her head, clouding her mind.

She focused her gaze at Anthony and shook her head. "I don't know.

I can't think straight right now. I am kind of confused. Give me some time." Sue felt a throbbing headache as she tried hard to contemplate about it.

"Hey, no problem. It is alright. Take your time," Anthony reassured her, without a hint of disappointment even though he was turned down. He didn't want to push her. Instead, he soothed and comforted her, "I can wait no matter how long you need to."

"I want to go home." Sue bolted from her seat, came to her feet and then hurriedly walked outside. She couldn't wait to leave the place. She felt like she would have a nervous breakdown if she stayed any longer. The pressure was tearing her apart.

"I will drive you home," Anthony offered, almost jumping to his feet.

Realizing that he was also with his mother, he glanced at her who was sitting next to him. Laura threw him a knowing look. She understood what his son was worried about, so she suggested, "Go ahead. You send her back first. I need to walk around and buy something. You can pick me up later."

"Thanks, mom. I'll be back." Anthony ran after Sue. He broke in a cold sweat at the sight of the scene playing over by the door. Sue stumbled and nearly got her foot twisted. He dashed to Sue as if his life depended on it and held her, "Watch out! Are you all right? Do you need to go to the hospital?"

"I'm fine." Sue shook her head. She was deeply touched by Anthony's kind gesture; his frightened expression, the concerned look and, the caring eyes when he ran towards her. This was the first time someone genuinely cared about her.

"Really? Are you sure?" Anthony probed, still worried about her. Finally, he was only assured of when Sue repeatedly confirmed that she was all right. He wanted her to stay longer but with her insistent demand, he could only send her to Zhao family house. "If there is anything you need or any food you want to eat, just call me. I'm on call 24/7. And one more thing, remember to follow the recommended schedule for regular pregnancy check-ups. I will accompany you to the hospital," Anthony reminded her when they arrived at the villa.

"Okay." Sue nodded agreeably. When she was about to open the door, Anthony called her in a voice soft with affection, "Sue..."

"What?" Sue instinctively turned around to face him.

"What do you think of this? How about you move in to live with me. You can't stay here forever, right?" Anthony inquired with a serious frown masking his face. His voice sounded slightly pleading but in a courteous manner.

Sue hesitated and smiled faintly. After a moment's reflection, she replied, "Let's talk about it later or some other time."

Sue patiently stood in front of the gate and waited until Anthony's car was out of her sight. When she came in, she only then realized that Sheryl was also there.

Sheryl ran to her and took her hands as soon as she appeared at the front gate. Then she giddily started recounting to her the things happened in Cloud Advertising Company. She noted that Sheryl's face beamed with excitement. It was so infectious that she couldn't help being influenced by Sheryl's vibrant and bubbly mood.

But being a sensitive person, Sheryl soon noticed the depression disguised by her smile. She studied Sue carefully and prompted gently not wanting to sound pushy, "What happened, Sue? How are you feeling today? Are you sick?"

"Oh, I'm fine. I'm just a little distracted." Sue tried to cheer herself up and she grinned at Sheryl. "Don't worry about me. I'll be better tomorrow."

"Don't lie to me. I can tell that by simply looking at you. You are absolutely not fine. Come on, what happened?" With Sheryl's insistence, Sue reluctantly told her everything that transpired earlier that day. If truth be told, she didn't know what to do herself. She was totally confused and helpless so she was not expecting an answer from Sheryl. She just wanted to share her worries with someone, to get these things off her chest, to ease herself so she could finally feel better.

"How do you think of him now?" After Sheryl patiently listened to Sue's whole story, she asked Sue.

"I honestly don't know." Sue shook her head while shrugging her shoulders. "There are a lot of things in my mind now. I don't know whether I should trust him or not," Sue confessed frankly. "Do you think Anthony would lie to you?" Sheryl interjected and continued to conclude.

"That is something very unlikely for him to do so." Sue shook her head again. She sighed with a self-mocking laugh, "What else does he want from me that deserves that much effort from him?"

"Then this is the easiest decision to make!" Sheryl chimed in as she smiled excitedly at Sue. "In my opinion, you should give Anthony a chance to prove himself. Then you can decide whether to accept him or not based on the way he shows his effort in pursuing you. So, what do you think? How does it sound to you?"

"But..." Sue was still unwilling. She had other concerns that were holding her back and made her feel restless. Staring hard at Sheryl's sincere face, she found the courage, at last, to voice out the dreadful question, "Sher, you don't mind at all?"

"Mind? Mind what?" Sheryl asked in astonishment, totally unaware why she was involved.

"You don't mind me being together with Anthony?" Sue lowered her head as she breathed her words. She didn't want to face her friend in this awkward moment. "One is your friend, and the other is your ex- boyfriend. Do you really feel comfortable if we become lovers?"

"Of course I don't mind!" Sheryl exclaimed when what she heard registered in her and she finally understood Sue's hesitation. She hugged Sue tightly. "I am hoping that both of you can be happy ever after because you are important to me and he was once a person closest to me!"

Sheryl tried her best in earnest to put away the anxiety that was bothering Sue. "Look at me now. I have a perfect lover, a son, and a daughter who all make me so happy. Why should I bother to mind your relationship with Anthony?"

Sue felt relief washing over her after Sheryl gave her sensible reasons. What she said indeed made sense.

Sheryl felt better after noticing Sue's change of attitude. "Sue, the first thing that you should do now is to listen to your heart. Ask yourself whether you still love him or not! Then next, ask yourself whether you still want to be with him or not. No one and nothing else should interfere with your decision -- not me, not your baby, or even your unreasonable mother. Follow your heart and just do whatever you think and feel is right!"

After they chatted for a while, they bid each other good night. Calling it a day, they went to bed. Sue couldn't fall asleep. Their conversation was repeatedly replaying on her mind as she inwardly groaned to herself, 'If only the things between me and Anthony were really that so simple and no other things should matter!'

She could not even believe it.

She was musing and pondering until she felt dull and dizzy. She didn't even know when she fell asleep. The next morning, a sudden ringing of her phone woke her up. Sue groggily accepted the call. But she was fully awake in the next moment she got the news.

The man on the line was a policeman of Y City. He uttered coldly, "Is this Sue Wang? This is Y City Police Station. A murder happened in Sunshine Apartment last night. The victim is a female, pregnant for six months. Our initial investigations revealed that the suspect is Allen Wang. We need your cooperation in the ongoing investigation."

Bang! Sue was utterly shocked by the message and her hand shook uncontrollably. Her phone slipped off and fell down from her hand with a loud thud. But she could still hear the voice of the police coming from the phone, "Hello! Miss Wang? Are you still there?"

"I... Yes, I am." Sue managed to croak her voice which sounded broken. She tried her best to remain calm and curtly replied to the man on the other line, "Thanks. I'll go there right now."

Sue absentmindedly got herself dressed up. She was in such a hurry that she neglected to make herself presentable.

Sheryl was putting the breakfast on the table when she rushed downstairs. Sheryl greeted her, "Morning Sue. The breakfast is ready. I'm just thinking about waking you up!"

"I won't have it!" Sue cut in hurriedly. Her face was deadly pale. She then begged Sheryl, "Sher, could you... could you send me to the Y City Police Station?"

She was pregnant. She must be responsible for taking care of the baby. She wanted Sheryl to accompany her. She was afraid that something unfortunate would happen that would hurt her baby. She needed someone who would send her to the hospital just in case.

"What's wrong?" Sheryl was able to note Sue's desperate expression. She put down the plate and rushed to hold Sue, asking, "What happened? Tell me!"

"Doris... She was..." Sue sobbed, unable to speak coherently. She felt like her brain would explode. She tried several times to finish her sentence, "She was dead!"

"What?" Sheryl was so shocked that she gasped for breath. Everything was fine with Doris several days ago. Why was she dead all of a sudden?

"How? What happened? Tell me everything!" Sheryl asked anxiously.