The Apple of My Eye -
Chapter 968 The Icing On The Cake
Staring fixedly at Sheryl, the woman continued, "Besides, I've already made a compromise. So I suggest you think carefully and make the right decision."
"You..." Sheryl scrambled to say something. Flustered, she kept thinking, 'I swear to God, I'm about to bite her head off right now.' She couldn't take it any longer and decidedly stated, "You know what? I am done reasoning with you." She turned to Charles and urged him, "Honey, stay out of this, please. I am going to call the police."
The next second, her phone was in her hands. As she was about to dial the number, Charles grabbed her by the arm and pleaded, "Sweetie, it's not a big deal. If she wants $20, 000, let's just give it to her and get it over with."
"You don't get it," Sheryl cried out in anger, shaking her head. She stared at Charles for a few seconds before slowly letting out her frustrations through her clenched jaw.
"She is blackmailing us! I can't allow this. There's no way we'll give her that money!"
Charles was not giving in either but he did not want to make a scene. As a wise businessman, he always had the upper hand. He already had a plan on how to deal with them. He would not allow this woman to take advantage of Sheryl like that. Holding Sheryl's hands, Charles convinced her to pay the amount the woman had asked for. "Trust me," he added, "this is not over yet."
Sheryl's frazzled look concerned him. Charles wanted to end that situation at any cost and get her to rest as soon as possible.
"$20, 000 right?" he reiterated, calm as a cucumber. It was the calm before the storm. He looked at the woman with contempt awaiting her reply.
"Yes," the woman replied instantly. She had witnessed the scene between them and couldn't keep herself from commenting, "Your... girlfriend is young and unreasonable. I'm glad you are a rational man and can see that this a win-win situation. Things will get really messy if the insurance company gets involved..."
Charles turned his back to her before she completed her train of thought. He headed straight to his car, took out the twenty thousand dollars and made his way back to her. When the woman saw the cash, her face lit up. It was enough to get that woman to stop talking. Charles handed her the money and demanded sternly, "Go ahead and check it."
"Oh, there is no need," the woman stated as she took the cash hastily. "I trust that it's all there." Blinded by her excitement, she did not notice Charles' meaningful expression. All the woman could think of was how well she had pulled off her blackmail. 'Today is such a good day! This rich man fell right into my trap and, because of his weak girlfriend, he offered me all this money on a silver plate.'
Dumbfounded, Sheryl mumbled, "Charles..."
She could not believe her eyes. Irritated, she pulled him closer by his sleeve and inquired, "Why did you give it to her? We can..."
"It's okay," Charles interrupted her with a tender tone. "It wasn't that much money," he added.
"I think so too," the woman agreed reassuringly. "I'm glad there are no hard feelings here. By the way, this man treats you really well... make sure you hold onto him..." she told Sheryl with an insinuating wink. It seemed that in her eyes, Sheryl was a mistress who had hit the jackpot.
Upon hearing this, Sheryl sharpened her scowl.
Before she could say anything back, Charles opened his mouth, "Is he... your husband?" Charles pointed at the man on the side.
"Yes, he is," the woman nodded gleefully. "And since we are on good terms now, I will actually share our good news with you. My husband has just accepted the general manager position for Shining Company," she said proudly.
Sheryl froze when she heard the woman mention Shining Company.
"Is that so?" Charles remarked. "Congratulations," he added on an unenthusiastic tone. He then proceeded to grab Sheryl's hand and urged her, "Let's go, honey. We're done here."
An "Uhmmm" was all that Sheryl managed to let out. She was expecting Charles to blow up in the man's face. To her surprise, he remained calm and composed. Trying to overcome the shock, she followed him to the car. As she was about to blurt out her questions, Charles took out his phone and called David up.
"Hello, Mr. Lu. What can I do for you?" David asked concernedly. Charles' call came just as he and Alice lay down and were about to sleep.
Charles was staring outside his car window when he saw the tall man get angry and start yelling at the woman. With a satisfied smile, he told David, "I remember that you interviewed Marcus Song. He is coming to work tomorrow, isn't he?"
"Oh, yes, he is," David replied. In an effort to set Charles' mind at rest, he continued, "We offered him a high salary so he already resigned from his former company. As far as I'm concerned, he is well qualified for the position; he seems reliable and honest. Is there anything wrong?"
"Call him right now and tell him he is fired," Charles asserted immediately. This was the ace he had been keeping up his sleeve.
Most of all, it was about doing Sheryl justice. He had sworn to himself that he would never allow others to bully her again.
"Pardon me?" David responded, perplexed. It was all so unexpected, so David wanted to understand. He began, "Mr. Lu, are you sure about this? You've made the decision to hire him yourself. Why is it that...' "It turns out to be an oversight on my part," Charles interrupted him. "New information has transpired and I want to fix this before it is too late. Am I making myself clear, David?"
The unfortunate part was that the man had done nothing wrong himself. It was all his wife's fault. He may have been an excellent employee but because of his wife's ability to influence him to such a large extent, Charles decided to let him go.
"I remember you mentioning another good candidate during the interview. Please call him up and let him know he is hired," Charles concluded. He had made up his mind.
Still confused, David resigned himself to Charles' decision, "Okay, Mr. Lu. I am calling him right now."
Charles then hung up the phone without another word. Sheryl looked at him and asked, "Charles, why did you..."
"Shh!" Charles interrupted her, raising his hand. With a devious smile, he looked back out of the window and told her, "The show is about to start."
Sheryl followed his gaze and saw the couple arguing even louder. The fight got interrupted by David's call. She grabbed his hand nervously. Once the man hung up the phone, his face turned red with anger. He pulled his hand out of hers immediately and pushed the woman away spewing out even more words of wrath. Terrified, the woman reached out to grab his hand again, trying to calm him down. That was when he swatted her with a thud, like a mosquito, and stormed toward his car. She tumbled to the ground and remained there shivering.
As the whole scene ended, David started his car and drove away.
He took another glance at the distressed woman and was certain he had made the right choice.
On their way home, Sheryl remained silent and thoughtful. As they arrived at Dream Garden, she entered the house and went straight to their bedroom. Charles followed her inside and closed the door. He rested his hand over hers and asked, "What's up? Are you mad at me?"
"I don't get you." Sheryl frowned as she shook off his hand. "That man didn't do anything to me. In fact, he stood up for me. I don't think... that he deserves this," she complained.
"Sher..." Charles began elaborating, as he cupped her cheeks. "Yes, my main focus has been fixing the injustice done toward you, but I also have other concerns," he confessed. Curious, Sheryl asked, "What do you mean?"
He gave her a tender smile and explained, "Marcus Song seems smart and experienced, but he lacks a backbone. He can be easily influenced by his wife's sudden whims. In the position he's been hired for, there's no room for mistakes. He will need to deal with big stakeholders and think tanks. What if his wife talks him into receiving bribes or the like? That's not a risk I can take. You know what I mean?"
If you replace any errors (non-standard content, ads redirect, broken links, etc..), Please let us know so we can fix it as soon as possible.
Report