The Apple of My Eye

Sheryl immediately noticed the terrified look on her daughter's face. She suddenly lowered her head and kissed her daughter's forehead in an attempt to comfort her. "Now, you be a good girl, and please rest well. Mommy's just going to talk to daddy, okay?"

"Then, could you stop yelling at daddy, please? He knows what he did was wrong. Please forgive him!" Shirley had always been such a well-behaved and nice little girl.

Sheryl couldn't help but be moved. She put on a smile for Shirley and said, "Of course, I'm not going to yell at your father. Now just get some rest, okay?"

Sheryl straightened up when she saw Shirley was about to fall asleep. She then said to Charles in a low voice, "Let's talk outside."

Charles could tell that Sheryl wasn't going to let him off easy. He knew what he'd done was wrong, and he wasn't sure if Sheryl was going to forgive him. He sighed as he followed Sheryl out of the room. When they'd left the ward, Sheryl still had her back turned to Charles.

Charles moved a bit closer to Sheryl. He waited a while before speaking, "Sher, please don't get mad at me. I already feel bad enough for what happened. I swear I won't let anything like this happen again." "You swear? I think I've already heard that before. I don't think I can find it in myself to still believe a promise from someone like you," Sheryl said, her tone icy.

Charles was taken aback by this. He immediately knew what she was talking about. She was talking about when Charles had broken his promise about handling Vicky.

"Sher, there are just things that I can't explain to you right now. Just please believe me and give me another chance. Please." Charles was just hoping that Sheryl would give him another chance, so he didn't mind that Sheryl was giving him the cold shoulder now.

"Charles, it's your actions that have led me to this point. I don't think I can believe anything you say from now on." Sheryl turned to face Charles this time, glaring at him, her face blank. She continued, "Why would I forgive you? Are you telling me that the whole thing with Vicky isn't real? I think you're forgetting the other things you've done. I just never say it out loud for our children's sake, but this isn't the first time that this has happened. Do you really think I'm just going to continue letting you walk all over me?"

Sheryl said, not holding back this time. She rarely exploded like this, but now that her daughter had been affected, she just couldn't let it go anymore.

The most important thing in the world to her was her kids. It used to be her entire family-including Charles, but after the divorce, she promised herself that she was going to protect the kids, and she was going to give them the best life she could.

However, Shirley was only in the hospital because Charles, her own father, had been careless. Sheryl couldn't stand seeing Shirley like this, and it was all Charles' fault.

So, no, she was not going to forgive the man who had brought this upon Shirley.

Never!

"Sher, seriously, what is it going to take for you to forgive me? Please try and understand that I did not have a choice regarding Vicky..."

"Since you had no choice, then just let it go. I do not want to be accused of being unreasonable. Just save it. Charles, I'm begging you. Please just stay away from us. You've only caused me more trouble. I don't ever want to see you again." These words left a huge gaping hole in Charles' heart. He felt like he was being stabbed repeatedly by a spear.

He grew discouraged, and sorrow filled his eyes while his hands trembled in anxiety. He'd been through so much already, and he felt as if Sheryl was repeatedly stomping on the broken pieces of his heart. Charles wanted to let Sheryl in on everything that he had kept from her. He opened his mouth, but no words came out.

He could not explain right now, but he knew that he couldn't tell Sheryl the truth just yet, especially at this critical moment. He knew it still wasn't the time, and he had no choice.

A couple of days ago, David found out that Vicky was most likely connected to Ferry, who was in prison now. And Rob, who had been in close contact with Vicky, turned out to have been one of Ferry's right- hand men before he was thrown into prison.

If he was right about this, then Vicky was most likely just playing him to get closer to him.

However, it would do absolutely no good to Sheryl and his two kids if he revealed this piece of information to her now. So the best thing that he could do was to keep Sheryl in the dark for the moment until it was handled.

So he had to live with it even if Sheryl had already misunderstood him. As he'd said, he didn't have a choice. The only thing that he could do was to make it up to Sher and the kids after everything had been settled.

Charles closed his eyes and when he opened them again, there was nothing but determination in them.

"Sher, you're absolutely right. I've made a mistake, and this is your decision, so I have to respect that. Please take good care of Shirley, and I will send someone to look after you. By the way, I also brought my driver. If you have any errands that you need to run, just leave it to him, and he will take care of it."

Sheryl felt a shiver run down her spine. This was the last thing she had expected from Charles.

She'd figured that Charles must have some reason why he couldn't be honest with her. She just wanted Charles to tell her the truth because this wasn't the Charles that she knew and loved.

This wasn't the reaction that Sheryl was expecting.

Charles was a total jerk!

"No need. Do not bother sending anyone!" Sheryl stared at him coldly and said, her voice low and clear, "Since we're not together anymore, I don't need anything from you anymore. Now just leave me alone, Charles."

With that, Sheryl turned to walk away from Charles. All of a sudden, she realized that Clark was still in Dream Garden, so she took her phone out from her pocket.

She was going to call Melissa and asked her to look after Clark for one more night. At this moment, she heard Charles say, "Sher, please understand that Shirley is also my daughter. Even though we're already divorced, she's still my daughter, and nothing is going to change that! Please let me do something to help. If I don't do anything, I won't be able to live with myself."

Sheryl found him to be insincere. Really? He couldn't live with himself? Wasn't he the one who's always putting work first above everything? "I don't care!

Just leave!" Sheryl refused to speak to Charles after that. She just proceeded to call Melissa.

In the Dream Garden, Melissa had been anxiously waiting for any update from anyone. She was so worried as she hadn't heard anything from either Charles or Sheryl. She thought of calling them, but she didn't want to be a bother.

At this moment, she got the call from Sheryl, which she was happy to receive. Concerned, she asked, "How's Shirley?"

"Relax. She's already awake but still a little bit weak. So I need to stay at the hospital to take care of her. Could you please tell Clark that he will have to stay at the Dream Garden for a while? Joan went home as she had to attend to a personal emergency."

"Of course. Anything for you. Sher, is Charles still there? Do you want to come home here to rest for a while? He can stay at the hospital for the night and watch over Shirley." Melissa figured Sheryl must be tired since she had herself just gotten out of the hospital.

Sheryl couldn't help but be touched as she detected the sincerity in Melissa's voice. However, she wasn't comfortable leaving Shirley under Charles' care after he'd proven that he was unreliable. She'd rather watch over Shirley herself.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me. Just take care of Clark for me. If there's nothing else, I need to go as I need to take care of Shirley."

"Please hold on for a second." Melissa grew worried upon hearing that Sheryl was insisting on staying at the hospital. She said, "Sher, I'm worried. You can't stay at the hospital by yourself. Why don't you ask Charles to stay with you, so he can help you?"

"I......" Sheryl really wanted to come up with an excuse for Melissa when suddenly she heard Clark's voice, "Mommy, just let daddy stay with you. I don't want you to get sick. You're just recovering, and I'm very worried about you."

She began to tear up as she was deeply touched when she heard the soft yet caring voice of her son, Clark.

"Mommy, please promise me that you will let my daddy take care of my sister. If you do, I will behave myself and rest well tonight. Is that okay, Mommy?" Clark's voice once again came through the phone. Sheryl couldn't help but be further moved.

Sheryl decided to be vague in her response. She said, "Clark, just do as your grandma says and be a good boy, okay? I'll talk to you later."