The Apple of My Eye

At the suburban villa, Vicky had a complacent smile on her face as she gazed at her phone screen after the call got disconnected.

She raised her hand to look at the watch. The hands of the watch were pointing towards the time she wanted it to.

She knew Charles very well. Now that he had promised to come here, he would come, no matter what.

It would take her an hour to complete the task. Her goal would be accomplished.

Vicky rose from the bed and hastened to enter the bathroom. She took a small wooden box out from the bottom of the cabinet. She gently opened the wooden box and took out a long and thin object like a sandalwood incense stick. She looked at it with a menacing smile on her face.

It was a wonderful thing. Vicky looked at it as if she was holding a magic wand in her hand. In less than a minute of taking it out, the entire bathroom was pervaded by a spate of faint fragrance, which smelled very good.

Vicky took a deep breath and swayed her head back as if to relax her body. Then, suddenly, she came back with a jerk as if she had suddenly been induced with a splurge of some vigorous vitality in her body. Her eyes looked mysterious as if she was in a trance.

Walking to the window, Vicky placed the incense in a white and slender porcelain bottle. After placing the stick, she took a step back and took a look at it. She eyed the orange incense kept in the bottle and felt it did not look very complimentary being isolated right in front of the window pane.

Vicky looked around at the other objects lying around, and her eyes fell on a vase of lilies. She immediately took a few pieces of lilies from that vase and put them next to the incense in the porcelain bottle. After that, she looked at the arrangement once again and gave an approving smile.

The stage was all set. Now, it was time to wait for Charles to arrive. Vicky looked at the bottle of water kept on the table with a sneer.

In less than an hour, Charles' car arrived outside the villa.

Hearing the sound of the car, Stella rushed to the gate to receive Charles. Seeing Charles get out of the car, she winked at him and pointed upstairs.

"Mr. Lu, how come you are here?"

Charles didn't answer her question and asked, "Where is Miss Ruan?"

"Miss Ruan is upstairs. She has been there throughout the day. She is in a foul mood. And she didn't eat or drink." Stella then lowered her voice and confided in Charles, "She has been furious since morning. She even threw and smashed things in the bedroom."

"Thank you for putting up with all this, Stella," Charles said and started climbing the stairs.

Charles knocked on the door of Vicky's bedroom. He waited for a few seconds, but there was no response coming from the bedroom.

"Vicky!" Charles said loudly.

But there was still no response from her.

Charles frowned as he gazed at the closed door of the bedroom. Vicky had called him to come here, but when he arrived, she had not even shown up. What was she up to?

His patience was running out. After a couple of attempts, he did not want to knock again. He said coldly, "I'll leave if you don't open the door."

As soon as Charles said that the door was opened. Vicky stood there, leaning on the door, looking at him with love in her eyes.

Charles felt disgusted at her gaze. He gave her dirt and said, "What do you want?" He tried to remain calm and patient. Vicky's face changed as she saw Charles' reaction. She looked dejected as she lowered her head.

"Vicky, I don't have much patience. If you still don't tell me, I'm really leaving," Charles said.

"Charles!" Vicky raised her head suddenly and took a quick look at him. Then she lowered her head again with a blush. She spoke in a soft voice, "I, I don't know how to tell you. I feel, I just can't live without you."

"Is that the reason why you pretended to be sick and coaxed me into coming here?" Charles asked with a sneer.

"No, Charles, trust me. I didn't lie to you!" Vicky quickly raised her head, feigning an earnest look, and explained to Charles, "I was genuinely not feeling well for the last few days. I've had nightmares for severa consecutive nights. I had a dream that you abandoned me. I was walking alone in the darkness of night, and many ghosts were approaching me..."

"Maybe that's because you have done many bad things in the past. And all these nightmares are coming from your guilty conscience." Charles sneered as he spoke.

Vicky seemed not to have heard Charles' words. She continued speaking about her dreams.

"I kept walking on the dark road, which seemed to be never-ending. I thought I'd rather die than live like this. Then I found myself on the top of a tall building. I jumped off the building to end my life, and... and right then, I saw you! Charles, you saved my life. And the moment I saw your face in the darkness, I felt as if I got a new lease of life. That is when I realized that I can't live without you."

Seeing how frantic Vicky was, Charles felt increasingly jittery and repulsed. A sense of fear crept into his mind at the thought of being alone with such a weird woman. Charles' intuition warned him to leave the place immediately. But just as he was going to turn around and leave, a whiff of a very alluring and pleasant aroma came from the room. Charles frowned as he found it to be choking beyond a point of time. He couldn't help taking a deep breath.

Seeing that Charles was distracted by the smell, Vicky dragged him into her bedroom quickly.

"Let go of me!" Charles shook off her hands and furrowed his brows as he felt her touch to be repulsive.

Vicky didn't mind Charles' attitude. Instead, she looked at him in a meaningful way and said, "Charles, you also like me, right? Otherwise, you wouldn't have divorced your wife. You chose to be with me instead of your wife and children. You did that because you love me. Just admit it."

'No, of course not!'

Charles' heart rebelled at the claim made by Vicky. But he found it difficult to speak it out. Suddenly, he felt that his throat was also choking. He sensed something must be extremely wrong in that place. The fragrance! It was very strong...and his entire being felt like being pulled towards it. He couldn't help following Vicky's train of thought.

Something was very wrong in this place!

Charles shook his head, trying to concentrate. He felt as if his senses were failing him. He tried to get a grip on himself, but his alertness and his reasoning ability seemed to be fleeing out of his hands. All he could sense was the strong fragrance. His entire mind and body were getting increasingly engrossed in it. But as he kept inhaling the fragrance, he began to feel as if he was in a trance, and his entire body seemed to be floating on the clouds.

He dug his nails into his palm hard inside his pocket, which brought him back to his senses. He suddenly found that Vicky stood in front of him and looked a little weird.

'Was this her trick?'

Charles thought and took a quick glance around the room. The layout of this room was the same as before. But where did the scent come from?

His eyes fell on the blooming Lily by the window. 'Is the fragrance coming from the flowers?

But the fragrances of flowers is not supposed to be so strong, and lilies don't smell so good. Where is it coming from exactly?' Charles' mind was preoccupied with the smell and the question of where it came from.

After a while, Charles started to feel dizzy again. He closed his eyes tightly and opened them only to find his vision blurred. Vicky observed Charles for a while. When she noticed that he started to look blank and dreamy, she knew that the fragrance had kicked in.

As long as the fragrance spread out, no one could resist it even though he or she had powerful self-control. Vicky had taken the antidote beforehand. That was the reason the fragrance did not have any impact on her. Seeing that Charles had fallen in her trap, Vicky let out a sly smile.

She would wait quietly until the man was completely under her control. Then she would slowly torture him! "Charles, how are you feeling? Do you feel uncomfortable?" Vicky walked closer to Charles and asked with concern. "Oh, my God! My head is hurting!" Charles clasped his head from both sides and squatted down, looking anguished.

Then he covered his mouth with his right hand while still supporting his head with the other hand. He was rubbing something on his nostrils.

Vicky stood right in front of Charles and watched the spell of the fragrance working on him. When she was convinced that Charles was out of his senses, she approached him calmly and said, "Are you alright? Do you feel dizzy and uncomfortable? Do you want to go to sleep?" Vicky asked in a very soft and gentle voice.

Charles nodded his head obediently and said, "Yes, I feel so dizzy now. I just want to sleep so badly."

"Very good. Come on. Hold my hand. I'll take you to sleep." Vicky reached out her hand to Charles like a queen and looked down at him with a condescending smile.