The Apple of My Eye

"Really?"

"Clark, don't worry. Father will come here to pick us up soon. We just need to wait for him." Shirley looked at Clark with a big smile.

As she saw the two chatting by themselves, Sheryl stood awkwardly beside them. Her presence was long forgotten, which made her feel useless and unneeded.

Shirley and Clark had spent the whole day playing together. Although they're safe now, Sheryl still felt worried.

The next day

All the bodyguards, who protected her and her children, would leave. Before they left, the bodyguards approached Sheryl respectfully and said, "Mrs. Xia, the issue has been resolved. You're all safe now. We will escort you back home." They had already done their job remarkably well.

"All right. Thank you!" Sheryl sincerely thanked them and nodded her head politely.

At that time, her children woke up. Sheryl and her children packed up everything for the journey home.

On their way home, the two children chatted happily and didn't notice that they had arrived at their villa already. The whole ride only took them less than half an hour.

The bodyguards helped them unload their belongings and led them inside the villa before promptly leaving.

As soon as they had unpacked, the two children went out to play with their friends. Sheryl advised them not to stray too far from home and to return early.

All of a sudden, the doorbell rang.

After she heard the doorbell, Sheryl was baffled. She wasn't expecting anyone and didn't know who it might be.

Without trying to guess, she directly opened the door.

Before her stood a smiling Damian.

"Why are you here?" Sheryl smiled at Damian and let him come into the house.

Damian scrutinized and looked at Sheryl up and down with a grin. This made Sheryl both self-conscious and embarrassed at the same time.

"What's up? Why are you looking at me like that?" As she felt and touched her face, she wondered if there were some dirty smudges on her face. And perhaps that was the reason why Damian was staring at her.

"Where did you go without saying goodbye to me?" Damian didn't worry about Sheryl any further because she was already in front of him, safe and sound. His perturbed heart finally calmed down. However, he felt aggrieved. He was indignant that she didn't even bother telling him she'd be leaving or where she was going.

She took notice of his feelings showing on his face and felt embarrassed. Forcing a smile, she scratched her head and explained, "I had to leave urgently to deal with some problems that cropped up. I left in a hurry and didn't have time to say goodbye to you. I'm sorry."

"Did you know how much I was worried about you? I was searching for you all this time. I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you." Although he was seriously chiding her, his concern was clearly apparent as he lovingly gazed at her.

His affectionate gaze was obvious, but she still mistook it. They had only been acquainted for a few days, how come he was directing this much attention at her? It was dubious he'd been that worried for her. "I'm truly sorry. I left in a rush," Sheryl replied as she invited Damian to come inside her house.

"All is well. I at least know that you're safe now. I need to go, see you later." It seemed that Damian was elated to see her returned. He had thought he wouldn't see her again. He turned on his heels and left after he confirmed her safety.

When Sheryl saw his back, his silhouette reminded her of Charles.

They looked similar. Both of them always didn't say what was on their minds straightforwardly. Still, their characters and personality differed. They were similar, yet so different.

Damian didn't dare to say what he felt, while Charles wasn't really talkative. So Sheryl had to guess what they wanted to say.

As she pondered the differences between the two, a gentle smile appeared on her face.

At Australia's airport

Charles took a deep breath and happily declared, "Sher, I'm coming! Wait for me!"

Almost half a day later, they had finally arrived. Charles brimmed with excitement. David also felt relieved as he saw his boss' smile.

"Mr. Lu, where will you head first, the branch or Sheryl's home?" David saw the car had arrived, but Charles stood still. Therefore, he had no choice but to ask him.

"I'd like to find Sher now." Once he replied, Charles immediately got into the car.

Just like how an old saying went, "People are in high spirits when involved in happy events." David finally knew why Charles was delighted today.

At Sheryl's villa

Right after she finished making dinner, the doorbell once again rang. She thought it would be Damian again, so she let the children eat their food first while she answered the door.

She had expected to see Damian, but she never anticipated that it would be Charles instead. She had thought of different scenarios when she'd finally be able to see Charles; however, she never expected to see him in this way.

Charles grinned from ear to ear as he tenderly gazed at Sheryl. He had long waited to see her again.

Tears were forming at the corners of her eyes as Sheryl had felt dejected and almost cried out.

He was excited to see her. He couldn't wait to be with her. They faced each other through the glass door and felt a sense of the surreal. No one moved nor said anything.

A few minutes later, Clark came out from the dining room, wanting to find his mother. He was shocked to see Charles outside the house through the window.

"Dad..." Clark shrieked. Everyone looked for the source of the voice and found him staring at the two.

The tears that were threatening to fall were wiped away immediately. Meanwhile, Charles gently smiled at Clark. At that time, Shirley also came out of the dining room when she heard Clark.

"Dad..."

Even though Sheryl didn't open the door, Clark helped Charles to open it.

After Charles came into the room, he kissed his two children first, and then he gave a big hug to Sheryl. He was afraid that she would move away without saying anything.

"Let me go!" Though Sheryl was very happy in her heart, she still glared at Charles with an angry expression.

She hadn't forgiven him for what he had done.

"I'm so sorry, Sher. Blame me. I was afraid that they would hurt you. I had to do that. I couldn't think of another way. I'm sorry I had to put you through all of that," Charles explained in a hurry. He was scared that Sheryl would misunderstand him.

Sheryl felt wronged and depressed. She shook off Charles' hands and asked, "What are you doing here?"

"I came to look for my wife and kids. There's nothing wrong with that." Charles told David to play with the kids and David took them upstairs so Charles could talk with his wife.

"Let's go and play together upstairs while your mom and dad finish talking." Even though David was a man, children felt comfortable with him and liked to play with him. Perhaps it was because he could be so childish when he played with them.

"All right!" Clark agreed to David and went upstairs with his sister.

After the trio left, Charles moved forward to hug Sheryl because he just yearned to see her very much. Yet, all he embraced was empty air as Sheryl dodged to the side.

"What do you want to do?"

"Sher, I missed you so much."

Unlike his usual expression, Charles affectionately looked at her. She knew all of it wasn't fake. His feelings for her were all true. His eyes only had her in them. But, she still pretended to be calm as she announced, "We have divorced." Sheryl couldn't help feeling sad as long as she thought of their divorce.

"Didn't you have any doubts about it when it happened? These days, the rate of partners divorcing is so high. But, that day, there were only the two of us." Charles' eyes connected with hers as he mischievously smiled at her.

Sheryl thought about the whole thing for a while. She scrutinized his demeanor as she tried to confirm her conjecture before she finally believed that they truly didn't get divorced. "You arranged for it?"

"I will never be willing to divorce you!" said Charles in a spoiled manner.

Given his gentleness, Sheryl was not used to dealing with it at all. They had been apart from each other for too long.

In fact, Sheryl speculated as much. Still, she couldn't forgive him so easily. If he arranged it that way before, why did he have to get close to another woman? He was so kind to Leila before. Did that mean he only pretended to be close to her?

But still, every time she remembered the fact that Charles had hugged Leila, she would feel anguished.

"All right, come and have a dinner." Sheryl didn't know what to say anymore. She set it aside, not knowing what to do. For now, she called the children to come downstairs and have dinner together.