The Apple of My Eye

At dinner, Charles deliberately asked the kids to go back home with him, assuming that this might stir Sheryl into a conversation. Upon hearing that, the kids jumped with excitement because they wanted to spend quality time with their beloved parents, but Sheryl had not even uttered a word yet. Charles could no longer bear her silence, and this made him feel extremely uncertain.

"Daddy, you have no idea, we all missed you so much lately..." Shirley glanced at Charles with her deep hazel eyes, clearly reflecting the immense grief she had gone through during the past few days. Charles stared at her and then glanced at Sheryl, observing that she paused for a while. He dispensed a forced smile through the corner of his lips and subtly touched Shirley's little face. "Shirley, I am so sorry, my princess. It's Daddy's fault! I won't do that ever again."

"It's okay, Daddy! But, you must keep your promise now," Clark responded. Clark acted like an adult and gazed at his father persistently as if he was lost in his thoughts, contemplating over something important.

"Okay, take my word kids, I will keep my promise," Charles replied with firm assurance. Charles noticed Clark staring at him steadily and glanced back at him with affection.

While Charles was chatting with the kids, Sheryl wasn't even the least bit bothered to say anything to them. It appeared as if she didn't care about a thing going on around her.

Soon after dinner, Sheryl and the kids played together for a little while, cherishing their fellowship once again after a long haul.

Sheryl then cradled the children and rocked them to sleep. The kids eventually fell asleep right after the clock struck nine.

Charles was involved in work in the living room later that night. He knew that he hadn't solved some little problems yet because he had left anxiously. Charles grabbed the phone from the table hastily and dialed a number.

Sheryl snuck out of the children's room, trying not to make a noise, as it might disturb their good night's sleep. She saw Charles making a phone call and walked past him so as not to disturb him. Sheryl went straight to the dining room, grabbed a glass, and poured some water. She gulped the whole glass in one go, quenching her thirst.

Suddenly, she felt a presence behind her. Sheryl turned around without blinking her eyes. Charles was right behind her. He narrowed his eyes and stared at her with passion dripping from his eyes. Sheryl could no longer resist the intense sensations running through her nerves and gave in to the butterflies in her stomach. The mere glance at Charles was enough to make her shy.

"What are you doing here?," Sheryl interrogated.

"Honey, I miss you like hell!" As soon as Charles concluded the sentence, he lifted Sheryl up from the ground in his arms.

Sheryl struggled for a while and pushed him back reluctantly. However, she finally gave in feeling his dapper body touching her right away. She thought she could resist him for such a long time passed, but her body was honest. Sheryl had no idea that her body had been craving Charles' embrace like this.

Charles embraced Sheryl for a long while. They both held onto each other as if the whole galaxy had halted at this very moment. Charles wrapped his arms tightly around her waist. It seemed that he was certain to never let this lady get away from his side ever again since he had already made this mistake before. To safeguard Sheryl, was his only redemption. They walked back to the bedroom and lay beside each other to sleep. Charles and Sheryl hugged each other the whole night, and soon they slept rolled up in each other's arms.

The following day

As a beam of sunlight caressed Sheryl's eyes, she woke up on the bed. She fumbled beside her but didn't see Charles. Sheryl rubbed her eyes in disbelief for a while and thought to herself, 'Alright, so it was a dream last night.'

She stretched her arms and twisted her waist to energize herself for the day ahead. Sheryl went downstairs, and, what she saw next, left her in utter shock. Charles was making breakfast in the kitchen! She was petrified and stared at him in bewilderment.

Charles felt her gaze at him and turned around spontaneously. He found Sheryl standing still as if she'd frozen on the spot because of astonishment.

Sheryl was not expecting him to turn around all of a sudden, so she was rather caught red-handed. She hurriedly looked away to save herself from the embarrassment.

"What are you doing..."

"I am making breakfast for you and the kids," Charles interrupted Sheryl's words. Charles knew what Sheryl wanted to ask already, so he answered before letting her finish the sentence. Sheryl was evidently having a hard time getting used to Charles' changed behavior.

During the daytime, the family rejoiced together, and after a long walk at the beach, they also went shopping. As the moon extended its radiance over the horizon, Charles suggested that they return home tomorrow as a family.

But Sheryl refused on the spot without giving it even a second thought.

"Why? Why don't you want to go back with me, Sher?" Charles was anxious that Sheryl was still angry at him. So, he turned to question Sher, dubiously.

Sheryl stretched out her palms and replied nonchalantly, "I just don't want to, Charles."

Upon hearing Sheryl's words in a fit, Charles realized that he could do nothing to make her change her mind.

For several of the following days, Charles repetitively mentioned returning home, but Sheryl rebuffed him each time. At last, he deemed that Sheryl desired to live in Australia, so he decided not to push her to go back anymore.

That day, when Sheryl and the kids were out for a while to hang-out, Charles told David to take over the business in Australia.

David stared at Charles with skepticism and struggled to comprehend why his boss had abruptly said that.

Charles noticed David's confusion and shook his head helplessly, smirking. "Sher wants to stay in Australia, so I will let you handle the issue here temporarily," Charles elaborated. Upon hearing that, David gave out a sigh of relief.

"Okay, Mr. Lu. I am going to handle it according to your desires." Afterward, David turned back and was about to leave for the branch office when he heard Charles' voice. "Wait a moment." Charles thought of something all of a sudden and stopped David right away.

"What's the matter, Mr. Lu?" David quickly stopped in his tracks and turned to Charles.

Charles stared at David for a while, lost in his thoughts. Then he responded after some consideration, "Purchase the villa next door for me."

"Yes, Mr. Lu." David was clear about Charles' intention this time. He agreed to what his boss ordered and then headed to the office.

David was real quick and handled everything swiftly. Charles invited Sheryl to visit his new house with him.

Sheryl had no idea that Charles would buy this villa. She didn't know how to react to him.

Nevertheless, the kids were in their seventh heaven to hear about their new home sweet home.

"Mommy, Daddy's home is beyond beautiful!" Shirley started to walk around and explore the place as soon as she entered the house.

Clark followed her closely while observing the serenity of the place. The two children went upstairs as soon as they could no longer contain their excitement.

"Do you like it?" Charles gazed at Sheryl subtly, his eyes speaking volumes of the emotions and passion he had for his wife.

Sheryl remained silent but still nodded in approval.

Although she had no idea what Charles was planning to do, Sheryl now had the idea that he was determined to stay around here. And, there was nothing she could, for now, do to push him away, no matter how hard she tried to.

The following day

Once Sheryl woke up from a good night's sleep and went downstairs, she saw Charles in the living room.

"How did you get inside?" Sheryl questioned in shock. Sheryl remembered she had not given him the key, so how could he get into her house?

"Clark gave the key to me." Charles dangled the key in front of Sheryl.

Sheryl was puzzled about the kid's behavior. The kids had not been ready to see Charles' face because they were so angry at him. Yet why did the kids change when he started to reappear in front of them? The truth was that the kids weren't mad at him; they drew closer to him during his absence. Obviously, they missed their father the most.

"What have you done to the kids? Did you cast a spell on them?" Sheryl proposed because she was flabbergasted.

Upon hearing Sheryl's query, Charles shrugged, smiled complacently, and stated, "I am their father. Aren't they supposed to be close to me?"

"Forget it! I am not in the mood to talk with you right now" Since Charles didn't seem about to tell her the truth, Sheryl turned around and stepped forward to leave.

Without even delaying for a second, Charles stretched out his hand to grab her wrist and laughed with affection. "Sher, they weren't close to me in the beginning, you know that. But I told them why it all happened. They understood my stance and forgave me. When will you forgive me, honey?"

Charles knew that even though Sheryl said nothing, she still blamed him for all that had happened.

"It depends on my mood." Sheryl dropped this reply out of the corner of her mouth and then went about her business.

Charles showed a faint smile on his lips. He knew that haste never brings triumph and, while she was around him, sooner or later, her heart would definitely melt.

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Isla looked Phoebe in her eyes and found the blush on her face. Then she pointed at her and smiled, lost in thought. "Phoebe, you asked for leave because you have a date with Josef, right?"

"Ms. Zhao, since you know that already, why do you ask it?" Phoebe's face turned redder as she blushed in embarrassment. She felt so shy that she wanted to hide and disappear right away from Isla's sight.