The Apple of My Eye

"Enough of this drama! What do you want?" Charles yelled at Vicky, unsure of whether she was really insane or not.

"I just want to be with you for the rest of my life. Can you promise me that you will never ever divorce me?" Vicky implored, looking at Charles with her expectant eyes.

Charles was taken aback by her request. 'We have never been together. How on earth does divorce even come into this?' he wondered, unable to understand any of this.

"Fine! I take it that your answer is in the negative. Very good..." Vicky said, bringing Charles back to his senses. She had seen him standing numbly, so she figured he would deny her request. Now she rushed to the wall and began beating her head against it.

Charles was startled by the noise it created. As he looked towards her, the scene of Vicky hurting herself totally shocked him. 'How cruelly she treats herself!' Charles wondered.

"Stop it!" he screamed, secretly praying she would put a full stop to this.

Meanwhile, David also noticed what had happened there. He dashed towards her and held her down, along with Charles' help.

"Go and call for the doctor!" Charles commanded. By now, Charles was completely freaking out. He wished he could tie her up just so she wouldn't repeat what she had done. "Okay," David answered quickly.

Vicky's arms were being tightly grasped by Charles. David knew that everything was under his control now, so he left to get the doctor.

"Let go of me! Release my arms! You dumped me. Now, what's the point of me living in this world? Just let me die! Let me die..." Vicky shrieked at the top of her voice. Those screams were unbearable. Charles was certain that he would go deaf if it continued.

Luckily, David and the doctor arrived in time, saving him from further trouble.

The nurse was also shocked by the scene. She couldn't figure out why Vicky was suddenly behaving like a maniac when she had seemed completely normal a few moments ago.

"Hold her down!" the doctor shouted. Vicky's face was contorted like a real psychotic. The doctor couldn't remember seeing anyone look this crazy before.

"Charles, you can't do this to me! If you dare leave me, I'll kill myself. I'm not kidding! I will do it for sure. Are you willing to see me die in front of you?" This time, Vicky's voice wasn't as strong as before. She was beginning to lose her energy.

The nurse came over and held Vicky's body, so Charles was free to step back. With a sigh of relief, he stood as far away from her as possible.

However, he gave no response to Vicky's rebuke. He stood there silently and watched the scene with a frown.

Soon, the doctor gave Vicky a sedative, after which she fell into a deep sleep.

Once Charles was informed that she wouldn't wake up for at least an several hours, he walked out of the room.

"Doctor, can you shed some light on her current condition? Is she always going to be so aggressive? Will every small thing trigger her to behave in this manner?" David asked since he was as bewildered as Charles.

Even though Charles wasn't the one who had raised this question, he too wanted to know the answer to this question. Both of them waited for the doctor's reply.

The doctor looked at David and then at Charles. He sighed and then responded, "We can't say anything for sure. You know, it's difficult to draw any conclusion when it concerns brain injuries. I can tell you her emotions are very unstable right now, which is why an operation is out of the question. As of now, we need to observe her and avoid talking about things that seem to be triggering this change in her behavior." Having figured out that Charles was the root cause of her insanity, the doctor wanted to raise his awareness.

However, it also occurred to him that Charles and Vicky were not a couple. Hence, it was advisable to do it indirectly. After all, he didn't know the whole story, and he thought it better to stay away from it. "Okay, I got it. Thank you, doctor!" Charles said politely.

After everything had settled down, the doctor took his leave.

David stood beside Charles without saying anything. However, his rolling eyes betrayed him.

"Just come out and say what you want to say," Charles urged. He could tell that the words were on the tip of David's tongue. However, something was stopping him from uttering it. But sooner or later it was bound to come out.

"Mr. Lu, we've had enough of this! Let's send this woman away, okay?" David was furious with how the events had turned. He couldn't bear to tolerate it any longer. Charles wasn't a man who would endure such rubbish. He had dealt with vicious serpents like Ferry in a fearless manner. But before this weak woman, Charles seemed like a coward. This enraged David.

"If I leave her to you, will you be capable of handling the situation? Can you guarantee that she wouldn't attempt suicide?" Charles asked impatiently.

"I..." David faltered.

He was right. David was clear that he wouldn't be capable of performing this task. If there was anyone who could control Vicky, then it had to be Charles.

"Fine. Send more men to keep her under observation," Charles ordered. As soon as he entered the lift, he felt a rush of dizziness.

Charles remained silent even after he got in the car. Not knowing where Charles wanted to go, David didn't start the car either.

Charles took out his cellphone. He recalled Sheryl's last call, and then he dialed her number immediately.

But just when it was about to ring, he changed his mind and ended the call.

'What is the use of this call? Can I explain anything? If so, how?' he asked himself these questions.

A bitter smile appeared on his face. He had no clue about how he would explain the whole matter to Sheryl. It seemed that the best thing he could do was maintain the status quo. Charles heaved a sigh, and he put his phone back in his pocket.

"Go to the company," Charles ordered David. He then closed his eyes and lay back, putting his troubles behind him for a few minutes.

At Cloud Advertising Company, Phoebe was impatiently tapping on the table and checking her watch.

Two hours had passed. Mustering up some courage, she approached Sheryl's office and knocked on the door. "Ms. Xia, it's lunchtime. Will you go out to have lunch?" However, there was no response. Phoebe assumed that Sheryl might have fallen asleep. Now she began to pound on the door with more strength, and she raised her voice.

"Ms. Xia..."

She tried this several times but received no response from Sheryl. Suddenly Phoebe had a sense of foreboding that something awful might have happened to Sheryl.

"Ms. Xia?" Phoebe yelled, trying to sound as loud as possible. However, Sheryl's reply still didn't come.

Phoebe rushed back to her seat. Quickly, she rummaged through her cabinet until she found the spare key to Sheryl's office.

As soon as she inserted the key and was about to open the door, it opened on its own.

"Ms...Ms. Xia?" Phoebe was shocked as she caught sight of Sheryl standing in front of her.

"I'm fine. I was engaged with something important. You go ahead and have lunch. I'm not hungry," Sheryl said stiffly, without any expression in her face.

"Oh, I see..." Phoebe answered, not totally understanding the current situation.

However, after saying that, Sheryl closed the door again, leaving no room for Phoebe to ask any questions.

Once Phoebe was outside, she sighed with relief. Her heart was beating rapidly from thinking something had happened to Sheryl. Now she came back to her senses and patted her chest. "All right, Ms. Xia is fine. There is no need for me to worry..." she muttered to herself.

She didn't have the heart to go out for lunch. Instead, she ordered takeout. Even though Sheryl said she wasn't hungry, Phoebe couldn't help but order one for her as well. Since Sheryl was in low spirits now, if she didn't eat anything, things would only get worse.

Meanwhile, in the office, Sheryl didn't have any appetite. She felt that she was spaced-out, and she didn't know how long it would last. Her heart was empty, and nothing could fill it. 'It never gets better...Only worse,' she told herself sadly.

The takeout was delivered, so Phoebe knocked on Sheryl's door once again.

"I've already told you that I'm not hungry," Sheryl cried out as soon as she saw Phoebe with the food.

"Ms. Xia, you can't torture yourself like this. If you don't eat this, I'm not going to have lunch either." Phoebe knew Sheryl well enough. She always skipped eating when she was in a bad mood. But Sheryl only tortured herself. She was a kind person who couldn't bear to see other people being badly influenced by her.

Phoebe put forward this unreasonable request, hoping that Sheryl would eat something for her sake.