The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 1075 An Important Announcement

For Melissa, as long as she was with her son, she would still have a home.

"Oh, really, Dad? Thank you! Thank you so much. I..." Although she had expected it, she still couldn't hold back the ecstatic thrill at the sound of Gary's answer. On cloud nine, she gushed, "I promise that I will take good care of you, Dad."

"No, thanks. I am old, but I am in good health, and I can attend to myself. All I want is that you treat Charles, his wife, and children well," Gary stressed earnestly.

"Charles is my son. Of course, I will be kind and agreeable to him," Melissa responded promptly. Pausing for a moment, she added, "And his children."

Gary didn't sense that she ignored Sheryl. But even if he had been able to catch on, he wouldn't give too much thought to it. They used to live together, and he knew Melissa.

Charles meant everything to her. And that was something he could never doubt.

"Well, that's it. If you don't have anything else, you can leave now. As for you moving in with us, I need to talk to Charles first. I am afraid that he might find it hard to take in that his mother appears out of nowhere," Gary proposed. Now that Melissa already got what she wanted, she might not want to stay here any longer, he thought.

"Yup. I gotta go. It's getting late, so please don't stay outside too late," Melissa replied thoughtfully. Since things went on smoothly as expected, she decided to leave. She didn't have much to talk to her husband's father, after all.

After getting off duty, Charles drove straight to Cloud Advertising Company to pick Sheryl up.

Sheryl was a workaholic. Once she got much work to do, she would definitely lose track of time and work for extended hours. Even though she was a CEO now, she still worked as hard as before. Charles leisurely waited for Sheryl in his car. He watched as the staff from Cloud Advertising Company leave one by one, and yet there was still no sign of his wife.

He was growing impatient, so he took out the phone and dialed Sheryl's number. Several minutes had passed, but no one answered the phone.

He wondered whether she had her hands full so that she didn't even try at least to pick up his call. As he was about to hang up and go to the company to find Sheryl, a voice from the other end of the line reached his ears. "Hello, Charles."

"Come on, honey, do you know what time it is now? It's time to get off work. No matter what you are doing, stop it and collect your things. I am waiting for you outside your company," he instructed. He was slightly upset at her for keeping him waiting for such a long time. But he was more concerned about her health. He hated to see her caught up in her job and forget to take care of herself.

He didn't think that his wife needed not to work really, but Sheryl didn't share the same sentiments. She wanted to have her own career, and he chose to respect her decision. Despite that, he couldn't allow her to work her tail off.

"I am almost done here. See you in five minutes. Love you, honey." Sheryl rolled her eyes cheekily as she heard Charles complaining.

Deep inside, she wanted to snap back. 'Now that I have chosen to get a job, I will do my best. Otherwise, I would just be a housewife and lead a comfortable life.'

However, she didn't have the guts to voice out her real thoughts. Because if she blurted it out, Charles would ask her to quit her job and to stay at home to be a Mrs. CEO.

"All right. Hurry up," Charles agreed in a mellow voice. Obviously, Sheryl had a knack for pleasing her husband. His anger vanished at the sound of her words.

It turned out that her words couldn't be trusted at all because ten minutes later, he was still waiting. Losing his patience, he stormed upstairs and barged into her office. He saw her glued at her desk going through some profile on her desk.

Sensing someone staring at her, Sheryl lifted her head and saw her husband with a livid face. Sticking out her tongue, she grinned and hurried to gather her stuff. Charles made his way towards her as he grumbled his annoyance. Sheryl, who hastily grabbed her things, kept on apologizing to appease his anger. The couple then silently left the building and headed into the car. On their way home, Charles didn't let it go. "Why are you so busy?" he inquired with a frown.

"We got a substantial order. The client is a meticulous perfectionist. Well, forget it. I already got off work. Let's not talk about it now," Sheryl replied. She was used to handling tough clients, so bothering her husband with her work never crossed her mind.

Though she had a hectic and exhausting day, she never felt tired when she was in her desk working. But now she was being haunted by her sore eyes and stiff neck. She groaned as she massaged the part between her neck and shoulder. "I scheduled the preliminary planning scheme the day after tomorrow. Then we will present it to the client hopefully on the same day. Once they like it, things will be easier."

"Is your client some kind of a big shot? Why did you have to work on it yourself? Have you forgotten that you are the CEO now?" Charles asked in confusion. 'She must have met a captious client. Otherwise, she would have let her subordinates handle it, 'he speculated.

"I don't know. The client chose to work with us, mainly because of my reputation as an excellent planner. Initially, I wanted to delegate this one to others as a chance to practice and hone their capabilities, but the client specifically asked me to take charge of this case. It is our first collaboration, so I agreed." As Charles didn't make any comments, she further explained, "They have insisted that I should be responsible for it, but they also have promised to give a generous reward. Since our company can get a handsome profit from this project, I have no reason to refuse to work with them."

'I can understand the client's concern. And I have earned my reputation in this circle. Since this company never worked with us before, they just want the most competent one to do the project even though they need to pay more money,' she mused.

"Wow, looks like you have a point. Ms. Xia, how about I sell Shining Company and then I will look after our children at home?" Charles said playfully. He even called her Ms. Xia.

"That sounds good. I will work outside to support our family. And you will stay at home and will do the chores," she babbled giddily. Glancing at the expression on Charles' face, she couldn't help bursting into laughter.

Charles was rendered speechless, and rolled his eyes at her.

Soon, the two reached home. They entered the house with their arms linked and headed directly into the dining room. Dinner was already served on the table while Clark and Shirley seemed to be waiting for them at their seats. The two kids, who fixed their gaze at the door, simultaneously grumbled noticing their parents coming in, "Dad, Mom, you are finally back. We are starving."

"Wow, are we having a celebration for something? What a bountiful meal!" Charles exclaimed with glee, fixing his eyes on the dishes on the table. His stomach started to growl.

"Charles, Sher, please wash your hands and join us. I have an important announcement to make," Gary began amiably. Taking a sit, he shifted his gaze on his grandchildren and said, "Shirley, Clark, you can eat first if you feel hungry. Your parents will join us soon."

"No, Great-grandpa. I will wait for Dad and Mom," Clark replied obediently.

"Me too," Shirley followed.

"You are good kids," Gary praised. Transfixing his eyes on the two obedient kids, he was overwhelmed with contentment.

Sheryl and Charles came back and took their seats. The latter beamed, "What are you going to announce, Grandpa? You even prepared a feast."

"Yes, Grandpa, what is it?" Sheryl asked curiously.

"Let's eat first," Gary suggested as he picked up his chopsticks and began to eat.

Charles opened his mouth and intended to ask. But he controlled his curiosity when he took note of Gary's expression. He raised his head and glanced at Sheryl. The latter also had no idea what the old man was up to. With a casual look, she rested her eyes on her children and urged, "Didn't you say you were hungry? You can eat now."

Reminded by what Sheryl had said, Charles realized that Gary would announce the news after they had dinner.