The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 1096 A Dispute At Midnight

Having bled quite a lot from cutting her wrist, Melissa was advised to stay in the hospital under observation for several more days. As it was arranged that Nancy would stay and take care of her, Charles and Sheryl were able to head back to Dream Garden.

"Sheryl, I think we need to have a talk." Charles said as soon as they entered the room.

It was notable that he called her Sheryl, not Sher.

His words were in a tone he had never used with her before-cold and distant.

"What do you want to talk about?"

Knowing that Melissa must have said something to poison Charles against her, she dreaded the conversation.

"Sheryl, I'm not stupid. I know that my mom treated you badly at first, but she is your elder. You don't need to hold such a grudge against her because of her mere words."

As he said it, he looked right into Sheryl's eyes.

When he planned what he was going to say to her, he was expecting Sheryl to sincerely apologize to him and his mother. If she could do that, he would overlook her mistakes and continue to stay with her.

However, he never would have imagined Sheryl's expression to twist into one of contempt as she said, "So, you believe your mother?"

"Sheryl, I'd like to believe you and stay on your side...and I've done so these days. But what did I get for my trust? My mom was within an inch of her life."

There was resentment in Charles' voice as he said it.

Not knowing what to do, he felt bleak.

"Now that you've spoken to her...how do I tell you that your mother's actions were no fault of mine? You wouldn't believe what I say, would you?"

At that point, Sheryl abandoned all hope.

In order to drive Sheryl out of Dream Garden, Melissa was indeed working hard.

But Sheryl still couldn't understand why Melissa was always targetting her.

"Well, why didn't you care about my mother's self-esteem when you treated her with your head held high? How could you not care about her grief?" Sheryl's tough attitude was pushing Charles' anger further.

"You really believe she took her own life because she was mad at me? Because I was supposedly bullying her?" she said indignantly.

"What? Isn't that the case? Are you trying to tell me that my mother tried to take her own life just to frame you?"

No response followed. At that moment, Sheryl was speechless.

'Yes, nobody would believe that Melissa framed her daughter-in-law at the cost of her own life. Nobody!

Nobody would believe it,' Sheryl thought.

"Why aren't you saying anything? You can tell me about it and let me tell apart the differences between your words and my mom's." The longer he looked at Sheryl in silence, the more his annoyance heightened.

"It doesn't matter what I say. You've already chosen what to believe," was all she said. At that point, Sheryl decided to ignore Charles all together. Instead of continuing the argument, she lay down on the bed and shut her eyes.

"Sheryl, get up!" he angrily demanded. Though problems hadn't been solved, Sheryl refused to deal with him. How could he treat her like this?

"I'm sleepy. You can talk to me tomorrow."

"Sheryl! Are you running away? Do you really think that escaping is the way to handle this? I really had no idea you would turn out this way," he barked at her. The situation was driving him into hysterics. Hearing Charles raise his voice, Sheryl couldn't help but start tearing up. Though she understood that he would feel confused and have questions for her, she couldn't handle the fact that he didn't believe in he at all.

"Where are you going?"

As he watched Sheryl get out of bed, he shouted at her.

"That's my business and none of yours, great Charles Lu!" It took all of Sheryl's strength to shout the sentence out.

With that, she ran outside and disappeared into the darkness of the night.

Hearing a voice from outside, Clark stepped outside his room and said to Charles, "Daddy, why are you doing this to Mommy?"

Clark's voice surprised him. "You're not asleep, Clark?"

As he and Sheryl argued, he forgot that they might wake people up with their noise.

"I was asleep...but I woke up. Daddy, did Mommy do something wrong? Why are you shouting at her?"

His little face was full of concern.

"Clark, you are still young and don't understand what happened. Daddy didn't get mad at mommy, okay? Daddy just wanted to get the facts straight and reason them out. Your mother can't understand these things right now either. When she figures it out, it'll be fine."

All Charles could do was comfort the kid in this way.

"Still! Daddy, aren't you worried about her going out at night?"

To make a point, Clark said it tenaciously.

"You're such a good boy. You go to bed first, though. I'm going to find her. Can you protect your sister here?" Gently, Charles explained to him.

"Okay. Hurry up, Daddy! Mommy will be scared if she meets bad guys. Shirley and I will not be afraid at home. Grandpa is also here, anyway. If Shirley is afraid, I can just call Grandpa."

"Good boy. Now go sleep! I'll head out now."

Seeing the boy's concern for his mother, Charles had to praise him.

"Fine..." Nodding his head sleepily, he headed back into his room.

Of course, Charles was willing to go out and find Sheryl. But he didn't want to eat his words and hurt his reputation. After all, he believed that the whole issue was because of Sheryl's mistakes. However, as he thought it over, if he couldn't find her...

As a woman, she would really be in danger. Clark gave him good enough reasons to go out and find her.

At that moment, he had no time to distinguish between right and wrong.

As soon as Sheryl stepped out of Dream Garden, she took a taxi and gave the driver Isla's address.

Sheryl's tears couldn't stop flowing. When she called Isla, the latter was sleeping.

"Sher...do you know what time it is? Why are you calling me now?" Not able to say anything, Sheryl just kept sobbing.

"Sher? What happened to you, Sher?"

Isla's sleepiness disappeared and she became alert.

"Isla...

I'm on my way to your place... Can you open the door for me?" As she said it, Sheryl was practically whimpering and had trouble completing the sentence.

"Of course. How are you getting here? Where are you now? I can pick you up."

Worried for her friend, she wanted to know where Sher was.

"I'm in a taxi right now on my way there," she answered. "If Charles calls you...you can tell him I haven't contacted you and you have no idea where I am." "Fine, but you have to get here quickly first," replied Isla.