The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 1097 He Believes Her

Aron was awakened. The anxiety in his wife's voice lingered in his mind, and he immediately knew that something was wrong. "Who was calling at this late hour, Isla?" he asked in his drowsy voice. "It was Sher. I don't know what's wrong, but something happened to her. You stay here and watch Amanda. I will go out quick and meet her at the gate," Isla replied vastly as she grabbed her clothes and got dressed in a hurry.

Hearing what she had said, Aron came fully awake. Sitting up straight, he said, "Got it. Be careful, honey."

"I will. I'm worried, cause I don't know what's going on with Sher!" The concern in her voice was evident to him.

As the taxi dropped Sheryl off at Isla's house, Isla stood outside of her house, anxiously waiting for her friend. Watching Sheryl getting out of the cab, she called out with a wave, "I am here, Sher. Come here!" Noticing that Isla was waving at her, Sheryl felt relieved and made her way in the direction of her friend.

Sheryl's reddened eyes and grim face caught Isla's attention instantly. Her heart sank when she saw her upset best friend, who seemed as if she had been through a difficult ordeal. "What's going on with you, Sher?" she asked in fluster.

With her head down, Sheryl remained silent, and tears started rushing out of her eyes.

Rattled, Isla took out a tissue from her jacket and wiped off her tears to comfort her. "Oh...Don't cry, please. Let's go inside," she continued, comforting her friend while leading her into the house and patting her back.

The moment Isla left their bedroom, Aron got out of bed and fixed himself too. When the two women entered the house, the lights in the living room were already on. He was worried about Sheryl and was waiting for them patiently.

"Aron, did you leave Amanda alone?" Sheryl asked as she glanced around the living room.

"It's okay, Sher. Amanda is sleeping soundly in her room. Luckily for us, she isn't a light sleeper. Honestly, I don't think that there's any sound that can wake her up, especially, once she's fast asleep," Aron replied.

"Please, sit down now, Sher," Isla said in a soft and calm tone, as she seated Sheryl on the couch. Turning over to Aron, Isla urged, "Honey, please go get Sher a tall glass of water."

"I already did, honey," replied Aron, as he smiled in an attempt to ease the tense atmosphere. He then pointed to the glass of water on the coffee table.

"Sher, before you tell us what's wrong, have some water first," Isla recommended to her friend, whom she was very worried about. She then handed the glass of water to Sheryl. She took a seat next to her friend and watched her drink it, in the hope that she would calm down.

However, Sheryl was not in the mood to drink water. She was sidetracked and boiling with anger on the inside.

"What if I divorce Charles? Would that be okay?" Sheryl asked earnestly, looking at her friend.

Hearing this, Isla was certain that something must have happened to make Sheryl think about divorcing her husband, or she wouldn't have come over in the early hours of the morning. She recalled to herself that Sheryl was a sensible person, after all, but to her shock, Sheryl brought up a divorce. She had no idea what had happened between her best friend and Charles, to drive her to such irrationality. She was confused and never expected Sheryl to even consider divorcing her husband.

Isla knew that Sheryl and Charles suffered a lot in the past and that they had gone through a couple of rough patches. Somehow, they found their way back to each other. 'What's going on between these two now?' she wondered.

"Come again? What are you talking about, Sher? You and Charles are madly in love with each other, right? I mean, he would never even think of divorcing you. Besides, you two have a lovely pigeon pair together!" Isla exclaimed loudly. Changing the topic as fast as she could, she asked in confusion, "So, what were you fighting about, if I may ask?"

"Its all because of Charles' mother! Everything is her fault!" Sheryl replied. When she spat those words, it dawned on her that she had never mentioned Melissa to Isla before. Sheryl never told Isla about Melissa before, as Charles asked her never to do so.

However, regrettably, the relationship between her and Melissa got worse over time, and the last thing she ever wanted to do was complain about it to her friend. If there was one thing that Sheryl hated, it was a complainer.

Regardless, she couldn't keep it to herself any longer, as she desperately felt the need to find someone to confide in. If she didn't do so, she would most probably lose her mind.

"What? Since when do you have a mother-in-law? I thought that she died more than a decade ago?" Isla asked, her mouth agape in tremendous shock.

"Yes, that was exactly what I thought. I also heard that she passed away years ago, but then she appeared out of nowhere and moved into Dream Garden. Ever since, she's made an incredible effort to turn Charles and me against one another," Sheryl replied with a resigned expression on her face. It had never crossed her mind that she would ever meet such an unreasonable woman, who just happened to be her husband's mother.

"So, she is alive? Well, then where has she been all these years and why didn't she go back to her own home?" Isla asked, looking at Sheryl with a baffled expression on her face. "Oh, wow... You must have felt like you've seen a ghost," Aron butted in, dumbfounded by what Sheryl was telling them.

Since she already brought up the topic, Sheryl thought that it wouldn't matter sharing absolutely everything that had happened between her and Melissa, with Isla and Aron. In fact, she needed to talk to someone about it, and was tired of keeping it to herself for such a long time.

Isla was surprised at first, but after hearing Sheryl's story, she was not only astonished by what her friend had told her, but she was also infuriated. "I cannot believe this, Sher. Charles' mother has gone way too far. Even a fool could see that you were framed by her appearing out of nowhere. I don't believe that Charles couldn't see through her trick," Isla fumed.

"Initially, Charles believed me and he promised me that he would talk to his mother, but her intention from the very beginning was one thing alone, and that was to split Charles and me up. I wouldn't put anything past her, especially because she even staged her own suicide. This time, he believed his mother over me!" Sheryl replied with a desperate tone. She was tired of the entire situation. All she really wanted was some peace.

In fact, she was even prone to understand Charles. 'On the one hand, Melissa is his mother, who gave him life. On the other hand, I am his wife, who has been left behind. I don't have any means to prove my own innocence,' she thought.

Even though Sheryl was an understanding woman, she was still disappointed in Charles for allowing another person to drive a wedge between them.

"Wait, but why does his mother hate you so much? Did you do anything wrong to her?" Isla asked cautiously with furrowed eyebrows. She had confusion written all over her face. 'Since she's been gone for fifteen years, she couldn't possibly have any grudge against Sher...Why is she so hostile towards Sher?

Does she hate to see her son live a happy life? Perhaps she is jealous,' she brooded.

"I have no clue whatsoever," Sheryl replied in a frustrated tone and shook her head. She had mulled over this from the very start. If she had been able to figure it out before, she and Charles wouldn't have ended up this way. Not only that, but she definitely wouldn't be sitting in front of her friend complaining and sobbing in self-pity.

Isla's phone's ringtone broke the silence in the room.

Isla quickly glanced over to her phone. When she saw the caller ID, she was enraged. Since Aron was closer to her cellphone, she turned towards her husband and said impatiently, "It's Charles calling. Give me my phone, please."

"Come on now, honey. By picking up the phone, you will only make things worse. I realize that Charles made a mistake and what he did was entirely unfair to your friend, but we should still give him a chance. Let me talk to him," Aron said as he picked up the phone.

Before his finger touched the screen, Sheryl snatched the phone from his hand and hung up immediately. With a sullen look in her eyes, she said firmly, "Don't take any of his calls. There is no need for any of us to talk to him."

'Facing love, everyone is selfish in some sense.

Aron has a point. Even though Charles failed me as a husband, he has his reason and he deserves to be forgiven.

Nevertheless, there is no right nor wrong when it comes to our marriage and what he did. It is but a mere question of his decision to choose which relationship to save first. It is a choice between his mother, who abandoned him, and his beloved wife.

He could only save one of his relationships. No matter who he chooses, the other one he fails would not run back to him in an act of desperation.

After all, he is the most important person in both our lives.

Although we don't like one another, we treat the man wholeheartedly and give our unreserved love to him. But when we don't receive the same level of love and care from him, we become upset. I'm certain that Charles blames me for everything I failed to do.

His mother isn't good at acting whatsoever, but he still believes her. That's what hurts me most,' she pondered in her mind.