The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 1536 Kidnapping

Melissa walked out of the Shining Company building with a grin. 'The plan is in motion,' she thought.

She needed a ride home, so she looked around for a taxi. Just in time, one appeared and began approaching. She waved it down.

The driver obediently pulled over beside her. She was about to open the door when, all of a sudden, several guys in masks grabbed her and forced her into a minibus.

The taxi driver looked at the men in utter fear. His eyes met the kidnappers' venomous stares. In that moment of fear and panic, he realized he should get himself out of trouble while he still could. He stepped on the gas and sped away without looking back.

Everything happened so quickly that no one else even witnessed the kidnapping.

Afternoon came.

Charles had been run off his feet the whole morning. In fact, recently, he had been extremely busy dealing with company matters. He could barely cope with the business. After lunch, while he was reading reports, his cellphone buzzed. He picked it up without checking who the caller was.

"Hello?" he mindlessly responded.

"Charles Lu, if you don't want your mother to die, prepare ten million dollars. We'll talk again in three hours," said the voice on the other end of the line. It sounded distorted, clearly disguised, probably to hide the identity of the caller. The voice sounded tough and resolute. The person immediately hung up after talking.

Charles assumed this might just be someone's dumb prank, but part of him worried about his mother. He immediately called Melissa.

Her phone was off.

Charles couldn't help but think that something might have indeed happened to her.

He then called their home number.

"Hello, Mr. Lu. Do you need anything?" Nancy asked. She felt quite surprised. Charles seldom called at this hour.

"Has my Mom gotten back home?" he asked, his voice filled with urgency. The seriousness of his tone worried Nancy.

She looked around and replied, "No. Mr. Lu. Mrs. Lu hasn't returned from bringing you soup. Is there a problem?" she asked.

Now, Nancy was also worried that something bad might have happened to Melissa.

"No, thank you," Charles said curtly and hung up.

Still holding the phone, Nancy felt uneasy. 'Is Melissa in trouble?' she wondered.

Meanwhile, over at the Cloud Advertising Company, people were unaware of what was going on.

"Sher, how are you feeling now? It's a slow day. Why don't you head home early and get some rest?" Isla suggested as she looked at Sheryl's exhausted face. Concern was evident in her voice.

Sheryl looked up at her and smiled, "Isla, I'm all right. Stop this unnecessary worrying. I'm not a child. I know I can handle things myself."

Isla knew there was nothing changing Sheryl's mind. She offered her a cup of coffee and said, "All right, I give up. You're the boss. Would you like a cup of coffee?"

Sheryl broke into a smile when she saw Isla's dissatisfied face.

They were happily chatting when Charles called.

Sheryl answered the phone, but before she could even speak, Charles anxiously blurted out, "Mom is in trouble. Take care of yourself. I have to handle this right now!" "What?" Charles hung up before Sheryl could find out more.

Isla noticed the look on Sheryl's face and stood closely by her side. "What happened?" she asked, worried.

"Charles just told me that Melissa is in trouble. Isla, could you take over for now? I need to pick up the kids from school." Sheryl was afraid that someone might also harm the kids.

"No problem. Take care of yourself. If you need anything, just call me!" Isla said. Even after she had seen Sheryl off, Isla remained worried.

One hour later, Sheryl called to tell her that Clark and Shirley were both safe. Isla finally felt a wave of relief wash over her.

"I'll take care of business here. Don't worry, Sheryl. You three get home first. Take good care of the kids. I'm glad they are safe," Isla comforted Sheryl.

As soon as Sheryl ended the call with Isla, she began driving the kids home. "Mom, why did you pick us up so early today? Is there a problem?" Clark asked curiously as he looked at his Mom with an intense gaze. Though he was still a little kid, he had piercing eyes that made it impossible for Sheryl to lie.

She couldn't help but admire him. He was so much like his father, Charles, who also had a razor-sharp insight of things.

"Fine. Mom will tell you the truth. Yes, something's wrong. Specifically, something happened to your grandma. But I'm not sure what exactly. Your Dad hasn't told me the details. So we have to figure out what's going on now. Let's get home first and wait for Dad and grandma to get back, okay?" Sheryl patiently explained to Clark.

"Mom, grandma is a bad person, right? Was she taken by someone who didn't like her?" Shirley asked suspiciously. She stared at Sheryl with confused, innocent eyes.

"Sister, grandma isn't a bad person. She just has a bad temper. She's family. Is that clear? You can't talk about her like that. We need to respect her," Clark lectured Shirley like an adult.

Sheryl was amused upon hearing her lovely, innocent kids' conversation. Her vexations went away immediately. She felt so happy that she had such adorable kids.

Just then, the buzz of her cellphone pulled her back to reality.

Sheryl checked who the caller was. It was Charles. She pulled over to answer the call.

"Charles, what happened to Mom? You didn't tell me anything when you called. I'm so worried," Sheryl complained.

Charles sighed, "Mom was kidnapped. The kidnappers gave me three hours to pay the ransom."

"She was kidnapped? Who did it? Do you have any clues? How could this happen? Why would anyone take her?" Sheryl couldn't imagine kidnappers being able to commit crimes in broad daylight. They should have known that Melissa was Charles' mother. How did they dare provoke him? These men were going to find themselves head-to-head with a powerful enemy.

"I haven't figured out who did it yet. I don't have much time. I have to raise the money first," Charles answered.

"How much did they ask for?" Sheryl knew that Shining Company was big enough to produce money right away. But Charles said that he had to raise the amount they demanded. It seemed then that the kidnappers were after a sum which was huge, even for Charles.

"Ten million dollars!"

"What? Ten million dollars? Do they think you're running a bank?" Sheryl exclaimed in amazement and frustration. Charles did not respond. She knitted her eyebrows tightly, feeling worried. But right now, they had no choice but to follow orders.

"Don't worry, Charles. If all they want is money, that means Mom should be safe at present. Let's try to save her first," Sheryl, noticing Charles' silence, tried to comfort him.

"All right. I'll try to find Mom. You take care of the children," Charles finally answered. He did not say anything about it, but he was also afraid. He realized that someone might also try to hurt Sheryl and their kids.

"Don't worry about us. I'll take care of them. You go ahead and rescue Mom. We can also call the police if we run out of options," Sheryl proposed. But she also knew that calling the police was going to be the last resort.

Charles was a man with plenty of resources and connections in the city. He was capable of finding the kidnappers.

"Okay!" Charles answered.

After ending the call, Charles started to raise the needed funds while Sheryl drove the kids home.