The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 1539 It's None Of Your Business

Nick felt a strong emotion of shame after listening to Isla's words. He put his hand behind his head and tried to conceal his feelings. He comforted Isla, "Isla, come on. It's not that bad, right? Look at me! I'm perfectly fine. Nothing has happened to me. But it's a pity that I didn't catch that person! I just feel extremely useless."

"Don't you dare worry about that. I am glad you are all right. You don't have to get yourself in this mess. Leave this catching job to Mr. Lu," Isla said to Nick. When they were having this conversation, Cassie was busy preparing the fruits.

Actually, at that time, in Cassie's heart, she hoped that she could be like Nick. 'Although Sheryl and Isla are not his real sisters, they treat him like a real brother. How good is their relationship!' Cassie thought to herself.

Isla continued talking with Nick for some time, yet she made sure to not mention Melissa. The last thing she wanted was to worry Nick.

"Cassie, please take good care of Nick. It's time for me to leave now. And Nick, Sheryl is too busy today to visit you. So take care of yourself, alright?" Isla said, looking at both Cassie and Nick. After Isla was done going over every minor detail they had to take care of, she left the room.

Cassie decided to walk her to the gate of the hospital.

"Cassie, I am very thankful to you. I have no idea how we would have handled it without your help. Thank you so much," Isla said, with genuine appreciation gleaming in her eyes. Seeing this formality, Cassie felt a little shocked.

"Isla, please don't talk to me like this. We are friends. You don't have to be so polite and formal. As a friend, I am just doing my duty," Cassie responded. Cassie didn't consider this as a job. In fact, her feeling for Nick made this experience so wonderful. She didn't want to cover up her feelings for him anymore.

"Alright, then. I hope you and Nick will be happy. Goodbye!" Isla said to Cassie and left.

In Nick's room, he was lost in his thoughts.

He felt extremely guilty as he thought about all the things that Cassie had done for him. He looked at the empty room and finally found some time to think to himself, 'Cassie was so nice to me, but I was suspicious of her. I even thought she had something going on with Jordan. Why was I so dumb to doubt her? Why didn't I trust her?'

Then his feeling of guilt became so strong that he started to blame himself. 'I wronged Cassie. I think I should apologize and make amends for it.'

When Cassie opened the door of the room, Nick didn't even glance up as he was lost in his thoughts.

Watching the painful look on Nick's face, Cassie assumed he must be suffering from the pain caused by his injury. So she rushed to the bedside and asked Nick nervously, "Nick? What's wrong? Do you feel uncomfortable?"

Once Cassie started talking, Nick realized that Cassie was back. Seeing the nervous look on her face, his guilt intensified. He sighed and said, "Cassie, I'm sorry for not trusting you. I am such an awful person to have blamed you. I cannot believe I was suspicious of you and Jordan..."

Before Nick could finish his words, Cassie moved forward and covered his mouth with her hand. She looked at him with a bright smile and said, "Never mind, Nick. I don't care about that. These things have passed. I don't see the point in reliving them. Why don't we let it go and focus on the present?"

"Okay!" Nick answered quickly. He was touched to see how forgiving she was.

They hugged each other so tight that anyone who watched it would be moved by their deep love.

In the Lu family's house, everything was eerily quiet.

Instead of going back to the company, Isla came back home directly. On the way home, she called Sheryl.

However, Sheryl was anxiously expecting Charles' call. When she heard her phone ring, she rushed to grasp it. Seeing it was from Isla, she let a sigh of frustration. Halfheartedly, she picked up the phone. "Isla, why are you calling now? Is something wrong?" Sheryl asked in a raised voice. Her mind was still fixated on Charles. She wanted this call to end quickly as she didn't want to miss Charles' call. "Sheryl, I'm just worried about you. I am aware that you must be waiting for a call from Charles. I have nothing important to say. Instead, I am just calling to make sure you are fine. Don't worry because everything will be okay eventually. And yes, I've visited Nick. He's fine, too. Cassie is taking good care of him, so don't worry about that. I will hang up now. Goodbye," Isla said and kept the phone. Once Isla heard the nervousness in Sheryl's voice, she immediately understood that Sheryl must be expecting Charles's call. Hence she decided to keep the call quick and brief.

Sheryl was amused by what Isla did, hence she didn't have a chance to say anything before Isla hung up. It was so shocking for Sheryl to see that Isla was even more nervous than her.

After putting down the phone, Sheryl sat there dully, thinking about something. Nancy had prepared the food already and she was worried about Sheryl when she found that she didn't look very well. "Sher, don't worry. I think Mrs. Lu must be fine. Why don't you sit down and eat something first," Nancy suggested in a concerned tone.

Sheryl managed to wear a smile on her face but shook her head vehemently. She said to Nancy, "Thanks, but I'm not hungry, Nancy. Could you please go upstairs and take care of the kids for me?" Nancy sighed and went upstairs. Clark and Shirley also knew that Sheryl was not in a good mood, so that they behaved very well that day. Moreover, Clark even helped his sister with her homework. He made plans for him and Shirley to play together. It seemed like he was behaving like an adult and adjusting to the situation.

At the Shining Company, Charles was pacing back and forth anxiously.

Even though he had already started to raise money, he was not one hundred percent sure whether Melissa was kidnapped or not. It wasn't until his secretary presented him the surveillance video that his doubt was confirmed. Now he knew with certainty that Melissa was actually kidnapped.

Then he thought to himself, 'Now the best thing to do is to raise money. Calling the police is not the best choice. I can't underestimate them. If I piss them off by calling the police, they might kill Mom. This is not a risk I am willing to take.'

By now, he had finishing raising the money. He got about ten million dollars in cash. The money was placed in several suitcases in his office. He asked some staff to carry these suitcases for him. Just when they wanted to leave the office with the money, the door of the office was opened by someone.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Lu. I couldn't stop Miss Zhang," the assistant said to Charles nervously.

Leila already entered his office. The assistant clearly didn't want her to come in, but he was not capable of stopping her.

He also didn't want to be rude to a woman, so Leila entered the office successfully.

"You may leave now," Charles said to his assistant, emotionless. 'Why did she come? What could she possibly want?' Charles was curious about the reason behind Leila's arrival.

"Mr. Lu, what happened? Did something happen to Aunt Melissa?" Leila asked him directly without leaving him any time to think through everything.

However, Charles didn't respond to her question. He looked at her silently and coldly. When she found he wasn't planning to answer her, she felt so frustrated and said in a low voice, "It's all my fault. I should have trusted Aunt Melissa. If I was there with her earlier, nothing would have happened to her. It's my fault. Blame me all you want!"

Then Leila started sobbing her heart out. She felt so guilty that she couldn't help but cry. Charles watched her in this vulnerable state. He frowned and said, "How did you know that my mother was kidnapped?" Leila kept sobbing and answered, "Actually, a few days ago, Melissa told me that she felt like that someone was following her everywhere. I thought she was just being too sensitive and suspicious of everything, so I didn't pay much heed to it. We planned to meet each other today, but I called her a thousand times and received no answer. This behavior seemed so unlikely because she always picks up the phone. I knew that something must be wrong, so I called to your house. Nancy told me that Melissa was kidnapped. I was so worried about her. I cannot sit peacefully knowing that Melissa is in danger right now. That's why I came here."

"Alright, I get it. Now you can go back. I will find my mother and bring her back," Charles said. He was not moved by Leila's words and didn't want to waste more time on her. He asked the staff to come into his office to take the suitcases and planned to go to the place where the kidnapper had asked him.

"I'll come with you!" Leila said as she followed Charles. She chased after them like she didn't want Charles to escape out of her sight.

"Why?" Charles asked impatiently. He didn't like Leila and had no reason to pretend politeness.

"I consider Aunt Melissa as my family. I'm so worried about her! I want to come with you!" Leila said with strong determination. She was careful to use a low voice. There was something about her manner that made it seem like she was scared that Charles would refuse her.

Charles sneered and said, "Leila, who do you think you are? You are not my family. My family has nothing to do with you. It's none of your business. You may be close to my mom, but that proximity won't make you her daughter!" Charles didn't know how to get rid of this lady. His patience was wearing off.

He didn't care a bit about Leila's feelings and wasn't scared to make it obvious.

With a sigh, he started walking, leaving her behind.