The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 1550 They Were All Gone

"Nancy, help me pack the children's clothes," Sheryl reminded Nancy as she saw Nancy was doing nothing. She raised her voice and asked, "Nancy, what are you doing? Never mind. I'll just do it myself." Nancy heaved a sigh and went to find Clark and Shirley. Nancy was completely indecisive at the moment. She could not understand how to prevent the situation from going from bad to worse.

Inside the kids' bedroom, Clark and Shirley had heard their mother scream just a while back. Their eyes met. Shirley was so frightened that she held her brother's hand. She lowered her voice and asked in a trembling voice, "Clark, did Mom just fight with Dad?"

"Don't worry. It'll be okay. Nothing is wrong. I guess they were just discussing some problems. Mom will come upstairs soon. Mom and Dad will never have a fight!" Right after Clark finished his words, Nancy came in.

Without exchanging a single word, Nancy directed the children to the bathroom and asked them to wash their faces. Clark could feel the tension in the air.

By the time Clark and Shirley had finished washing their faces, Sheryl and Nancy had put the luggage on top of the trunk.

"Clark and Shirley, come, let's go!" One look at his mother's face and Clark understood that something was not right. Sheryl's eyes had become swollen and red because of sadness. Clark's heart sank when he saw that.

"Mom, Clark and I don't need to go to school today. Where are we going? And why all this luggage?" Shirley smiled and asked innocently. She seemed to have forgotten Sheryl's heartbreaking scream this morning.

Sheryl squatted and caressed Shirley's braids. Sheryl forced a smile and lied, "I'm taking you two to an exciting place. What do you think?"

"Great!" Shirley was just too innocent as a child. Completely oblivious to what had happened, she was very easy to trick. Without any suspicion, she followed Sheryl and walked out of the mansion. Clark remained silent and followed Sheryl too. When he walked to the door, he turned around but couldn't see his dad. The absence of Charles made him sad. Clark was a sensitive child. He could sense something was wrong with his parents. And Charles not showing up confirmed his suspicions and intensified his worry.

Nancy was standing at the door and looking at Sheryl with nervous eyes. Nancy looked back inside the house from time to time. Actually, she went upstairs to find Charles just a moment ago. But she was stopped by Melissa at the door of his bedroom.

"Charles is taking a shower. You can leave a message with me. I will tell him." Melissa had seen Sheryl packing her luggage. It was such a heartwarming scene for her. She was so thrilled that she even wanted to help Sheryl pack her luggage. What she aspired to for such a long time was finally happening in this house. Melissa's dream had finally come true albeit a little late. Melissa hoped that Sheryl just left the house and went away forever. The sooner, the better.

"Mrs. Lu, Sher is leaving the house with the children. I need to tell this to Mr. Lu." Nancy nodded at Melissa and tried to walk into the master bedroom.

But Melissa stopped her once again and pulled the door closed.

"Charles and Leila are in the bedroom. What do you want to do in there? Let Sheryl do whatever she wants. No one wants her to stay in this house anyway. Whom is she trying to threaten by running away from home?" Melissa rolled her eyes at Nancy. Nancy stared back at Melissa, dumbfounded by her heartlessness.

Realizing there was no way to reach Charles, Nancy stamped her feet and decided to go downstairs to stop Sheryl.

"Sher, please don't be in such a hurry. You and Mr. Lu can talk this over face-to-face. I am sure there has been some misunderstanding," Nancy held Sheryl's hands and requested.

Sheryl took a glance at the balcony on the second floor. She took a last glance at the place that used to be her room-her love-nest that she and Charles had created with so much love. But today, it seemed that her hearth and her home had shut every door in her face. It no longer held any place for her. Their world came tumbling down in front of her and she could do nothing.

'Charles, if you really love me, why don't you come downstairs to stop me? What are you doing up there with Leila? Was I wrong to have believed you in the first place? Was our marriage a mistake?' Sheryl thought to herself.

Sheryl's eyes welled up and she was almost about to break down, but she managed to control herself. She forced a smile and heaved a sigh as if she lifted very heavy weight off her chest. "Nancy, certain things are just not meant to be. Take care of yourself after I leave. I will miss you!"

Sheryl then shook off Nancy's hands gently and drove away.

Clark rolled down the window and kept gazed at the mansion behind him which was fading away. He had a terrible feeling. Somehow the absence of Charles felt like a bad omen that had befallen them. He could not express it in so many words, yet he figured out what was going on. When he couldn't see the mansion anymore, Clark asked Sheryl, "Mom, are we leaving Dad?"

"Dad left Mom," Sheryl muttered.

"What does that mean, Clark? Are Mom and Dad separating?" Sheryl's words hit the kids like a death bolt. Shirley became anxious and worried immediately when she heard Sheryl.

Clark knew that a lot was going on in Sheryl's mind at the moment, so he patted Shirley's hand and comforted her, "It's not like that, Shirley. Don't you remember Mom told us that she was taking us to an exciting place? We're going to have some fun. I believe Dad is just too busy to come with us!"

"Oh, okay. When I come back home, I will share this trip with Dad so that he will regret his decision not to come with us and be so jealous!" Shirley smiled at Sheryl.

Sheryl nodded at Shirley, lost in her thoughts. As she looked at her two innocent kids, Sheryl felt the sting in her heart. It was pain mixed with guilt for taking such a major step. She understood that their divorce would hurt the children the most. But there was no other option. After what she saw this morning, she couldn't live with Charles anymore.

In the Lu family's house

Charles calmed himself down after a shower and his sorrow was eased a little bit. He knew that he needed to talk to Sheryl.

He looked for Sheryl in every corner of the mansion, but Sheryl was nowhere to be found, nor were the children. He thought the kids had left for school. He came down to the living room and saw the anxiety or Nancy's face.

"Nancy, where are the kids and Sher?" Charles looked around, hoping to find Sheryl as he asked Nancy.

"Sher left the house with the kids. She left the divorce agreement for you in the guestroom!" Nancy pointed her finger at the guestroom. Charles took a moment to internalize what Nancy just told him. When he realized what Nancy was talking about, Charles rushed to the guestroom. He almost lost control when he saw the divorce agreement lying there.

All of a sudden, all the memories started to come back into Charles' mind. He felt like they just happened yesterday. They had been through so many ups and downs to be together. At first, they hated each other and then, as time went by, they put aside their prejudices and discovered their love for each other. Once, there was a time when Charles couldn't imagine life without Sheryl. Now how could they end up getting a divorce?

Charles felt so rueful. He knew it was he who was responsible for what was happening. He was too nice to Melissa. If he had only stopped Melissa at the right time, there wouldn't be this kind of misunderstanding between him and Sheryl.

'Sher, how can you leave me?' Charles buried his face in his hands. He felt like he was surrounded by stark darkness that was ready to engulf him. His wife and his kids, the main supports of his life, were gone and he could not blame anyone else for this, only himself.

He felt as if his head was going to explode and it wasn't like the feeling when you got drunk. He had no control over his mind. Every second was torture to him right now. He felt each and every breath to be labored, as if he were carrying a lot of weight that his chest had never felt before. His heartbeat quickened, almost jumping out of his chest.

Charles knew that he couldn't let Sheryl go. He couldn't let her leave like this. No way!

Charles hurried downstairs again. But it was too late. Sheryl's car was gone.

He then ran to the children's bedroom, only to find that their closets were empty. All their clothes were gone. The room that used to be filled with laughter and giggles felt so claustrophobic for him that he came out of it at once.

Charles stepped back, shaking his head. He grabbed his car keys and rushed downstairs, ready to look for Sheryl.

It was better late than never. He couldn't just sit back and do nothing at this moment.

"What are you doing, Charles? Are you going to chase that woman? Do you really think I will let you walk out of this house like this? You have to be responsible for Leila after what you did to her." Melissa stepped in Charles' way.

But Charles just ignored Melissa, not caring that she was his mother. All he wanted now was Sheryl. He wanted her back, back to the house, back in his life. He shook off Melissa's hands firmly.

"If Sheryl doesn't come back, I will never come back to this house!" Charles said as he stormed out of the house. Melissa was dumbfounded at Charles' words.

When she saw Charles walk away and disappear from view, her heart sank. 'Is Sheryl that important to you, Charles?' Melissa thought to herself.

Charles was gone. Sheryl was gone. The children were gone. It was all silent in the house at the moment. What could have been a normal morning in the house with the kids off to school, Sheryl and Charles heading towards their respective workplaces, turned out to be a complete disaster for the entire family! Being the fool, Melissa could never understand what she had done to her own son.