The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 1559 Ferry, The Hard Target

As Bernard began reading the document, Tom noticed the temptation in his eyes and said, "This job came to us from the head of an underground gang, and it's one of the highest paid jobs I have ever come across. And while it's a tough target to deal with, I'm reluctant to send even one of us for this task. But since you're not one of us anymore, you're the most suitable person for this job. Okay then, take care and good luck."

"I'll take it. Please keep your word, Tom. After this, I don't ever want to see you again," Bernard replied confidently and looked into Tom's eyes with determination.

Tom threw back his head to laugh out loud. He stopped a few seconds later and said, "I will. Let me be clear, Bernard. If you fail to kill him, you won't make it out of there alive. Ferry, your target, is going to make sure that you are dead before anything else. So, please get ready for this fight and use every ounce of skill you have for this mission, because you will need it!"

Bernard hesitated for a few seconds to consider whether he had made the right decision or not. The target must have been someone very hard to deal with. Otherwise Tom wouldn't have given him all these warnings.

However, Bernard knew that he had no other choice but to comply. If he had turned down this job, Tom would have to kill him and as far as he knew, no one had ever gone up against Tom and lived to tell about it. With that thought in mind, even though the target was going to be difficult, his chances of making it out of this alive seemed easier than dealing with Tom.

"I will, and I have to," Bernard said, no emotion in his voice. With a curt nod, he then left with the document.

Tom watched him disappear into the dark, knitting his brows and clasping his hands behind his back.

A few days ago, Tom had received a phone call from Holley.

"Tom, please help me! I'll be dead if you don't!" she said on the other side of the line.

Tom was caught by surprise because she was not supposed to call him.

"How can I help you?" Tom then asked in no hurry, slowly tapping his fingers on the table.

"It's Ferry! I can't stand him anymore. Tom, I want him to die. Will you help me?" Her ceaseless sobbing and quivering voice was a clear indication that she was scared out of her wits.

Tom narrowed his eyes, wondering who this Ferry was and why Holley wanted to kill him.

All he knew for certain was that this man Holley mentioned must have been a tough guy.

Tom failed to kill Rachel, after he had promised Holley he'd do so, and he still received a payment from her for taking the job. Since he still owed Holley from the last time, he decided to do her a favor now. Thus, he agreed to kill Ferry for her. However, to his surprise, he found that there wasn't much information on Ferry floating about for him to collect.

He had been constantly thinking about how to deal with his problem when Bernard showed up out of the blue. Tom immediately knew the right opportunity had presented itself to him. Tom's lips cracked into a bloodthirsty grin as his eyes fixated in the direction where Bernard left.

"Don't blame me for this one, Bernard. You asked for it. It is better for the doer to undo what he has done," Tom muttered under his breath, before he also vacated the isolated place quietly.

When Bernard returned to the place where they were staying in, Rachel was still asleep. The sight of her peaceful face in slumber gave him the strength to carry out his mission. Taking off his clothes quietly, he lay down on the bed and gazed at Rachel without blinking.

He would rather die than live a life without the woman he was looking at right now. Besides, they were not stuck in a rut yet, and as long as there was hope, he would do his best to pull the both of them out from under the claws of death. Bernard gently touched her face and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before he eventually closed his eyes to fall asleep.

Came nightfall, in the gathering gloom of stars and the moon, people without a partner would always feel lonely. Sheryl stood motionless in the cold breeze after seeing Isla and her husband out. Truth to be told, she was stung by the intimacy of that couple, which was something that was out of her reach now.

The vivid memories of people claiming her relationship with Charles to be a match made in heaven came to her mind, and it felt as though it all happened just yesterday. In reality, however, she was all alone. Everything from the past was still there, but her man was no longer with her. All that was left to her were memories of days gone by.

Sheryl foolishly believed that she would be strong enough to get through this hardship on her own. But now, she realized that she was wrong. Tears began falling down from her eyes at their own accord. She tried to smile, but the tears kept on falling even as she forced the corners her mouth to curve upwards. Then, she decided not to force herself to be happy but to cry until she had cried her heart out. The street was quiet at this hour and since she was the only person there, she didn't need to worry about people seeing her like that.

Standing at the doorway, shoulders slouched in dejection, Sheryl wept, for what seemed like forever to her, until her head started aching. She then turned around to look at the apartment where Clark and Shirley were now. Wiping the residual tears from her face, she took a deep breath and then smiled.

"What's happened has already happened, and now only time can heal my wounds," she said to herself before stepping inside her new home.

Inside the apartment, Joan had just put the kids to bed. She then went to the living room to finish her chores before going to bed herself. She hurriedly came to the door when she heard the noise and greeted Sheryl with a smile. Her smile disappeared when she spotted Sheryl's tear-soaked, swollen eyes. Joan sighed, contemplating whether to ask her if she was all right. But as soon as she opened her mouth, Sheryl cut her short.

"Joan, please do me a favor and take care of the kids for the next few days. I've got a lot on my plate and the only person I can rely on right now is you. So, thank you," Sheryl smiled, sounding as though it was just business as usual, implying that she didn't want to talk about her problems.

Joan nodded her head and replied, "Please, don't worry at all. You can count on me. Just focus on yourself and your work. I'll take care of them."

Sheryl expressed her gratitude with a smile, "Goodnight, Joan."

As an experienced nanny, Joan had a good sense of when to speak and when not to. It was obvious that Sheryl didn't want to share her feelings at the moment, so Joan decided to let it be and went back to her room.

At the same time, in the living room, Sheryl heaved a sigh of relief, having sensed that Joan wanted to comfort her, but she didn't feel like talking right now. Her head was heavy and she needed time to process her own thoughts first.

She sat on the couch and looked out the window into the velvet darkness that was the night sky, lost in her thoughts. She only came to close her eyes as dawn broke.

In the morning, when Clark woke up and came into the living room, he found his mother sleeping on the couch instead of her bed.

Clark rubbed his eyes and then head in confusion. He then shook his head with a smile when he realized that his mother was just as naughty as his little sister, who sometimes wanted to spend the night in the living room. But his father or mother would eventually carry Shirley and put her in her bed after she fell asleep.

Clark tiptoed to the couch and gazed at Sheryl sleeping soundly. Sighing inwardly, he realized that his mother must have been exhausted due to the past few days. She could barely sleep ever since she caught his father with another woman.

Never before had he felt such a strong urge to protect his mother. He swore to himself that he would never let Sheryl down. He pulled out a blanket from his cupboard and then put it over his mother. After looking around and finding nothing do to, Clark quietly slinked to the kitchen to see what Joan was cooking for breakfast.

Joan almost jumped out of her skin when she spotted Clark standing beside her. She wasn't expecting him to be up so early, and besides, he snuck in without making any noise.

"Joan, relax! I won't eat you!" Clark was amused by her sudden reaction and he couldn't help making fun of her.

"You're up so early, my dear. Where is your sister? Still in bed?" Joan asked.

"Right. I was woken up by a bad dream, actually. Shirley always needs more sleep than me." Clark then shook his head and added, "Girls are troublesome indeed. Shirley refused to go to bed last night. She said that she missed our bedroom in Dream Garden and I had to read to her to help her sleep." He sounded like an adult.

Joan burst into laughter at the little gentleman.

"You're so sweet, Clark. You've even started looking after your sister, even though you're the same age as her," Joan praised. Clark shrugged his shoulders, because this wasn't the first time somebody had told him that.

Sheryl was a light sleeper. Although, Joan and Clark had deliberately made less noises, she woke up not too long after.

"You're up early today, my little boy. What are you doing in the kitchen? Let me guess. Learning how to cook?" Sheryl teased Clark as she stopped in front of the kitchen door.

Clark, who was playing with a green onion, paused and cast a taunting glance at his mother. "Nope! I woke up early and I had nothing to do, so now I am playing here because I was afraid of waking you up in the living room."