The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 1588 Rushing Won't Help

Sheryl patted her son on the back to comfort him. She said, "Mom is not tired. I just didn't sleep well last night."

"Aunt Isla, let's go. Mom wants to sleep. We have to get back home," Clark pleaded. 'Sher is so lucky to have him, ' Isla thought to herself after hearing Clark's request. 'He's sweet and considerate. He even wants to go back home early so that Sheryl can get more sleep. Oh, how I envy Sher! My kid knows nothing except how to annoy me and create troubles, but Clark? Clark is such a sweet little boy.

It's so strange for me to hear such things from him. He's so little, yet he knows stuff. He knows how to care for his mother and sister. His words often surprise me. As adults, we don't understand how Clark is so mentally mature. Sometimes, I wonder why and how these words could come out of the mouth of a little boy.'

"Okay, Clark. Let's go back home," Isla said as she patted Clark on the head. Then she took Shirley's hand. Together, they all walked toward the car.

Sheryl silently watched this exchange. It warmed her heart. 'What am I so upset about?' she wondered to herself. 'With Clark and Shirley around, I'm the happiest person in the world. I'm perfectly fine with or without Charles, as long as my kids are with me.

Now that I've thought things through, I realize that it's best for everyone if I divorce Charles. I've just been too sensitive and emotional recently. That is probably why I can't let this relationship go at once. But I believe I can get over him. Yes, I can.'

When they got home, Sheryl sent the kids to bed and watched them fall sleep. Then, she silently walked out of their room to get some sleep herself.

At Dream Garden, Charles had just gotten home.

After he had left Sheryl at the Bureau of Civil Affairs, he immediately went back to work. However, he just couldn't focus.

Thinking about what Sheryl had done rendered him nervous and absent-minded the whole day. 'Why?' he thought to himself. 'Why does she want to finalize the divorce in such a short time? Why is she in such a hurry to get the kids away from me?' These questions played over and over in his head all day long. Consequently, he could not accomplish anything at work.

By the time he got home, he assumed that everyone in Dream Garden was already fast asleep. However, contrary to his expectations, Leila was awake. Charles saw her standing in the living room when he opened the door.

"What are you doing here? Did something happen to my mother?" Charles asked in mild surprise when he saw Leila. He thought her waiting for him in the middle of the night had something to do with Melissa's illness.

Leila quickly shook her head and said, "Don't worry, Charles. I'll take good care of Melissa. I won't let anything happen to her." She spoke with such firmness and confidence that it surprised Charles. He thought, 'Why is she saying that to me with such certainty? Is she better than the doctors? Can she cure Melissa's cancer? No! She can't do anything! It's all nonsense!'

However, Charles didn't want to tell Leila any of that tonight. Since Melissa was fine and he was exhausted, he just wanted to end the conversation, go upstairs, and get some rest. Charles had just walked past Leila when she said, "Charles, my friend saw you with Sheryl." It was clear that she had intentionally waited for Charles to get home. She wouldn't let him go so easily. Charles stared at her. He didn't know how to respond. Leila then smiled shyly and continued, "What were you doing at the Bureau of Civil Affairs? You don't look very good. What happened?" She wanted to appear concerned about Charles, but he was certain she just wanted to know if he and Sheryl had gone through with their divorce. Charles lost his patience. He didn't want to talk about the divorce. So he said coldly, "Nothing happened. We just went there to get divorced."

"So, have you finally done it?" Leila asked too quickly and too eagerly, unaware that it would annoy Charles very much.

After she spoke, she immediately realized that she should not have asked the question. She quickly glanced at Charles' face to see if it had angered him. She was relieved when she saw that his expression had not changed and he did not look angry.

"No, we haven't," Charles replied impatiently. He wasn't in the mood to talk about Sheryl, so he didn't want to dwell on what Leila just asked. He just wanted to change the topic so he could stop thinking about Sheryl. "I want to see my mother," he continued. He went upstairs without sparing another glance at Leila.

Leila frowned as she watched Charles walk away.

'What happened?' she asked herself. 'Judging from his words and his expression, I'm guessing Sheryl is doing okay.

Damn it! Did my plan fail?'

Charles didn't look back. If he had, he would have seen Leila's face twisted in anger. He noticed that the lights in Melissa's room were still on, so he knocked on the door.

"Come in," came Melissa's muffled response. Apparently, Melissa had also been waiting for Charles' return.

Earlier that day, Leila had told her that Charles and Sheryl were about to get divorced. Melissa was expecting to know the result. She couldn't wait to hear the good news from her son. "Charles, you're back," Melissa said as she looked at her son happily.

Before Charles stepped into the room, he had already tucked away his sadness and worn a smile instead. "Mother. How are you feeling now?"

There was an old saying that sons and daughters regretted not spending enough time with their parents only when they knew they would never see them again. At that moment, Charles felt like the son in that saying. Ever since he learned that Melissa had cancer, he wanted to do his best to take care of her and stay with her for as long as he could. He wanted to make it up to Melissa and be a responsible son.

"I feel well. Don't worry. I've got Leila to take care of me. I'll be fine," said Melissa. She then looked at Charles. He didn't look happy. Concerned, she asked, "Charles? What happened? Why do you look so tired and unhappy? Are you ill?"

Melissa suddenly felt worried. Seeing this, Charles felt ashamed and blamed himself.

"I'm fine," Charles answered tersely.

Melissa realized that Charles no longer wanted to discuss the subject, and she didn't want to offend him further by continuing. 'It seems that they went to get divorced, but they didn't go through with it today, Melissa thought. 'If they had, he would have told me by now.'

Charles remained silent, so Melissa said, "Charles, I know you don't like it when I talk about this, but I have to tell you to be nice to Leila. Sheryl has been gone for a long time, and Leila has been living with us this whole time. What will other people say about her? She's been living with the Lu family. What will they call her? If Sheryl is your wife, then what is Leila? You have to give Leila your word that you'll make her your wife one day. She deserves your promise. She deserves to be your wife. Think about it. Leila has been taking care of me. She did very well and she fulfilled the responsibilities of a daughter-in-law. You know how well she did. And what about Sheryl? She called herself your wife, but she never did anything good for me. I fell ill, but she never cared. Even though she has now moved out with the kids, she is still my daughter-in-law, correct? But what has she done? Nothing! She never cared about me. Don't you realize that means she also doesn't care about you?"

Melissa's long speech made Charles unhappy and impatient.

'She always says bad things about Sheryl, but she might be telling the truth now, ' Charles thought.

"Okay, Mother. I'll deal with it," Charles said, hoping to move away from this topic.

"Leila is a nice woman. Nancy was a little tired today, so Leila cooked for me. Three of the meals I had today were cooked by her," Melissa said. She ignored Charles' obvious annoyance and continued to talk Leila up.

She did not get a response, so she decided to continue, "Charles, you..."

Suddenly, Charles interrupted, "Alright, that's it. Mother, it's time for you to go to bed." He frowned, staring at Melissa.

Upon seeing Charles' reaction, Melissa finally decided to stop talking. She thought to herself, 'It took me a lot of courage to say what I said just now. Luckily, he feels sorry for me right now, and so he listened to all of that. If Sheryl had still been in Dream Garden, I wouldn't have said such things. In Charles' heart, she was the only woman and the only innocent one in the world. I should stop now, lest my relationship with Charles turn sour again because of that bitch.'

"Okay. If you don't want to listen, I'll stop talking. Head back to your room now, Charles, and sleep tight," Melissa said, trying to sound considerate and gentle.

Charles too didn't want to say anything else. He bid Melissa goodbye and walked out of her room.

Leila saw Charles walk out of Melissa's room. When she saw that he had gone into his own room, she silently walked toward Melissa and asked, "What did Charles say?" She already knew that Charles and Sheryl hadn't finalized their divorce, but she pretended not to know it.

While she had been waiting for Charles to leave the room earlier, she had come to the decision that she urgently needed Melissa's help in order to become Charles' wife. She thought to herself, 'If I keep wasting time like this, Sheryl might get another shot with Charles. They might get back together one day. Then, all my efforts would be in vain. I won't let that happen!'

Melissa looked at her and shook her head. She reached out and grabbed Leila's arm, saying, "I'm sorry, Leila. Rushing things won't help. Look, they have decided to get officially divorced at the Bureau of Civil Affairs. That's a big step. They'll get divorced sooner or later. Marriage is a serious thing, so they can't break it off so easily. They might have a lot of things to talk about."