The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 1597 Gossip News

Sheryl was blinded by the headlights glaring at her. Quickly, she covered her eyes with her hands and turned around.

In panic, she fell to the ground and take cover. When she opened her eyes again, she saw the car speeding away from her. She patted her chest, desperately trying to catch her breath. This was, by no means, an accidental occurrence.

She got up from the ground once she had calmed down and looked around at her surroundings. After confirming that there were no suspicious people or cars around, she reached out to the car door, praying that she could get out of here as soon as possible.

Before her hands could touch the door, however, she felt a sudden pat on her shoulder that almost scared the wits out of her.

Like a frightened bird, Sheryl dropped her key to the ground and turned around quickly. The next moment, her eyes caught sight of Lewis' face. She felt relieved to know that it was just a false alarm.

She heaved a deep breath, complaining as she rolled her eyes at him, "Don't you ever do that again! You scared me to death!"

Sheryl leaned against her car, slowly patting her chest. She thought that the man who had tried to run her over came back to finish the job.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you. But are you okay?" Lewis asked, both confused and surprised. His impression of Sheryl was that of a strong, independent woman. The sight of sweat beads on her face was something he never thought he would see.

Having realized that she had mistaken him for another person, Sheryl nodded at him apologetically and said, "Someone was driving toward me and I thought..."

"What?" Lewis widened his eyes and moved closer to her, carefully eyeing her from head to toe. After confirming that there was nothing to worry about, he stopped right in front of her, shaking her shoulders, and asked, "Are you sure you're okay? Should we call the police?"

Sheryl bit her lower lip, regretting the quick slip of her tongue. She shouldn't have mentioned that to him. Lewis was just a business partner and her personal life was not meant to be shared with him.

"Maybe I am just overthinking it. Maybe the driver got distracted or perhaps he had a few glasses of wine. Relax, it's no big deal!" Sheryl shrugged his hands from her shoulders and slowly moved away from him.

Lewis' face revealed an embarrassed smile. He scratched his head. "Maybe so, but you need to be more careful. Why don't I drop you off home? It's getting late," he suggested, looking at Sheryl expectantly. "Thank you, but my car is here," Sheryl refused, pointing at her car.

As the pair stood at her company's parking lot, Sheryl wondered what Lewis was doing here and quickly concluded that he had been waiting for her again.

Meanwhile, Lewis was also thinking along the same lines. He gave her a gentle smile and explained, "I parked my car here because I was meeting a friend for dinner at a restaurant nearby."

"Oh, okay. Well then, I'll see you later. I'd better go now. The kids are waiting for me," said Sheryl, wasting no time to get in the car.

However, Lewis stopped her and insisted, "It's already late, Sheryl. Even if nothing happens, I can't let you drive home alone. Please, for my sake, I insist!"

He looked into her eyes with deep sincerity and determination.

In truth, Sheryl's heart was still trembling in fear at the moment. It would be better to have someone around, and thus she cast aside the idea of driving home by herself. She nodded at Lewis with a smile and closed the door to her car.

Neither of them said much to each other on the way to Sheryl's home. Sheryl kept averting her eyes while keeping the conversation to a minimum. She tried to make it look like she had no idea that he had feelings for her, while Lewis tried to feign indifference. He was just glad to be able to spend some time with her.

When they arrived, Sheryl gave him a grateful nod and got out. Lewis followed her out of the car without saying a word. It seemed like neither of them felt like breaking the silence.

Sheryl took a few steps forward and then stopped, as if she had forgotten something. She turned around and said, "Thank you, Lewis. Please don't bother picking me up tomorrow morning. Isla lives nearby, and she can give me a ride to work. Good night." She remembered that Lewis came to pick her up the morning after the night he had taken her home. To prevent such an incident from happening again, she decided to come clean.

"Are you indirectly tell me to pick you up?" Lewis asked with a smile, half-joking and half-hoping.

"No, please don't get me wrong!" Sheryl replied seriously and shook her head without hesitation.

Amused by her unusually cute reaction, Lewis couldn't help but raise his hand in an attempt to caress Sheryl's hair as he murmured in a soft voice, "I understand."

Sheryl moved aside to avoid his contact without a conscious thought. It was clear that both of them felt awkward. Sheryl looked away, scrambling to find a way to excuse herself.

Lewis heaved a sigh silently to express his disappointment. He told himself to be patient. Sheryl was not yet ready to start a new relationship.

"See you later. Sweet dreams," he whispered, drawing back his hand.

"See you. Please drive safely on your way back." Since Lewis kept silent, Sheryl didn't talk about his advances either, although she had been prepared to refuse him.

She turned around and walked straight inside without looking back.

Lewis stood there, waiting for her to get inside before he got in his car and drove away.

Sheryl stepped in and leaned against the door, annoyed. She was a woman who preferred having a clear-cut stand on relationships. If there was anything that she hated the most, it was ambiguity between a man and a woman. Although Lewis didn't declare that he wanted anything more than a friendship, Sheryl wanted him to stay away from her. She just didn't know how to say it to his face.

If she decided to tell him straightaway, it would hurt his feelings, which Sheryl was reluctant to do. After all, he was a sincere and decent gentleman.

Sheryl shut her eyes, feeling helpless. She could easily tell that Lewis had a crush on her, but unfortunately, she didn't feel the same way as him. It was nice of him to offer help out of goodwill, but it was not what Sheryl wanted.

She tried hard to come up with an idea to put an end to this awkward situation, but failed.

She then decided to sleep on it. Perhaps tomorrow, she would be able to come up with a solution. After all, a new day brought in new possibilities.

The next morning came as per usual.

With determination for a new start, Sheryl got up and left for work fairly early.

Since she had decided not to give Lewis any false hopes, she tried her best to avoid making any contact with him, especially in a situation where they'd find themselves alone in each other's company. Just as Sheryl had expected, Lewis stopped by her community. He waited patiently until he spotted Joan taking Shirley and Clark out to the kindergarten. That was when he realized that Sheryl was long gone. He shook his head and cracked a bitter smile, but it was not enough to snuff out his feelings for her. He cheered himself up and strengthened his resolve before driving away.

Inside the office, it had barely been two seconds since Sheryl sat down when Isla came barging in through the door.

Sheryl couldn't help smiling at her. Sometimes, she really admired Isla's temperament. Isla always did whatever came to her mind. Sheryl, however, always forced herself to calm down and think things through before taking any action. People seldom saw Sheryl get anxious.

"What's this all about?" Sheryl switched her computer on and cast a quick glance at Isla. Her voice didn't carry any genuine curiosity.

Isla rushed to the table and threw her phone before Sheryl, panting and gasping for air.

Judging by the sweat on Isla's face, Sheryl guessed that something bad had happened. She knitted her brows and took the phone into her hands. A video clip popped into her eyes with a series of photos on the roll.

It had been a long time since Sheryl's name made it to the headlines of the front page. When she married Charles, there was an overwhelming amount of news in domestic media concerning her. That was then and this was now. She felt flattered by the fact that she was still worthy of making headlines again.

'The wife of Shining Company's president seen with another man at midnight!'

The title was staggeringly shocking and hurt Sheryl's eyes for a moment.

"Sheryl Xia, the wife of Shining Company's president and the boss of Cloud Advertising Company, was caught having an affair. Photos of her and her mysterious lover were taken in a parking lot at midnight. From the photos, we can see that they're quite close to each other..." The photos were of her and Lewis, and in addition to them, there were photos of her trying to get rid of Ferry. Someone had been following her all this time.

Isla waited for an explanation, impatiently propping up her hands on the table.

She had been checking the online news websites on her way to the office and was taken by surprise to see that the headlines were all about her best friend. She then came to Sheryl without any delay. Isla had gone through some of the comments, which were crude and offensive to say the least.

"Sheryl, what is going on? What were you and Lewis doing in the parking lot? Why did Ferry show up at the mall while you were there? How did these photos end up online?" Isla threw one question after another at Sheryl, eager to know the truth from her.