The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 1600 A Hit-and-run

The next day, Sheryl drove to work as usual.

As she pulled into the parking lot, she found Charles standing there. Initially, she was a little taken aback at finding him there so unexpectedly. Then she heaved a deep sigh, thinking that at the moment she had no way back. Hence she had no other option than to confront him.

Charles approached her car immediately and got into it before she could even park it properly. Startled, Sheryl stared back at Charles trying to read his face. However, Charles just gazed at her without uttering a single word.

"What's this all about, Charles?" Sheryl broke the ice first and turned to him.

Charles remained quiet, pretending as if he didn't hear Sheryl. Inwardly, Charles found that he felt rather calmer than he had thought he could as he confronted Sheryl. But all of the buildup in his mind made him feel rather bitter inwardly.

Sheryl could not take this suffocating silence anymore. She heaved a deep sigh as she turned her head away and looked out through the window. Silence prevailed between the two of them until Sheryl decided to step out of the car.

However, as soon as Sheryl reached out to open the door, Charles grabbed her arm. Sheryl was unable to decipher his strange behavior. She stared back at him with amazement and struggled to get her arm free from his grip, but failed. She glared at Charles furiously, but still he maintained the stern look. Then he looked back into her eyes. Slowly, Sheryl stopped struggling.

"Why didn't you answer my calls?" Charles hissed from between his clenched teeth.

"I don't want to speak to you, Charles. You know the reason. I would like to see you though, in person, at the Bureau of Civil Affairs," Sheryl countered as she managed to gather her thoughts. Suddenly she was terrified of him. Somehow, at that moment Charles seemed to have become a completely different man from the one that she knew.

"Do you have anything to say about these photos?" Charles threw a stack of photos directly in Sheryl's face, while his lips stitched into a straight line and his eyes coldly looked at her face.

It happened too fast for Sheryl to respond. Besides, there was no room for her to dodge. Sheryl could just close her eyes hurriedly, but she felt the sting on her face as the sharp edges of the photographs grazed her skin. But she didn't care. She opened her eyes quickly, and then she collected the photos that were scattered on and around her body. She was even slightly inquisitive to see whose photos they were and why they had angered Charles to this extent.

With the very first look at the photographs, Sheryl's hands trembled. She opened her eyes wide as she spotted herself in those photographs. It felt as if all of her strength was taken away from her in an instant. Slowly, Sheryl felt a chill running down along her spine. Whoever took these photos must have followed her everywhere she went. The photos featured Lewis and her. Actually, Lewis and Sheryl hadn't spent much time together, except for a couple of times when he dropped her at home or picked her up for work. However, all of their meetings were recorded in these photos.

On one hand, having been followed so closely incurred profound fear, and Sheryl remained dumbfounded, and lost in her own thoughts. On the other hand, Charles took it for granted that all of his fancies were true because of Sheryl's silence. It was becoming increasingly difficult for him to remain calm. He took a few deep breaths to calm down.

"Say something, Sheryl. Tell me that I am wrong. Tell me that you have nothing to do with this man. How am I supposed to read your silence?" Charles snapped. But Sheryl just gazed at the photos with a blank expression on her face without uttering a single word. It was as if Charles' words were not even reaching her ears. Charles clutched his hands into fists, until blue veins stood out on the back of his hands. Sheryl was as emotionless as a statue, as if the photos had cast a spell on her.

"Tell me the truth. Is this man the reason why you want a divorce?" Charles yelled at her resisting the rising agitation in his heart.

Sheryl then lifted her head and cast a quick glance at him. The word "divorce" must have whipped her back from her reverie and she now felt the urge to voice her opinion.

"Charles, all of these photos were taken after I had moved out of your house. I want a divorce because you have slept with Leila. Anyway, we're done! You're the one who betrayed our marriage, not me!" Sheryl protested vehemently. She didn't want people to label her as a skittish woman, especially Charles. Even if she had made up her mind to separate from him, she had wanted a decent divorce, not one of throwing dirt at each other.

"Don't deviate from my question. Just forget Leila for a while. I am asking you whether you're seeing this man, or not! Is there any connection between your demanding of divorce from me and this man, Lewis? Charles became more and more irritated as he could not wait to get a clear answer from Sheryl. And therefore Sheryl's silence irked him all the more. Unable to control his temper, he punched into the back of Sheryl's seat.

Sheryl closed her eyes shut as the blow passed too close to her skin. Yes, it did not touch her body, but it hit hard in her heart.

She sighed sadly for both Charles and herself, and then let out a loud and sarcastic laugh.

'Charles, it's time to reach a closure between us. How could we live together when there is not an iota of trust remaining between the two of us? Farewell!' she told her fragile self.

By then, Sheryl had made up her mind to use these photographs as an excuse, and to take the chance to completely break up with Charles.

"You're right, Charles, about everything. I've fallen in love with another man. Now, please do me a favor and sign the divorce papers as soon as possible. Life is short, so we'd better spend it with the one that we truly love." Sheryl's voice was as calm as still water, but every word hurled a thousand arrows at Charles' heart. He was surprised by her abrupt change, from the woman that he knew who was furious every time she mentioned Leila, to this strange woman sitting beside him with an indifferent smile. At that very moment, even though they were sitting next to each other, Charles felt that Sheryl was so far away. He had never seen Sheryl like this before, and his heart was sinking into a bottomless pit.

"No, you're lying!" Charles' voice trembled. He refused to believe her words.

He felt an unbearable sting in his heart which grew into a throbbing pain, as if some invisible hand was squeezing it from right inside his chest. Everything started spinning around him. There was only one thought left on his mind. If Sheryl really turned away from him and started her life with another man, he would then rather die than see it happen in front of his own eyes!

He had come all the way here and forced her to give him an explanation only because he cared about her and wanted to hear a different answer. But when Sheryl confessed, he just couldn't take it. He wished that he had never come here to see her in the first place.

Seeing the paleness on his face and the devastated look in his eyes, Sheryl could tell that her words had worked. She then smiled and lightly stroked her bangs as if she was finally able to put the load on her heart aside. "No, I'm serious, Charles. Since we've gone this far, I can tell you that I don't care what happened between Leila and you. All I want is a divorce because I've stopped loving you. It's good that you came here today; otherwise I would have had to devise a way to communicate with you in person."

The pain in Charles' heart was spreading to every cell of his body, and he gasped to catch his breath.

"No, you are lying. I don't believe you! Tell me you are lying." Charles shook his head repeatedly. He looked as if he now had nothing to live for.

Sheryl could see Charles shattering into pieces right in front of her eyes. She stole quick glances at him but immediately looked away to avoid eye contact with him. Her heart bled to see Charles in this state. Charles opened the door mechanically and got out in such an awkward way, as if it was difficult for him to take a single step and the slightest touch would make him fall flat on his face. He turned once to look a the woman that he still loved, the only one that he had ever loved, before striding away from the car.

Sheryl felt the sting in her eyes but controlled her tears with all of her might. She drew a deep breath and felt as if she had been holding her breath for a long time. She suddenly pushed the door open with a compelling urge to run to him and tell him that she loved him! She could never stop loving him. But she restrained herself with much difficulty.

"I'm sorry, Charles. Farewell, my love!" Sheryl murmured, watching him walking away, and out of her life.

Right at that moment, a car suddenly appeared in front of Charles, and instead of slowing down, it seemed to be speeding up toward him! But Charles' head was hung downwards and he stumbled blindly ahead as if he didn't see it coming.

Sheryl widened her eyes, jumped out of the car and ran to him.

"Charles! Watch out!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. But it was too late! Charles was knocked down by the car before it sped out of the parking lot.

Sheryl threw herself on the ground next to Charles, running her eyes over him, for he was lying in a pool of blood.

She couldn't believe her eyes. Charles had been alive and kicking just a moment ago, but now it seemed his life was bleeding out of him. Sheryl had never seen so much blood in her life.

She sank down further on the ground beside Charles and gasped in panic, tears streaming down along her cheeks.

Sheryl stretched out her hands over his body but didn't know which part of his body she could hold. Although Charles was lying right in front of her eyes, she felt as if he was not there with her.

Right at that moment, Charles groaned and managed to look at Sheryl. With much difficulty, he forced a smile as if to tell her not to panic. And then he passed out.

"No! Charles! Stay with me! Don't scare me! Look at me!" Sheryl finally urged him.

She could see the car speeding away and out of her sight, but she didn't give a damn. She pulled her phone out and dialed the emergency services number with her trembling hands as her eyes blurred with tears.

Her mind was totally blank and she acted completely on instinct.

When the call was answered, she told them where they were in a disjointed manner. Her eyes remained fixed on Charles' face, which still bore traces of smile which he had given her before losing consciousness.

After the emergency services had figured out her location and hung up, Sheryl still kept staring at Charles, who looked like a pulse-less doll lying in a pool of blood.

Sheryl couldn't hear anything. She sat there, numb, with silent tears rolling down over her cheeks. She dared not touch Charles, and was afraid that she would hurt him. Time seemed to have stopped, and every passing moment felt like a century to her.

The only thing on Sheryl's mind was that she would rather go with him if he died, than carry on alone. He had come here solely because of her. And if she hadn't pissed him off deliberately, he would have seen the car. It was all her fault!

Nothing gives greater cause for sorrow than despair. She couldn't feel her legs and arms, and only the beating of her heart told her that she still existed.

"Charles, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! It's entirely my fault. Please wake up! Please... Charles..." Sheryl kept saying this over and over again, she didn't even know how many times she repeated the same words. Sheryl had never imagined that Charles would leave her one day. Even though she was the one who had demanded a divorce, she had known that she would see him from time to time because of the kids. She was in such a state of panic and she had never felt so desperate until that moment. In this moment she realized that she loved him so deeply that she couldn't imagine her life without him. She hated herself for saying those hurtful words to him. Everything was trivial when compared to death.

She wished this was only a bad dream for her. She hoped Charles would open his eyes just once so that she could tell him everything. Together, they would make it through.

Sheryl kept talking, hoping that Charles could hear her and stay with her. She wouldn't waste her time on worrying about her own image getting tarnished. It now turned out that Charles was the one that she should cherish the most, despite him being the one that she had naively believed was an iron man who could never be defeated.

She had been wrong about everything. But she had always felt that she was the weak one in their relationship. However, now she knew that she had been wrong. Was there still any chance for her to correct it?