The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 539 Leila's Sinister Plan For Charlie

Charles agreed and told Charlie, "Okay, I'm leaving now. Please don't forget to call me."

"Okay," Charlie politely answered. Charles stopped for a while and looked back to Charlie, then waved goodbye. Charlie nodded and waved back. As Charles was about to open the door, Leila tried to grab his right arm to stop him from leaving, but Charlie was quick to stop her. "Enough! Don't you feel ashamed?" he sharply whispered in a cold tone.

Startled, Leila murmured,"I...I just want to..." Leila watched intently as the door was opened and then closed by Charles. Her knees faltered. Then little by little, she squatted on the floor while Charlie supported her as she slid. She wanted to drag down Charlie with her so she could ask why he didn't help her in stopping Charles from leaving. But she melted as she gazed at Charlie's face and recognized the striking resemblance with Charles'.

Charlie went to the kitchen and came back shortly with a glass of water. "Here, please drink this." Then he added solemnly, "What if you managed to make him stay? He would be physically present but his hear would be somewhere. So, you won't achieve anything even if he is here."

Nobody could ever imagine that a kid could utter such words like an experienced man. Leila pulled him abruptly and said, "Yes, I can't make him stay, but you can!"

Leila felt so convinced that Charlie was her last chance to get Charles and she was determined to make full use of it.

She grasped Charlie's right hand tightly and bitterly said, "Listen, you are his son. If you have asked him to stay, he would have been obliged to. Why didn't you do it?"

"What would you do if I did make him stay?" Charlie confusedly inquired. "What do you want to do next?" he followed up.

Leila was visibly surprised by Charlie's questions. "I..." She suddenly lost her words and became speechless. She had to admit that she could not do anything to make Charles fall for her. She knew that Charles didn't love her, and his unwavering affection was still with Autumn, his dead wife.

She once was very confident that Charles would learn to love her if she persisted. But she was wrong. She only proved to him that she was an unscrupulous woman after all the flirty efforts she exerted. Charlie sighed deeply and said, "Please think it over. I'm already tired and sleepy. I'm going to bed. Good night."

Leila nodded and lovingly replied,"Good night, Charlie. Let us just pretend that this did not happen okay?" Alone, she couldn't help but wonder, 'Apart from Charles, there are so many good and attractive men out there. Why can't I teach myself to just love somebody else?'

From a squatting position, Leila decided to sit on the floor. For a long time, she stayed there still trying to figure out whether she would continue being persistent or just give it all up. Then, the phone rang. She got up and walked to the phone. She picked it up and with a gloomy voice answered,"Hello." Chris was at the other end of the line. Chris didn't notice Leila's sullen mood and asked directly, "Did my brother leave?"

"He left," Leila answered.

"Great! Hey Leila, I just had this very good idea to make my brother fall for you," Chris excitedly told Leila.

She thought Leila would be ecstatic to hear her idea but Leila just sneered and asked,"Really? You said the same words last time."

With no more cards to play, Leila was already hopeless.

She failed miserably in her last attempt to captivate Charles. Truly heartbroken and desperate, Leila even wished to die.

"Stop with all the nonsense girl, it's different this time," Chris said with a mixture of smile and embarrassment. Then she boastfully added, "Okay here's my genius plan. It doesn't matter if my brother won't agree. But, my grandpa must know and meet Charlie. He must know that Charles is the father of Charlie and his great grandson. I'm pretty sure he will force Charles to marry you. Believe me, you can get my brother if grandpa will support you. Brilliant, right?"

"Are you sure that your plan will work?" Leila asked in a bitter tone. Then she coyly questioned, "Do you think your grandpa would accept me as his grandson's wife?"

"Yes of course. Why not?" Chris said. Determined to make Leila agree, Chris continued, "If grandpa won't accept you, I'm cent percent sure that, at the very least, he will accept Charlie. And, since you are Charlie's mother, he will be compelled later on to help you too. Trust me, that's how it goes in our family. Then, I'll do my best to persuade him to force Charles to marry you. Autumn has been dead for years now. I believe my grandpa is also hoping that Charles would soon get rid of her memories and move on."

Discouragement was quite audible from Leila's voice, so Chris insisted, "Leila, I know you went through excruciatingly tough times, but you have to stand up on what you really want and stick with it. You chose to be with Charles, so pursue it. This time the chance of success is extremely high. So, might as well give it a try. I will take care of everything for you. All you have to do is to bring Charlie with you. The three of us will have dinner with my grandpa. I am very confident that he will be very happy to see Charlie. I know he has been waiting for so long to have a great grandson."

Eventually, Leila was convinced and submissively replied, "Fine Chris, you won. Have you decided when and where?"

Chris celebrated in her mind. She felt proud and absolutely right in thinking that no matter how difficult, Leila would buy the plan and own it without regret.

With a little pause, Chris confidently replied, "I'll meet you and Charlie tomorrow. Here in our house. Make sure both of you are here before seven, okay? Bye then!"

She surmised it would be better to do it the soonest time so that Charles would have no time to think and refuse.

As Chris was about to hang up the phone, Charles entered the living room. Chris immediately put the phone back to its cradle. As usual, Charles seemed very depressed. Chris approached him and greeted, "Charles, have you eaten dinner? I just ordered Nacy to prepare some soup with tomato and beef. Do you want to have some?"

"No, thanks," Charles answered indifferently. He was so upset and didn't have the appetite to eat anything. The only thing that he wanted to do was to take a bath and go to bed. In his mind, he had this ardent wish that when he woke up in the morning, his life would be back to the way it was when Autumn was alive. Always happy and complete.

As he was going upstairs, Chris sweetly called, "Charles, please hold on. We will have two guests coming tomorrow night. Can you come home earlier and have dinner with us?"

Puzzled, Charles with his raised eyebrows inquired, "Guests? Who are they?"

Chris felt anxious but tried to strongly contain her emotions. She replied back with a grin,"It's a surprise. You will know when they arrive here tomorrow. Charles, you stand as the host of our family. Remember, it will be impolite if you won't be here to welcome them."

Still gloomy, Charles gave an obscure answer. "I'm not sure yet."

But, Chris insisted, "My dear brother, I know your days are always hectic just by taking care of our family business and, I must admit, you are doing a great job. Please, just for tomorrow night. I will really be so delighted if you could, at least, show up?"

Chris grabbed Charles' hands and begged, "Please, the two guests I invited are very important to me. Please be certain that you will attend the dinner. If you will be late, I will just tell them to wait for you. They know you very well so I'm sure they will understand. Please be here tomorrow night."

Charles was already full of Chris' pleadings, so he reluctantly agreed. "Okay fine, I knew you will not just take no for an answer."

Chris smiled victoriously as Charles finally conceded to her fervent request. "Thanks!"

The following morning, Chris woke up unexpectedly early. Revitalized from a very good sleep, she excitedly stood up and went to the kitchen. She found Nacy. She instructed her to buy the needed stuff for the planned dinner. At first, Chris wanted to join her, but Nacy refused and rationalized, "Miss Lu, you are pregnant. The market is very dirty and crowded. It's not safe for you to go there."