The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 540 Visiting The Lu Family

Chris was unusually cheerful and excited since morning. She took her bath and got ready to go to the market with Nacy. But Nacy did not agree with the idea of Chris's stepping out of the house in such an advanced stage of pregnancy. She raised an eyebrow, and then replied, "I think you'd better stay home. If you want something to eat, just let me know. You don't need to go to the market with me."

"Well... That's fine, then," Chris agreed reluctantly. She thought for a while with special emphasis on the two expected visitors and said, "Get some more ingredients for today. We are expecting some really important guests. Oh, well, buy some snacks and toys for children." Her face lit up with the mention of children.

"Got it," Nacy replied as she took a note of it in her grocery list. After Nacy left for the market, Gary woke up and came into the living room. Noticing Chris literally hopping around the house with a bulging belly made him worried. He approached her and asked in a concerned voice, "Chris, what are you doing? Why are you pacing up and down the hall in this condition? If you need anything just call the servants. You should be taking rest at this time."

"Good morning, grandpa!" Chris greeted cheerfully. "We are going to have some special guest today. They will be reaching very soon. So I asked Nacy to buy more food and other servants to do some cleaning," she said, smiling.

"Visitors? Who?" Gary stared at Chris with bewilderment as he asked. The puzzled look on his face soon turned into an angry frown. Old men of his age get very easily offended if they feel that they have been left uninformed about anything in the house. Demanding a reply, he asked, "Why did nobody tell me?"

A happy yet mysterious smile flashed upon Chris's face, which made Gary more curious. "What's going on? Will anybody care to tell me?" he asked, scratching his head. "You look so excited. It must be some of your important friends," he assumed.

Chris shook her head and said, "It's a secret. You'll know it at night." She grinned as she spoke. Gary tried his best to get the cat out of the bag but failed. Now he had no other option than to wait for the night and see it for himself when the guests arrived.

Nacy followed Chris's instruction and came back with lots of food ingredients. She even kept in mind that they were going to have a child visitor while preparing for the dinner. She stewed the beef in the morning so that it would remain tender when served for dinner. A lot of preparation took place as Chris got the house ready for the special guest.

Inside Leila's Apartment

Leila had a restless night. The anxiousness for the next day prevented her from getting a good night's sleep. She kept turning from one side to another. She could not believe that she was invited to visit Dream Garden as a guest. Finally, her dream to live a rich and affluent life was inching closer to its fulfilment. She woke up with tired eyes. But she was full of enthusiasm and excitement for the evening. She prepared the breakfast in a jiffy and went to call Charlie for the meal.

Although Charlie had known Leila to be his mother from the time he was an infant, he was not at all attached to her. They lived together but they were more like two strangers under the same roof. Charlie was absolutely indifferent to Leila, and she was used to it.

Just like every morning, she knocked on the door and called Charlie to eat breakfast. The door opened and Charlie appeared in clean clothes.

To be honest, Charlie's indifference hardly mattered to Leila. Obviously, she had kept Charlie to serve a gate pass to enter Charles's life. The boy stood in front of her without even looking at her face. "Charlie, can you get changed after breakfast? We need to go out and visit somewhere," she broke the silence. Charlie was dressed in a black suit. Leila looked at the boy and frowned out of dissatisfaction. She though that Charlie's dress was not appropriate for the place and the people they were going to meet. Here she was taking him to meet his great grandfather Gary. He ought to look more cute so that he could grow fondness for himself in Gary's mind.

"Why don't you change into some better clothes?" Leila said in a suggestive tone.

"No," Charlie voiced his opinion briefly. Charlie was a very silent kid as compared to other kids of his age. Most of the times, he kept to himself. He did not even speak to Leila much. It was indeed unusual for a kid of his age.

Leila took a deep sigh. 'Even though I assumed this, I still dreamt that miracle would happen,' she thought bitterly.

"Charlie..." Leila called out his name in an indulgent manner. "Aren't you curious about where I will take you?" she asked.

Charlie didn't seem to pay heed to Leila's question and went on with his breakfast. The clear exhibit of indifference towards his mother was simply inexplicable. He pretended as if he never heard what she said and continued eating his breakfast without even raising his head.

"I'll come to know it once I get there," Charlie replied blandly without even looking at Leila.

Leila was speechless when she heard his reply. Kids of his age jump with joy by the mere mention of an outing. But, look at Charlie. He was just least bothered.

Leila knew that she had to prepare Charlie for the evening. Hence she took a sip of water and spoke to him patiently,"This evening we'll meet two people. One is your father's sister, so you need to call her 'Auntie', and the other is... your father's grandpa, so you need to call him 'Great-grandpa'. Got it?"

"Okay," the boy replied. 'It turns out she'll take me to Charles' family,' he thought to himself.

"Be a polite boy when you get there. Spend more time with your great-grandpa and talk to him. It's your first meeting, so you must leave a good impression on him, will you?" Leila urged him softly. Charlie nodded his head in an affirmative manner when Leila finished talking. After the breakfast, Leila went to the mall and bought some health care products for Gary. Though inexpensive, the products were good enough to appease someone of Gary's age.

Around 3:00 pm, Charlie returned to his room, got changed and put on his new suits. He came back to the living room and said to Leila coldly, "I'm ready!"

When Leila looked at him, she stood still, dumbfounded. The striking resemblance he had with Charles gave her goose bumps.

On their way to the Lu family house, Leila made a call to Chris. As soon as she rang the bell, Chris opened the door herself and greeted them with a wide smile. It had been the second time since she met Charlie. With a bright smile on her face, she adressed warmly, "Hello, Charlie! Nice to meet you! You're so cute."

"Charlie, this is your auntie," Leila said, as she nudged the boy and gestured him to greet her.

"Hello, Auntie!" Charlie greeted politely. Upon hearing this, Chris gave a wide smile. "Don't stand outside. Please come in and have a seat!" she urged gladly as she moved aside to make way for them to come inside the door.

As soon as they stepped into the living room, Leila's eyes roved around to see if Charles was home. However, she didn't get a glimpse of Charles anywhere as far as her eyes went. A dash of disapointment came across her face.

"He doesn't know you'll come today. He isn't here not because he wants to avoid seeing you," Chris said reassuringly as she read Leila's mind. "He is tied up with some urgent work in the office, so he might arrive a little late," she explained.

Leila nodded politely. Since she was Charles's secretary, she knew how busy he was every day as Shining Company was on an aggressive expansion mode.

"Nacy, bring some fruits," Chris called out loudly enough to be audible from the kitchen. Nacy came out with some fresh apples and pears decadently served in beautiful cutleries. The moment her eyes fell upon Charlie, she was completely taken aback. She was amazed to see how this small boy had the same features as Charles did. She stood there in a jaw dropping silence and kept staring at Charlie. "He... he..." she stammered with her mouth agape.

"Don't have a cow," Chris said to the shocked maid with dissatisfaction. "Give fruits to me. You go back to the kitchen and mind your business," she commanded.

Chris brought a plate of fruits and snacks to her beloved nephew. "Charlie, have some snacks," she said tenderly. "Oh, I also bought many toys for you. Do you like them?" she asked as she took out many toys.

"Thank you, Auntie!" Charlie replied politely. He took a glance at the toys on the tea table, including the transformers toys, toy car and other playthings. Actually he wasn't interested in these stuff. But considering these gifts were from his aunt, he didn't show his real thoughts on his face.

"You're such a polite boy," Chris praised him and tried to touch his forehead and stroke his hair. Before she could touch the boy, Charlie walked aside quickly and stared at her warily.

Chris was taken aback by this gesture and frowned out of amazement. She started at Leila expecting her to come up with an explanation. Leila was prompt enough to read her mind and replied, "Don't mind. Charlie is an independent boy. He doesn't like others touch him, not even me."

"Is he?" she responded, surveying the boy. Anyway, she was satisfied with her nephew. Shifting her gaze to Leila, she said, "Just stay here and have a seat. I'll tell grandpa that you're here."