The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 759 Remorse And Apologies

Carlson stared at Laura for a long while before he finally made up his mind. "If you stop me, I'm going to leave you. Do you understand? I'm not going to tolerate such an unreasonable wife."

Laura was dumbfounded. 'What did he just say?' They may have had their disagreements, but he had never made such a bold declaration like that before. For a moment, all she could do was stare at the man in front of her. It was like all of a sudden, Carlson wasn't the husband she had known for so long. She could feel something cold from him that she hadn't felt before. He was no longer the man who always did her bidding.

"So you want to divorce me?" Laura asked, still in disbelief. She couldn't be too sure - maybe Carlson didn't mean it, and maybe it was an impulsive statement. The more she looked into his eyes, the more evident it became how serious he was, and it took her everything to not completely spiral down into panic.

Anthony saw the tension between them, and intercepted, "Alright, that's enough. You're both acting like children. If you don't want to apologize, then that's that. I'll go with dad, and you'll have nothing more to do with it. How's that?"

Laura stayed silent. How did she end up in such a position, she wondered. It was all quite a series of events. Laura was a prideful woman, but she would rather go through it with her son than leave it be. "No," she sighed in defeat. "I will go with you."

They arrived at Sheryl's place in the evening with all kinds of fruits and tonics as gifts. Arthur and Amy were inside with Sheryl, and were ready to leave when they heard a knock on their door.

Nancy went to greet their guests, but her face went sour when she saw Anthony's face on the other side of the door. Her demeanor instantly turned unwelcoming, and she turned them away. "What do you think you're doing here? You'd better leave."

"Nancy, I'm just here to see Shirley, I promise. Has she gotten better? Please let me see her," he pleaded. Anthony knew they had every right to turn him away, but he truly wanted to check on the little girl. Nancy plastered a bitter smile on her face. "Sheryl and Shirley are completely fine, as long as you stay away from them. They're better off without you bringing your mess into their lives. No one wants to see you." Ready to leave it at that, she moved to close the door.

"Nancy, please." Anthony held it by the edge, desperate to stop her. "I know that I've done wrong. I know I've brought them harm. But please give me a chance to apologize... It means everything to me that they know I'm sorry. That's all. Please don't..." He smiled, and it was a weak smile, but a kind one. "Please don't shut me out."

Nancy wasn't moved. "We don't need your apology. As long as you leave Sheryl alone, we won't have to shut you out. So go." Her voice was stern.

Observing the whole interaction was Laura, standing behind Anthony, and ready to tell the woman off. "Who do you think you are, bitch? My son has come all the way down here to apologize, what more do you want?" Her arrogance was surfacing without limit. "If you have any good sense, get Sheryl out here now, or I'm teaching you a lesson."

Nancy just smirked at them. "You stupid woman. You have no right. What makes you think you can demand for Sheryl to see you? Let alone listen to your lame excuse for an apology?" Laura looked ready to pounce on her, when they all heard a voice from inside the house.

"Nancy, what's taking you so long? Who's that at the door?" It was Sheryl. She wondered what could've been holding her up for so long.

Not wanting Sheryl to come out and see their visitors, Nancy hastily called back, "It's no one! I'm coming."

Back in the room, Amy and Arthur got caught up chatting with Sheryl, but they were ready to leave. "We should get back now. Don't hesitate to call us when you need help, okay? We'll come by as soon as we can." Amy reassured her granddaughter.

"I know. Thank you, Grandma," Sheryl was ever grateful for their concern and affection.

"Sher, it's me, Anthony. Please let me in. I just want to talk." A desperate voice cut through the pleasant atmosphere.

Her expression dimmed, and Arthur was enraged. "How dare he come here! Is he really that shameless? Don't you go see him, Sheryl. I'm going to teach him a lesson."

Before Sheryl could do anything, Arthur was already walking towards the door. He was shocked for a moment to see the entire Xiao family waiting for them, and then the shock returned to even more heightened anger. "What are you all doing here? Scheming as a family again to hurt my granddaughter?"

"Grandpa Arthur..." Anthony said in shame, his voice gone low like a deflated rubber ball. "I understand that you're angry, you have every right to be, but..." Anthony tried to explain cautiously, "I don't mean to hurt her. Could you please let me see Sheryl for a while, I just want to..." His head bowed, he needed to show that he was sincere. "I want to apologize."

His plea was received by Arthur just as badly as by Nancy. "We don't need your apology." Arthur was ruthless when it came to protecting his family. "We will thank you so long as you never bother them again." "Uncle Arthur." It was Carlson, this time, to intercede. He felt so guilty as he saw Arthur's furious expression. There was nothing for them to do but keep begging for Sheryl to come out. He was fully aware that these were part of the consequences of their actions. They had done terrible things, and caused unforgivable pain to the mother and daughter. He could only smile apologetically. "We came here to apologize, a sincere apology. I know Anthony has hurt her, and nothing can ever make up for that. But I want to make it clear to her that we know what we've done, and we're taking responsibility. Please trust me, we all need this closure. And whatever you ask of us after this, we will do. If you ever need our help, we will do all we can to help."

Carlson shook his head and bowed down. "I felt so ashamed when you called me. I'm terribly sorry that my son has done such an awful thing to the. It's me that didn't stop him. We deserve any punishment you deem fit. We want to do what we can for Miss Xia."

Arthur's face remained emotionless, and unmoved. Carlson continued, "Uncle Arthur, you and my father are good friends. You watched me grow up, you know me more than anyone here. What happened was... unfortunate, but unexpected. Now that it's done, we want to end it properly. Won't you let us do this?"

The expression on Arthur's face finally softened at the sincerity of Carlson's words. He knew he could at least trust the man's heart. But before he could say something, Laura interjected, "That's right, Uncle Arthur."

With her tone, she only made things worse. "After all, they were a couple. What's so wrong about it? Anthony was drunk that night and he couldn't control himself. He didn't mean to do it. Is no one capable of being the bigger person and letting it go?"

What she suggested made Arthur's eyes go wide. He couldn't believe her words. "What's so wrong about it?" He took a step closer. "He was drunk? He couldn't control himself?" At that point, he could tell there was no hope for that woman. She was blinded by her arrogance and selfishness, and there would be no reasoning with her anymore. "Get out." His tone went deadly cold.

"Grandpa Arthur..." Anthony quickly tried to remedy the tension again. "My mom hardly ever thinks about what she says, she'll say anything to get a rise out of you. I'm the one responsible for my actions here. I'm the one who's at fault. Will you please let me through, Grandpa Arthur?"

All softness was gone from Arthur. "No." His refusal was direct. The whole episode was put on pause, however, when Sheryl came into view. The others went silent when she approached the door, and Anthony was overcome with shame. The more he saw her, the worse he felt.

"Sher, you don't need to avoid me. I only want to see Shirley. I want to see for myself if she's gotten better. There's nothing behind it, I swear."