The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 764 An Unsuccessful Talk

Sheryl hastily carried Shirley in her arms and said to Anthony, "Please, leave us now. I don't want to see you anymore."

She was again afraid that Shirley would be stimulated by Anthony's presence. So she hugged Shirley tightly. Her whole body trembled.

"Sher..." Anthony said with a bitter smile. Then he continued, "I can bear your hatred or dissatisfaction towards me. But straightaway avoiding me just wouldn't solve the problem at all. I just want to have a talk with you and clarify things. Even if you want to... you want to end our relationship, we should have closure before the breakup, shouldn't we?"

Sheryl hesitated for a while and then finally nodded her head slightly. "Okay, I can give you only half an hour. Is that enough?"

"That's long enough." Anthony kept on nodding after hearing her positive answer. As long as she was willing to discuss with him, he would not mind whether the time was long or short.

Then Anthony and Sheryl headed toward a small park next to the apartment. Sheryl let her daughter play on the nearby swing. They just sat on one of the adjacent stone benches and watched Shirley play. Sheryl fixed her eyes on Shirley. Actually, she didn't want to have a chat with Anthony at all.

Eventually, Anthony opened his mouth and broke the silence, "Shirley... Has she felt better now?"

"I think, you have seen her conditions," Sheryl replied with an ironic grin. "She doesn't talk or smile now. The doctor said she has had slight autism."

"I'm so sorry. I..." Anthony smiled sadly and sincerely expressed his regret. He had never thought that his behaviors after getting drunk could bring such big harm to Shirley mentally.

"Anthony, please don't say sorry to me again. It's too late. That word can't make up for anything at all now," Sheryl said impatiently. She had been tired of listening to his apology. To be honest, she agreed to talk to Anthony because she merely wanted to clearly end their relationship.

Anthony's face turned red out of embarrassment after he heard her words. He glanced at Sheryl and exclaimed, "I know you really hate me now. But Sheryl, whatever I have done, I did so because I love you so much. I didn't know what I should do just to keep you at that time. So I have to..."

"Love me? So much?" Sheryl interrupted with an ironic smile. "If your behaviors were the reflection of your love, then Anthony, your love is so selfish and really scary. I just can't afford your love," Sheryl frankly continued.

Although Anthony turned gloomy upon hearing her words, he maintained his temper and explained, "Sher, I didn't mean to do what happened that night. The drunkenness and your aloof attitude had made me do the wrong thing. I really... I really don't know what to do and how to make it up to you now."

"Anthony, I'm not talking about what happened that night," she tilted her face and coldly replied. She glimpsed at Anthony and suddenly surmised that the man standing in front of her was so strange.

"So, what are you talking about then?" Anthony furrowed his brows and inquired in bewilderment. "I know that you have regained your memory. And you must also have known your real identity now. But you should always remember who kept on accompanying you all these years? Who took care of you and Shirley all the way? Sheryl, where's your conscience?" Anthony lengthily added.

"That's precisely right, Anthony. But I have never denied, even in a single instance, what you have done for me and Shirley before. However, you should know that we became together because of your lie. Since the very first day when I opened my eyes after I had taken the pill, you told me that you were my boyfriend. For the past three years, I have lived in that lie. Could you know how pressured I felt earlier?" she interrogated bitterly.

"I lied to you because I love you. Why couldn't you understand that?" Anthony forced one corner of his mouth into a half-smile. "Even though I'd cheated you, you should realize how much I have done for you in the past three years. Why couldn't my efforts replace the outcome that was brought by that lie? Or, you are dissatisfied with me because of Charles?"

he asked with a sardonic smile.

"Anthony, what do you mean by that?" Sheryl hardened her expression when she heard his unreasonable accusation. Anthony obviously pushed her red button. She originally didn't want to mention Charles. But she never expected that Anthony would firstly speak about him.

"You should know what I mean," Anthony smirked as he replied. "We got along with each other very well while abroad. But you insisted on coming back. You have been with Charles these past few days. I was happy that you came back. But then you tried every little thing just to break up with me. Sheryl, what I have done were all forced by your behaviors. It was you who indirectly caused all the shitty things that recently took place," he lamented in a calm voice.

"Enough with all the bullshit, Anthony!" Sheryl angrily interrupted his sharp words. She grinned in dissatisfaction. She never thought that Anthony would hold her accountable for everything. She said with a smug smile, "Anthony, you are irritatingly ridiculous."

"I'm irritating? I'm ridiculous? Alright, maybe I was always a ridiculous clown in your heart." Anthony laughed at himself pathetically. "When you needed me earlier, all you had to do was call me. I'd always be by your side to comfort you. But when you don't need me anymore, just like now, you just want to dump me. Have you ever considered my feelings?" The more questions that Anthony asked, the more bitter he fel inside.

Sheryl stood up and uttered to Anthony, "If these are what you want to say to me, then I have nothing to talk to you anymore."

After finishing her words, she turned around and was about to leave. Anthony immediately grabbed her arm and stated imploringly, "Sher, don't be angry, I know... I know I crossed the lines with what I said just now. But please, I beg you to understand me! I just don't want to break up with you."

He stared at Sheryl pathetically and continued, "Charles is not a good man. I knew it much clearer than anyone else. Sher, please just come back to me. We can continue to be together as if nothing had happened. I will be nice to both Shirley and you just like before. We can take Shirley overseas. We will seek for her treatment there. And we can stay there and never came back just like our old days. What do you think of it?"

He held Sheryl's hand tightly and begged her, "I have gone through so many things in the last few days. And I'm tired of it. I just want to spend my whole life with you. I don't want somebody like Charles to step in between us. Please trust me, you won't be happy if you choose to be with him."

"So you mean that I will be happy if I am with you?" Sheryl rebutted with a sarcastic smile.

Anthony paused for a second upon hearing her words. He gazed at Sheryl and even thought how she became so strange to him.

Sheryl fixed her eyes on Anthony and spoke in a faint voice, "Anthony, I once believed that I knew you best. But I haven't realized that I actually didn't understand you at all until today. I don't know what kind of a person you are and don't even know how much of terrible things that you have done behind my back."

She looked at him and continued in despair, "Anthony, I can't be with a man like you. I truly don't understand you. That will surely make me feel... feel so terrible."

Anthony's expression turned grim with her refusal. He thought that what she alluded to was that thing Andy and him had done. So he instantly caught Sheryl's arm and hurriedly explained, "Sher, please listen to me, that thing was not what you have thought of."

"So how should I think of it? Sheryl queried directly as she shook Anthony's hand off her arm.