The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 779 Shirley's Hesitation

"I'm not an idiot." Charles goaded her on while hurling her with a cold and hard stare. His voice was heavy with sarcasm. Leila was panic-stricken as she couldn't get hold of her nervousness. She felt a sudden gripping fear crawling tightly in her chest, while she looked at Charles' livid expression. Her instinct told her that there was something off.

She was mentally convincing herself that she had securely hidden the kids in a secret place. Finding them would be so futile and next to impossible. Charles should have a hard time figuring out the whereabouts of the children.

Leila prevented herself from averting her eyes from Charles. She thought that by keeping eye contact with him, he wouldn't notice the turmoil rising within her. That behind her serene and composed self, she was already trembling inside. Then she cautiously asked, "What do you mean?"

Charles, who seemed to be scrutinizing her face and was trying to gauge her reaction earlier, glanced briefly at his wristwatch and spoke in a slow and consciously unhurried manner, "I mean, the police are out in force today. By this time, they have broken into your house and rescued the two kids. So do you think there is still a possibility that you can go back safely?" Charles said while flaunting a wry and humorless smile.

"No! That's impossible!" Leila shrieked in total disbelief. Her mental rejection was too strong that she stood rigidly frozen. Never did she expect that Charles could be this cunning, leaving her defenseless. He met up with her here, only to create a chance for the police to save the kids.

Coming to her senses, Leila felt infuriated and screamed at him, "Charles Lu! You're such a jerk! How can you deceive me? How dare you?"

"How dare I? Of course, I dare! The lives of the children are on the line." Charles retorted in a mocking tone while shaking his head in great disapproval and added, "Leila, don't overestimate your ability."

As he watched her closely, Leila looking shattered and defeated didn't escape Charles' notice. He then asked, "Do you want to go alone or be with one of my men?" Suddenly, several men in suits appeared behind Leila. One of them stepped near Charles and urged him, "Mr. Lu, we need to hurry up. The police are coming." "Then go and take her away. I'll deal with the police," Charles uttered nonchalantly. His face exuded calmness.

Leila was taken away by these men. And as soon as their retreating figures were out of his sight, Charles closed his eyes momentarily and let out a sigh of relief.

Sooner than expected, the policemen arrived with Shirley. Charles became restless when he didn't see his son, Charlie. He was apprehensive when he asked the policeman, "Where is the boy?" "Don't worry. He is alright," the policeman said grinning. "When we arrived at the scene, the boy was trying to take the girl out of the room. She was wrapped in a bed sheet. He broke his arm by accident when he fell down. Probably, he was startled by the loud crashing sound when we broke in. But the doctor said it wasn't severe," the policeman genially concluded.

"His arm was broken?" Charles instinctively asked, arching a brow. He then approached Shirley and carefully examined her. After making sure that she was all right, a rush of relief washed over him. He turned back his attention to the policeman and said, "Thank you, Sir. I'm going to see Charlie now."

"Hold on!" the officer said in a commanding tone. He suddenly remembered Leila. Charles halted on his tracks when he heard the policeman ordered him to wait and asked him, "Where is Leila? I have asked you to spare more effort than necessary to keep her, right?"

"She..." Charles stammered. Charles paused for a moment as he was mentally considering a plausible explanation. A slight frown was visibly creasing on his forehead. And he said, "I'm sorry. I've tried my best to retain her. But she's supremely devious and way too scheming that she ran away."

"What? She ran away?" the policeman countered expressing wariness. In a stare-down with Charles, he initially set aside his extremely dubious assumptions. He thoroughly scanned Charles' face trying to figure out whether he was lying or not, but he couldn't find anything.

Charles was relatively calm and composed to show any hint.

"Mr. Lu, it's such a piece of bad news for you. Unfortunately, Leila is still at large, posing a great threat to your children's safety."

"I know," Charles acknowledged and nodded slightly. Then he added, "I will be more vigilant in protecting my kids. As for Leila, I believe you can catch her one day. I'm more than positive that she will soon be apprehended."

Charles glanced at the policeman with anticipation and asked, "Can I see my son now?"

"Sure," the policeman relented. Then he made way for Charles.

Charles came with Shirley in his arms. Seeing that the doctor was still preoccupied dealing with Charlie's arm, he decided to watch his son. Charlie stood up right off as his gaze landed on them. He was about to walk towards their way. But he was immediately pulled back to the seat. The doctor helplessly asked, "Sit here! Don't you want your arm?"

Charlie had no choice but to sit back and keenly inspected Shirley with concern. "Dad, is Shirley alright?" he asked worriedly.

"Don't worry, she's okay." Charles couldn't help letting out a chuckle seeing his son's face fretting. Then he bent down to look at Charlie squarely and teased, "Silly boy, why did you try to escape from the window with your sister? Did you want to die?"

Charlie threw a contemptuous glance at his father and quickly said, "That's all because you're too late. It's all your fault."

"You..." Charles couldn't speak for a while. He was taken aback by the cutting remarks of his son. He was slightly annoyed. But he couldn't blame his son for doing such act of bravery. Charles was very pleased as he thought of the fact that both of his kids were sound and safe.

Recalling that he hadn't given Sheryl a call, he promptly dialed her number. He informed her that Shirley was safe. He heard Sheryl gasping on the other line and she sounded like she couldn't stop crying. Isla was in Sheryl's company when the phone rang. While looking at the gamut of emotions in Sheryl's face, she handed her a piece of tissue. "It's okay, baby. Shirley is safe now. You should stop crying. She's all right," she consoled Sheryl.

"I..." Sheryl managed to croak after some time as she breathed deeply. "I am just so happy to hear that news," she continued as she struggled through a hiccup. "I'm so happy, really!" she added with excitement lacing her tone.

"So why are you still sobbing?" Isla gently asked with utmost concern. "Stop crying. Charles and Shirley must think I have bullied you when they come back and see your tears," Isla added teasing Sheryl. Sheryl heaved a sigh of relief. She wiped out the tears that kept on spilling out and replied weakly at Isla, "You can't imagine how I spent these days. And I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if Shirley got killed by Leila. If that happened, I'd rather die. I couldn't bear it to live without her. She's everything to me. She's my life."

"I can understand your feelings," Isla said softly. Isla patted Sheryl's hand to coax her and said, "If Amanda met the same situation, I would do the same things as you did. But Sher, you know Charles worked hard in rescuing the children. He exhibited exceptional skill in handling it. And that proved that he is such a capable man. So why not be with him once again? Give your relationship a chance."

Isla was kind of insistent in persuading Sheryl. She seemed like recounting a tale when she said, "In the past, during the years that you were not around, I witnessed the hardships he had gone through. Every single day he lived in regret. He was in deep pain. But there was nothing I could do to make him feel better. I felt sorry for him. He is a good and kindhearted man. And he loves you so much. So please forgive him."

"Isla..." Sheryl cut in gently as she gave her a knowing stare. Sheryl found herself got into such a predicament. She was confused. Her mixed up emotions made her mind even more a total mess. "I don't want to think about this matter right now. Please give me some more time," she concluded in a soft voice that sounded like she was asking for a bit more of patience.

She knew how painful it was for Charles then. But now, many things had changed. She lacked the confidence to be with Charles again. She was in self-doubt and she couldn't trust herself.

"Okay, I won't push you," Isla said with a grin. She then quickly glanced at her hand and carried on with peeling the apple for Sheryl. Then she said, "I know it's your own business. And the decision is yours to make. I want to give you a suggestion though because I don't want to see you two break up knowing that you love each other so much."

Sheryl kept mute the whole time as she listened to Isla's insights. She knew that Isla was genuinely concerned about her. But she didn't want to think about this matter at this moment. She was not ready yet to put the whole thing into consideration.

Charles knew how devastated Sheryl had been about Shirley's disappearance. So after they arrived at the hospital, he hurriedly sent Charlie to another doctor for further treatment. Then he held Shirley's small hand and led her to Sheryl's ward.

The door of her ward burst opened and Shirley showed up at the doorway. Sheryl, who had just calmed down, felt her tears began to well up in her eyes as she saw her daughter's silhouette. She helplessly started weeping again.

When Shirley saw her mother crying, she felt hesitant. She stood in a daze. Then she raised her head and looked at Charles.