The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 872 Force Her Way

As a granddaughter, Sheryl had rarely seen Amy getting furious at someone. However this was not the first time she witnessed her grandma getting enraged to such an extent. The last time she saw this face of Amy was the time when something happened between her and Charles. Amy had always been gentle and good-tempered, and would not be triggered unless someone had really done something severely offensive. Apparently, Peggy had irked her beyond her point of tolerance.

For a moment, a slight sense of embarrassment flashed on Peggy's face. However, she very promptly shrugged it off and asked confidently, "This is our family matter. How does it matter to you?"

Amy jeered and retorted, "The place where you are standing right now is my house. You have come to my house and yelled to my granddaughter. And now you are childish enough to say that it has nothing to do with me!" Amy looked at Peggy from head to toe. She needed no more clue to understand where she was coming from. She cast a disgusted look at her and warned her harshly, "Let me tell you something. You better move your ass off now, or else I will show you no mercy."

"You old jerk..." Hearing her threat Peggy became all the more defiant and uncourteous. She showed no respect for the old lady. As she was about to hurl some more curses at her, Sue's voice cut through their conversation as she walked down the stairs. "Clean your dirty mouth before you talk!"

Peggy stared at Sue and spoke in a sarcastic manner, "Well, I thought you were going stay inside forever." Peggy continued hurling her daunting remarks on Sue, "I can see how easy and convenient it is for you to just hide behind this old woman, isn't it? Why did you even bother to come down?"

"Didn't I ask you to rest in your room? Why did you come out?" Sheryl questioned Sue as she looked at Sue with creased eyebrows.

Amy, too, frowned at Sue, thinking that now it would be even more difficult to make Peggy leave.

"How can I really take rest?" Sue gave a crocked smile and continued, "Moreover, this is something between me and her. How can I... just hide behind the two of you and escape from it?"

"That's no big deal for us. You need not to come in between. Just go upstairs," Sheryl replied gesturing Sue to go back to her room. However, Sue seemed to have made up her mind to confront her mother. Despite Sheryl's repeated requests for her going back to the room, Sue stayed there, unwilling to move even for a step. Feeling Sue's resolution, Amy then persuaded Sheryl to cease asking Sue, "Aright. Since she chose to come down, then let's respect her decision. Don't worry. We will stay here and keep an eye on her."

After she settled the conversation with Sheryl, Sue turned to Peggy and asked in a cold tone, "Let me hear what you want to say. Why are you here today?"

Peggy sneered back, "You and this good friend of yours planned together to set a trap for me. Now, you are asking what am I here for? Don't you think it's just too funny?"

"Set a trap for you?" Sue raised her brows and pouted her lips to express her astonishment at Peggy's remark. Sue's face broke into a sarcastic laugh as she continued, "You are such a clever woman, Peggy. How can I make you fall into the trap?"

"You..." Peggy was rendered speechless. It was true that it was none other than Peggy who was responsible for the situation at hand. She had it coming.

Peggy shouldn't have trusted Sheryl in the first place. She should have been more cautious. After all, Sheryl was a close friend of Sue. It was obvious that Sheryl would stand by Sue instead of her. It was indeed stupid of her to believe in Sheryl's words! She regretted getting swayed away by Sheryl's innocent face.

Besides, she should not have underestimated Sue. But technically speaking, it was hard not to fall into the trap. She had been controlling Sue all her life. How could she imagine that her prey would turn around and attack her one day?

"What?" Sue raised her eyebrows and questioned Peggy. "It seems you have nothing to defend yourself now?" With a disdainful look, Sue continued, "Peggy Li, I know why you have come here today. Now let me tell you, don't ever imagine that I will pay for you. Do whatever you like."

"I think you haven't learned your lesson last time." Peggy was getting increasingly impatient. Bursting in anger, she began to threaten Sue, "You think I can't do anything to you if you keep hiding here? Okay, give it a try. You will see the consequence. I will beat you to death! Right here, right now! Let me see who stops me!"

Peggy rolled up her sleeves as she spoke and got ready for a fight. Immediately, Sheryl stepped forward.

She spread her arms taking both Sue and Amy at her back. She had to protect both of them -- one, her old granny and the other, an expecting mommy.

"Aunt Peggy." Sheryl glared right into Peggy's eyes with an unwavering look. Slowly, Peggy's hand that she had raised to hit Sue came down. Peggy kept looking at Sheryl feeling helpless. She had no reason to raise her hands on Sheryl. And with Sheryl as a protective wall between her and Sue, she could not even reach out to Sue.

Now she realized Sheryl was not as innocent as she seemed to be. She should not have taken Sheryl's politeness as her foolishness. Sue could not have defied her like this without Sheryl's support. Rather, Sheryl could be the mastermind behind the whole plot. Sue was her daughter and Peggy knew it very well that she did not have such courage or power to get back at her.

"I just want you to know, that Sue is your daughter and not your moneybag. She is not your property. You have no right to force her to give you anything or to beat her whenever you want," Sheryl stated with a cold and stern face.

Peggy creased her brows and expressed her displeasure at this uninvited intervention from Sheryl. She retorted, "Sheryl, this is between Sue and me. It is our family matter that we can resolve on our own. It's none of your business. I know you are her friend and you want to help her. But remember, I am her mother. And it is my right as a mother to scold her or beat her if I need to. I pampered her a lot when she was a child. Now I understand that I need to discipline her and also use my fist whenever and wherever I need to. There is no one greater than a mother who can decide what is good and what is not for her child. Don't you agree?"

"It seems you will not change your mind not matter what?" Realizing that Peggy was not going to give up, Sheryl sighed and continued, "Aunt Peggy, why don't you just tell us what you want?"

Suddenly there was a tinge of smile on the Peggy's face which had a worried expression all this while. Upon hearing Sheryl's words, Peggy gazed at her with contempt and replied, "I know you have some power in Y City. You have been very crafty in plotting to force me out of Y City. But I am sorry to disappoint you. That is not to be."

Stealing a glance at Sue, she continued, "Sue, I know that you have always wanted to cut off all ties you have with us. Alright, I will give you the chance now."

Upon hearing this, Sue frowned and stared at her with disbelief. She knew her mother very well. There must be some catch in what she was saying.

"I will set you free. Yes. But you have to agree to my conditions. And I promise, in return I will steer clear from your life and never show my face to you ever again. I will forget that I even have a daughter." "That's impossible," Sue retorted strongly. "Forget about 500,000 first. I don't even have 50, 000 in my pocket. Plus, I believe you are aware, that now I have a baby to take care of. That also costs money. If you... If you really insist, then I guess there is no way for us to sort this out on our own. See you in the court then. Let the judge give his verdict on this."

Peggy was completely taken aback by Sue's reaction. The Sue she knew was an obedient girl. Though Sue argued and used harsh words sometimes, but it was never difficult for Peggy to make her give in to her commands.

She kept illtreating her submissive daughter all her life and the poor girl always struggled to make her happy. She believed that Sue would give in to her threat just like before. But she never expected such a strong counter attack from Sue.

"Have you gone mad? Did Sheryl teach you this? You want the judge to solve such a trivial family matter. Don't you have shame? Well if you don't have it, I do. It will be a reason for me to give up my life before watching my own daughter contesting me in the court." Peggy's anger was again triggered. Her face went red as she spoke.

"Now you know it is shameful?" Sue sneered at the word "shame", which was no where to be seen in Peggy's past deeds. "I don't want to do this, either, but I'm left with no choice. It is indeed shameful, as you said, to bring our family matter on court. However, if I allow you to abuse me, I will suffer even more. So, Mom, it is not my choice, but yours."

"You..." Failing to force Sue to give in, she changed her strategy. Now she tried to treat her emotionally and persuade Sue in a soft way.

Forcing some tears out, Peggy pretended that she was also a victim. "Sue, I have no choice also. Are you... Are you really so cold-hearted to see me suffer?"

Putting up a face that seemed extremely painful, she continued her performance. "I know. I know you are angry at me because I was unfair to you. Yes, it is true that I have only bothered you and loved Allen more than you. But there was a reason behind that. You should sympathize with me.

Last time you just ran away and left Allen to get beaten up. Since then his leg never recovered completely. Even now he can't walk properly. All the companies he applied for just threw him out because of him being a semi-disabled candidate. Till now, he has not been able to find a decent job. I don't know for how long I will be able to take care of him. What will happen to him after I am gone?"

She paused to sigh, and then continued, "He doesn't have a job, so he can't earn money. But I know that you can. So I can only..."

"Just stop your nonsense," Sue jeered at her explanation. "Just admit you only love him and not me!"

"Yes, I admit I love him a little bit more than you," Peggy replied. "But you should also know that it is not my fault. Before Allen was born, I had three daughters. And what did the daughters bring me? Nothing! They brought me nothing apart from disrespect, insult and cold attitude from my parents-in-law. Finally it was only when I had a boy that my status in the family improved. I owed so much to Allen. I... I had no choice but to love Allen more.

Now luckily Allen found a woman who is willing to marry him, and moreover she is with his baby. You should know how hard it is for Allen to find a wife, especially with his disabled leg and our humble family background. Of course I have to do everything I can to make Doris stay. Sue, I know that this would make it hard for you. I also don't want to trouble you with the money. But... I am just an old useless woman. Where else can I get the money from if you just turn your back on me like this?"