The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 918 The Gown

"Miss Ye, I really don't..." Coral quickly urged herself mentally to come up with an excuse. She groaned inwardly as she nervously scanned Holley's face. She could sense that Holley seemed to know her scheme. She was desperate now in groping for the right words in her mind. But before she could muster a word, Holley coolly commanded, "Alright, just save it. You don't have to explain. I don't want to hear it. She then gave a slow and wicked smile. Her knowing stare kept lingering at Coral, who remained motionless under her scrutinizing gaze. With a sinister smile still plastered on her face, Holley sweetly crooned "Now... Do you still want to go for a walk?"

"Oh! No need," she stuttered with a wry smile. Coral was smart enough to heed the detectable suspicion and sarcasm lacing Holley's voice. She had no way but to give in. "I feel tired now. I want to go back and take a rest."

Coral thought that she had managed to conceal her plan well enough, but it turned out that she only succeeded in hiding nothing under Holley's nose.

She knew that insisting on going out to execute her plan to call Charles would signal a red flag on her status as Holley's enemy.

Her determination to sacrifice herself in helping an acquaintance died down after she gradually knew how powerful Holley was, so she reluctantly decided to forego her intention to help.

If she dared go against Holley's will, her fate wouldn't be better than that of Sheryl.

"Have a good rest," Holley remarked sarcastically as she gently patted Coral's shoulder. Then she started walking into the lift. She found it amusing seeing Coral still standing there as if she didn't hear anything. "What? You're not planning to go up?"

"I'm coming!" Coral snapped out from her thoughts and nervously entered the lift. She was trembling inwardly. But as soon as she heard the ding sound of the elevator, relief washed over her. She straightened herself up and then gingerly stepped out. Her heart was still pounding hard. Though she felt uneasy, she urged herself to turn back and to look at Holley.

She was able to catch the odd smile Holley gave her as she heard her say "Rest well" a moment before the door closed.

That night Coral couldn't fall asleep. She was thinking of the possible actions Holley would do against her. And knowing Holley for quite some time, she could easily guess that she had her men already posted at her door to keep an eye on her. Holley would definitely not hesitate to torture her if she found her acting suspiciously again.

It was during breakfast when Coral went down for food. All the girls were free during the day, as the party wouldn't start until night. Of course, the term "free" only meant that they had nothing to do, but not that they were free to move around. The moment Sheryl saw Coral coming down, she winked at her to ask the question that they both knew. Coral responded with a slight shaking of her head and a bitter smile. Sheryl understood. And the two men in black behind Coral reaffirmed her answer-Coral failed.

"Sher, come and try the biscuit. Quick! It's really nice!" Susan was excited while she shoved the food to Sheryl's hand. She seemed to be not bothered at all by what had happened last night. Sheryl looked solemn. No one could make anything out from her face.

Susan was completely unaware of the situation. She felt worried upon seeing how serious Sheryl looked. "Sher, what is going on? Are you okay? Are you still worried about what happened last night?" Unable to get any response from Sheryl, she naively tried to console Sheryl, "Don't worry. Coral agreed to help us contact Mr. Lu, right? Mr. Lu will be here anytime soon.

So let's have our breakfast now."

"If she succeeded, we wouldn't be still sitting here having breakfast now," Sheryl explained to the carefree girl. For the entire night, she had waited for Charles and couldn't let herself close her eyes to get a wink of sleep. She knew that if Coral succeeded in letting Charles know, he would come immediately at any cost.

She had anticipated that and believed Charles was about to show up any minute.

But that shimmer of hope was eventually doused out after she realized that Coral's plan had failed.

Her mind refused to accept this nagging feeling. She desperately needed to validate this hunch because she might be possibly wrong. She held onto the tiniest spark of hope at the bottom of her heart even though she already had the answer in her mind. She confirmed with Coral again, only to find out that they indeed failed.

Susan finally realized how dire their situation was and she grew anxious. "Then that means Coral failed to contact Mr. Lu?" she mumbled shakily.

"What do we do now? Are we really going to attend the party?"

Her anxiety manifested itself as a series of questions that bombarded Sheryl. "Don't worry. There is going to be some other way," Sheryl consoled the poor little girl.

Before they could come up with "some other way", they heard Holley's people scurrying over with gowns in tow. They handed Sheryl a nicely designed backless piece in a gold-tone fabric. And Sheryl couldn't help vividly imagining her glorious and gorgeous self with this piece of garment.

Then they gave Susan a very-usual-not-fancy-nor-ugly-looking pink gown.

Sheryl gritted her teeth at the contrast of the two gowns. She openly showed disgust towards that stunning piece of clothing. 'It seems that Holley is so anxious to wrap me as a package in that delicate gown and present me to the buyers,' Sheryl thought.

"Sher, you would be so attractive wearing this..." She heard Susan complimenting her with envy.

Susan was still a little girl at heart. She got easily attracted to fashionable clothes as all other girls would.

Sheryl was not happy at all to hear the flattering remark. "No matter how visually pleasing it is, I don't want to wear it."

"Why?" Susan inquired. She looked baffled.

"Have you forgotten what is waiting for us tonight? The more I am well dressed up, the more attention I will draw. Don't you know this simple logic?" Sheryl exclaimed helplessly, expounding each word as if she were teaching a life lesson.

Susan listened intently. And when she let everything registered in her mind, she finally realized what Holley's real intention was. "Then..." she stammered. "Then what do we do now? Shall we... I mean... Are we going to swap our dresses?" Sheryl almost rolled her eyes out of exasperation when Susan continued asking such questions. Her naiveness made her worry even more. It seemed to her that Susan only absorbed what she had mentioned earlier at a surface level and she didn't go to the extent of comprehending her words to exact a better judgment.

Sheryl was pacing in the whole room mulling over her thoughts. "Do you really think Holley would allow this to happen?" she shot back.

"Then..." Susan pleaded. "Then what do we do now?" Susan was getting scared now. And like a broken record, she repeatedly asked the same question. She had no idea what she could do and was absolutely clueless about what was going on.

Sheryl resolved to gather her thoughts. And after she calmed herself down, she proceeded to the bathroom to change.

The gold-tone gown was as smooth as silk, and it gave a dazzling allure in the dim light. The hem fell short above her heels, barely touching the ground. And it gently swayed when she moved. The waist was as slender as a snake accentuating her soft figure. The neckline was shaped to enhance the fullness of her breast, making her more a sexually-appealing woman. Sheryl was like an elegant narrow-necked vase if viewed from afar. To the rich men, who would closely inspect her, she would just be like a vase. And that was the harsh reality. And as if that weren't appealing enough, the side of the gown was slatted, outlining her alluring curve, vaguely revealing her white legs, slender and straight.

And her hair? Her crowning glory was nicely coiled up into a bundle. If ever she took her silver hair clip away, you would be fortunate to see the silky hair streaming down like a waterfall.

The taste of Holley, Sheryl had to admit, was definitely at a professional level. Her choice for the gown had accentuated all her attractiveness as a woman. Staring at herself in the mirror, who had never been dressed so elegantly like she was tonight, Sheryl now felt more like a gift to be presented to the dirty men attending the party.

The moment Sheryl emerged from the bathroom door, Susan was dumbstruck with her innate beauty and she couldn't take her eyes off her.

She had expected Sheryl to be beautiful, but the level of beauty in front of her now exceeded her imagination.

She regarded Sheryl in awe. "Sher, with that gown, you are so beautiful," she couldn't help complimenting.

"Yours is also good," Sheryl sincerely praised Susan as well.

Her eyes swept over Susan. She looked lovely in the crystal-studded pink gown, which reminded her of diamonds, stars, and morning dew. It had showcased her young body and had complimented her gem- like shiny legs.

"How great it is to be young!" Sheryl exclaimed.

"Sher, thank you. That's too much of a compliment," Susan acknowledged shyly.

Then they both heard someone knock at the door and ask, "Miss Xia, Miss Su, are you ready?"

"Yes," Sheryl casually replied. She opened the door. And there stood Holley with a big grin on her face.

At moment of surprise flashed in Holley's eyes, but she quickly suppressed it. She then commented with a polite smile, "I knew it would fit you."

Nonchalant, Sheryl didn't even trouble herself to say a polite "Thank you".

"Alright, since you are ready, then let's go now." Holley did not seem to care about Sheryl's cold reaction. It only made her sneer at the two before she turned her back around and led them out of the room. Holley's man then gestured the way to the girls and said, "Miss Xia, please."

Susan felt defeated as they had no choice but to go. Sheryl was nervous and frightened too, but she forced herself to calm down. Noting the tight grip on her left hand, she gently squeezed it back. "Don't worry I'm here," she softly reassured the scared girl. Glancing at Susan beside her, she was determined to be strong for both of them. She needed to be vigilant of what was about to happen, in order not to miss the slightest chance for her to escape.

Those words were like magic to Susan, giving her the courage that she desperately needed.

'That's right. Sher is still with me. There's nothing to fear about,' she thought.