The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 1746 Self-blame

"What?" Charles, are you all right?" When Melissa heard that Charles was almost struck by a car, her heart almost skipped a beat. After scrutinizing Charles from head to toe, Melissa heaved a sigh of relief. She was finally assured.

"I'm fine,"

Charles said in a flat tone and then headed upstairs. At the moment, he was quite worked up. He couldn't even handle the matter with Sheryl properly, let alone Leila.

As Charles disappeared from her sight, Melissa turned to Leila. At this moment, Leila was the only person who could tell her what had happened.

Pulling Melissa's hand, Leila lowered her head as if in dismay. "Aunt Melissa, Charles, and Sheryl had a huge fight today," Leila said in a dejected voice.

"Really?" Melissa's eyes grew wide as she heard this. "Tell me what happened. You even got injured. I'm so worried." Melissa's breathing quickened. She heaved another deep sigh to slow her breathing down. She was so petrified at the moment, that even the news of Sheryl quarreling with Charles again, could not help to flush away her worries.

Even though Leila didn't know what exactly happened between Sheryl and Charles, she could more or less deduce from their reactions that they were having a heated argument. While narrating the incident to Melissa, she deliberately projected Sheryl as a villain.

"Did Sheryl say outright that she was in love with another man?" Melissa asked Leila, a mix of disbelief and anger in her voice.

Leila nodded her head, feigning a helpless look on her face. "Aunt Melissa, I love Charles wholeheartedly, and you know that. However, he only loves Sheryl. And that heartless woman betrayed Charles! I feel so sorry for Charles. What else can I do?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Leila lowered her head and started to sob. She behaved as if her heart was broken into pieces at seeing Charles being betrayed like this. Melissa looked at the bandages on Leila's body with a lot of concern and felt sorry for her.

At the same time, every fleeting thought about Sheryl left a bitter taste in her mouth. Her heart filled with disdain, and she cursed her luck for having Sheryl as her daughter-in-law. As much as she regretted this, she couldn't help thinking how good it would be if Leila was her daughter-in-law, instead of Sheryl.

"Leila, stop crying now. You've never seen Charles like this before, have you?" Melissa said as she patted Leila's shoulder. "I believe he has given up this time. I'll talk to him right now. Drink some water and ge some rest." Melissa then continued to console Leila for a while, before she went upstairs to see Charles.

Leila wiped her crocodile tears and watched Melissa climb up the stairs. She knew very well that Melissa would get nothing by talking with Charles at the moment. However, she didn't stop her, as she thought that Melissa was his mother after all. Charles might not get angry with her anyway.

"Knock, knock." Melissa knocked at the door.

"Come in," Charles said. His voice was filled with fatigue.

He looked up as Melissa quietly walked in. A trace of dissatisfaction ran through his face. It was so fast that it went unnoticed.

"Mom, is there anything you want from me?" Charles asked with a frown.

Melissa looked at him with concern. She had a frown on her face, and her eyes were full of motherly love. She had thought of multiple ways to start the conversation, but after Charles started first, her series of thoughts was interrupted, and she forgot what she wanted to say.

After pondering for a while, she said, "Leila has told me everything. Don't you have anything to share with me?" Melissa looked into Charles' eyes and marked the dark circles under his eyes.

The moment their eyes met, Charles suddenly felt that his mother had aged a lot. A sense of self-blame quickly surged into his heart-he felt that he hadn't taken good care of his mother.

There had been several reasons-partly due to his growing tussle with Sheryl, and also due to his business commitments. All the while, Charles had neglected Melissa. 'She isn't very healthy. Recently she must be suffering a lot,' Charles thought to himself.

"Mom, I have nothing to share with you. I'll handle the matter with Sheryl on my own!"

Even though Melissa didn't bring up the point, Charles knew that she wanted to talk with him about Sheryl. Hence, he brought it up even before she could start digging information from him. Aware of Melissa's health condition, Charles spoke politely in a soft tone-much softer than his normal tone.

Melissa was taken aback at getting such a polite reply from Charles. She almost thought that she didn't hear it right. She had been mentally prepared to face Charles' agitation since he'd just fought with Sheryl But to her surprise, Charles didn't seem to be angry at all.

She heaved a deep sigh as she reasoned it out in her mind. She concluded that Leila's method did work. As long as she pretended to be sick, Charles wouldn't be harsh on her. Even if she were to ask him to leave Sheryl, he just might agree.

Melissa cleared her voice and said, "All right. Since you said that you could handle it, then I won't push you anymore. But I have to make one thing clear to you. I don't want Sheryl to be in the Dream Garden anymore."

Taking this opportunity, Melissa expressed her firm stance to Charles. 'If I don't make it outright and plain, perhaps Charles may not even know what I'm thinking, ' Melissa thought.

She was afraid that Charles still had the hope that Sheryl might come back to him again. She knew that she had to kill his last hope.

The moment Melissa finished her last word, Charles stiffened his brows. He looked at Melissa's face, which had a very stern and unforgiving expression. He wanted to say something but refrained from speaking up, thinking that it would be to no avail. After all, she hadn't liked Sheryl from the very beginning.

"Charles, say something!" Seeing that Charles became silent after hearing her verdict, Melissa probed him to speak up.

"Mom, can you just stop?"

Charles started to become impatient at this point.

Melissa stood there and remained silent for a while. Then suddenly, in the wink of an eye, she covered her chest, and her breathing became abnormally fast.

Charles sprang up and rushed to his mother. Helping her to sit down, Charles asked in a concerned voice, "Mom, how are you feeling now? Are you alright?"

Melissa still kept struggling with her breathing, her face getting paler with every passing moment. Charles almost freaked out, seeing the deteriorating state of his mother. He continued to speak with concern, "Mom, let me get you some water. Don't get angry. I'll listen to you."

Having no choice left, Charles had to agree to what Melissa said. The only thing that he could do right now was to stop his mother from getting agitated and to make sure that her health did not get affected by this.

"Do you really mean it? Will you do as I say?" Turning her head to Charles, Melissa eyed him with disbelief. She seemed to be a little relieved, as well.

Charles nodded his head. At the moment, the utmost priority for him was Melissa's health. Everything else would have to be pushed back.

"Alright then, divorce Sheryl as soon as possible. You know my health condition. I'm not sure whether my body will sustain it or not. You better listen to me. Otherwise, I might just die of anger!"

Melissa deliberately portrayed herself as a fragile patient and pretended that she would die at any moment if he continued to remain married to Sheryl.

Charles' mind was in a total mess at the moment.

Eventually, he managed to console his mother. And after she was more pacified, he helped her to go down the stairs.

When Leila saw that Charles was helping Melissa climb down the stairs, she sprinted towards them and asked nervously, "Charles, what happened to Aunt Melissa?"