The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 1778 Asked For Leave

Charles fell silent. After they boarded the plane, he suggested Melissa get some rest.

Once she awoke from her slumber, they had reached Malaysia.

Soon, a driver drove them to the hotel. Charles was quite impressed with the interior of the hotel. He had known that David could arrange his trip perfectly.

"President Lu, your guest rooms are on the 15th floor, Room 1505 and Room 1507," the receptionist at the counter very politely said to Charles after he showed her his identity card.

Charles nodded curtly at the receptionist. After he finished checking in, he took Melissa to the elevator.

"Charles, this hotel is the exact same one I used to stay with your father. I can't believe how much it has changed! It was completely different when I came with him. Now I can barely recognize it," Melissa said emotionally as she thought about Charles' late father.

He had no idea his mother had stayed in this hotel before. In fact, if he had any clue about it, he would have avoided it. The last thing he wanted was for her to become emotional.

"Mom, you're not alone. I'm here for you." Seeing the sadness on Melissa's face, Charles pulled his mother into his arms and comforted her.

"I appreciate it, Charles." Melissa tried to smile to make him feel better.

Charles had taken a room next to Melissa so he could ensure she was safe. Now, after helping her unpack her luggage, Charles said to her, "Mom, since we are in Malaysia, you have nothing to worry about. Leave the worries behind so that we can enjoy our vacation. I bet you must be very tired after the long flight. Why don't you take a nap? I need to freshen up too. After that, we shall go shopping." "Sure, as you like."

Melissa listened to Charles and stayed in the hotel.

Charles tucked Melissa in before he went to the rooftop of the hotel.

One of the best qualities of this hotel was the view it provided. People could stand on the rooftop and get a glimpse of the entire city. It was indeed a breath-taking view. Today, the weather outside was quite windy. In this dozy state, Charles found himself lost in thought. Slowly, his mind began to think about Sheryl. 'What if Sheryl was here with me today! How beautiful that would be! Her presence would be enough to make my day happy,' he thought gloomily. He realized that without Sheryl, even the beautiful scenery was no longer beautiful. For Charles, nothing could compete with Sheryl in terms of beauty. In the Shining Company, David was hard at work.

Charles had asked him to take care of all the work. Also, he reminded David to keep a close eye on Leila. And Charles was right to give such instruction. Leila had behaved well when Charles was at the office. However, she became shady the second Charles left.

When Charles was there, she would always come to work on time. But when David returned from the airport, he didn't see Leila anywhere. Confused, he asked Alice, who worked in the Secretary Department, about Leila.

"She has asked for leave, David. I thought you knew about it?" Alice looked at David in confusion.

'Asked for leave?

Right after Charles left?'

David's confusion grew more intense. Suddenly, his face turned gloomy.

"Is anything wrong, David?" Alice asked David out of curiosity, thinking that Leila had made some mistake.

"Nothing, could you please help me call Leila? I want her to transfer the project she is working on before she takes her leave,"

David said and went back to his own office, not giving Alice any chance to respond.

Watching David's receding figure, Alice sighed and murmured to herself in disappointment. Then she took out her phone and dialed Leila's number.

'Why couldn't you just call her? Everyone in the company knows about the relationship between Leila and President Lu. This is going to be extremely awkward!' Alice mentally complained as she waited for Leila to pick up the call.

After all, Alice was entitled to complain about it. Although Charles and Sheryl were still married, everyone knew that Sheryl had left Charles. And now Leila's appearance at the Shining Company compelled them to believe something was going on between the two. The employees weren't fools. They could read between the lines.

After what felt like hours, Leila finally answered the call. Alice spoke in an embarrassed tone as she said, "Leila, David asked you to come back to the company."

Although both Leila and Alice were secretaries, Leila's position was much more senior than Alice's. So Alice carefully watched her words when she spoke to Leila. A feeling of inferiority was evident in her tone. "Alice, don't you know that I asked for leave? What did you tell David?" Being asked to go back to the company, Leila became very disappointed.

Hearing Leila, Alice felt like she had put herself in the firing line because of David. For a moment, Alice mentally cursed David for his carelessness. 'How could he put me in this situation, and now that he has done it, do I have a chance to refuse? No! I hope Leila won't be harsh,' she prayed.

In a redeeming tone, she said, "Leila, I know you wanted to take a day off. And yes, I mentioned that you told me about it. But David, all of a sudden, insisted I call you. If it was up to me, I would never have bothered you."

Alice hoped her explanation would clarify any doubt that was in Leila's heart. Moreover, she didn't want Leila to think she was talking behind her back.

"Fine, I believe you. Now, I shall call David and sort it out,"

Leila said coldly and hung up. She was very annoyed with this disruption.

If everything went as per Melissa's plan, Leila could go to Malaysia very soon. At the moment, she was busy packing her luggage in advance. She didn't want to miss her flight because of work. Since Charles wasn't at the company, Leila thought she might go back to the Dream Garden. After all, this trip was something she was excited about. However, David had interrupted her happiness. After taking a deep breath, Leila called David.

Even without glancing into his phone, David knew it was Leila calling. He waited for a few moments before he answered.

"David, why would you want me back at the company? I don't know this project any better than you do," Leila said, raising her voice as she questioned David impatiently.

Hearing Leila's anger on the other end of the line convinced David that something was amiss. 'She must be up to something behind Charles' back, ' he thought suspiciously.

"Leila, you are the one who decided to take responsibility for this project. Of course, you know it better than me. President Lu had asked me to draft the final proposal for this project. If not you, who else should I be calling?" David challenged Leila.

Leila knew that David was making trouble for her. However, she couldn't find an answer to retaliate with. David had a point, plus the mention of Charles dissuaded her from arguing any further. Without another option, Leila listened to David.

"Fine, what do you want to know about? I will tell you on the phone," Leila gritted her teeth while she answered David.

David was glad to have gotten on Leila's nerve, but he replied calmly, "I'm afraid that you might have to come to the company. Isn't it better for us to talk face-to-face? After all, this is an important project. I don't think President Lu will be happy if something goes wrong."

What David said made Leila even angrier. There was a part of her that wanted to lash out at him. But she knew better than that. Instead, she hung up and sped to the company, hoping that she could get the work done as soon as possible. Her mind was still fixated on the luggage, which she intended to pack once she had wrapped up her work.

Normally, it took her some time to get there. But today, Leila got to the company quite quickly. This left David surprised.

"Leila, may I know the reason why you wanted to take leave?" David slowly asked Leila.

"That's none of your business, David," Leila snapped impatiently.

"Whoa, calm down, Leila. I was just concerned. I thought there must be some emergency. Anyway, let's not talk about it if you don't want to. Going back to the project, I want to know..." David shrugged and smiled at Leila as he got straight to the point.