The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 392 Rachel's Pregnancy, Edward's Fury (Part One)

Charles wrote down his phone number and email on a piece of paper and handed it to the photographer who promised to give him the photos he took of Charles and Autumn. "I will send them to you once I get home," the lensman assured. There were no wedding pictures before, and Charles was very glad that he could make up for it now. The couple were so overjoyed and profusely thanked the photographer. Dinner was equally enjoyable as Charles and Autumn had their share of sumptuous seafood. The next day, the couple went snorkeling and then climbing. Autumn knew she would always treasure their stay in the island resort, calling it the best days she had ever spent with her husband.

Meanwhile, Leila could not wait to get back to work as soon as the wound on her face started to heal. On her return, the rumors about her relationship with Charles had become widespread. The woman worried that if Charles heard of the rumor, he would treat her differently, and her efforts would have been for nothing. The other concern was David, who had left with Charles on the day they came to visit her. So she was quite anxious to see her boss again.

She had been waiting for hours, but still Charles did not show up and his office door remained shut.

Finally, she asked Alice who happened to walk by. "Alice, why hasn't Mr. Lu shown up yet?" Leila inquired. She had pulled her co-worker aside.

Surprised, Alice replied, "Oh, Mr. Lu said he was going away for a week with Mrs. Lu. They're on their honeymoon."

It was Leila's turn to be stunned.

"Honeymoon?" she nearly squeaked.

Her thoughts were in a scramble.

Inwardly she groaned. 'I've been doing everything so Charles and I would become closer,' she thought. 'But once they get back from that honeymoon, their relationship will surely be stronger. What am I supposed to do now?'

Struggling with anger, she clenched her fists, which did not go unnoticed by Alice. She could not help but mock Leila, "They are husband and wife, after all, so there's nothing wrong if they went on a honeymoon trip, right?"

She continued to taunt Leila, "Why the long face? Are you all right?"

Leila quickly composed herself, and used her condition as an excuse. "Oh, I'm fine, although I suddenly don't feel well."

Alice pretended to be concerned. "If you're not feeling well, why don't you go home and rest some more. Mr. Lu did give you a holiday, didn't he?"

She looked at Leila closely and gave a slight smirk. Alice wished she could say her thoughts aloud. 'I know Leila has feelings for Mr. Lu. But how can she be so shameless as to ask me about his whereabouts like it was any of her business? Her ambition to break up the newlyweds by becoming his mistress is just a foolish fantasy!'

Aside from anger, Leila also felt insulted but chose to remain silent. She swore under her breath while clenching and unclenching her fists. 'I like Charles and he will fall in love with me, sooner or later. And when I become his partner, I am firing this woman!'

It rained on the last day of Autumn and Charles's honeymoon trip. She dropped to the bed and watched rain pelting the windows of the hotel room. She sighed, "I was planning on going out for a walk, but I guess that's not going to happen. Tsk. Tsk. Such a pity to end the trip staying inside the hotel."

Charles sat beside her and rubbed his wife's arm. "That's okay. We can always come back once a year, if you like."

She was still upset as Charles packed their luggage. "Hey, don't be sad. We're leaving soon," he said.

It wasn't only the rain that had dampened Autumn's mood. She didn't want to leave because it was the best time she had ever had.

Suddenly, she jumped off the bed and declared, "When we grow older, we can look for an island where we can shut ourselves off from the world. Agreed?"

Charles hugged Autumn tightly, released her slowly, and promised, "I definitely agree! And no matter where you want to go, I will be there with you. Whatever you want to do, I will do my best to make it happen."

Autumn used a local SIM card during their overseas trip. She replaced this with her own card upon arriving at Y City. As soon as the phone powered up, it started pinging to indicate several messages being received. Many were from Roger. One read, "Mrs. Lu, big news!"

The messages were sent just that day. Autumn was about to call Roger when Chris ran towards them. She was tasked to pick them up from the airport. It was difficult to be the bearer of bad news, so she started to apologize. "Charles, Autumn, something bad has happened. We won't be driving home first."

"What happened?" Autumn asked worriedly.

She was guessing it had something to do with Rachel. Otherwise, Roger would not have been sending her several messages.

Fearful and anxious, Chris replied, "Rachel called. She said Edward hit her. I need to go to their house."

More than being worried about Rachel, Chris feared that Edward would beat the woman to death, if he truly lost control of himself.

Charles stepped forward and patted Chris on the arm.

"We'll go with you," he said.

He stowed their luggage in the trunk and took the car key from Chris.

Charles drove as fast as he was allowed. Chris was beside herself with worry that Edward would really become unhinged and get himself in big trouble. She remembered how he roared while she was on the phone with Rachel.

Beside her, Autumn held Chris's hand for comfort. "Don't worry. We'll be there soon."

Being welcomed by a very disturbing incident was the last thing Autumn expected. At that point, her good mood and happy memories from their trip were overshadowed by the distressing news. If it were only possible to buy a ticket and run away to anywhere. She simply wanted to escape from such depressing situations.

Twenty minutes later, they arrived at Edward's house. Chris and Autumn got off, and Charles went to park the vehicle. Upon reaching the door, they heard something crash. The door was open and they entered just as a vase came flying towards them. The two women managed to duck in time, and the vase shattered into pieces. They gripped each other's hands in fear.

"Father!" Chris cried out.

Edward's fury was written all over his face. He had broken everything he could get his hands on. There was no place to stand clear of shattered glass or porcelain. "What are you doing here?" Edward thundered.

He was astonished at his daughter's presence. Slowly, he rubbed his face, hoping to wipe away the rage.

"Rachel called to say you quarreled. What are you doing, Father?"

She was nearly in tears while looking at her surroundings.

Chris saw broken glass, books, and paper strewn all over the floor and the house in disarray.

"This has nothing to do with you," Edward replied, trying to calm himself.

"You can leave now. I can handle this."

Chris pleaded with her father. "What happened to make you do all this?"

When he remained silent, she said, "Tell me, please. You're making me nervous!"

She crossed the room, avoiding everything that was scattered on the floor until she stood in front of Edward. She caught his hand and with a worried look, asked again, "What happened that made you so angry?"

Edward felt the rage slowly coming back.

"I told you it had nothing to do with you," he snapped.

Chris's persistence triggered his temper anew. He would rather lash out at Chris than admit shamefully about her stepmother's unforgivable situation, which had shook his world.

He slapped away Chris's hand, but the force threw his daughter off-balance so she ended up slumped on the floor. Chris saw the cut on her hand caused by the shards of porcelein strewn on the ground. Chris hissed in pain as she saw the trickle of blood oozing from her hand.

Autumn quickly helped Chris rise to her feet. She asked, "Are you hurt?"

Chris shook her head to assure Autumn that she was fine, and the injury was not serious. Throughout her ordeal, she kept her attention on Edward, who could no longer hide his fury. She had never seen him so angry and it terrified her.

Just then, Charles walked into the room, frowning at the mess and looking at the faces of Chris and Edward. He looked around for Rachel but did not see her. He saw the cut on Chris's hand then asked, "What happened?"

As Chris was about to reply, the bedroom door opened and Rachel stepped out. She had locked herself in, fearful that Edward would hurt her. As soon as she heard Charles's voice, she came out to seek help. Rachel quickly moved behind Charles and grabbing his hand she pleaded, "Please help me!"

Rachel was in a dilemma about when to tell Edward she was pregnant. But she learned his lawyer was scheduled to come to the house that day and would be discussing about transferring his shares to Chris. Rachel knew she had to do it today. Edward had previously told her he did not want another child, but she did not take his words seriously.

So Rachel told Edward about the pregnancy and was stunned at his reaction, because he flew into a rage and slapped her hard on the face. Shocked and in pain, she was terrified he would hurt her even more. So she ran into the bedroom, locked herself in and then called Chris.