The Apple of My Eye

Chapter 407 Cindy's Fears

Cindy looked at her mother, considered for a moment, and then walked towards Abby. Fear was written

all over her face. "Mom…" she called out.

Abby smiled at her little girl in encouragement. "Come. Don't be scared." She thought of what Cindy

had been suffering through recently and felt guilty and sad. She held out her arms to the girl and

hugged her for reassurance. Then she gently asked, "Can you tell me what Gina said to you?"

Cindy felt her heart pounding. She kept quiet, hesitant to answer her mother. Then she saw Autumn,

who gave her an encouraging look while Abby kept repeating, "Don't be scared, I won't allow anyone to

hurt you."

The girl shut her eyes for a moment. Clasping her hands together, she began, "She said you and Dad Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

wouldn't like me anymore and would drive me away once the baby was born."

Just the thought of being sent away made Cindy break down and cry. Then she pleaded with her

mother, "I promise to be a good girl from now on. Just please don't send me away."

Everyone who heard Cindy was aghast and felt pity for the girl in tears. Abby turned to Andy and said,

"Look what you've done. You made Gina a part of our family, fed her, and let her stay in our home, but

what did she do? She fed Cindy all this nonsense! Cindy is only a little girl and I won't let anybody hurt

her." She hugged Cindy protectively. "If you don't ask Gina to leave, I will never go home with Cindy, "

Abby threatened.

Andy was shocked at what Cindy said. He felt pain for his daughter after learning of her ordeal. He

approached the girl, squatted in front of her and said, "Cindy, come."

She hesitated, and reached out to Andy. He looked at his daughter and saw the once cute and naughty

girl gripped by fear after reliving Gina's cruel words. And she had suffered in silence, with no one

noticing.

She stood quietly and then was hugged by her father. Cindy was still shaking inside. Andy gently

asked, "Did she say anything else? Did she do anything to you?"

Cindy quickly bowed her head. "She…" Starting to sniffle again, she said, "She pinched me. And it was

painful." Looking at her father, she went on, "Then she told me not to tell anyone about what

happened."

Again, everyone was shocked by the revelation. They never thought someone so young could bear so

much suffering. Abby felt her heart break as Cindy narrated what Gina did. She quickly pulled Cindy to

hug her tightly and burst into tears.

And Cindy broke down into tears along with her mother.

Andy's face turned dark. Like any father, he would do everything to protect his children. He promptly

called his so-called aunt and demanded she take Gina away immediately. If she did not leave, he

threatened to call the police.

But instead of understanding the situation, the woman turned nasty, insulting Andy and blaming him for

not rewarding her family even as he had benefited from their care when he was young.

Andy did not argue, and kept quiet until she finally got exhausted from talking. Then he spoke

emphasizing every word. "You should be thankful I did not call the police to take Gina away. I don't

know how much I benefited from you, but I am aware of every gift and the money you received from my

family every year. You don't want me to lose my temper so you'd better do as I say."

Andy hung up, took a deep breath to calm himself and spoke to Abby. "Please stop crying. I've already

asked Gina to leave."

Then he hugged Cindy again and reassured her repeatedly that she would never be abandoned no

matter how many children they had. The little girl looked at her father and felt relieved.

Everyone was grateful that the problem was settled early on. Even if Cindy suffered, she would heal

quickly. Had it not been discovered immediately, the outcome would have been more devastating.

Abby did not even dare imagine what would have happened to her daughter if they never found out

what was bothering her.

Because of the drama the guests witnessed, no one wanted to continue playing the game and they all

decided to go home. While watching TV in bed, Autumn thought about what happened to Cindy and

again felt a bit distressed.

Charles saw how much Autumn was affected by the evening's events. They agreed that once they had

a baby, only people close to them could babysit and no one else.

Autumn wanted to shake off the heavy feeling so she got out of the bed. "Where are you going?"

Charles asked in surprise.

She smiled, patted her husband's cheek and then said, "I'm going to get some milk to help me sleep.

You go ahead and sleep." She changed into pajamas and headed down to the kitchen. Before she

reached the bottom of the stairs, she heard Nancy answer the phone. Although she tried to keep her

voice low, Nancy's voice could be heard clearly from the stairs because the rest of the house was very

quiet.

Autumn could hear Nancy saying to the caller, "Don't hurt him, please. I'll give the money you want, but

I need more time."

Nancy paused to listen, then pleaded, "Yes, I know. But it's a large sum of money, which I don't have

right now. So please give me more time."

Again she listened before finally saying, "Thank you! I now know what to do. I will do it as soon as

possible."

After hanging up, she collapsed on a chair and began to cry. It was the first time Autumn saw Nancy

look so sad and helpless.

She guessed Nancy must have run into some money problem and was negotiating over the phone.

Autumn quickly decided to go back to their room, and took the red envelop filled with money she

received as Spring Festival gift. She made sure Nancy would be aware she was coming down the

stairs, to let the woman compose herself. Nancy wiped her tear-stained cheek, but her eyes were

obviously swollen from crying.

"Nancy? Are you still cleaning? Stop that now. Come here and sit a moment, " she invited. She spoke

in mild tones, but Nancy was a bit hesitant.

"Do you need anything from me, Mrs. Lu?" she asked Autumn. Still struggling with emotions, she

managed to sound cold as she spoke to Autumn.

It puzzled her why Autumn invited her to sit with her.

Autumn patted the seat beside her and said, "Come, sit beside me. I don't want to talk to you while

you're standing."

Nancy considered for a moment, and finally sat down but not too close to Autumn.

Fortunately, Autumn didn't care about Nancy's cool demeanor. Instead, she smiled and said, "Here, I

want you to have this."

She handed Nancy the red envelop containing all the money she got, and from its thickness, Nancy

deduced it contained several thousand.

As surprised as she was over the gesture, Nancy quickly refused. "No, I can't accept it."

But Autumn was just as insistent. "Just take it." She put the envelop in Nancy's hands and pushed it

towards her. "You deserve it because you have served this family for many years, helping Charles and

Grandpa a lot by making sure everything ran smoothly."

"I'm sorry. I can't accept it, " Nancy repeated. She sat up straight and proudly said, "I only did what I am

supposed to do. I have my salary and your grandfather already gave me a red envelop earlier. So it's

not right to accept yours."

But Autumn would not take no for an answer and continued to persuade Nancy with a smile. "It's

different from the red envelop you got from Grandpa. Please just accept it."

Even though she suspected Nancy was having money problems, Autumn was not about to ask her

about it. But she really just wanted to help Nancy thus she insisted on giving the money.

"Mrs. Lu, I…" Slightly embarrassed, Nancy frowned, not knowing how to answer Autumn.