The Apple of My Eye

Chapter 504 Shirley Is My Daughter

There was pin drop silence in the room for a while. Anthony's eyes fell on Shirley's face and he could

see fear in her innocent eyes. She had never seen Anthony behave this way. She stared straight at him

with her eyes wide open. Anthony became conscious upon noticing Shirley's startled expression. He

softened his eyes and smiled at her. "Have you finished up with your dinner, my sweetie?" he asked

tenderly.

"Yeah," Shirley nodded at him meekly. She was relieved to see a smile on his face.

"Now please return to your room and stay there for a while. I need to talk to your mom," he coaxed her

with a warm smile. Shirley climbed down her chair awkwardly, and ran to her bedroom. After making

sure Shirley walked into her room, Anthony put on a stern look, turned to Sheryl and commanded,"Now

call you company and tell them that you will quit."

"Why?" Sheryl looked at Anthony in confusion. She had no clue how did the good news of her job and

the 'happy-family-vibes' between the three of them suddenly changed into something so serious. She

was surprised with Anthony's unreasonable behavior. "You know how much I struggled to get this

opportunity. Besides, I can get a generous reward. All I need to do is to go on a business trip and take

part in a show. I have made such great efforts, but now you're stopping me? Shouldn't you give me a

sound reason for that?" she reasoned.

"There is no reason. You can't go there," Anthony said adamantly. Sheryl stared at his face trying to

understand what went wrong with him all of a sudden. What could be the reason that he was not even

ready to explain to her? He narrowed his eyes as he looked at Sheryl, and continued in the same

domineering manner,"I won't let you go there even if you're mad at me or even hate me."

'Autumn broke her heart there.

How can I let her go back?

Of all places, why did Sheryl have to get a work there? I can't let her return to that place. I have to stop

this. I can't let her go, ' he was resolute in his decision. The more he thought about it, the more stern

his face grew. Sheryl could not identify the man sitting right across her.

"You... Why are you behaving in such an unreasonable manner?" Sheryl stammered angrily. She did

not even feel obliged to obey him. It was her life and her career for which she had worked so hard. She

looked at Anthony indignantly and went on decisively,"Whether you agree or not, I will go there. It's

final. If you're unwilling to take care of Shirley in my absence, I... I'll take her with me."

"Don't get me wrong, Sher." Anthony's voice got mellowed down as she mentioned Shirley. "She has

nothing to do with my not wanting you to go there. Shirley is my daughter. How would I be unwilling to

look after her?" Anthony explained.

There was a turmoil going on inside his heart all these years. And now, it was on the verge of taking

shape of a twister that would turn his world completely upside down. The very thought of it scared him.

It was only he who was aware of the truth. The truth that he never ever wanted Sheryl and Shirley to

know. In the past three years, he thought he had stolen Sheryl away from Charles. Now if she went

back to Y City and met Charles once again, he feared that she would leave him forever.

Anthony could feel a fist full of sand slipping out of his hand. His world began and ended with Sheryl

and Shirley. How could he let them go?

"No, Shirley is my daughter, not yours," Sheryl corrected him in a firm voice. She had learnt that

Anthony was not Shirley's father long time ago.

They both knew it. Initially, it was extremely tormenting Sheryl. One fine day, she just woke up to find

that her past became a blank page. She had a baby in her arms but she did not even remember who

the father of her child was.

Sheryl had asked Anthony about her daughter's biological father a number of times. And every time

she got the same answer from him: I didn't know. Later, she gave up on that thought and decided to

look forward for herself and her daughter.

"What do you mean by that?" Anthony blurted out as he squinted at her.

"You heard me," Sheryl replied in a point blank manner. She just blurted out these harsh words at

Anthony. This time she was really annoyed with him. How could he take such an authoritative position

in her life? Who gave him the right? And on the top of that he was not even ready to give an

explanation to her either. So many questions crowded into her mind and she did not have an answer Content provided by NôvelDrama.Org.

for any one of them. This made her really angry on Anthony.

Sheryl's words came as a whip on Anthony's skin. The hurt showed on his face as he spoke in a

mellowed voice,"Yes. You're right. I'm not Shirley's biological father. But you've witnessed how I treated

her all these years, haven't you? I have treated her like my own daughter. Does your work mean so

much to you that you want to defy me by all means and completely deny my place in your and Shirley's

life?"

Sheryl mellowed down a bit as Anthony spoke these words. In fact, she was repentant to have uttered

such cruel words to him. But now it was too late to take them back. With a composed expression,

Sheryl said with a softer but still firm voice,"You know how much I need the money. In order to raise

Shirley, I have to work very hard and earn money. No matter what you say, I'll have to take up this job."

Sheryl cast a glance at Anthony and said in a low yet cold voice,"I'm really tired and want to get some

sleep. Close the door when you leave."

Sheryl headed towards her bedroom with turning back at Anthony even for once. In her heart, she

really felt sorry for saying such unpleasant words to him. Particularly after he had done so much for her

and her daughter. And this time she was just too angry to even pretend to be polite with him.

From her bedroom, she could hear the sound of taps. She assumed that Anthony must be washing the

utensils.

After the cleaning was over, Anthony walked towards Sheryl's room, and knocked. "I have cleaned the

kitchen and stuffed snacks and fruits into the fridge. I hope you reconsider my words. I really hope you

drop your idea of going to Y City."

Anthony felt utterly helpless. He could never tell Sheryl why he didn't want her to go to Y City. Only he

knew how important it was for him to stop her from going there. If she insisted... Anthony's mind got

clouded with so many thoughts as he drove back home.

Since Autumn had disappeared, Charles changed a lot. His life fell apart. Most of the time he stayed

away from home. Every corner of the house reminded him of Autumn.

While taking a stroll in the balcony, he could hear Autumn's voice whispering into his ears. "Do you

want a boy or a girl?" Even the air inside their house seemed to bear her fragrance.

While he was in the bathroom, memories of his beloved wife helping him with his shower would come

to his mind. What a doting wife she was! Even though their marriage was an accident, Autumn gave

her heart and soul to nurture their relationship.

In his bedroom, he could feel having Autumn around. Now she was sitting on the couch reading a

book, the next moment she was standing by the window lost in her thoughts, and then she was

sleeping peacefully in his arms.

As he entered the kitchen, he would find her standing in the doorway, smiling at him. Wearing an

apron, her hair bundled, she would raise her eyes at him and say smiling,"Here you are. Wash your

hands. The dinner is ready."

Even after Autumn disappeared for the past three years now, Charles could feel her presence

everywhere around him.

Autumn was nowhere. But for Charles she was still there, all the time, just like a shadow.

Three years, yes, it had been three years that she had left. Charles looked at their wedding

photograph. It just seemed like yesterday. The newly hired servant could not understand why Charles

kept asking her to make braised pork chops. After eating the dish, he kept gazing at the plate.

Later she learnt that it was a dish that Mrs. Lu specially prepared for Charles.

'What an affectionate man!' she thought to herself.

It had been three years since Autumn had disappeared. Almost everyone believed that she was dead,

including the Zhao family. They had left the city. Despite this, Charles didn't lose hope. He firmly

believed that Autumn was still alive and that she would come back to him.

She would have to come back sooner or later.

Every passing moment had been terrible for Charles without Autumn. He never liked staying at home.

In the past three years, he went to the bar every night and indulged himself in drinking just to make

sure that he stopped missing Autumn. He came back home completely drunk, so that he fell asleep the

moment he touched the pillow. And when he woke up the following day, he focused on his work. Today,

it was no exception.

Three years passed. And a lot had changed in Lu family as well. Chris and Sam were on a family way.

Recently since Sam had been on a business trip, she came to stay over at the Lu family house. Chris

came out of her room to have some water when she spotted Charles who was about to leave.

"Where you are going?" she frowned and demanded a reply from Charles.

"It's getting late. Are you going to drink again?" She asked with a concerned look, touching her bulging

belly. It really ached her heart to see Charles in this condition.

Sometimes Chris hoped that Charles did not love Autumn as much as he did. Three years passed, but

he hadn't forgotten her for even one single second.

Charles nodded. "I can't get a sleep, so I'm leaving to get some drink. You're pregnant now, so you

need to take good care of yourself. Hurry up. Go upstairs and go to sleep."

Charles said the words before walking out of the room so that he could avoid looking at Chris's baby

bump, which might again remind him of Autumn. 'Before she disappeared, she was carrying my

children. I don't know how they have been doing recently, ' he thought to himself. How happy they

were! They were just getting ready to welcome their babies and all of a sudden, his world fell apart. But

he knew, deep inside his heart, Autumn would come back to him very soon.