The Apple of My Eye

Chapter 546 The Meeting

The receptionist who saw Charlie up close said that she rather suspected the little boy was Mr. Lu's

illegitimate child.

Her comments were strongly rebuked by Charles' fans until Coco posted the photo of the boy in the

group chat. Then everybody fell silent.

'There's no denying the boy's paternity. He is the exact mirror image of Mr. Lu.' Everyone who saw the

photo would be hard put denying the evidence of their own eyes.

"How could this be? How did Mr. Lu managed to conceal a son of his age?" Alice and David, who were

working closely with Charles every day, had no idea that Charles was hiding a skeleton in his closet.

The photo was enough proof that the boy could be nothing else but their boss' son.

Looking puzzled, David scratched his chin absent-mindedly. "That's impossible. Mrs. Lu has been dead

for more than three years…"

The origin of the boy was a big mystery for both of them. Alice gasped suddenly, covering her mouth as

an insane thought crossed her mind. "Could it be that the boy is Leila's son?" she asked unbelievingly.

Leila had been absent for a few days, which was unusual. Now their boss suddenly turned up at the

company with a young boy who looked exactly like him. If the boy was really Leila and Charles' child, it

added up.

As the next Mrs. Lu, Leila would have to resign from her job at Shining Company, so no need for her to

report work anymore.

"Don't talk nonsense." Dismissing Alice's guess as bizarre, David scoffed and said,"How could Mr. Lu

possibly have a child with Leila?"

In his opinion, Charles had always been a devoted husband to Mrs. Lu.

Looking at the boy in the photo, he was probably born while Autumn was still alive. David couldn't

believe that his boss had an affair with Leila.

"But…" Alice knew her guess was reasonable knowing Leila had been infatuated with Charles from the

beginning. She was about to argue with David, but she caught a glimpse of Charles carrying the little

boy in his arms as he stepped into the office. She quickly swallowed the words on the tip of her tongue.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Lu." They greeted Charles in unison with respect, but their eyes were glued to

Charlie pointedly.

Anticipating his staff's reaction, Charles didn't bat an eye at their curious expression. "Charlie, dad's

office is over there and dad is going to have a meeting in the Conference Room. You can wait for me at

the office and play for a while. Is that okay?" he asked the boy softly, putting him down gently and

pointing his fingers to the direction of his office.

"Okay, Dad," Charlie nodded politely and headed regally towards Charles' office, carrying his school

bag. Once he was out of earshot, David asked Charles while looking directly at his eyes,"Dad?"

"Sorry, I don't have a son of your age," Charles replied humorously, seeming to be in a good mood.

However, David still couldn't believe it. "Mr. Lu, please don't joke with me. How could you have a child

of his age? How did you manage to keep him a secret all this time?" he said, looking baffled.

"I'm not kidding, David. He really is my son," Charles confirmed. "As you can see, he looks so much

like me. It will be useless to deny that he is my son. Don't you think so?"

"But…how?" David persisted. The boy couldn't have come out of nowhere. "What about the mother?"

he asked, going straight for the jugular. David had worked alongside Charles for a long time and had

been one of his closest and most trusted employees. He felt he was at least entitled to an explanation.

Charles looked at David, his eyes devoid of expression before saying dryly,"It's Leila."

"What?" David asked, stunned. Alice, who was discreetly listening to their conversation, turned to

David mockingly, her expression clearly said,"I told you so."

Ignoring Alice's smile of victory, David tried to grasp the impact of this information. 'Had Charles been

carrying on an illicit affair with Leila behind Autumn's back?' he wondered.

"I still don't understand. Mr. Lu, how could this be?" Despite hearing the words directly from Charles'

mouth, David still didn't want to believe that Charles had anything to do with Leila.

Knitting his brows, Charles tapped David on his shoulders. "It's a long story. I'll tell you about it another

time. We will be late for the meeting," he reminded David. "Hurry up. Are the documents ready?"

"Yes, all the necessary documents are here." As if on cue, Alice appeared with the documents on her

hands. "Mr. Lu, the board is already waiting in the Conference Room."

"Okay, Alice, thanks. Can you please look after Charlie for me?" Charles asked Alice, nodding towards

the direction of his office.

"Sure," Alice replied readily. She was dying to know more about her boss and Leila's love child. Even

without Charles' asking, she would have volunteered to look after the boy just to satisfy her curiosity.

Taking the elevator to the Conference Room, David kept glancing uneasily at Charles. He was like a

child with something on his mind and wouldn't rest until he got his answer. Finally he broke the silence

and said,"I'm sorry, Mr. Lu, but what's going on between you and Leila?"

Knowing that David wouldn't give him a minute of rest, Charles decided to tell him there and then. "She

told me she got pregnant with Charlie when we went on a business trip to Europe. I was drunk, so I

really had no idea what happened," Charles explained with a frown. "I learned about it only the other

day. Charlie is almost four years old."

"Oh, I see…" David said, trying to assimilate the information. "Will you marry Leila?" he asked

curiously. David thought it was an unpalatable idea. He didn't think Leila was good enough for Charles.

Asking himself this very question just that morning, Charles knew the answer was a big "NO".

Shaking his head, he looked at David seriously. "Charlie is my boy and I will take responsibility for him.

He will be my successor. But I can't marry his mother. I don't want to spend my life with a woman I don't

love."

"But... you two have a child together," David said hesitantly. He knew that Charles would be under

pressure from society to marry Leila. He couldn't help but get worried about the ramifications it would Content © copyrighted by NôvelDrama.Org.

cause not only in Charles' personal but also his professional life.

"I will not be forced to marry Leila because of my son. The outcome won't be good for anyone." Turning

to give David's shoulder a brotherly pat, he said,"I'll take care of it myself, so don't worry about me."

David decided to hold his peace. Once in the Conference Room, Charles was besieged with more

questions from his business partners.

Thanks to the convenience of modern communications, Charles' relationship with an unknown child

had traveled faster than the speed of light. He had been the subject of speculations the moment he

stepped in the building.

People on the board were quick to catch up on the grapevine. Most of his business partners were old

men with a grudge. They believed that such a young man didn't deserve to run the company and they

were just waiting for him to trip up. This breaking news gave them the exact opportunity.

Finally finding Charles' Achilles heel, the board wouldn't let him off the hook easily.

"Charles, you've managed the company well for the past two years and we are really grateful. But what

you've done today was a surprise to us. If this news gets out, it's not just going to affect your reputation,

it's going to affect the entire Shining Company."

The first one to air his displeasure was a board member of the former Sun Company. He used to work

for Edward. He became a board member when Sun Company was absorbed by Shining Company.

He already held a grudge against Charles from the beginning. He would have been the Vice Chairman

of Sun Company if the two companies didn't merge. Instead, he just became a board member.

Charles was an astute businessman. He had the knack of knowing how to make good use of people.

He was an impeccable leader. A man of ability who worked for him was sure to receive recognition. On

the contrary, he would never put people who had no ability in an important position, much to the

chagrin of the venerable elders.