"How can I stay here and not go home? I promise I'll be home after the meeting is over," Charles replied with certainty, assuring Sheryl that he would be home soon. 'Does she really hate me so much that she even doesn't want to see me at home?' he wondered.
"I see. Well, fine then," Sheryl uttered in a rude manner. His response immediately put her mind at ease. If Charles was willing to come home, she thought that would have a chance to still get him back.
Her self-mockery continued to consume her. 'My gosh...When did I turn into such a coward? I mean, I've even swallowed my pride, in the attempt to avoid losing him.'
Sheryl paused as she was waiting for Charles to say something more. However, a sweet female voice came from the other end of the line. "Mr. Lu, everyone is already here and waiting for you."
"Oh, no problem. I will be right there," Charles said to the girl.
Taking a deep breath, he said to Sheryl, "Sher, the meeting is just about to start, so I have to go now. Please, if you have anything to tell me, we can talk about it at home."
Charles was in quite a hurry to end the call.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
Holding the phone close to her ear, Sheryl sat motionless as the end-call beep filled the empty office. A pensive look lingered on her face.
'Who was calling Charles?' she wondered.
Pondering on the thought, she recalled that she didn't even recognize the girl's voice whom he was with. Her mind started racing with thoughts, leading her to even speculate that it was Rachel on the other end of the line.
The thought upset her gravely.
'Charles didn't even say goodbye. He just hung up the phone immediately once he heard the girl's words. If he's only going to have a meeting, I understand and I am cool with that. However, is he really going to work overtime or is that just his excuse to mess about?
I don't know, ' she surmised.
Women are a lot more sensitive than men. Ever since she had caught Charles and Rachel at the bar together, Sheryl's first instinct was that she was going through a somewhat serious marriage crisis. She was uncertain whether they would be able to get through it. However, one thing was for sure—she was having a horrible time thinking about the possibility of losing her husband.
Trying to empty her mind, she quickly refrained from thinking about the situation. Charles wasn't home, which meant that Melissa was taking care of their kids.
She was never afraid that Melissa might abuse her children. 'However, what if Melissa accuses me of not being a good mother for working late and not being present at this time? Will she give me a hard time for it? If that is the case, I will be in bigger trouble.
I can't let that happen. I wouldn't be able to get over that, ' she mused.
Sheryl was tired and didn't want to have an even more difficult time than she already had. To avoid fighting with Melissa, Sheryl tried everything in her power to prevent Charles' mother from finding any fault in her.
She decided that the only way to do so was to go attend to the kids herself.
Besides that, she hadn't even heard from Nancy, the maid. Sheryl was uncertain whether she had regained her normal state of health and if she could start working again. Had Nancy come back to work in her house, then Sheryl wouldn't be in such a hurry to get home at this point. But since Nancy was discharged from the hospital, Sheryl hadn't heard any more news from her.
She hated the idea of calling up Nancy to ask her when she would be fit to return to work. After all, the maid almost got herself killed in the attempt to protect Clark and Shirley.
But it she didn't contact Nancy, she would have to continue to bother Melissa to take care of Clark and Shirley, and that was the least thing she wanted.
After weighing in her options, Sheryl decided to give Nancy a call. Wasting no time whatsoever, she took out her phone. As she swiped the screen to unlock it, she found that it was far too late to make a call. She then put her phone back in her handbag.
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