What should she say? Should she deny ever hitting Leila? Or that she was beyond happy to have gotten his call? Or should she beg him to believe her?
Still speechless, Sheryl was at a loss. As she raised her head to meet Charles' eyes, a disheartened feeling came over her. Suddenly, any desire to speak for herself disappeared—it all seemed pointless because Charles no longer trusted her. A bitter smile crept up Sheryl's face.
Seeing the disappointment clear in his eyes, she still remained silent. Perhaps he had already confirmed her guilt. The thought made her turn ghastly pale, and her eyes dimmed.
The man in front of her didn't think she would respond with such silence. Was it only because she couldn't come up with any excuses?
Even Charles had to admit that he was thoroughly disappointed in her.
As the thought sank in, Charles' face fell, and his eyes seemed to be soaked in cold frost, void of any warmth.
"You should go back, now."
At that moment, Charles didn't know what to say either. All he knew was that he wanted her to walk away.
"Wait."
Just as Sheryl was about to step back in defeat, Melissa spoke.
"Charles, now you've seen the kind of evil Sheryl is. Are you sure you still want to stay with such a woman? There are too many good women in this world for you. Don't allow yourself to be cheated by this witch."
Melissa's hate for her was truly endless. In spite of everything, Charles wanted his mother to stop with the hateful words. Even though Sheryl wasn't as kind-hearted as he imagined, he still loved her dearly, despite all her shortcomings—Charles still never thought of parting from her.
With all that has happened, Sheryl stood petrified by Melissa's words. Subconsciously, her head turned Charles' way, as the fear that he would agree with his mother set in.
Her legs seemed to turn wobbly and her chest felt faint. No matter how difficult things turned out, never did she think that there would come a time where she had to leave Charles—he was a light in her heart. No matter how dim the light turned, she swore she would follow it and go on with courage.
If a day came when Charles no longer loved her and decided to leave, her world would turn completely black. Would she be able to move on in the unforgiving darkness?
"Mom, stop," Charles said sharply, looking pointedly at Melissa. With that, Melissa pursed her lips shut.
At that point, Sheryl was basically numb. If only she could cover her ears and block everything out like a child.
"I'm leaving. Please rest well."
Her voice turned soft before she rushed out of the ward. As Charles watched her retreating figure, he had some kind of nagging feeling in his gut that Sheryl would disappear from his life this way.
It seemed that they would both simply gradually drift away from each other.
The unexpected sense of loss overwhelmed him. As much as he wanted to call out to Sheryl and pull her back into his arms, he couldn't speak as if there was something physically blocking his throat.
Meanwhile, Black's fists were clenched. He was entirely certain about Charles not surviving the car accident and yet, he was still up and breathing.
Still, Charles did get badly injured. Since he was stuck in the hospital, things grew more and more chaotic at Shining Company. With everything going on, Charles couldn't look after himself, let alone get a chance to spend any more time with Holley.
However, beyond what Black could've expected, Holley was barely around, busier than ever. Any time he tried to reach her, he would receive no answer and if he did, it was always something offhand. Every time he visited Tarsan Corporation to see her himself, she was away.
It was immensely irritating and Black could only guess that she was still getting herself involved with the invalid jerk, Charles.
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