As he heard the conversation between Leila and his mother, Charles's face darkened. Yet he tried to keep his hands steady on the steering wheel. As he stopped at the red light, his mind clouded with the thought of Sheryl's reaction when she came to know about Leila coming to Dream Garden.
It was unnerving for him to even think how much this would aggrieve Sheryl. However, he had no other choice than to take Leila along with him and Melissa. He knew what his mother was capable of and he didn't want to make things worse. He could only hope that Sheryl wouldn't make a scene out of it.
The hospital wasn't very far from Dream Garden, and they arrived home in no time at all.
Sheryl learned about Melissa's discharge from the hospital in the morning and wanted to prepare a big welcome meal for her. Right after the kids left for school, she went to the market with Nancy and handpicked groceries to make a really special meal for Melissa.
Sheryl didn't mean to play up to Melissa. She just didn't want to put Charles in a dilemma.
Whenever Sheryl ran into any conflict like this, she would always think about Charles. She could go to any length to see Charles happy and peaceful even though she thought that he didn't love her as much as she did.
Back home from the market, Sheryl had been busying helping Nancy in the kitchen for the whole morning. The heat in the kitchen made her sweat profusely. Yet she insisted on helping Nancy.
"Sher, why don't you go out and rest for a while? I will get this done." Nancy saw sweat streaming down Sheryl's face and suggested out of concern.
"I'm fine, Nancy. Let me help you. I want to cook for Melissa as well," Sheryl said with a gentle smile. She wiped the sweat off her face and focused back to the food that was being prepared.
Nancy looked at Sheryl with mixed feelings and refrained from asking her to stop cooking. She was amazed to see what a kindhearted woman Sheryl was.
It made her wonder why Melissa preferred Leila over Sheryl even though Sheryl treated her in such a nice manner.
The more Nancy thought of it, the more confused she became. Hence, she shook her head in dismay and went back to chopping the vegetables.
After two hours of continuous cooking, they finally finished preparing a table full of delectable dishes. Only then did Sheryl hurry to take a shower and got changed.
It felt as if the entire morning had gone by in a jiffy. Right after Sheryl walked out of her bedroom after taking a shower, she could hear voices coming behind the front door. She realized at once that Charles and Melissa were back. She hurried down the stairs to open the door.
Resolving to put all their conflicts and differences at her back, Sheryl put a smile on her face and opened the door for them, only to find Leila standing there with them. Sheryl was completely taken aback by this unexpected guest, and her smile froze for a while.
She was a little annoyed to see Leila at their door because she still wasn't able to forgive Leila for what she had done to her. Leila was the one who had tried to provoke her and set her up by pretending to be hit by her.
It took Sheryl a while and a few deep breathes to calm herself down. She pacified herself thinking that Leila would leave after dinner, so she decided to restrain herself from showing any annoyance.
"Mom, welcome home," Sheryl said, forcing a sweet smile on her face. Even though Melissa had wronged her, and the moment when Melissa hit her was still so vivid in her memory, Sheryl still wanted to put all those behind. Since they were of the same family, she thought it was important that they got along with each other. Sheryl also believed that Melissa would get to understand her if she treated her with kindness.
However, Melissa didn't say a word to reciprocate to Sheryl's greeting. Instead, she just turned her head away and ignored her.
"Mom," Charles grumbled, turning to Melissa.
Looking at Charles' discontent look on his face, Melissa heaved a sigh and turned to Sheryl most reluctantly and said in a cold tone, "Please don't block our way. Shouldn't you let us in first?"
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