The Apple of My Eye novel Chapter 1353

"Are you even doing your job? I paid you, but you've made no progress!" Charles shouted into the phone. He began pacing back and forth anxiously in his study. Though Shirley was still missing, he managed to contain his worry and stay as calm as he could. After sending his men out to search for her, he tried to breathe and wait for good news. Getting no results at all, he reached his limit, and anger finally surfaced from deep down, directing it at the man on the other end of the line.

"Mr. Lu, I'm so sorry. We will try harder. No! We will get it done! Rest assured that once we get any lead, we'll report it to you at once," the man replied nervously after a moment of tense silence. Not knowing how to deal with Charles' sudden wrath, he was at a loss for words. Luckily, his experience allowed him to make a promise to Charles without too much of a stammer.

Though he was expecting the incident to be a typical missing person's case, to his dismay, no trace of Shirley could be found—it might not have been as simple as he initially thought. From the looks of it, he judged the incident to have been a meticulously planned kidnapping, squeaky clean and untraceable leads.

Working without sleep, the team entrusted with the case still couldn't find any significant results. Everything about the kidnapping was still more of a blur than anything, and they had to deal with too many setbacks to finish the job.

Before he completely ran out of air, Charles hung up, his mind still in a complete mess—he urgently felt the need to rest. Taking a seat back in his chair, Charles shut his eyes to try and quiet his mind. Images of Shirley started to rush back into his mind out of control, making it impossible for him to rest.

As Shining Company's CEO with all the executive powers, he never failed to handle any hurdle his company had to face. But at the moment, he was no longer a CEO—he was a full-time father who feared for his child just as any other parent would. His daughter's absence left him feeling helpless and anxious.

At the very least, because of his experience as an excellent executive who always needed to behave rationally at work, he managed to keep himself from spiraling down into insanity. After a few moments, he settled himself down.

Without any concrete sign of Shirley's whereabouts, Sheryl couldn't settle down. She spent the entire night with Clark. When she saw Charles approach, her swollen red eyes welled up with tears in an instant, and she burst into a noiseless sob.

Gently stroking her head, Charles brought Sheryl tissue, piece after piece, remaining silent. After some moments, Sheryl's crying ceased, and she raised her gaze up to Charles' with hopeful eyes.

"Charles, any leads?" she asked imploringly. Though he didn't want to disappoint her, Charles knew he couldn't just lie. Slowly and rather indecisively, Charles shook his head.

The motion made Sheryl's heart sink, and she could only turn her eyes away from him as they turned grim. Unconsciously, she put her hand on the bed sheet and began scratching deep lines into it with her fingertips.

With a wistful smile, she sighed, "Where is she?

Is she playing hide-and-seek with us? She must be! We'll find her soon, won't we?"

Looking at Sheryl in understanding, Charles gave her a faint smile before his face turned stern with determination.

"Yes, Sher. Shirley is out there waiting for us to find her. Before you do, you need to eat well and stay healthy. If you exhaust yourself to the point of getting sick, how will we ever find her together? Come, let me tuck you into bed."

A bit confused, Sheryl simply nodded her head. At that moment, she felt like a helpless child in front of her father.

When midnight struck, Sheryl was already lying in bed. Although her eyes were shut, they began to quiver, and her frown deepened before she opened her eyes wide.

Suddenly, she jerked herself upright. Her eyes turned glassy until they were full of tears, and her breathing turned into short gasps of air.

Shirley was still lost, and Sheryl was completely haunted by the fact. No matter how much she tried to close her eyes and empty her mind, nightmares struck her before she could even fall into a deep sleep.