The Apple of My Eye novel Chapter 1600

The next day, Sheryl drove to work as usual.

As she pulled into the parking lot, she found Charles standing there. Initially, she was a little taken aback at finding him there so unexpectedly. Then she heaved a deep sigh, thinking that at the moment she had no way back. Hence she had no other option than to confront him.

Charles approached her car immediately and got into it before she could even park it properly. Startled, Sheryl stared back at Charles trying to read his face. However, Charles just gazed at her without uttering a single word.

"What's this all about, Charles?" Sheryl broke the ice first and turned to him.

Charles remained quiet, pretending as if he didn't hear Sheryl. Inwardly, Charles found that he felt rather calmer than he had thought he could as he confronted Sheryl. But all of the buildup in his mind made him feel rather bitter inwardly.

Sheryl could not take this suffocating silence anymore. She heaved a deep sigh as she turned her head away and looked out through the window. Silence prevailed between the two of them until Sheryl decided to step out of the car.

However, as soon as Sheryl reached out to open the door, Charles grabbed her arm. Sheryl was unable to decipher his strange behavior. She stared back at him with amazement and struggled to get her arm free from his grip, but failed. She glared at Charles furiously, but still he maintained the stern look. Then he looked back into her eyes. Slowly, Sheryl stopped struggling.

"Why didn't you answer my calls?" Charles hissed from between his clenched teeth.

"I don't want to speak to you, Charles. You know the reason. I would like to see you though, in person, at the Bureau of Civil Affairs," Sheryl countered as she managed to gather her thoughts. Suddenly she was terrified of him. Somehow, at that moment Charles seemed to have become a completely different man from the one that she knew.

"Do you have anything to say about these photos?" Charles threw a stack of photos directly in Sheryl's face, while his lips stitched into a straight line and his eyes coldly looked at her face.

It happened too fast for Sheryl to respond. Besides, there was no room for her to dodge. Sheryl could just close her eyes hurriedly, but she felt the sting on her face as the sharp edges of the photographs grazed her skin. But she didn't care. She opened her eyes quickly, and then she collected the photos that were scattered on and around her body. She was even slightly inquisitive to see whose photos they were and why they had angered Charles to this extent.

With the very first look at the photographs, Sheryl's hands trembled. She opened her eyes wide as she spotted herself in those photographs. It felt as if all of her strength was taken away from her in an instant.

Slowly, Sheryl felt a chill running down along her spine. Whoever took these photos must have followed her everywhere she went. The photos featured Lewis and her. Actually, Lewis and Sheryl hadn't spent much time together, except for a couple of times when he dropped her at home or picked her up for work. However, all of their meetings were recorded in these photos.

On one hand, having been followed so closely incurred profound fear, and Sheryl remained dumbfounded, and lost in her own thoughts. On the other hand, Charles took it for granted that all of his fancies were true because of Sheryl's silence. It was becoming increasingly difficult for him to remain calm. He took a few deep breaths to calm down.

"Say something, Sheryl. Tell me that I am wrong. Tell me that you have nothing to do with this man. How am I supposed to read your silence?" Charles snapped. But Sheryl just gazed at the photos with a blank expression on her face without uttering a single word. It was as if Charles' words were not even reaching her ears. Charles clutched his hands into fists, until blue veins stood out on the back of his hands.

Sheryl was as emotionless as a statue, as if the photos had cast a spell on her.

"Tell me the truth. Is this man the reason why you want a divorce?" Charles yelled at her resisting the rising agitation in his heart.

Sheryl then lifted her head and cast a quick glance at him. The word "divorce" must have whipped her back from her reverie and she now felt the urge to voice her opinion.

"Charles, all of these photos were taken after I had moved out of your house. I want a divorce because you have slept with Leila. Anyway, we're done! You're the one who betrayed our marriage, not me!" Sheryl protested vehemently. She didn't want people to label her as a skittish woman, especially Charles. Even if she had made up her mind to separate from him, she had wanted a decent divorce, not one of throwing dirt at each other.

"Don't deviate from my question. Just forget Leila for a while. I am asking you whether you're seeing this man, or not! Is there any connection between your demanding of divorce from me and this man, Lewis?" Charles became more and more irritated as he could not wait to get a clear answer from Sheryl. And therefore Sheryl's silence irked him all the more. Unable to control his temper, he punched into the back of Sheryl's seat.

Sheryl closed her eyes shut as the blow passed too close to her skin. Yes, it did not touch her body, but it hit hard in her heart.

She sighed sadly for both Charles and herself, and then let out a loud and sarcastic laugh.

'Charles, it's time to reach a closure between us. How could we live together when there is not an iota of trust remaining between the two of us? Farewell!' she told her fragile self.

By then, Sheryl had made up her mind to use these photographs as an excuse, and to take the chance to completely break up with Charles.

"You're right, Charles, about everything. I've fallen in love with another man. Now, please do me a favor and sign the divorce papers as soon as possible. Life is short, so we'd better spend it with the one that we truly love." Sheryl's voice was as calm as still water, but every word hurled a thousand arrows at Charles' heart. He was surprised by her abrupt change, from the woman that he knew who was furious every time she mentioned Leila, to this strange woman sitting beside him with an indifferent smile. At that very moment, even though they were sitting next to each other, Charles felt that Sheryl was so far away.

He had never seen Sheryl like this before, and his heart was sinking into a bottomless pit.

"No, you're lying!" Charles' voice trembled. He refused to believe her words.

He felt an unbearable sting in his heart which grew into a throbbing pain, as if some invisible hand was squeezing it from right inside his chest. Everything started spinning around him. There was only one thought left on his mind. If Sheryl really turned away from him and started her life with another man, he would then rather die than see it happen in front of his own eyes!

He had come all the way here and forced her to give him an explanation only because he cared about her and wanted to hear a different answer. But when Sheryl confessed, he just couldn't take it. He wished that he had never come here to see her in the first place.