The Apple of My Eye novel Chapter 1659

Charles pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. Patiently, he elaborated, "Mother, for one thing, I never asked Leila to take care of me. For another, no matter how much she helped me while I was unconscious, she had no right to hurt Sheryl on purpose. Helping me and harming Sheryl are two different things. She has to pay for what she did to Sheryl!"

As soon as he was done speaking, Charles stared at Melissa in silence.

"Pay? What does she need to pay for? You didn't give Leila a chance to explain herself. Was that fair to her?" Melissa was determined to defend Leila. She remembered every little thing that Leila had done for her son. Every one of Leila's efforts to look after Charles vividly remained in Melissa's memory. She couldn't allow Charles to take everything Leila had done for granted.

Charles frowned and fell silent. After a short pause, he said, "Let Leila in. I want to talk to her."

Upon hearing what Charles had said, Melissa felt elated. Without delay, she took out her phone and hurriedly dialed Leila's number.

At that moment, Leila had just arrived at the hospital's entrance. She felt the vibration coming from her handbag and almost immediately recognized her phone's ringtone. She fished it out of her bag and saw Melissa's name on the screen. Leila felt mild panic set in. 'Why is Melissa calling now? Is there anything wrong?' She took a deep breath to try to calm herself down. She didn't want to overthink things.

"Leila, I'm in Charles' room. Come here, quick! He wants to see you in person!"

Melissa said abruptly and ended the call before Leila could even respond. Leila tensed. She wondered, 'Could this really be happening? That's odd. What's going on with Charles?'

Leila shook her head in an attempt to prevent herself from thinking too much. Remembering what Melissa had just said, she quickened her pace. To some of the people around the hospital halls, it looked as though she was almost running.

In a couple of minutes, Leila made it into Charles' hospital room. She leaned against the frame of the door and tried to catch her breath.

"Leila, look at you! You must have been running this whole time. Sorry if my call has alarmed you, but there is really no need to be in such a hurry!" Melissa softly greeted her, as she quickly took Leila's arm. She put on an inexplicable smile.

Leila didn't understand what Melissa's smile meant, but she managed to smile back. Then, still panting, she turned her gaze upon Charles. She thought, 'Charles asked me to come. He said he wanted to talk to me. It must be important.'

"Leila, I have to make this clear to you. Before you took up a position in my company, you should have asked for my approval!" Charles blurted out.

Taken aback, Leila couldn't fully comprehend what Charles meant. Melissa was equally astonished. Leila shot her an anxious look.

'Does Charles intend to bring this up again? How could he still remember? And how could such a tiny thing still bother him?' Melissa thought.

Leila was overcome with apprehension. She had been working in Shining Company for so many days, and now, it seemed that she would have to step down.

'No, I won't allow it! I would rather die than leave the company! I will be a mockery if I get fired. I don't deserve all this humiliation!'

However, Leila surprised herself when she merely said, "I get it." Leila's response was brief. She realized she still didn't have the nerve to say how she really felt out loud in front of Charles.

She knew that no matter how hard she fought, it would all be in vain. Charles only listened to himself. If his mind had already been made up, there was no point in arguing. Whatever decisions he made, they were impossible to change.

"I'm glad you do!" Charles replied. With a snort, he continued, "By the way, Sheryl's returning to Dream Garden. I'm allowing you to stay there temporarily, but if you dare cause any trouble or put Sheryl in harm's way, I swear I will have you evicted!"

Charles' tone sounded unfriendly. His indifference toward Leila left her speechless.

Leila had looked forward to seeing Charles wake up. Now that he was finally up, she couldn't believe that what she had waited for turned out to be such a cruel slap to her face.

She felt broken and distressed.

Finally, tears fell down her cheeks. She had tried to keep them from falling, but that proved impossible. She didn't know what to do. The only thing she could do was weep.

Melissa, who deeply cared about Leila, became visibly worried. She immediately cut in and said, "Charles, what are you doing? Why are you treating Leila like this? This was supposed to be a nice, civil conversation, but look at what you've done! You've made Leila cry!"

Charles ignored Melissa. In his opinion, he had just said what he had to say. How they felt was their business.