The Apple of My Eye novel Chapter 384

"And that's all it is?" David asked, looking at Charles.

He still couldn't believe everything Charles told him. "But in her house, why did you have to take off your suit jacket?" David inquired.

'It wasn't so hot, ' he thought, but afraid to voice out his opinion.

"When she said her bathroom light needed changing, I simply offered to do it for her. So, I had to take off my coat. Is there anything wrong with that?"

Charles was baffled at David's persistent questioning.

"So you mean to say there was nothing to it?" David continued, a little stunned. When Charles was leaving Leila's house, she said something that sounded ambiguous which David took to mean as a hidden relationship between the two. Apparently, he was wrong and the truth was Leila was taking advantage of Charles to deliberately mislead David and everyone else. David shook his head in disbelief.

"Of course, that's all the truth, " Charles stressed. "What were you thinking?"

What David was suggesting made him uncomfortable.

The man had been working for him for years and never had he said anything out of line, to Charles' recollection. But this line of questioning now caught him off-guard. "What are you trying to say?" Charles insisted.

"Just say it!" he barked at David. "Well… recently, there's been a rumor going around the office that you and Leila…"

David paused, gathering the courage to continue. "I know it's not very proper for me to say these things, Mr. Lu, but rumor has it that you're having an illicit relationship with Leila. And after what we witnessed at Leila's house today…

Those rumors will surely get worse, " he looked worriedly at his boss.

"People are saying Leila and I have an affair?" Charles said, his tone incredulous.

He sat in silence absorbing what he heard. He obviously had no idea how such rumor started. Charles always thought he had maintained a strictly professional relationship with Leila, he as boss and her a subordinate. And he couldn't remember ever doing or saying anything inappropriate. So he tried to think of what started the unpleasant talk.

"That's right, Mr. Lu, " David affirmed, looking at Charles.

It became clear to him that the man knew nothing about the rumors. He was clueless about the fact that there was already talk in Shining Company that if such affair went on, Leila would soon be replacing Autumn. That was why certain people were already trying to suck up to Leila.

He sighed, and with a heavy heart said, "Mr. Lu, I've been working for you for many years now. And you and Mrs. Lu, I know how you got here.

I just want to remind you to pay more attention to what's going on around you, and to distance yourself from Leila. What's more, in the end, it doesn't matter what people say." He paused, then emphasized, "What matters is what Mrs. Lu thinks about it."

Charles pondered David's words. "I see."

It suddenly became clear to him about Autumn's behavior recently. 'No wonder Autumn was angry at me for no reason. It really seems that I don't notice a lot of things.' He clapped David on the shoulder. "Thank you for telling me all these. I will start paying more attention."

"That's good, Mr. Lu. Ah, can you please drop me off at the corner?" David requested.

Getting off the car, he felt relieved that he was able to talk to Charles. Now, he had to take a taxi back to Leila's house because he left his car there.

Meanwhile, Leila was no longer in the mood to cook after Charles left. She was considering going out to dinner with her co-workers who came to visit. The woman had a very good idea that everyone who saw Charles with his coat off in her house no longer had doubts about their rumored affair. And they all wanted to get on Leila's good side.

"Let's go to that new restaurant nearby, Leila, " one of them suggested. "I heard the food there is quite good."

Another one quipped, "What's good about that restaurant? I think we should try out the place which specializes in boiled fish with pickled cabbage and chili. It's been there for more than a decade, so it must have an excellent menu."