The Apple of My Eye novel Chapter 466

"Mom..." Burke started speaking, intending to defend Leila, but he suddenly could not find the words to do so. The shameless girl his mother was talking about now seemed like a complete stranger to him, a far cry from Leila, whom he had known and loved for many years.

With a frown, he fell deep into confusion.

"Look, I was there and I know Leila is not the right girl for you. I've seen right through her character. What she seeks is not happiness but a complete change in her lifestyle. She wants to take advantage of her marriage to raise her social status and move into the upper class. I am telling you very clearly, Burke, your father and I will never allow such a money-worshiping and hypocritical girl to marry into our family," Madeline warned her son firmly. "A man should know the difference between good and bad girls. It doesn't matter even if the girl you want to marry is neither rich nor good-looking, but she must have a good character, I hope you understand," she pointed out earnestly.

Burke was duped by Leila all these years and blinded by her appearance. He could not see her true colors. As his mother, Madeline had the responsibility to bring the reality and truth to light.

"Oh, all right, I understand what you are trying to convey," Burke replied, and made a movement indicating his growing impatience. In fact, he already did realize that Leila and he would never be together as she declined his marriage proposal last night so whatever his mother just said cemented this fact.

"I'm sorry, Mom," he apologized immediately in a low voice as he grew aware of his rude tone. "You may rest assured that I will never be in any form of contact with her from now on," he continued. "But, about Pamela, for the time being I can only treat her like a little sister just as before. It is too soon to jump into something new. Please don't push me into it."

"Good, I won't hurry you into anything you don't want to do, I promise." A relieved and calm smile appeared on Madeline's face. "As long as you stop dating Leila," she added, looking gratefully at her son.

"Okay, you have my word." Burke gave his mother a slight nod as he made the vow. "If that is all then I'm going to work now."

"Wait a minute," Madeline called to her son, who had started to walk towards the door. "Our family business is getting busier and busier by the day. Your father and I are getting a little overwhelmed with the increasing burden. Keep that in mind. Consider quitting your job and come back to take over portion of the business, please."

"Hmm... Well, I'll think about it," Burke replied flatly.

Before he left home, he said goodbye to Pamela in a soft tone. From the way Pamela looked at him, Burke could sense her growing affection for him was no longer the brother-sister feeling that she had felt as a child, but unexpectedly he didn't mind it.

It had just been a few moments since Burke had reached his office when there was a knock on the door. "Come in!" he cried out, as he was hurrying to put on his white coat with his back to the door.

He then heard the person outside come in. "Please take a seat. I'll be ready in just a minute," he added as he was working on the uniform, without turning back.

"Burke..." The person then called out his name in a muffled voice. It was Leila, he could tell her voice apart in a crowd, and she sounded ill.

Burke froze almost instantly. "What are you doing here?" he asked coldly, still not turning around as he feared confronting her.

"I..." Leila gasped for breath and then she fell to the ground as she tried to answer.

Burke immediately rushed to pull Leila back to her feet, and found that she was flushed, which was a clear symptom of high fever. Fortunately, they were in the hospital. After timely infusion for a while, she looked much better.

Burke sat by Leila's bedside during her coma, and stared at her with an unreadable look.

"Burke... " Leila gradually woke up as she felt stronger. When she saw Burke, her eyes glistened with hope. "You're here!"