The Apple of My Eye novel Chapter 504

There was pin drop silence in the room for a while. Anthony's eyes fell on Shirley's face and he could see fear in her innocent eyes. She had never seen Anthony behave this way. She stared straight at him with her eyes wide open. Anthony became conscious upon noticing Shirley's startled expression. He softened his eyes and smiled at her. "Have you finished up with your dinner, my sweetie?" he asked tenderly.

"Yeah," Shirley nodded at him meekly. She was relieved to see a smile on his face.

"Now please return to your room and stay there for a while. I need to talk to your mom," he coaxed her with a warm smile. Shirley climbed down her chair awkwardly, and ran to her bedroom. After making sure Shirley walked into her room, Anthony put on a stern look, turned to Sheryl and commanded,"Now call you company and tell them that you will quit."

"Why?" Sheryl looked at Anthony in confusion. She had no clue how did the good news of her job and the 'happy-family-vibes' between the three of them suddenly changed into something so serious. She was surprised with Anthony's unreasonable behavior. "You know how much I struggled to get this opportunity. Besides, I can get a generous reward. All I need to do is to go on a business trip and take part in a show. I have made such great efforts, but now you're stopping me? Shouldn't you give me a sound reason for that?" she reasoned.

"There is no reason. You can't go there," Anthony said adamantly. Sheryl stared at his face trying to understand what went wrong with him all of a sudden. What could be the reason that he was not even ready to explain to her? He narrowed his eyes as he looked at Sheryl, and continued in the same domineering manner,"I won't let you go there even if you're mad at me or even hate me."

'Autumn broke her heart there.

How can I let her go back?

Of all places, why did Sheryl have to get a work there? I can't let her return to that place. I have to stop this. I can't let her go, ' he was resolute in his decision. The more he thought about it, the more stern his face grew. Sheryl could not identify the man sitting right across her.

"You... Why are you behaving in such an unreasonable manner?" Sheryl stammered angrily. She did not even feel obliged to obey him. It was her life and her career for which she had worked so hard. She looked at Anthony indignantly and went on decisively,"Whether you agree or not, I will go there. It's final. If you're unwilling to take care of Shirley in my absence, I... I'll take her with me."

"Don't get me wrong, Sher." Anthony's voice got mellowed down as she mentioned Shirley. "She has nothing to do with my not wanting you to go there. Shirley is my daughter. How would I be unwilling to look after her?" Anthony explained.

There was a turmoil going on inside his heart all these years. And now, it was on the verge of taking shape of a twister that would turn his world completely upside down. The very thought of it scared him. It was only he who was aware of the truth. The truth that he never ever wanted Sheryl and Shirley to know. In the past three years, he thought he had stolen Sheryl away from Charles. Now if she went back to Y City and met Charles once again, he feared that she would leave him forever.

Anthony could feel a fist full of sand slipping out of his hand. His world began and ended with Sheryl and Shirley. How could he let them go?

"No, Shirley is my daughter, not yours," Sheryl corrected him in a firm voice. She had learnt that Anthony was not Shirley's father long time ago.

They both knew it. Initially, it was extremely tormenting Sheryl. One fine day, she just woke up to find that her past became a blank page. She had a baby in her arms but she did not even remember who the father of her child was.

Sheryl had asked Anthony about her daughter's biological father a number of times. And every time she got the same answer from him: I didn't know. Later, she gave up on that thought and decided to look forward for herself and her daughter.

"What do you mean by that?" Anthony blurted out as he squinted at her.

"You heard me," Sheryl replied in a point blank manner. She just blurted out these harsh words at Anthony. This time she was really annoyed with him. How could he take such an authoritative position in her life? Who gave him the right? And on the top of that he was not even ready to give an explanation to her either. So many questions crowded into her mind and she did not have an answer for any one of them. This made her really angry on Anthony.

Sheryl's words came as a whip on Anthony's skin. The hurt showed on his face as he spoke in a mellowed voice,"Yes. You're right. I'm not Shirley's biological father. But you've witnessed how I treated her all these years, haven't you? I have treated her like my own daughter. Does your work mean so much to you that you want to defy me by all means and completely deny my place in your and Shirley's life?"

Sheryl mellowed down a bit as Anthony spoke these words. In fact, she was repentant to have uttered such cruel words to him. But now it was too late to take them back. With a composed expression, Sheryl said with a softer but still firm voice,"You know how much I need the money. In order to raise Shirley, I have to work very hard and earn money. No matter what you say, I'll have to take up this job."

Sheryl cast a glance at Anthony and said in a low yet cold voice,"I'm really tired and want to get some sleep. Close the door when you leave."

Sheryl headed towards her bedroom with turning back at Anthony even for once. In her heart, she really felt sorry for saying such unpleasant words to him. Particularly after he had done so much for her and her daughter. And this time she was just too angry to even pretend to be polite with him.