The Apple of My Eye

Charles seemed quite satisfied.

"Okay. Just spread the news and wait. Also, please dismiss some of the security guards. I don't want to be guarded by so many people."

"But... What about your safety? If anything bad happens to you, Madam will kill me," David said in fear.

Charles glanced at David. 'I haven't seen you in a few days, and yet you seem wiser,' he thought to himself.

David felt a chill run down his spine.

"Got it." Those who are mindful of the time are wise, and David was that type of person. He merely nodded his head in agreement.

The next day

The Shining company held a press conference where its spokesman announced that Charles, the president of the company, had been hospitalized due to a car accident. Everyone went berserk. David also announced that Charles was about to wake up in a few days.

This news shocked everyone.

Everyone, including their own employees, was quite suspicious of the actual veracity of this piece of news.

Soon, reports flooded the company where everyone was asked question after question.

In the hotel

Damian was still sleeping on the bed. He didn't sleep well last night. He tossed and turned until it was late at night.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door followed by a loud noise.

Damian was woken up. When he opened the door, he was still a bit sleepy. He jolted awake when he saw Duke standing in front of him, looking anxious.

"What's wrong? You're so rude. I'm sleeping!" Damian yawned then turned to head back to bed. He still wanted to get more sleep.

"Something's wrong," Duke hurriedly shouted as he grabbed Damian's arm.

Damian stopped, looking at Duke in confusion. "What happened?" he asked in concern.

"You don't know yet?" Duke said impatiently. He continued, "The Shining company held a press conference. They announced that Charles was in a car accident. Every TV station and magazine is reporting the news right now."

"Well, I sent you a message last night, right?" As soon as Damian finished speaking, he realized something was wrong. He widened his eyes and asked, "What? It's being reported everywhere? Rob is a decisive man, isn't he? I still haven't decided on what I'm going to do, but he's already taking action."

"Rob? What's wrong with you? The press conference was held by the PR Department of the Shining company. The company announced it. It has nothing to do with Rob." Duke looked at his cousin with disappointment.

Damian was startled by the news. Then he realized something was wrong. "Do you mean the news was leaked by the company itself? Why?"

"I don't know. But they said Charles was due to wake up soon," Duke added.

'Rob said that Charles wouldn't wake up soon. But what is going on now?

Was the news false?' thought Damian.

Duke could tell that Damian didn't know anything about this based on his reaction. He then continued, "You probably thought the accident wouldn't be good for the company, but I guess their PR team is good. Not only are they not experiencing any problems right now, but their stocks are also stable."

Damian didn't say anything since he didn't really care about the Shining company. All he cared about was what Sheryl would do if Charles woke up.

If Charles did wake up, would Sheryl forgive him and come back to him?

What should he do?

Duke noticed that Damian was upset, so he comforted him, "Don't worry too much about it. Things can still change. The media reported Charles would wake up soon. But who knows when that will be? What do you think?"

Damian was thinking about what Duke had said to him.

'But no one knows when that will be. Maybe he won't wake up...

Should I do something?'

Damian was lost in thought.

Duke could tell how hesitant Damian was as he watched him.

As soon as Duke left, Damian called Rob.

However, Rob wasn't picking up any of his calls.

Damian was naturally flustered. He felt like he was floating. Rob had shown up out of nowhere as if he was a ghost, and now he was gone. He showed up when he wanted to but was nowhere to be found most of the time.

Damian thought about it for a long time. He kept going back to the same idea, but he couldn't bring himself to decide.

As soon as Sheryl arrived at the Dream Garden, she saw Melissa watching TV, and she seemed excited.

Curious, she walked toward her to see what was going on.

Charles's accident was being reported on the news. They also said that doctors had said he was bound to wake up soon.

Sheryl seemed displeased. Melissa turned, her eyes welling up in tears. She cried at her, "Sher, have you heard it? Charles is about to wake up."

"Yes, I have." Sheryl nodded. Even though she didn't want to disappoint Melissa, she still reminded her, "Aunt, the company just does this to deal with the press."

"What do you mean by that?" Melissa asked in confusion.

"Something must have leaked out, and they couldn't find a solution, so they just decided to announce that Charles is going to wake up soon. They did that so the internal operations of the company won't be affected."

"Are you saying that all of this is fake? Did they lie to everyone?" Melissa asked in surprise.

Sheryl nodded.

The delight on Melissa's face turned into sadness as she murmured, "I should have known it. I visited Charles in the hospital yesterday. The doctor didn't tell me that he was going to wake up. It has only been a night since then. How could the doctor suddenly know that he's going to wake up?"

Sheryl too was disappointed. Tears fell from Melissa's eyes, but Sheryl didn't know how to comfort her.

Every day, she waited for Charles to wake up, but she only ended up being disappointed.

She seemed to have already accepted this cruel reality. Even if Charles didn't wake up, she would just stay with him and take care of him forever.

Upon second thoughts, she thought maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

They wouldn't fight or get into misunderstandings anymore. This way, they could spend the rest of their lives together. Even though they wouldn't be able to be romantic with each other anymore, at least they would still know that they were still in each other's hearts.