The Apple of My Eye

Charles didn't expect that he would get such a 'gift' when he came to his mother-in-law's house for the first time.

His wife's cousin... even threw herself at him.

He looked at the kitchen and wondered how his wife... lived together with her family members. For him, it was getting hard to tolerate their reckless behavior.

Yvonne was angry. Although she was doing everything in the world to look delicate and graceful, it was obvious that Charles simply ignored her effort. He didn't even help her get back up on her feet. So Yvonne had to grit her teeth and stand up on her own.

She shyly stood in front of Charles. Her eyes were watery. It looked as if she was about to cry. She said, "Charles, I'm sorry. It's my fault. I'm so clumsy that I can't even carry the tea cup properly. Did you get scalded?"

Charles looked at Yvonne and flatly said, "You better take care of yourself."

Yvonne felt resentful at Charles's indifference to her. But she thought that she shouldn't express her grievances to Charles, so she slightly lowered her head and said to Charles,"Charles, you can sit here for a while. I will go and prepare another cup of tea for you right away."

Yvonne turned around and went upstairs. She first cleaned herself and then changed her clothes.

This time she put on a revealing vest with a mini-skirt which showed off her mellow, smooth shoulders and long slender legs.

She looked at herself in the mirror and was impressed by her beauty.

Yvonne didn't really think if this was an appropriate thing to do or not. She went downstairs with confidence. When she saw that Charles was looking at her, she purposely stroked her hair to lure him.

She believed that all men were lecherous.

But Charles looked at her not because she was dressed so sexily but because he was confused as to how Yvonne was so familiar with this house.

He recalled when Wendy introduced Yvonne to him, she told him that Yvonne was one of her distant relatives and didn't come here so often.

After her clothes got stained, she quickly changed and came downstairs. The new, clean clothes that she wore fitted her body perfectly. It was obvious that it was her own clothes only. Now, Charles got more confused.

"Charles, have some tea." This time, Yvonne took a wise decision. After she put down the tea cup, she stood up and left. "You can sit for a moment. I will go to the kitchen to see if they need any help." She pretended to be a considerate and nice lady. She believed that all men liked beautiful and considerate women.

Yvonne showed her true colours when she came to the kitchen. She picked up an apple and ate it, while rudely asking Autumn, "What's Charles's favourite food?"

Autumn was unwilling to talk to her. She lowered her head and kept washing the vegetables, without saying a word.

Yvonne then walked up to Autumn and pushed her. "I'm talking to you now. Are you deaf?"

"Yvonne, don't push her like this." Wendy drew Yvonne aside and said, "Charles is sitting outside. It won't be good if he hears you like this."

Yvonne calmed herself down and said, "Autumn, I warn you that Charles belongs to me sooner or later. You'd better realise who you are actually."

"Are you talking to me?" Autumn dropped the vegetables and coldly replied, "Yvonne Gu, if I remember correctly, I married Charles only because of you. If this didn't happen, I would be living a good, happy life with my grandmother and there wouldn't be any relationship between me and Charles."

She sneered and continued saying, "What's wrong with you? Are you regretting your decision after seeing that Charles is so handsome?"

Yvonne looked a bit guilty, but she quickly calmed herself down. When Yvonne was a child, Wendy always told her that Autumn was even inferior to the servant in this house.

Yvonne let Autumn marry Charles only because she thought that Charles was a bad guy with numerous affairs.

Now that she saw him in person, she wanted him back for herself.

"Yes. So what?" Yvonne sneered and added, "It is only because of me that you got a chance to marry someone like Charles who is not only handsome but also very rich. Don't hold grievances about that anymore. You're lucky to be married to someone like Charles."

"Really?" Autumn, with a long face, said, "I have no interest in such type of good luck. Well, I can even go out now and tell Charles everything. We can swap our identities back right away. I have zero interest in being Mrs. Lu."

"Great. I'm willing to do that." Yvonne's eyes lit up. Fortunately, Wendy was a lot more sensible than Yvonne. She immediately took hold of Autumn and said, "You seldom come back home. Yvonne is only joking with you. There's no need to get angry."

"Mother..." Yvonne frowned.

Wendy just ignored Yvonne. She patted Autumn on the hand and said, "You don't have to stay here in the kitchen to help me. I can prepare the meal all by myself. You should go out and give Charles company

now.

"1

Without saying a single word, Autumn took off the apron and walked straight out of the kitchen.

Only Yvonne and Wendy stayed back in the kitchen now. Yvonne took Wendy by the hand and said, "Mother, look at that Autumn. Charles doesn't like me only because of her." Yvonne gloomily added, "Whatever. I want to marry Charles."

"Fine, fine, fine. I got it." Wendy lovingly patted Yvonne on the face and said, "You are so wayward and volatile. If you were willing to marry Charles before, you wouldn't be upset by this sort of thing now."

"I didn't want to marry him before because I didn't know what kind of a person he is..." Yvonne was very regretful. "Mother, just now Autumn said that she wants to swap her identity back, but why did you stop her? We can take this chance to..."

"No." Wendy firmly interrupted Yvonne. When she saw that Yvonne was stunned, she immediately walked up to her and comforted her, saying, "Yvonne, I know that you're very anxious, but haste makes waste. We should deal with this matter carefully and thoughtfully."

Wendy sighed and added, "You also know that there is a crisis going on in your father's company. The only way to overcome this difficulty is to ask Charles for help. You shouldn't tell Charles that you have exchanged the identity with Autumn now. What if Charles gets angry and doesn't help your father to deal with the company's crisis?"

Wendy's words sounded perfectly reasonable, but Yvonne still felt annoyed seeing Autumn live happily with Charles.

"But what about me? Do I have to let Autumn and Charles live in the same house and sleep together?" She was sad and wondered why she had to be with a man who lived on her support, but Autumn got to enjoy a better life at Charles's home.

She couldn't wait to exchange her identity back with Autumn.

"Now the best way is to take no action and wait for the right time." Wendy pondered on it repeatedly and finally suggested, "At present, the most important thing is to help your father's company resolve the crisis. And during this time, you can try and get close to Charles. If Charles falls in love with you, he won't get angry even after finding out about the lie."

"But..." Yvonne hesitated.