The Apple of My Eye

Chapter 1789 Sheryl's Worry

At Sheryl's home, she was fully focused on her work.

In the past few days, sleep had abandoned her. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't fall

asleep. After several failed attempts, she decided it was best to let it go.

Nowadays, she woke up earlier than Joan. So when Joan entered the living room, she caught Sheryl

working. She wasn't surprised because this had begun to become Sheryl's normal state. After

considering it for a while, she asked, "Ms. Xia, you're up so early lately. If you continue to live like this,

you may end up being exhausted."

"Morning, Joan. Don't worry about me. I went to bed pretty early last night," Sheryl lied, not wanting to

concern Joan. Then her eyes once again settled on her work.

Sheryl's response didn't convince Joan. Just by looking at Sheryl, it was evident that she hadn't had

enough rest. But since there wasn't much she could do, she decided to let it go.

While Joan was engrossed in preparing breakfast, the kids woke up. They got themselves dressed,

washed, and even sorted out their backpacks.

When they had everything ready, they went out of their room. However, they saw Sheryl engaged in

work. They looked at each other, moved closer to their mother, and asked, "Mom, why are you working

at this early hour?"

"I'm almost finished, my sweethearts. Aunt Phoebe sent me an urgent task, so I needed to solve it as

soon as possible. But don't worry, it's done. Let's go and have breakfast!" Sheryl answered softly.

She looked at her adorable children with loving eyes and caressed their plump cheeks. Then she led

them to the table.

Lately, her mood was always off; hence, she had neglected to accompany her children. But today, she

made up her mind to take them to the kindergarten herself.

After breakfast, Clark and Shirley assumed that Sheryl might get back to work as usual. When they

were ready to leave with Joan, Sheryl called them, "Kids, mom wants to take you to the kindergarten

this morning, is that okay?" Sheryl looked at them with a grin.

The kids were caught off-guard by this announcement. They couldn't believe their ears. Once they

were certain that Sheryl meant it, they dashed towards her with great joy. Their cute, running figures

made Sheryl extremely happy.

She squatted down to embrace them in her arms.

"Mom, don't you need to go to work early today?" Clark looked at Sheryl as he asked.

Sheryl shook her head. Lovingly, she caressed his cheek and answered, "No. Mom isn't busy today. I

have enough time to spare before I need to go to work. So, I can take you both to kindergarten."

"That's great! Mom, it's been so long since you took us to school," Shirley exclaimed joyfully, her face

radiant.

Instead of happiness, Sheryl felt guilt course through her body. Their delighted faces showed how her

time meant a great deal to them. In spite of this, she had neglected them. Turning to Joan, she

reminded her to take care of the housework. Then she caught hold of her kids' hands and went to the

car. They happily headed to school.

Throughout the trip, Shirley chatted. Her mom's presence was a big excitement for her. Even though

the ride was short, she managed to share some interesting stories about her class. Some of them were

trivial, but Sheryl enjoyed listening to them nevertheless.

However, Sheryl noticed that Clark didn't seem too happy. Ever since they left home, he had been

gloomily sitting there. Sheryl didn't ask the reason behind his sadness, and instead, decided it was

better to remain quiet for now.

Once they arrived, Sheryl allowed Shirley to go to her teacher. But before Clark could move, she held

him back. In a gentle tone, she asked, "Clark, is something bothering you?"

"Yes, Mom. First, tell me if you are lying to us. We haven't seen Dad for a very long time. May I know

why?" Clark murmured, choking with sobs.

His face turned red in agony. In spite of this, he tried to hold back his tears. He didn't want to come

across as weak.

A lump started to form in Sheryl's throat as soon as she heard him. He was too young to suffer so

much pain. The mere sight of him made Sheryl feel sorry.

Soothingly, she caressed Clark's head, trying to put on a smile. She explained, "Clark, dad is away on

a business trip at present. I have no idea when he will return. But he promised me that he'll come to us, Belongs to (N)ôvel/Drama.Org.

once he sorts out his work, okay?"

"Mom, so you weren't lying to us?" Clark stated seriously as he wiped his tears.

Sheryl shook her head slightly, continuing to wear the fake smile.

"Mom, are you sure?"

Clark asked again, hoping to make sure that she was speaking the truth.

"Okay, I promise you that I am speaking the truth," Sheryl reassured him.

However, as she spoke, a hint of hesitation flashed across her face. But Clark was too young to detect

it; hence, it went unnoticed. Now he was totally convinced by his mom's words. Before he went into

kindergarten, he gave Sheryl a tight hug, feeling extremely happy.

Sheryl watched Clark's receding figure. Once he had disappeared completely, she still remained there.

Her mind was filled with dark thoughts. Ever since her and Charles' looming divorce, Charles hadn't

come to visit the children.

Sheryl started to doubt whether Charles truly loved them or not. But at the same time, she was also

afraid that Charles would want to take the kids away from her.

The more Sheryl thought, the more fretful she got. She decided to put these fears aside for the

moment, hoping that things were not as bad as she expected.

On her way to Cloud Advertising Company, Sheryl once again thought about Clark's words.

Her mind kept on reverberating those words. Slowly, she walked into the company building.

Sheryl wasn't in the mood to say hello to any of the colleagues passing by. However, she was stopped

by someone. Phoebe, who was standing in front of her, asked with concern, "Ms. Xia, are you all

right?"

"Why do you ask? Don't I look fine?" Sheryl asked, trying to seem a bit composed.

Phoebe knew that Sheryl was pretending to be fine. She sighed. "Ms. Xia, if you are dealing with any

problems, please, don't hesitate before asking me for help."

Looking into Phoebe's sincere eyes, Sheryl grinned. She patted Phoebe's shoulder and said, "I'm all

right. I was a little depressed because of the kids. I took them to school today. Seeing their happiness, I

realized I have been neglecting them, recently. Don't worry about me. Go ahead with your work."

After she dealt with Phoebe's question, Sheryl headed straight to her office.

Phoebe didn't know what else she could do, so she just stared at Sheryl's back and heaved a sigh.

She was well aware of the difficulties that Sheryl has been facing lately. Sheryl suffered a lot, yet she

managed to maintain her composure. This quality made Phoebe truly admire her boss. If she had been

in Sheryl's shoes, she didn't think she could have coped any better. At the moment, she ardently

wished to help Sheryl. 'If only I could take some burdens off her shoulder!' Phoebe sadly thought.

"Hey, Phoebe, what are you doing here?"

Isla jumped out suddenly and asked. She'd caught Phoebe standing in front of Sheryl's office,

seemingly in a daze. Therefore, she wanted to give her a shock for the sake of fun.

Caught off guard, Phoebe was totally stunned when Isla patted her shoulder. She touched her chest to

calm herself down. Furiously, she turned to look at Isla.

"Ms. Zhao, you almost scared me to death!" Phoebe complained feigning annoyance.

"Are you guilty of something? Or else why are you reacting so violently?" Isla teased, knowing that

Phoebe wasn't really angry at her.

Phoebe drew in a deep breath and finally managed to calm herself down. Then she pointed her finger

to Sheryl's office and sighed, "Ms. Xia seems to be in trouble. She was upset and depressed when I

saw her."

"In trouble?" Isla repeated.

She furrowed her eyebrows, feeling sorry for Sheryl.

'Is Charles once again the reason behind her sorrow?

Could it be possible that Sheryl came to know about Leila and Charles' vacation?' Isla wondered.

She had thought about a few possible causes, but she shook her head, dismissing all of them. Instead

of racking her brain, she decided it was best to confront Sheryl.