His Real Wedded Bride

Chapter 1358 Charles' Cold Attitude

Reminiscing the memories she had when Sheryl was a little kid, she always admired other kids who

were cradled and caressed by their mothers. Even though she was too young to understand many

things, she knew that those kids were lucky to be so loved and protected. In her desire not to trigger

self-pity, she would pretend as if she didn't care. While, in fact, deep inside her, she would always hide

in a corner and stare at pictures of mothers and kids from books and magazines, and envied them.

Sometimes when she saw them in public, she even wanted to get close to them and steal a little bit of

love from these kids.

All her life while growing up she had several questions in mind like, why did her mother dislike her and

abandon her? Was it because she was not good enough? She couldn't help thinking about it. However,

as time healed everything, she learned to embrace the truth and just move on with her life leaving

those questions unanswered.

Now, reminiscing all these memories, she remembered how she wanted to be loved and protected like

other kids! How she wanted her mother to return to her! Thus, she worked hard and tried to achieve

everything perfectly on her own since she was young, hoping to bring her mother back.

However, when she grew up a little bit, she realized that no matter what she would do, her mother

would never take notice of her. Though that fact was frustrating, she learned to accept it gradually, like

she always did while growing up. To beat the loneliness and envy, she just comforted herself by being

grateful to her grandma who loved her more than anything, which was enough for her. As time went by,

she abandoned the idea of winning her mother's love and lived happily with her grandma. During those

times, she felt quite contented even without her mother.

However, from that moment on, she had made a decision, a promise to herself that, if she would have

kids in the future, she would give them all the love she had and even protect them with her own life, to

make up for her loss during her childhood. She didn't want her kids to suffer the same fate she had

endured, for she knew how painful and desolate it felt to be abandoned by your own parents.

However, to her despair, by the way things turned out now, it appeared that she couldn't even protect

her babies! Worst was, now she had Shirley missing, and she had no idea where she was or whether

she was in a good condition or not. Thinking about these, she realized that she wasn't even a qualified

mother like her own mother had been. Loads of thoughts were crossing her minds, and Sheryl closed

her eyes miserably.

"Sher, get up and take some pills. These will help you relax," Nancy said softly. All of a sudden, she

was pulled back to reality by Nancy's words. Sheryl opened her eyes and saw Nancy blowing cold the

hot water in the cup while handing her some pills on the other hand. She couldn't help but feel warmed

and touched by Nancy's gesture of kindness.

Determined to stay with her in case she needed her, Nancy didn't notice Sheryl's absent-mindedness.

She came over to Sheryl, helped her sit up, and put a pillow under her back to let her lean on the

headboard. With her position right now, Sheryl felt much more comfortable. However, Nancy was

bothered that her skin felt warm as she held on her while helping her to get up. Instinctively, she

touched the palm of her hands to her forehead to check if she was having a fever. Walking over to the

medicine cabinet, Nancy took out a thermometer to take her temperature.

"Oh my goodness, its 38.5 degrees!" Seeing that the temperature reading was high, Nancy screamed

as she held on the thermometer. Sheryl had a severe fever. Nancy panicked and told Sheryl to take the

pills immediately. Then she rushed out to call Charles over the phone to let him know about Sheryl's

condition.

The phone rang for a long time, but nobody answered. After a few tries, Nancy still got no answer, but

when Nancy almost gave up, Charles picked up the phone.

"Mr. Lu, it's urgent! Sheryl is seriously sick and has a high fever. Are you available to go home and

accompany her?" By heart, Nancy knew that Sheryl got sick because of Shirley's disappearance and

Charles' attitude to her. She hoped that Charles could go home to be with Sheryl, which could possibly

relieve Sheryl's pain at least to some extent.

Even though Charles had turned the cold shoulder on Sheryl recently, Nancy knew how much they

loved each other as reflected by the passionate way they lived their daily life. Not in her wildest

imaginations would she think that Charles would leave Sheryl alone like that after knowing her

condition.

On the other end of the line, Charles heard Nancy's words as well as the noise of the mild breeze.

'Maybe she is on the balcony now when she makes the call, ' Charles thought randomly.

Restraining himself, however, he couldn't give her a positive answer, because he knew that he must be

tough and shouldn't be softened this time. He must show Sheryl that he could stand not talking to her

and lending a deaf ear to her.

Though honestly, Charles' heart skipped a beat as he heard from Nancy that Sheryl was sick. The pain

started from his heart and then spread across his limbs as he was soberly worried sick. He was

tortured by his love and affection towards Sheryl.

While still holding the phone to his ear, Charles creased his eyebrows and closed his eyes. He bit his

lower lip and kept silent. After a while, he gathered enough strength and made the difficult decision to

refuse Nancy. He heard his emotionless words echo in the room as he spoke, and the voice was so

strange that he could barely recognize that it was his own voice.

"Nancy, I have to deal with my business now, so I can't go home. You just call the family doctor and

send for him to check Sheryl up. Sorry but I have to go now." Charles ended the call right away. He was

afraid that if he continued speaking to Nancy over the phone, he would expose his real emotions and

betray his own front.

However, Charles wasn't able to deal with anything now knowing that Sheryl needed him right now and

that he ought to be home with her. Subsequently, he looked at the pile of papers on his desk, lost his

head and his heart was occupied by Sheryl's pale face. He was so worried about her that he almost

went crazy. Walking back and forth, he couldn't resist the urge to rush home to her.

However, he told himself repeatedly that he must be patient now. The great plan that he had required

his forbearance. After about half an hour of torment, he finally managed to focus on his business and Còntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org

put himself at ease.

Meanwhile, at the mansion, Nancy was utterly shocked by Charles' cold remarks. She felt terribly sorry

for Sheryl. She knew that aside from the physical pain she was suffering now, the much greater pain

was to be left alone by someone whom she trusted the most. Worst was he committed to be with her in

sickness or in health, yet now he was nowhere near.

Living with them for a long time, Nancy had witnessed how Sheryl had been a survivor in life. She knew

clearly how Sheryl suffered for this family. She almost sacrificed her dignity. However, Melissa kept

picking on her. Nancy had thought that Sheryl's sacrifice was worthwhile since Charles loved her so

much. But now it turned out that his love was as unpredictable as a breeze of wind. It just disappeared

all of a sudden. Poor Sheryl! She was failed by this family and her own husband. She didn't deserve it.

Thinking about all these, Nancy felt angry and sad for the injustice that Sheryl suffered. But what else

could she do? Thus, Nancy couldn't help but sigh helplessly. Walking back to Sheryl's room, Nancy

didn't want to hurt Sheryl even more, thus she decided to keep the call a secret.

Engulfing a heap of air, she reminded herself to calm down and pretended as if nothing had happened.

Rummaging through the contact numbers on her phone this time, Nancy called the family doctor and

set up an appointment for checking Sheryl up.

When Nancy returned to Sheryl's bedroom, she had fallen asleep in bed. Nancy was so concerned

about her, and she used a wet cotton swab to moisten Sheryl's dry lips. Though lying calmly and

peacefully, Sheryl still looked ill even at her deep slumber. Her eyebrows were tightly creased and a

frown was drawn on her face. Her hands were clutched to fists and her eyelashes trembled from time

to time as if she was in a nightmare.

Looking at her, Nancy could tell that Sheryl was indeed suffering a lot. She wanted to open her eyes,

but she was too weak to even lift her eyelids. Even though she was conscious and could hear

everything around her, she couldn't move a single part of her body nor even lift a finger. Her body was

so numb that it felt like something weighing up to a thousand pounds was pressed against her, making

it difficult for her to breath. Fatigue, pain, and desolation swept her all over.

In the darkness of the night, though her eyes were shut closed, she heard light footsteps coming from

afar. It was getting closer and closer, like the call of Death. She struggled to open her eyes, but she

couldn't do so nor even make a sound. Desperation rose in her mind, then finally she decided to give

up and accept whatever was to come to her. In her struggle, she lost her consciousness and was

swallowed by darkness.

The family doctor arrived about half an hour later. One minute before Nancy called him, he received a

call from Charles requesting him to attend to Sheryl immediately.

On the phone, Charles sounded alarmed and worried as he asked him to go to Dream Garden

immediately because Sheryl got sick. Charles told him briefly that Sheryl had a fever, and that he must

set out as soon as possible. He could tell that Charles was deeply concerned about his wife, for his

voice was even trembling.