Chapter 1327 Stay Here
Chapter 1327 Stay Here
As he heard the conversation between Leila and his mother, Charles's face darkened. Yet he tried to
keep his hands steady on the steering wheel. As he stopped at the red light, his mind clouded with the
thought of Sheryl's reaction when she came to know about Leila coming to Dream Garden.
It was unnerving for him to even think how much this would aggrieve Sheryl. However, he had no other
choice than to take Leila along with him and Melissa. He knew what his mother was capable of and he
didn't want to make things worse. He could only hope that Sheryl wouldn't make a scene out of it.
The hospital wasn't very far from Dream Garden, and they arrived home in no time at all.
Sheryl learned about Melissa's discharge from the hospital in the morning and wanted to prepare a big
welcome meal for her. Right after the kids left for school, she went to the market with Nancy and
handpicked groceries to make a really special meal for Melissa.
Sheryl didn't mean to play up to Melissa. She just didn't want to put Charles in a dilemma.
Whenever Sheryl ran into any conflict like this, she would always think about Charles. She could go to
any length to see Charles happy and peaceful even though she thought that he didn't love her as much
as she did.
Back home from the market, Sheryl had been busying helping Nancy in the kitchen for the whole
morning. The heat in the kitchen made her sweat profusely. Yet she insisted on helping Nancy.
"Sher, why don't you go out and rest for a while? I will get this done." Nancy saw sweat streaming down
Sheryl's face and suggested out of concern.
"I'm fine, Nancy. Let me help you. I want to cook for Melissa as well," Sheryl said with a gentle smile.
She wiped the sweat off her face and focused back to the food that was being prepared.
Nancy looked at Sheryl with mixed feelings and refrained from asking her to stop cooking. She was
amazed to see what a kindhearted woman Sheryl was.
It made her wonder why Melissa preferred Leila over Sheryl even though Sheryl treated her in such a
nice manner.
The more Nancy thought of it, the more confused she became. Hence, she shook her head in dismay
and went back to chopping the vegetables.
After two hours of continuous cooking, they finally finished preparing a table full of delectable dishes.
Only then did Sheryl hurry to take a shower and got changed.
It felt as if the entire morning had gone by in a jiffy. Right after Sheryl walked out of her bedroom after
taking a shower, she could hear voices coming behind the front door. She realized at once that Charles
and Melissa were back. She hurried down the stairs to open the door.
Resolving to put all their conflicts and differences at her back, Sheryl put a smile on her face and
opened the door for them, only to find Leila standing there with them. Sheryl was completely taken
aback by this unexpected guest, and her smile froze for a while.
She was a little annoyed to see Leila at their door because she still wasn't able to forgive Leila for what
she had done to her. Leila was the one who had tried to provoke her and set her up by pretending to be
hit by her.
It took Sheryl a while and a few deep breathes to calm herself down. She pacified herself thinking that
Leila would leave after dinner, so she decided to restrain herself from showing any annoyance.
"Mom, welcome home," Sheryl said, forcing a sweet smile on her face. Even though Melissa had
wronged her, and the moment when Melissa hit her was still so vivid in her memory, Sheryl still wanted
to put all those behind. Since they were of the same family, she thought it was important that they got
along with each other. Sheryl also believed that Melissa would get to understand her if she treated her
with kindness.
However, Melissa didn't say a word to reciprocate to Sheryl's greeting. Instead, she just turned her
head away and ignored her.
"Mom," Charles grumbled, turning to Melissa.
Looking at Charles' discontent look on his face, Melissa heaved a sigh and turned to Sheryl most
reluctantly and said in a cold tone, "Please don't block our way. Shouldn't you let us in first?"
Even though there was still plenty of room for Melissa to get inside, Sheryl didn't want to argue with
her. She just glanced over the expansive space in front of the door, and with a faint smile on her face,
she stepped aside to make room for Melissa at once.
Charles felt extremely embarrassed to hear his mother's words and thought that his mother had
crossed the line this time. He was appreciative of Sheryl that she hadn't argued with Melissa. He turned
to Sheryl with grateful eyes. However, Sheryl simply turned her head away. It seemed that she was
trying to avoid any eye contact with him.
Ever since he had suspected her for hitting Leila and confronted her at the hospital, something seemed
to have come between them, but neither of them dared to clear things up.
When Leila and Melissa walked past her, the glory in Leila's eyes could not evade Sheryl's eyes.
"Dinner is ready. Let's start, shall we?" Sheryl asked politely. She wasn't very comfortable with having
dinner with Melissa and Leila. However, after making so much of efforts since the morning, she did not
want Leila's presence to dampen her spirit. After all, she wanted to make Melissa feel at home.
"Sher, thank you for all these," Charles turned to Sheryl and said, giving her a fond smile. Walking up to
her, he held her hand and led her to sit down. Sheryl was completely taken aback by his gesture but
even before Sheryl realized it, Charles had pulled out the chair and seated her down.
Leila's eyes narrowed at such a display of affection shown by Charles towards Sheryl. She could feel
her blood boil to see their intimacy as Charles held Sheryl's hands.
It seemed that the overall mood of the dinner was very downbeat. No one seemed to be in the mind to
start any conversation except for Melissa and Leila. Both of them were chatting while eating.
"Leila, try this. It's yummy," said Melissa, helping Leila with some food. Leila's bowl was filled with food
given by Melissa.
"Thank you, Aunt Melissa. I'll help myself. You and Charles should have more," Leila said as she
refilled Melissa's bowl. Then she turned towards Charles and offered to refill his bowl as well.
Charles did not expect such an act from Leila all of a sudden. He hesitated for a few seconds and had
a very strong urge to stop Leila. Yet, for some unknown reason, he lifted his bowl and accepted the
food eventually. He looked at Sheryl, trying to explain the situation to her, but he paused as he didn't
know where to start from.
Leila had noticed the look on Charles' face, but she still withdrew her chopsticks naturally. In an instant,
her face darkened.
On the other hand, Melissa and Leila were getting along so well that Sheryl began to think that Leila
was more like their family member than her. She found the food tasteless as she thought more about it.
Undoubtedly, Sheryl was Charles' legally married wife. However, at that moment, she felt that she was
an outsider in that room.
Halfway through dinner, Melissa stopped all of a sudden. She covered her mouth with her hand and
cleared her throat to draw everyone's attention. NôvelDrama.Org is the owner.
"I want to announce something. I want to have Leila stay here for a while to keep me company. It's not
a big deal. Sheryl, get the guest room ready for Leila after dinner," Melissa commanded.
Sheryl didn't say a word as she thought she might have misheard.
'Leila is going to stay here for a while?' she wondered. It took a while for Sheryl to understand what
Melissa was saying. She felt really upset when she realized what Melissa meant. She couldn't help
turning to Charles. She wanted to know his reaction, hoping that he would say something about it.
She hoped with all her heart that Charles would refuse Melissa's unjustified demand.
Charles had expected that Melissa would throw out such a suggestion. However, he had never
expected that Melissa would declare the news in such a solemn manner during dinner. He also knew
that Sheryl was waiting for his reply with her eager eyes fixed on him, but since he had already agreed
to such arrangement, he couldn't say no.
Charles felt as if he had been driven to a corner. He didn't want Leila to stay at their house, but he
knew well that his mother would never let him say no. If he rejected her now, he believed that she
would make a scene at once.