The Apple of My Eye novel Chapter 109

As birds were chirping a melodious and soothing song in the temple's courtyard, Autumn and Charles felt a sense of calmness and peace wash over them. While they were slipping into a deep slumber of tranquility, an old monk approached them and said to Autumn, "Lady, I can feel that there is some built-up confusion in your heart. Why don't you drop by the backyard? You may be able to find an answer to your dilemma there."

The monk then firmly turned on his heel and walked in the opposite direction, leaving Autumn standing there. She hesitated for quite a while before she finally walked towards the backyard along with Charles. In a stark contrast to the courtyard, where a horde of pilgrims were gathered, the backyard was secluded. With a suspicion look, she pushed an aged door open.

The voice of an old person came across from behind the door, "Lady, has something been bothering you lately?"

The voice sent shivers down her spine. She froze in the spot for a second, and heaved a deep breath before entering. "Yes, great master. Can you please help me?"

"Do you see the bamboo container on the table? Why don't you draw a stick first?" Autumn spotted the container as soon as he finished the sentence. She randomly drew a stick out of the lot and told the monk, "It is draw number 29, master."

"A good draw, but not the best." The old monk pondered over the pick and after carefully choosing his words of wisdom, he said, "Your fortune is not bad as you have accidentally made a good match. But I must take this opportunity to remind you that honesty is the best policy, especially for couples. You should put more faith and trust in people around you. Only once you do that will you find that everything goes in the right direction for you."

Autumn shuddered on hearing his words. Brief as they were, the fortune-telling he gave and the advice he offered had really hit the nail on the head, and struck Autumn as true.

'Does this mean that I should just be honest and frank with Charles about my secret?'

She just couldn't make up her mind in that moment. After paying the fee, she left the room. Upon seeing her face, Charles could sense her unrest and tensing up. He comforted her, "It is just some cheap tricks, don't take it seriously or pay heed to it."

Not knowing what to say, Autumn just did not respond to his attempts to comfort her. The monk's warning was weighing on her mind the entire trek down the mountain.

That night, Charles received a call from David. There was an emergency that required his immediate attention. So the couple had to call off their trip abruptly.

"Ye, you can stay here and finish the rest of our trip if you want to. I can go back myself. Your air ticket is reserved for the day after tomorrow anyway." He didn't want to spoil this trip for her, not one bit.

Autumn shook her head while packing the luggage and said, "It really doesn't matter, I just want to go back with you."

"Ye..." Charles firmly took her hand into his, looked into her eyes and promised, "Let me assure you, I will travel with you whenever and wherever my schedule allows in the future, okay?"

"Perfect." Autumn was glowing with a bright smile and said, "A promise is a promise!"

"You can trust me." he assured. Charles then helped her pack all their belongings up. They hurried back to Y City that very night.

They arrived at Dream Garden by dawn. Even their servants were still in bed. Slowly and silently, Autumn tiptoed up the stairs to avoid waking anyone in the whole house.

Charles walked behind her carrying her suitcase upstairs. He gave her a big warm hug and said, "I'm going to the company now, you better get some sleep."

"Won't you take a break and have some rest?" He had been driving all through the night and had to now leave for work without a single moment of rest. Autumn was really worried about him.

"No, I'm fine, " Charles slightly shook his head and said, "It is quite a complicated matter this time and I need to attend to it right now. So please don't sit up for me tonight as I may have to work overtime. Go to bed early and catch up on your sleep. I will sleep in the study if I'm late."

"... Alright." Knowing that there was little that she could do to help him in this situation, Autumn said nothing further to avoid causing him any trouble.

However, even being so drained she just couldn't fall asleep after Charles left for work. So instead, she went downstairs to prepare breakfast for the entire family. A moment after she put the food on the table, Chris was coming down, yawning. "What's for breakfast today, Nancy?" she asked. "It smells so good in here…" she then exclaimed.

"I have cooked your favorite shrimp wonton…" Autumn responded. Soon after hearing Autumn's voice, Chris sobered up at once. She cheerfully ran to Autumn and hugged her with excitement, "Yvonne, thank goodness you're back! I was waiting for your arrival."

"Let me have a look at you, are you okay?" Chris took her hand in hers and checked her from head to toe. She breathed a sigh of relief after being assured and checking for herself that Autumn was safe and sound. "God only knows how worried we were about you. Grandpa and I were getting frantic after learning the news that the hotel you stayed were caught on fire. What a relief to know that you are safe and far from harm now."

"I'm perfectly fine. Let us sit down and catch up over breakfast, " Autumn smiled and said, "I'm just helping out and taking the credit. The wonton was already prepared and put in the fridge, I just had them cooked."

"Why did you not take some rest since you've just got returned?" Chris frowned and continued to inquire, "And where is my brother?"

"He has some emergency company affairs to deal with right now." Autumn answered while passing a bowl of wonton to Chris. Chris took it and grumbled, "What on earth has been happening recently? Sam has been away for days without uttering a single word, and now my brother is acting this way, too."

Although she was whispering and muttering to herself, Autumn felt guilty about the whole scene.

Of course there was nothing going on between Sam and her. But If Chris knew they had been together over the last couple of days, she would most definitely misunderstand them.

So Autumn decided to not respond. "Just enjoy your wonton and remember you have to go to work later." she said in an attempt to change the topic.

Chris left for work soon after the breakfast. Autumn then retired to her room and took a long and relaxing bath. While lying comfortably in her bed, she started to check the job information out.

Considering her qualifications and work experience, it should ideally be easy for her to find a job.

Now that she had fulfilled her dream and traveled to Z City, it was about time that she settled down and returned to work.

But strangely, despite having sent out her resume, she had received no interview invitations.

She didn't ponder over this matter further. However, that night Chris treated her in a rather odd manner after returning home from work. She didn't greet her, and after a glance at her she avoided making any eye contact with her. Autumn found all of this quite unusual.

"Chris, do you have a few minutes?" This scene upset and bothered Autumn. She thought about it throughout dinner and so she decided to ask Chris for an explanation. While Chris was about to go upstairs, she stopped her and said, "I really want to talk to you."

Chris hesitated but finally agreed.

They took a walk in the yard. Autumn then broke the silence and asked, "What is the matter, Chris? You look unhappy and it seems like something is bothering you tonight. Is it about work?"

"No." Chris shook her head with a poker face and said, "I'm fine."

It was obvious that Chris did not want to talk about it. This morning, she saw Sam when stepping into the company. It seemed that Autumn and he had returned at the same time. Despite this funny chance, Chris had persuaded herself that this was okay as it was just a coincidence. The problem arose when she noticed that Sam was wounded. And more specifically it was a burn wound.

With that last link, she now just couldn't pretend that Autumn had no relation with the chain of events.

"Chris, we are now family." Autumn knew in her heart that Chris must have some misconception about her and just waned to clear the air, so she decided to speak out, "If you happen to have any complaints about me, I hope you can tell me directly, I…"

Chris interrupted her impatiently before she could finish, "Yvonne, I have no problem with you, only that I wish you can love my brother, and get along well with him. Just don't be greedy or try to cheat on him."

Hearing Chris's words, Autumn now knew the reason for her displeasure. She grabbed her by the arm when she was turning away. "So it's about Sam?" Autumn asked.