The Apple of My Eye novel Chapter 170

"Look here, Mr. Lu." The reporters greeted Charles warmly. This was the first time for Autumn to attend such an event. She grabbed Charles' hand, unsure of what to do.

"Take it easy. Don't be so nervous." Charles soothed her as he patted her hand.

Autumn grew calmer and more composed with his encouragement. They stared at each other, eyes full of affection.

"What a beauty Mrs. Lu is!"

"Exactly! Mr. Lu has an eye for beauty." Autumn blushed at the compliments. Charles was elated at the comments and smiled in satisfaction.

In the crowd, a lady stared coldly at them with eyes that spat venom. It was Yvonne. Autumn and Charles were a perfect match. This made her clench her fists and a shiver ran along her spine.

'I should be the one standing beside Charles now.' Yvonne thought to herself.

"Here comes the birthday girl." Someone in the crowd shouted.

The reporters rushed in swarms to take photos of Rachel who was walking down the stairs.

The highlight of Rachel's outfit was the crown on her head. It was said that she borrowed it from a museum at a heavy price. Since she lost out to Autumn's evening dress, she wanted to... beat Autumn in other ways.

Rachel had seen Charles and Autumn from the top of the stairs. She gave a tiny smile as she thought, 'Autumn Ye, your name will live in infamy after this evening.'

While the cameras were zooming in and clicking on Rachel, Autumn suddenly sprained her ankle. Luckily, Charles helped her to her feet and said in a soft voice, "Be careful, babe."

"Sure." Autumn gave him a sweet smile.

They saw nobody but each other, which drove Rachel crazy. Rachel's face almost contorted with rage, but she immediately concealed it.

Rachel went down the stairs and came up to Autumn in full view of the crowd. She grabbed Autumn's hands intimately as if they were good friends. "Mrs. Lu, I thought you weren't coming. I'm so glad that you are here."

Charles' wife and ex-girlfriend stood facing each other. People fixed their eyes at the scene. They had thought that it would be a stressful occasion, but it turned out to be harmonious.

"Miss Bai, since you invited us, Charles and I will of course do you this favor."

Autumn said politely with the implication that she and Charles were a family while Rachel was an outsider.

Rachel remained calm. "Thank you for coming. I was afraid that you and Charles wouldn't indulge me this time, then I would feel embarrassed.

By the way, Charles, " Rachel gave him a playful wink and continued, "A lot of our friends are here. You can make some small talk with them if you are bored. Let me do the honors and take care of your wife, okay?"

"Miss Bai, thank you for your kindness. But my wife is not used to these kinds of gatherings. I don't feel comfortable leaving her alone." Charles gave a courteous smile and continued, "You are the birthday girl. You must be very preoccupied, aren't you?"

"Not at all, " Rachel smiled and said, "I haven't seen Mrs. Lu for a long time. I would like to have a chat with her. Come on, Mr. Lu, it's a girl thing."

Charles stared coldly at Rachel, saying nothing. Rachel felt a bit embarrassed. Luckily, Autumn saved her from further awkwardness. "It's okay, Charles. You can hang out with your friends. Today is Miss Bai's birthday, and she is the mistress of the night."

Charles was a man of a few words in front of Rachel, but when speaking with Autumn, his face softened. Every lady present would be envious of Autumn to have such an exceptionally loving husband.

It looked like he was using his eyes and gestures to say, "In my eyes, you are the most beautiful rose in this earthly world."

"Take good care of yourself. I'll be back in a short while." Charles said as he adjusted Autumn's hair. She nodded, smiling.

Rachel ground her teeth in anger, but she immediately calmed down and gave a sweet smile when Charles gave her a warning look.

Since Charles made a clear show of his affection to Autumn, he also made a clear break from Rachel. And Autumn trusted him because of it. She knew that Charles would be impossible to cheat on her, despite Rachel's various schemes.

There was a special group of guests in Rachel's birthday party. They were neither celebrities nor the rich or influential people. They were just the normal everyday folks. These guests were Rachel's loyal fans who treated Rachel as their queen. It was a privilege for them to be invited to their idol's birthday party.

They knew Rachel had once dated Charles, and they considered him as her future husband. They had rejoiced that their idol had such an outstanding boyfriend. However, the good times did not last long. Charles had married someone else and even brought his wife to Rachel's birthday party. Why? Was he trying to humiliate Rachel?

Rachel was sad, but she had to pretend to be happy. This made her fans feel sorry for her.

Rachel was such a kindhearted girl and they hated her ex's new wife.

Rachel grabbed Autumn's hand and brought her to her fans. She smiled and stated, "Thank you for coming to my birthday party. I really appreciate it. Thank you for supporting me for all these years. I hope you will continue to back me up in the future."

"Rachel, you haven't acted in any movie or attended any public occasion recently. May we know why?" A fan asked.

Rachel's smile froze as she felt embarrassed. "I've been exhausted recently. Everything turned sour for me... work, life and others. So I took this opportunity to take a break. Don't worry. I will be back to work as soon as I recover."

"Rachel, you look sad. Is it because of Charles Lu?" Who was this woman? She was nothing comparable to Rachel. Rachel was so soft and beautiful.

Charles must have been blind to marry this woman.

After hearing that, Autumn frowned and thought to herself, 'Ah! So she wants her fans to humiliate me. How naive of her!'

Rachel turned to look at Autumn and explained, "Mrs. Lu, my apologies. Please don't get them wrong. They didn't mean it that way."