The Apple of My Eye novel Chapter 197

"Gary, I am not pleased to hear such remarks. Autumn is my daughter, and so is Yvonne. I love them both equally. They are the only people I hold dearest in this world. I am not going to be partial to either of them. Yvonne made a mistake before, but I have to take responsibility for her because it is my fault. As her mother, I didn't discipline her well enough. But just as the old saying goes, 'no wool is so white that a dyer cannot blacken it'. Yvonne is still young, so it is natural for young people to make mistakes since they are not experienced. Moreover, Autumn also made a mistake. Although she was married to Charles, she still kept an ambiguous relationship with Sam. When she made a mistake, everyone in your family forgave her. So why don't you be lenient to Yvonne as well?" Wendy stood up to Gary in order to defend Yvonne. Moreover, she even smeared Autumn's name.

Normally, Autumn's loyalty to Charles would have been questioned since Gary had heard this from Wendy. However, Gary did not believe a word of what Wendy had said. Instead he felt sorry and yet indignant for Autumn. What a vicious mother she had!

"I know Autumn very well. I am clear about what kind of girl she really is, so don't try to slander her reputation, " said Gary. He remained indifferent towards Wendy and did not feel the need to defend Autumn. Now that their real identity had been disclosed, it was unnecessary for Autumn to recognize Wendy as her mother anymore, because she wasn't fit to be her mother at all. So it made no difference for Autumn whether she had a mother or not.

"Wendy, why are you here today? Be frank and don't waste anymore time. You have kept Autumn from being with her grandmother long enough. If you still have a conscience, you'd better be frank with us and tell us about the real purpose of your visit here." Gary asked impatiently. He knew that Wendy would never come here without an ulterior motive.

Wendy hesitantly gazed at Gary for some time.

Wendy had never expected that Autumn would have the courage to expose her real identity. And much to her surprise, Charles had really found Autumn's grandmother. Now, she had run out of bargaining power to put pressure on Autumn.

The real purpose of her visit here today was to extort some money from Autumn. It didn't matter to her who Charles got married to, because Wendy's ultimate goal was to get money from the Lu family.

"Gary, don't be so impatient. We are family now. I haven't seen my daughter in a long time. Can't I come here to see her or even live here with her for a few days?" Wendy replied indifferently with a sly smile. She was determined to nag Autumn, since she understood that there was little chance for her to approach Charles now that Yvonne had a miscarriage and their identities had been disclosed.

"Wendy, I know the real purpose behind your visit. How much money do you want? Say it." 'As long as I can afford what she's asking for, to get a peaceful life, I would gladly pay her at any cost, ' Autumn thought.

"You think you can afford to pay me any sum I ask for?" Wendy asked Autumn scornfully while rolling her eyes at her.

"I can. I will get you the money even if I need to borrow it from someone else. I would pay you at any cost as long as you promise not to bother me anymore, " replied Autumn. Autumn sneered and then continued, "Wendy, you have never taken care of me after giving birth to me. Yes, I admit that it is you who gave me life and we will always be related by blood, but I have to clarify that as soon as you take the money, we shall cease to be related anymore, " said Autumn firmly.

"What? Do you want to break off all relations with me?" Wendy asked with a sneer. Although Autumn was her natural born daughter, she had hated her from the moment she was born. Wendy had seduced Bowen because she wanted to get married to a man from a notable family, in order to become rich and to lead a better life. However, she didn't expect that the Zhao family would object to their marriage. Therefore, Wendy always bore a grudge on Bowen and his family members, and even her own daughter for that matter.

She thought that if it weren't for him, she could have been married to a richer man instead of being spurned by others for being someone else's mistress.

"You have never treated me as your own daughter. We don't have to break off any relationships, because we do not have a relationship, " Autumn replied as she smiled bitterly.

"But it is I who gave birth to you. Moreover, you couldn't have married Charles if it weren't for me. Now that you have gained so many advantages from me, you could at least pay me ten to twenty million, " said Wendy shamelessly. She demanded an exorbitant price. Even though Autumn didn't have that much money, Charles was undoubtedly rich. Now that they had been completely open with each other, Wendy decided to come straight to the point. What she only wanted now, was money.

"Ten to twenty million? Are you kidding me? Where am I going to get so much money? Why are you so greedy?" Amazed, Autumn stared at Wendy, who was coming very close to push her over the edge.

"Of course I am not kidding. I know you don't have that much money, but don't forget that you are now, the wife of Charles. He is rich. You should know what I mean." Wendy was determined to urge Autumn to ask Charles for the money. "I am your mother. It is natural for you to support me, as it is your unavoidable duty."

Upon hearing this from Wendy, Autumn was disillusioned, because it seemed that Wendy would never show her mercy.

"Wendy, I don't have that much money. To be honest I only have one hundred thousand in total, and I can borrow some money. But at most, I can only pay you two hundred thousand in total. This is to repay you for having given birth to me, " replied Autumn. Since Wendy did not treat Autumn as her daughter, Autumn felt that it was necessary to clarify everything to her. "I owe you. But Lu family doesn't owe you anything. That is all I can afford to give you. You can take it or leave it. The decision is yours, " added Autumn.

Autumn had her plans. If Wendy refused to take this money and asked for more, Autumn would have to resort to legal actions. Either way, she had completely given up on Wendy.

"Two hundred thousand? I must have misheard." Wendy furrowed her eye brows and burst into a sneer. "But there is another option for you. If you can't afford to pay me the money, you'd better divorce Charles as soon as possible. Then I won't ask you for help, or perhaps I could give you some money."

"I can give you 30 million, but you have to promise that you will break off all ties with Autumn and that you will never pester her again. What do you think?" Charles's voice creeped in from behind all of a sudden. As she turned around, Autumn furrowed her eye brows and asked Charles, "Why are you home so suddenly?"

"Grandma called me and told me that you were in a bit of trouble, so I hurried back." As soon as Charles arrived at his company, he received a call from Autumn's grandmother, who told him that Wendy had come to bother Autumn again, so he came back immediately. "Are you okay?" Charles asked in a soft voice.

"I am fine, " replied Autumn while shaking her head. She did not want Charles to worry about her and get involved in this matter. However, it was too late to prevent him.

Emily didn't think too much about it. She only wanted to prevent her granddaughter, Autumn from getting hurt. However, she was too old to protect her, but since Charles was her husband now, Emily decided to ask him for help.

"Wendy, long time no see, " said Charles in a cold tone. Charles put his arms around Autumn's shoulder, and said to Wendy, coldly, "Don't misread me this time. As soon as I give you the 30 million, we will not be related anymore. Most importantly, Autumn will have nothing to do with you from now on. What do you think of this deal?"

Charles glared at Wendy and then added, "But if you refuse my offer this time, I'll take necessary actions to deal with this situation, as I see fit. Then we will see you in court."

"Charles, don't..." Autumn's eye brows furrowed into a crease since she didn't want to give Wendy so much money. She didn't deserve it.

"Don't worry. I will handle this." Charles smiled and consoled Autumn patiently. As long as it could be solved by money, it was not going to be a big problem. "Grandma is in her bedroom. Go and keep her company. I will take care of this. Don't worry about it. Trust me."

But Autumn was reluctant to leave until Gary asked her to.

After Autumn left, Wendy smiled slyly and then said to Charles, "I want 50 million. And I promise you that as soon as I get the money, I will never cause her any trouble ever again. What do you think of it?" Now that she knew Charles was willing to pay her 30 million, Wendy was determined to extort him for an extra 20 million.

It was very obvious that Charles loved Autumn unconditionally. No matter how much Yvonne tried, she was still unable to change Charles's mind about Autumn. Wendy, on the other hand, was not going to give up so easily, so she decided to extort a large sum of money as compensation.

"Wendy, here is a small tip for you. Don't be too greedy or I am afraid that you will come to regret it, sooner or later." Charles said coldly, while he sneered at her.