The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 1718 The Questioning

"Phoebe, I have to go. Can you put these away?"

"Okay, don't worry. I'll take care of it." Phoebe knew Sheryl was very concerned about Clark and Shirley, so she asked her to go quickly.

Sheryl said no more and left.

Soon, she arrived at the kindergarten. Most children had already gone home. Catching her breath, Sheryl walked towards the teacher and said, "Sorry, I'm late."

"Mrs. Lu, haven't you taken your children yet?" The teacher had initially been talking with someone. She was shocked when Sheryl approached her.

"I, I just arrived." Looking at the teacher, Sheryl noticed sweat appearing on her forehead. Suddenly, she realized what the teacher meant. Sheryl felt cold as fear crept over her. "Mom!" Clark called to Sheryl as he appeared at the gate, looking pale and frightened.

Sheryl ran towards him at once. She squinted at him, making sure he was okay. Feeling relieved, she asked, "Clark, where did you go just now? You scared me! Where is your sister?" Sheryl looked around, but didn't replace Shirley. She began to feel anxious.

Hearing his mother ask about Shirley, Charles burst into tears.

"Shirley, Shirley disappeared. I can't replace her anywhere," Clark explained while crying.

Shocked, Sheryl stood frozen in place.

She stared at Clark blankly, hearing his cries. She couldn't believe it.

'Did Shirley disappear? That's impossible.

How can she disappear?

No, no. It isn't true. Shirley won't just disappear, Sheryl thought.

"Mom, what's wrong? You're scaring me." Seeing Sheryl's face turn pale, Clark was instantly more concerned about her. He was worried that what happened would hurt his mom.

"Tell me what exactly happened," Sheryl asked, trying her best to keep calm. She didn't want Clark to panic.

"A little while ago, Shirley and I found out that you were still not here. So we agreed to go and wait for you outside. But I lost track of Shirley then." Frightened, Clark couldn't help trembling. Looking at Sheryl, his eyes were filled with tears.

Sheryl felt a sharp pain inside her like a knife was cutting her heart into pieces. Her mind was a mess, and she didn't know what to do now.

Seeing Sheryl standing still, Clark shook her arm and said, "Mom, please, go replace Shirley."

"Okay. Go back to your teacher, and I'll ask Alex to pick you up. I will go replace Shirley now." Sheryl wanted to make sure that Clark was okay, too, so she had to take care of him first. "Okay," Clark nodded obediently.

Sheryl explained everything to his teacher before she left.

After Clark saw Sheryl was out of sight, he wiped his tears away.

Actually, the two children were playing tricks but were afraid that Sheryl would worry about them. So Clark decided to go back to the school while Shirley went back home and hide. Sheryl began to walk around the kindergarten, hoping to replace Shirley.

This was the second time that Shirley had disappeared. Sheryl didn't know how to react. The first time, Shirley had been kidnapped by Leila, and Sheryl had felt like dying. Luckily, Shirley had been returned safely. Sheryl had promised herself that she would never lose them again. But now, she had lost Shirley again.

"Shirley!" Sheryl called out Shirley's name with all her might.

After an hour, Sheryl had already checked every corner of the school premises but still couldn't replace her. Exhausted, she slumped down and burst into tears as she sat on the ground. With her head in a complete mess, Sheryl finally decided to call Isla.

At that time, Isla was having dinner with Aron. Surprised to be getting a call at this time, they looked at each other in confusion.

"Who is it?" Aron asked. Seeing Isla was so anxious, he immediately thought that something was wrong.

"It's Sher. Let me answer it first."

Isla thought it was strange for Sheryl to call her now. 'What could have happened?' she worried.

"Hello, Sher! What's up?" Isla greeted.

"Isla, Shirley's disappeared!" Sheryl interrupted before Isla could finish.

"What? Where are you? I'll come there now!" Isla was shocked to hear the news.

"I am still trying to replace her around the kindergarten. Please, come here quickly." Then Sheryl hung up.

"What happened?" Aron asked as soon as Isla hung up, seeing that her expression had hardened. He thought that something might have happened.

"Shirley has disappeared. Let's go help Sheryl to replace her." After Sheryl hung up, Isla had already lost her appetite, so she asked Aron to come with her to the kindergarten and assist with the search. Meanwhile, Sheryl wiped away her tears. She wanted to call the police, but she was worried that the police wouldn't investigate it since it had not been twenty-four hours yet. Not knowing what to do, she called Isla for help.

Suddenly, a name flashed through her mind.

'Leila? Last time, Leila had kidnapped Shirley. Is it possible that she did it again?' Sheryl thought.

Feeling anxious and with her mind in a complete mess, Sheryl wanted to replace Shirley so badly that she wouldn't let any possibilities be discounted. Out of instinct, she believed that Leila might be involved in it. Sheryl thought that she didn't have a conflict with anyone, except for Leila. With that thought in mind, Sheryl didn't hesitate to go to the Dream Garden at once.

Soon, Sheryl arrived at the Dream Garden. Standing at the gate, nothing seemed to have changed since she had left. But she did not come here to enjoy the scenery, so she knocked at the gate immediately.

"Coming!"

Nancy came to open the gate. Seeing Sheryl standing outside, she couldn't help but tremble. Blinking rapidly, Nancy asked, "Sher, why are you here?"

"Nancy, is Leila here?" Despite being anxious, Sheryl held herself together and decided not to go in directly to confront Leila.

"Yes," Nancy answered in confusion.

"Nancy, who is it?" Melissa asked Nancy impatiently, also having heard the knocking sounds earlier.

"It's Sher."

Before Nancy could finish her words, Sheryl rushed in. She caught a glimpse of Melissa but ignored her completely. Pointing her finger at Leila, she demanded, "Where is Shirley now?" "What are you talking about?" Confused, Leila just stared back at her.

In fact, Leila was really confused. She only knew that Sheryl had barged in and now started questioning her about Shirley. But how would she know where Sheryl's daughter was now? Leila sneered. "Sheryl, how am I supposed to know where your daughter is?"

"Don't play innocent, Leila. I'm warning you. If you don't return my daughter to me now, I won't let you go." Sheryl was pale, but her words were powerful.