The Apple of My Eye

Chapter 220 Wendy’s Reasons

"My family background?" Autumn turned pale with confusion as she somehow sensed the trouble

Wendy was about to unfurl at this point, "What do you mean? What is the matter?"

"Okay, so the events unfolded in this manner....." Wendy hesitated to narrate the events as she pulled

together and said, "Your Dad was from a wealthy family when I was dating him. As his family wasn't

enthusiastic about his relationship with me, he decided to elope with me. Unfortunately, we had to part

ways later because of our failed relationship."

"Just enough with your hypocrisy and story telling! You are nothing but a selfish and greedy woman by

nature. I simply will not trust you again." Autumn interrupted and yelled out to Wendy, "Do not waste

any more of our time and get right to the point!"

Wendy was overwhelmed by a growing sense of guilt and embarrassment at Autumn's contempt,

"Autumn, I acknowledge my mistake by leaving you in dark all alone and helpless. As a result, your

grudge and anger towards me is reasonable. But I..... do have my reasons."

"Really?" Autumn responded with a smirk. Autumn thought Wendy had exhausted all her conniving

planning and tricks so now she was down to the last straw, making a fool of herself to beg for

forgiveness.

"I can understand why it may be hard to believe me after all these years, but please do spare a minute

to ponder about the fact that you are named after me and not your dad, Bowen." Autumn immediately

plunged into a mode of retrospection as she was always baffled by her surname.

"What on earth are you trying to convey?" Autumn asked in a sharp tone.

"Autumn, the reason why I treated you the way I did and abandoned you all these years was just my

attempt to keep you safe from the danger of Zhao Family, as your Dad had warned me to do so."

Wendy forced a warm smile as she continued, "Only our alienation will help ensure that the Zhao

Family will be out of your tracks. When I made you a substitute bride for Charles, it was only temporary.

I intended to relieve you upon Yvonne's return, but little did I expect that you would fall in love with

Charles. This..."

Wendy sighed and added, "Earlier, Zhao Family did bow down to the level of threatening me during my

pregnancy. And I always lived in a state of constant fear. Soon after giving birth to you, I escaped to

end those days where I was basking in my misery. But...."

"Just jump to the point now!" Autumn clenched her fists as she dealt with confusion and anger upon

hearing Wendy's reasons. She would rather be denied of such knowledge than be tortured by the truth,

"What is the logic behind your argument?"

"I...." Wendy grabbed Autumn's hands, unable to contain herself and said, "Autumn, I would rather

keep you in the dark than see you unhappy upon learning the truth. But now the time has come that I

must warn you of the possible danger as I have met someone from Zhao Family today."

Wendy strengthened her grip on Autumn's hands and continued, "They are bound to bring trouble upon

you. Please bear my warning in your mind and be vigilant and take good care."

Baffled by the overload of information, which could change the dynamics of her relationship with

Wendy, Autumn reacted with a frown as she still did not know if she should trust Wendy.

"Autumn, are you listening to me carefully? You should mark my words." Wendy chuckled to herself on

seeing Autumn's bewildered expression, which might mean that she was believing the plot. She took

the advantage of Autumn's silence to continue speaking. Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

"Your father and I wish nothing but your lifelong peace and happiness but.... no matter what Zhao

Family will say to you, I hope you will not place your blind faith upon them. As for your reunion with

them...."

"It all depends on your judgment." Wendy smiled gently and caressed Autumn's hair, "I came here

simply to warn you about this. Now I should take my leave, and it has been a long and hard day.

Please do take care of yourself."

Just when Wendy was about to leave, Autumn briskly moved to stop her. "Wait a minute, tell me why

these relatives started to look for me after all these years?"

"That is simply a mystery even to me." Wendy addressed Autumn calmly, "I only just found out about

their abhorrence of our presence. I simply came to remind you about it."

"And.... My grandma......" Autumn was in a fix at that moment, and somewhat moved by Wendy's

expression. Autumn felt guilty of believing Wendy because of what Wendy had done through the years.

Wendy immediately responded to clear the air: "She is not your biological grandmother. She was

simply your dad's devoted maid. She still deserves all of your high regard, respect and love."

Autumn embraced silence as she was exceptionally shocked.

"Well, please don't overthink this on my account. For all you know, they might not even come to trouble

you as I warned." Wendy smiled and continued, "Now let us put an end to this conversation. You better

go back quickly to prevent yourself from catching a cold in the gust of wind."

Wendy took her leave soon after that, leaving Autumn disturbed with the overload of information until

her receding figure was lost in sight.

Autumn returned to Dream Garden with distracted state of mind. Her grandma warmly welcomed

Autumn with great concern: "Autumn, are you fine? Chris notified me of Wendy's visit. Did that woman

hurt you in any way?"

"I am okay. My grandma, you do not need to worry about me." Autumn assured her grandma but was

overwhelmed by a sense of strangeness. She did not know what to make of it. Was she to believe

Wendy after all these years?

Autumn had a burning desire to inquire from her grandma of what Wendy just told her but she decided

to hold it back.

"Be quick to join everyone for dinner." Gary expressed his concern. Because of the lost appetite,

Autumn went straight upstairs to confine herself to the infinite darkness of her room. Charles suspected

something was wrong with Autumn when he came back home.

Charles turned on the light and to his surprise he found Autumn listless lying on her bed, so he voiced

his growing concern: "What happened? Your grandma told me you barely ate dinner. Is it because you

lost your appetite?"

"It is nothing serious." Autumn propped herself up, forced a pale smile, and asked Charles, "Why do

you come home so early today?"

"I had less work to deal with today so I finished it fast and came back early. What has happened to

you? Chris filled me in. She told me Wendy came to pay you a visit. Did she say something wrong to

you again?" Charles pressed.

"......" Autumn remained quiet for a while before she finally spoke, "Charles, tell me.... what if you found

out that you have no blood relation with your grandpa? No... I don't know how to put it..."