You Are The Apple of My Eyes

Chapter 688 Atonement

Emma left the girls after a while and joined James and the other businessmen. That evening, Miles arrived home with a big smile, which grew even bigger when he saw Debra.

When he was about to praise her, however, she cut him off coldly, "Dad, you used me, didn't you? Me going out with Michelle for a meal today was part of your scheme, wasn't it? You've investigated Michelle. You know that her cousin is James' wife. You want to get in touch with the Shi family, so you told me yesterday to invite her to that restaurant for the meal, didn't you?"

Miles had known from the beginning that he couldn't hide the matter from his daughter. With how smart she was, she'd definitely understood everything as long as she used her brain. However, he'd never expected that she'd react so aggressively like this.

It was fine that she was just naughty and disobedient, but now she even dared to question him aloud.

The smile on his face disappeared at once. "I indeed investigated Michelle, but so what? It's not like I singled her out and investigated her alone. I investigated all of your friends. You're our precious daughter. How can we let you befriend and stay with people whom we know nothing about?"

Debra couldn't help but laugh. It was as if she couldn't believe what she heard. "Dad, you've gone too far. How could you arbitrarily investigate my friends?"

"I did it all for you!" Miles leaned his head against the soda and massaged his temple. He drank quite a lot today, so he was a little dizzy now. Being interrogated and blamed by his daughter was enough to make him feel exasperated in normal condition, let alone when he was in a dizzy state like now.

"Okay, I won't mention this matter about you investigating the people around me for the time being. Let's talk about today. Did you or did you not use me today?" Debra was furious. As it turned out,

she'd always been monitored by her parents. It was bad enough that she had no privacy, but she was even being used.

"I didn't even know that Michelle had come back from the club, but you did! You've really planned everything well. You told me that the chef in that restaurant is good, suggested that I took Michelle there. You booked a table and even set up the time for me.

You used my friendship with Michelle to get close to James! How could you do that? What should I do if Michelle knows about it? How should I face her in the future?" The more she spoke, the angrier she became. By now, she'd practically become hysterical. "Michelle is my friend, and you stooped as low as taking advantage of my friend!"

Miles' patience was finally exhausted. He glared at her and snapped, "Can you say something else except about me using you? If you don't tell Michelle, how will she know? James didn't doubt anything, and thanks to your wisdom, neither did Emma."

Now that they got to this topic, his expression softened a lot. "There is no fool in the Shi family. James might've felt that something was amiss at the beginning, so he asked Emma to talk to Michelle. He probably wanted Emma to test you out. Debra, everything went well because of you. You did a good job today."

"I didn't do anything! Michelle has never mentioned it to me, so I knew nothing!" Debra shouted.

"I know." Miles stood up, looking exhausted. "You didn't expose my plan, so you did a good job."

Debra couldn't say anything to refute.

Indeed, she knew the meal was planned when she saw his father with James, and she also knew that Emma was there to test her, but she still chose to secretly help her dad.

"I did this for our family. Please understand me." Seeing that his daughter was silent, Miles decided to use their family as an excuse.

Debra's eyes turned red. Tears of resentment and shame started to well in them.

Pissed at both her dad and herself, she turned around and strode away.

"Where are you going in the middle of the night like this? Come back!" Miles shouted at her back.

However, his shout fell into deaf ears. Debra continued to walk away and didn't even look back. Miles sighed and waved to the bodyguards, hinting at them to follow Debra. "Protect Debra. Don't let anything happen to her."

The bodyguards rushed out of the house, just in time to see a black sports car speed away in front of them like an arrow. They all scrambled to their cars, trying to chase after Debra.

Debra didn't want to see or talk to her father. She was overwhelmed with guilt towards Michelle who, up until now, still had no idea that she'd been used, and wanted to apologize. However, she really didn't know how to face her. That girl was so naive that she could easily lead her by the nose when they were at the restaurant today. The fact that she'd dispelled Emma's doubts by manipulating such a naive friend really made Debra loath herself to death.

Having to choose between her dad and her friend really made her feel depressed. She ended up venting her frustration by driving at a speed that frightened the hell out of the bodyguards driving behind her.

Those bodyguards didn't dare to keep up with her speed for fear that they'd stimulate her further. They could neither keep up with her nor stop her. However, they also couldn't let her continue driving so dangerously like this. At their wits' end, they finally decided to call Debra's brother and tell him about the situation.

The moment Debra saw her brother's name on her phone screen, she thought of the super expensive lotus-petal-shaped orchid at home. After listening to the man's gentle coaxing for some time, she cut him off and asked bluntly, "Can you give me your lotus-petal-shaped orchid? If that won't do, how about I buy it from you?

I'll give you every cent of my pocket money, okay?" The man on the other end of the line hung up without a word. It was nothing strange, though. After all, his sister had just asked for the flower he'd gone through blood, sweat, and tears to get.

Debra was stunned.

She almost regained her calm under her brother's appeasement, but his sudden move really baffled her.

When she was about to call back, her phone rang. It was from her brother again.

"I can't give you that orchid, and I don't need your measly pocket money. I can buy you another orchid when I have some spare money, though."

"I want a lotus-petal-shaped orchid." After a moment of thought, she added, "You don't need to buy it for me. Tell me where to buy it. I'll buy it myself. Michelle likes it. I'll buy it for her to atone for my wrongdoing."

"Don't be so grave. You've done nothing wrong, and you don't need to atone for anything. Well, back to the topic. She likes lotus-petal-shaped orchids, right? My friend's younger brother has a few nice such orchids in his hands. He's selling them, but the interested buyers are too many. I'll give him a call first. If he hasn't sold them yet, I'll buy one for you. "

"Really?" Debra's eyes widened in delight, and she instinctively slowed down her car. "I don't want you to buy it. I'll buy it myself. Alright, call him and ask about it then. I'm going to my dorm now."

"Are you in such a hurry?"

"Yes! Apologizing must be done in time. I don't want to let this matter drag on. You didn't apologize to your girlfriend in time, and ended up breaking up with her, didn't you? You deserve it!" Debra gloated.

"Fine! I'll call him right away."

"Thank you. Anyway, I'm driving. It's not convenient for me to talk on the phone for too long, so bye." Debra hung up in satisfaction.

An hour later, Debra appeared in the dorm room. Michelle was so surprised to see her that she dropped the ice cream bucket.

Lydia was equally surprised.

"Debra?" the two said in unison.

Lydia asked, "Why did you come back all of a sudden?"

"I'm back for something." Debra walked towards Michelle without forgetting to close the door behind her. Her gaze was fixed on the ice cream on the floor. "Why are you eating again? Ice cream is cold and sweet. You can eat it in the daytime, but you shouldn't eat it at night. Aren't you afraid of diarrhea?"

"I can't resist the temptation." Michelle stared at Debra with her innocent eyes and pointed at the mess on the floor. "It seduced me when I passed by the shop. You should blame it."

"Yeah, the ice cream seduced you and you can't resist. Whatever makes you happy." Debra rolled her eyes, pulled Rainy's chair over, and took a seat. "I have something to tell you. In fact, lotus-

petal-shaped orchids aren't that expensive. My brother's is very rare, and it's usually targeted by orchid collectors, hence its unreasonable high price. Content provided by NôvelDrama.Org.

Ordinary ones are only a few grand—ten grand at most. My brother's friend still has two orchids he wants to sell. If you want, I'll take you to him tomorrow. What do you think? If you want two of them, I'll buy both of them for you."

Michelle's eyes widened in delight, and she hurriedly nodded. "Okay, but you don't have to pay. I'll pay."

Excellent! She could buy the flower Leon liked!

"Thank you, Debra. You're the best! I love you!" Michelle rushed over with her arms wide open and hugged Debra tightly.

Debra felt uncomfortable and couldn't move, but she didn't push Michelle away. An unnoticeable bitter smile emerged on her face.

If Michelle knew that she had colluded with her dad to take advantage of her relationship with the Shi family, would she still say these words?

She patted Michelle's back gently, repeatedly apologizing in her heart.

"Michelle, let me pay. It's your birthday next month, isn't it? I'll buy the two of them for you. Consider them your birthday gift."

'One is my apology to you, and the other is a birthday gift for you.'