The Apple of My Eye

As birds were chirping a melodious and soothing song in the temple's courtyard, Autumn and Charles felt a sense of calmness and peace wash over them. While they were slipping into a deep slumber of tranquility, an old monk approached them and said to Autumn, "Lady, I can feel that there is some built-up confusion in your heart. Why don't you drop by the backyard? You may be able to find an answer to your dilemma there."

The monk then firmly turned on his heel and walked in the opposite direction, leaving Autumn standing there. She hesitated for quite a while before she finally walked towards the backyard along with Charles. In a stark contrast to the courtyard, where a horde of pilgrims were gathered, the backyard was secluded. With a suspicion look, she pushed an aged door open.

The voice of an old person came across from behind the door, "Lady, has something been bothering you lately?"

The voice sent shivers down her spine. She froze in the spot for a second, and heaved a deep breath before entering. "Yes, great master. Can you please help me?"

"Do you see the bamboo container on the table? Why don't you draw a stick first?" Autumn spotted the container as soon as he finished the sentence. She randomly drew a stick out of the lot and told the monk, "It is draw number 29, master."

"A good draw, but not the best." The old monk pondered over the pick and after carefully choosing his words of wisdom, he said, "Your fortune is not bad as you have accidentally made a good match. But I must take this opportunity to remind you that honesty is the best policy, especially for couples. You should put more faith and trust in people around you. Only once you do that will you find that everything goes in the right direction for you."

Autumn shuddered on hearing his words. Brief as they were, the fortune-telling he gave and the advice he offered had really hit the nail on the head, and struck Autumn as true.

'Does this mean that I should just be honest and frank with Charles about my secret?'

She just couldn't make up her mind in that moment. After paying the fee, she left the room. Upon seeing her face, Charles could sense her unrest and tensing up. He comforted her, "It is just some cheap tricks, don't take it seriously or pay heed to it."

Not knowing what to say, Autumn just did not respond to his attempts to comfort her. The monk's warning was weighing on her mind the entire trek down the mountain.

That night, Charles received a call from David. There was an emergency that required his immediate attention. So the couple had to call off their trip abruptly.

"Ye, you can stay here and finish the rest of our trip if you want to. I can go back myself. Your air ticket is reserved for the day after tomorrow anyway." He didn't want to spoil this trip for her, not one bit.

head while packing the luggage and said, "It really doesn't matter,

promised, "Let me assure

Autumn was glowing with a bright smile and said, "A promise is

their belongings up. They hurried back to Y City that very night.

were still in bed. Slowly and silently, Autumn tiptoed up the stairs to avoid

warm hug and said, "I'm going to the company now, you

driving all through the night and had to now leave for work without a single moment of rest.

I need to attend to it right now. So please don't sit up for me tonight as

little that she could do to help him in this situation, Autumn said

moment after she put the food on the table, Chris was coming down, yawning. "What's for breakfast today, Nancy?" she asked. "It

Chris sobered up at once. She cheerfully ran to Autumn and hugged her with excitement, "Yvonne, thank goodness you're

and checking for herself that Autumn was safe and sound.

sit down and catch up over breakfast, " Autumn smiled and said, "I'm just helping out and taking the credit. The wonton was already prepared

not take some rest since you've just got returned?" Chris frowned and continued

grumbled, "What on earth has been

muttering to herself, Autumn felt guilty about the

and her. But If Chris knew they had been together over the last couple of days, she would most definitely misunderstand

have to

took a long and relaxing bath. While lying comfortably in her bed, she started to check the job information