Sheffield pulled up a chair and sat down in front of Evelyn. "The others were on patrol duty."
"So, you just sneaked in?" she asked.
"Yes."
She was perplexed.
Sheffield grinned. "Come on, I'm not a bad guy. Why do you have to bother about all the minor details? I only came to bring you some food."
"You could have just called me instead of going through all the roundabout methods."
The man shrugged and replied casually, "I wanted to surprise you. If I had called you in advance, then what would have been the point?"
Evelyn didn't argue further. He had an answer for everything.
"Evelyn, how about you leave the rest of the work for tomorrow?"
"No, there are a few more documents awaiting my signature. They are needed for tomorrow's meeting." Evelyn put the dessert aside and began going through the documents on her desk.
Sheffield stole a glance at the file she was reading and saw "Y City First General Hospital" written on it. "Oh, it's the contract with our hospital."
"Well, thanks to you, ZL Group will be cooperating with your hospital once again." She remembered their negotiation meeting with the First General Hospital.
Sheffield's lips curled into a grin. "You love me so much."
"Go away!"
"No, I won't. I am waiting for you to finish your work. Let's go out and have some fun!"
"Forget it. I'm not coming anywhere," she refused straightforwardly.
"Fine, I'll go home then," replied Sheffield without arguing.
Evelyn was surprised that he had given up so easily. "You are going home?" She looked up at him.
"Yes, to your home," he answered, tilting his head a little with a wide smile.
Evelyn chided, "Get out!"
"No, I don't want to. I want to be with you."
"Out! Now!"
"What will I do outside? Besides, I like being inside. It's so much more fun, isn't it?" he smirked. "How about you let me inside and we can enjoy ourselves a little?" Evelyn's breath caught.
She gave him a cold stare and cursed, "You're so shameless!"
"What's there to be ashamed of when I'm with you?" He didn't feel the need to hide anything from Evelyn. He wanted her to see him, as he was.
Evelyn was fed up with his flippant tongue. Blushing, she ordered, "Shut up!"
"Yes, darling."
The office finally quieted down.
Sheffield waited for her to finish up. He noticed that although Evelyn looked cold and proud on the outside, deep down, she was still a little girl. She had fallen in love with the desserts he had bought for her and continued to smuggle small pieces of the cake and marshmallows
while she read the documents carefully.
Sheffield didn't want to disturb her, but he couldn't resist teasing. "Evelyn, can I ask you something?"
"What?" she asked shortly without taking her eyes off the papers.
"Who is the person not related to you by blood—your father or husband?"
"Husband," Evelyn replied.
"Yes, wife?"
Silence befell. Realizing that she had been tricked again, Evelyn raised her head and looked at the mischievous grin on his face. "Sheffield Tang..."
"Yes, ma'am?"
"Has anyone ever told you that you need a beating?"
"Yes."
"Good. Obviously, someone wants to beat you up as much as I do."
"It's you, Eve. You are the one who has said that."
Evelyn was speechless. 'There is no arguing with this man, ' she thought, shaking her head and getting back to her work.
It was not until after midnight that Evelyn put away all the papers. Nadia had already left.
She had finished all the desserts and drink Sheffield had brought her too.
The two of them walked out of the office together. Sheffield led her to his car. "Are you sleepy?"
"I'm not." Evelyn was a little drowsy, but she was afraid that if she told the truth Sheffield would suggest that they sleep together, which would then lead to a sleepless night.
"Do you want to grab something to eat?"
"I'm not hungry." She had the desserts just now.
He turned to her and saw her exhausted face. "Okay, I'll drive you home."
When they arrived at the community where Evelyn lived, he said, "I'll come up with you."
"No, I'm very tired today. Rain check?"
He nodded and kissed her on the forehead. "Get some good rest. And when you have enough energy next time, let's sleep together!"
Evelyn scowled at him. "Drive back safely."
"I will, darling."
Evelyn got out of the car with a smile and walked to the lift.
Sheffield didn't leave until the lights in her bedroom had been turned off for the night.
To their surprise, two days later, new gossip about Evelyn went viral on the Internet, and it was as juicy as the gossips of popular stars.
It claimed that a man in a sports car was seen at the entrance of ZL Group's office with a bouquet of flowers, waiting for Evelyn Huo. Their photos were posted online, including pictures of them entering and exiting her apartment complex several times.
But the man's face was not clear in any of the pictures. The camera didn't catch his face from any angle. Evelyn's face was clearly photographed, though.
Gossipy news about her and her lover hit the headlines every day.
"The Relationship of the Eldest Daughter of the CEO of ZL Group Exposed"; "Evelyn Huo, the Regional CEO of ZL Group Dating a Handsome Young Man"; "A Handsome Man Chasing after Evelyn Huo with a Bunch of Flowers."
Some of them went as far as to say, "Evelyn Huo's New Lover Exposed" and "The Eldest Princess of ZL Group Has a Boy Toy."
However, the news was suppressed as soon as it started appearing.
Even so, many people already knew about it, including the employees of ZL Group and not to mention, Carlos.
Carlos had thought that Evelyn and Joshua were trying to develop a romantic relationship, but it turned out that she had been dating Sheffield instead. He was enraged because once again Evelyn had disobeyed him, even after she had promised him that she wouldn't see that man again.
But he didn't confront Evelyn face to face, nor did he plan on teaching Sheffield a lesson. Instead, he asked Joshua out for a meal. Alone.
Needless to say, Joshua was freaked out. He called Sheffield. "Your future father-in-law has invited me to dinner. I have a bad feeling about this."
"I have a bad feeling about that too," Sheffield replied as he continued to delete horrid comments about Evelyn online.
"What should I do?"
"Beats me, dude." If only he could read Carlos' mind. Sadly, he couldn't. Few people ever knew what was on Carlos Huo's mind.
"Why did you have to show off your affection for Evelyn publicly? Now, Carlos has found out. Are you happy now?" Joshua scoffed. "But which media company was bold enough to reveal gossips about Evelyn Huo?" Although the news had been suppressed temporarily, it had already reached the masses.
"It was Calvert Ji," said Sheffield casually. Calvert had spent a large sum of money bribing a media company. The legal owner of the company was someone completely irrelevant to the Ji family, so even if the whole thing went south, no one would suspect the Ji family. After the media had exposed Sheffield's relationship with Evelyn to the public, Carlos destroyed the company, but the culprit, Calvert, managed to stay out of it and remained untouched.
"That guy? Is he trying to get his revenge on you?" Joshua knew what had happened between Sheffield and Calvert.
"He has no other reason to do this," Sheffield replied.