Blushing, Evelyn wanted to say something, but Sheffield interrupted her. With his intent gaze focused on her, Sheffield continued, "He's a zero, not a hero. He can't even play a level nine etude. Stick with me and I'll play you a level ten piece every day. Chopin, Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart, Jimmy...pick your poison and I'll play it for you."
"Sheffield!" Evelyn called out in a hushed voice. "Hey, cut it out..."
Sheffield was too bold. There were thousands of people watching them. He wasn't shy because of the attention. On the contrary, it fired him up.
"I'm not messing around. Evelyn, if you don't believe me, you can ask Jimmy, that old guy, if I can play his compositions."
'That old guy?' The audience in the concert hall burst into an uproar when they heard how Sheffield addressed the well-known pianist. They were laughing—mostly.
Finally, Jimmy took the chance to walk onstage. He strode over and rapped his knuckles against Sheffield's head. "Brat! Come to ruin my concert again?"
Not only Evelyn, but everyone else stood there, mouths agape.
Everyone was whispering to one another.
"Who is that guy?"
"Why is he trying to ruin Maestro Jimmy's performance?"
"Do they know each other?"
As the scene unfolded in front of him, Calvert's face darkened. 'Obviously, that asshole knows Jimmy pretty well, ' he thought.
Sheffield massaged his head as he pleaded, "I'm sorry, master. Please, give me one more minute. I just want to ask my girlfriend to marry me."
Before Jimmy could say anything, Sheffield had already reached out to Evelyn and said, "Evelyn, I want to marry you. But I haven't had a chance to get rings yet. Can you say yes first? I'll buy the rings later, I swear."
Evelyn was a little worried. "What are you doing? My dad..." she reminded Sheffield in a low voice.
"Evelyn, I mean it," he said sincerely, smiling.
The young CEO was embarrassed. But, the audience didn't mind. They just sat back and enjoyed the show.
Just then, another person broke from the throng. She lifted the hemline of her dress as she walked onstage. "Sheffield."
Dollie walked towards them with deliberate steps. Seeing her, Sheffield frowned slightly. He withdrew his hands and put them in his pockets.
Dollie's sudden appearance changed everything. She stood by Sheffield, put her arm in his and looked Evelyn in the eye. "Miss Huo, I'm really sorry for interrupting you and Mr. Ji. I'm taking him home now. Let's go, Sheffield. Just look at the fuss you made!"
Sheffield broke free of her grip, looked at Evelyn and nodded. He then turned to face the audience and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have wasted your time. I sincerely apologize." Then, he bowed to everyone.
However, to everyone's surprise, he grabbed Evelyn's wrist and led her off the stage after making his apology.
The only ones left on the stage were Dollie, who was too stunned to say anything, and Jimmy, angry at Sheffield's antics. Calvert was there, too, holding a ring in his hand.
The farce ended. They had originally blocked out five minutes for Calvert's proposal, but Sheffield dragged it out to about ten.
By way of apology, Jimmy extended the concert by half an hour, with a couple encores.
Outside the concert hall
Once he let go of her, Sheffield complained, "Evelyn, I leave you alone for a few minutes and this happens."
"Why are you here?" Evelyn asked back. Her heart was still beating fast. She wondered why he was blaming her. Didn't he come to the concert with Dollie too?
"This is that old guy's show. I wouldn't miss it for anything." Leaning against the wall casually, he looked at her with a smile.
"What's up with you and Jimmy, anyway?"
Sheffield clicked his tongue. "I met him while I was in M Country. He kept bugging me all the time, wanting me to be his student. But I kept blowing him off. Later, he got angry and blacklisted me."
Dollie and Calvert had followed them out, and overheard everything.
Calvert gritted his teeth in anger. So his rival for Evelyn's affections was a pretty accomplished guy. He felt threatened. But what on earth was so great about this man that even Maestro Jimmy wanted him as a student?
Evelyn was surprised too. He was really a wonder. How capable he was. She scolded in a low voice, "So, do you feel embarrassed? Aren't you ashamed of your behavior?"
Sheffield caught a glimpse of Calvert and smiled wickedly, "Calvert seems to be holding it together. How could I do any less?"
Calvert glanced at him coldly. It seemed that he wasn't happy about being mentioned by Sheffield.
Evelyn felt stumped. She didn't know how to deal with this guy. He was a loose cannon. Finally, she threw out a few cold words. "I'm leaving now." Then she turned to leave.
As soon as she began to walk away, both Calvert and Sheffield followed her, as did Dollie, though Sheffield was the only reason she tagged along. The three of them all followed Evelyn out.
Suddenly, a young man ran up to Sheffield and said, "A moment of your time, Mr. Tang."
When Sheffield turned around and saw the man, a cold light flashed in his eyes. He slowed his pace and asked, "What do you want?"
"My boss wants to talk to you."
Evelyn heard the conversation and turned her head to look at Sheffield, who wore an emotionless face. "I have nothing to say to him," he said coldly.
"Please be reasonable, Mr. Tang. My boss knows you need the funding, so he wants to talk to you about it," the man blurted out. He didn't care whether anyone else could hear him.
With a grim smile, Sheffield stopped walking and turned to the man. "Go back and tell your boss I'm rich now. Tell him I'm not interested in what he has to say. I don't need him!"
"Mr. Tang, don't be so impulsive. My boss had someone crunch the numbers. We know how much you'll need to finish your project. It's several billion dollars..."
"So what?"
Evelyn turned a corner and disappeared from Sheffield's sight. Dollie threw a glance at Sheffield, who was still talking to the young man, and decided to catch up with Evelyn.
When there were only the two of them left, Sheffield stopped smiling and scoffed, "So, tell me: why me? Do I know him? Does he know me?"
The person was not annoyed by his words. When he remembered what his boss told him, he didn't try to persuade Sheffield any further. "You have a bright future ahead of you, Mr. Tang, if you don't screw things up..."
"It's none of his business. Let me say it one last time, butt out! I don't want any help!" After saying that, he stalked off to join the others, leaving that young man there alone.
Just as they got to the car, Dollie stopped Evelyn. "Miss Huo, I have something to tell you." She didn't wait for Sheffield because she had been waiting for a chance to talk to Evelyn alone. Without Sheffield around.
Evelyn turned to look at her and replied indifferently, "I don't think we have anything to talk about."
Calvert opened the car door and was waiting for her to get in.
Looking at the arrogant Evelyn, Dollie didn't get angry. Instead, she put her hand on her own belly and asked happily, "Miss Huo, did you know I'm pregnant?"
Evelyn glanced at her flat belly and asked calmly, "Okay, and? Where are you going with this?"