Sheffield was indeed in dire need of money because of his research and development. Carlos knew this.
Even though he was being laughed at, Sheffield kept his temper. "It is true that I can't afford to buy this chair now, but I'm looking forward to the day I will be rich enough to buy the manufacturer of this chair," he said calmly.
"I'm looking forward to it too," Carlos snorted.
Silence befell the office again. Leaning against the windowsill, Evelyn watched Sheffield as he typed something on her laptop really fast.
Carlos frowned when he saw how fast Sheffield was. 'Could he be…?'
Three more minutes passed and Carlos stood up from the couch. "I don't have time to waste on you. If you can't unlock the door within the next two minutes, I'll open it myself. The security will escort you out of the building and our lives." 'Good riddance, ' Carlos thought to himself.
Sheffield didn't reply. His eyes were fixed on the codes that were continuously changing on the screen.
Carlos became even more curious as to what he was doing, so he paced towards the desk.
But before he could catch a glimpse of the screen, Sheffield pressed the Enter key and said, "Done!"
He memorized the six digits and closed the pop-up window. "Mr. Huo, don't blink," he said with a naughty grin.
Carlos remained expressionless and watched him walk to the password lock on the door. Sheffield mumbled as he tapped in the numbers, "5-8-9-7-3-2."
Beep! The high-tech smart lock was now deactivated.
All three people in the room had different looks on their faces. Sheffield had a devil-may-care smile; Evelyn was surprised and also excited. Carlos was on the verge of erupting as he fisted his palms.
When the two men made eye contact, the smug look in Sheffield's eyes seemed to be saying, "Gotcha, Mr. Huo! I'm better than you thought I was, aren't I?"
Evelyn trotted over to Carlos and grabbed his sleeve nervously. "Dad, you cannot go back on your words now."
Carlos was already fuming with rage. And his daughter had been siding with Sheffield all this while, which made him even angrier.
Rubbing his hands together, Sheffield asked in a mischievous tone, "So, Mr. Huo, may I have the honor of hanging out with your daughter today? Tomorrow is her birthday. I haven't had the time to buy a birthday gift for her."
"Humph! My daughter doesn't give a damn about your gift. Besides, what can you afford to buy her?" Even Carlos didn't understand what had gotten over him. He had now become a person who would take out his anger on someone with snappy comebacks. It was very unlike him. Sheffield was clearly getting under his skin.
The young doctor smiled. "I'll buy her a lollipop. I'm sure she would appreciate something sweet after this sour episode."
He looked at Evelyn and winked. She really did seem to be in a horrible mood. A lollipop would probably make her feel better.
Carlos' face became rigid at his words. "You think my daughter is only worth a cheap lollipop?"
"Of course not, Mr. Huo. I'll make sure to get her the most expensive lollipop in the market. There is no way I would buy her a cheap one. I take good care of her." As he spoke, Sheffield tried to slowly approach Evely.
Since she was standing next to Carlos, Sheffield was edging dangerously close to him as well.
"You have such a glib tongue," Carlos sneered. 'What does Evelyn see in him?' he wondered.
"Well, thank you for the compliment." When Sheffield could almost touch Evelyn's hand, Carlos suddenly pulled her towards his back. He stood in front of the young man.
Sheffield stopped immediately and stood very still. He was ready to be punched in the face.
"You answer one question first, and then, I'll allow you to take her."
Sheffield's eyes widened with joy. "Seriously? No problem! Ask me ten questions! As long as I can take her away, I don't mind answering anything."
"Fine. Then, I'll ask a few."
"What… Are you trying to fool me?" Sheffield felt like he had been neatly tricked by the old man.
Ignoring him, Carlos asked the first question. "You installed a security system on Evelyn's laptop. Where did you get that software?" The independent security system on Evelyn's laptop was powerful. Although it was different from the security system of ZL Group's computers, it had the same level of defense mechanisms.
"I got it from one of my friends," he said, and then thought, 'Got it BACK from one of my friends.' He scratched his head with a smile.
Without asking anything about this friend of his, Carlos went ahead with the second question. "Do you know about Star Anise?"
Sheffield clapped his hands in surprise. "Yes, of course! I know all about it. I've read many books on Chinese medicine. Star anise is the seedpod from the fruit of the Illicium verum plant. It kills bacteria; it can also help regulate blood sugar. Mr. Huo, you can ask me anything about Chinese medicine. I'm well-versed."
"What kind of programming language do you know?" Carlos continued to ask.
"Uh. Java, C programming." '—and so on.' It wasn't exactly a lie; he just chose to leave out certain information.
"How did you register your license plate number into our company's parking lot system?"
'Shit...' Sheffield locked eyes with Evelyn, asking for some support with that question.
She understood. She cleared her throat and said softly, "Dad, it was me. I helped him."
With his eyes glued to the young man, Carlos asked the next question. "How did you get in here today?" He had asked all the security guards to keep an eye out for Sheffield and to prevent him from getting in. The guards couldn't have let him in.
"Dad, I let him in," Evelyn said.
She didn't know why Carlos was asking Sheffield all these questions about security, but she knew she had to shoulder some responsibility in this situation.
The two men stared at each other. Carlos' eyes were filled with doubts, and he tried to find the answers within the smiling eyes of the man in front of him.
However, to his disappointment, he couldn't get anything out of him. He figured it was probably because Sheffield wasn't hiding anything.
Carlos placed his left hand on his waist and pinched his forehead with the other. He was misled when he saw how fast the man had worked on the desktop earlier. For a moment, he had mistaken Sheffield for Star Anise.
He closed his eyes and pointed to the door. "Go! Leave now!"
Sheffield's grin grew wider and he called to Evelyn, "Now or never. Go get your stuff! Time to have some fun!"
Evelyn's lips curled into a smile. "Take it easy. He is a man of his words."
"Who knows? I don't trust him," Sheffield said, rolling his eyes.
Evelyn sighed helplessly and went to get her things.
As she walked to the door with Sheffield, she turned around and looked at the old man standing in front of the window. She said in a grateful voice, "Dad, thank you. We are leaving now."
Carlos didn't respond.
Sheffield imitated her and said with a smirk, "Dad, thank you. We are leaving now."
Carlos turned around and looked at him coldly. "That's Mr. Huo for you!"
"Yes, Dad. It's a fine surname. Maybe I could take it."
"Fuck off! I don't need a son like you!"
"That doesn't matter. You will have a son like me sooner or later." Before Carlos could kick him out, he grabbed Evelyn's hand and dragged her towards the office door.
There were several rows of security guards outside the door. Evelyn let go of Sheffield's hand and collected herself. Returning
to her usual emotionless self, she said indifferently, "Thank you for all your hard work. You may leave now."
"Yes, Miss Huo." The guards left in line.