Sheffield nonchalantly put his coat on the roof of Calvert's car, as did Joshua.
"Call for help!" Calvert ordered his chauffeur. However, he knew that it was already too late.
The chauffeur hurriedly took out the phone from the glove compartment and made a phone call.
This time, it was Sheffield who made the first move. While Calvert was still preparing himself for the fight, the doctor took the opportunity to launch a blow and knocked the tall guy to the ground.
Joshua was awestruck by the agility displayed by Sheffield. It had been a long time since he last saw Sheffield fight someone, but judging by his skills, it seemed as though he had improved instead of regressing over the years.
Sheffield noticed his friend's petrified expression and shouted angrily, "Hey, what are you waiting for?"
Then he focused his attention towards Calvert again. 'How dare you punch me like that in front of Evelyn?! Did you think I was going to let you get away with it after you disrespected me in front of her family? Do I look like a pushover to you?'
"Oh...right!" Coming back to his senses, Joshua put the cigarette in his mouth after flicking the ash away and began to beat up Calvert with Sheffield.
Meanwhile, the driver in Sheffield's car who was arranged by Carlos quickly called his boss and said, "Hello, Mr. Huo? Mr. Tang and Mr. Fan have blocked Mr. Ji's car and they are beating him up now! What should I do?"
Carlos paused to think for a moment and then calmly said, "Just act like you didn't see anything. No matter what happens, don't meddle!"
"Y-yes, sir!" the driver stuttered. He looked rather nonplussed by his boss's instructions. 'That's strange. Isn't Mr. Ji the future son-in-law of the Huo family? Why wouldn't Mr. Huo help him?'
A few minutes later, Sheffield grabbed their coats from the roof of the car and threw one to Joshua, who was gasping for air. After he put on his coat, he gestured at Joshua with his eyes and then got in their respective cars.
Meanwhile, lying feebly on the ground, Calvert stared into the dark sky and clenched his fist tight before mustering the remainder of his strength to slam his knuckles to the ground.
'Sheffield Tang, I swear to make you regret ever meeting me in this lifetime!' he vowed, wincing in pain.
After the two cars left, Calvert's chauffeur got out of the car and then tried to help the wounded man up. However, as a conceited man, Calvert didn't want others to see him in such a miserable state. He sat up from the ground on his own and yelled at the chauffeur, "Get your hands off me! I can take care of myself!"
"Yes, sir. Of course!" The chauffeur was so frightened that he wasted no time to jump into the driver's seat, ready to drive off at Calvert's order.
At the Huo family's manor
After Carlos got off the phone with the driver, he walked to the window and stared out into the distance, deep in thought.
Debbie walked in silently, but to catch the man's attention, she deliberately let out a loud snort. "Humph!"
Carlos flinched a bit, but he didn't turn around.
His deliberate ignorance infuriated Debbie so much that she wanted to beat him to a pulp. Angered, she waved her finger at him and raised her voice. "You'll be sleeping on the couch tonight!"
'What? She must be joking!'
Carlos turned around and walked towards the bed. "Why are you being so dramatic again?"
"Why am I being dramatic? Everyone in my family, except me, knew that Evelyn was seeing Sheffield all along. Even you decided to keep me in the dark. Why wouldn't I be dramatic? How dare you! Aren't you supposed to be my partner, my beloved husband? Why didn't you tell me anything? And now you're asking why I am being so dramatic?" When Debbie realized that she was the last person to know about the truth, she flew into a rage.
With a smile in his eyes, Carlos nonchalantly said, "Why would I bother to tell you about him? He's just a bystander in Evelyn's life."
"Is that so? But I think Calvert is the bystander." Matthew had told Debbie that he would talk to Sheffield tomorrow about Evelyn's ectopic pregnancy.
Carlos didn't respond to Debbie's words.
However, his silence irritated Debbie even more. "Old man, what's on your mind? And why do you like Calvert so much? What's so good about him?"
The corners of Carlos' mouth twitched slightly. "What's so good about Sheffield? What does he have to offer to our daughter?"
"Whatever! That's not the point. I just wanted you to know who I would be rooting for. I want my daughter to be with Sheffield. But of course, before anything else, I want to hear what he has to say about Evelyn's pregnancy."
"What is there to discuss? He couldn't be innocent. It's not like we don't know whose baby it was."
Debbie snapped at Carlos, "What are you talking about? Do you think our daughter is the sort of woman to go around messing with different men?"
"Of course not!" Carlos knew his daughter well. That was why he always believed that it was Sheffield who needed to be held responsible in this matter.
"Tell me. Will you keep going against me on this? Are you going to support Calvert to the end?"
"No, I won't."
Debbie heaved a sigh of relief. "I thought you were completely smitten by Calvert. So, what are we going to do about this?" Debbie felt exasperated because even though several decades had passed, her husband was still the same stubborn man. Why was it so hard to force the words out of him?
Carlos pulled her into his arms. Silence befell the room. After a while, he asked, "Do you really like that brat, Sheffield?"
Debbie replied in a calm voice, "Yes! But like I said, I have one condition. I must speak with Sheffield first. If he doesn't give me a good explanation about what happened, I won't allow him to be with Evelyn. However, if it turns out that he didn't mean to make Evelyn pregnant, please don't give him a hard time anymore. His life is hard enough as it is! His parents died. I am so impressed to see how he has managed to become such an upstanding man, despite being an orphan with no family background. He must have worked very hard to turn his life around!"
'His parents died? An orphan without a background?' Carlos shook his head.
He thought that those were just tricks Sheffield was using to win the hearts of women. How could he trust that bastard?
If Sheffield's family background was really just as Debbie had described, then he couldn't have been able to afford the huge investment for his research project.
Carlos wondered whether Sheffield had something to do with Star Anise. Or could the man be Star Anise?
"How about this? Evelyn and Calvert will get engaged after the lunar new year. If Sheffield doesn't give up and still insists on winning Evelyn over, I won't stop him anymore. If he gives up on her, then he will never have a second chance with Evelyn." Everything was based on the premise that Sheffield had never meant to make Evelyn pregnant without her consent.
"I don't understand why Evelyn must get engaged to Calvert in the first place? Is that really necessary?"
"Just think of it as a test for Sheffield." Carlos couldn't walk away from this. After all, he had given his word to Calvert, and he had every intention of keeping it.
"What if Sheffield gives up on Evelyn? Do you expect me to just stand by and watch Evelyn marry Calvert?" Debbie asked.
"Of course not!" Carlos had many ways to separate them and cancel the engagement without damaging Evelyn's reputation.
Debbie was rendered speechless. She didn't know how to further this discussion with Carlos. "I hope that someday you won't come to regret your decision."
"I never regret anything I do."
"I hope so."
Sheffield had a busy schedule at the hospital the following day. On the way to the research and development base, he received a call from Savannah, Dollie's sister.
In fact, when he met Savannah last night, he had guessed that she was Dollie's elder sister, even though Evelyn hadn't mentioned it to him.
If it was a call from Dollie, Sheffield wouldn't have answered it, nor would he agree on an appointment.
But since it was a request from Evelyn's best friend, he had to agree to a meeting for the sake of Evelyn.
At the Pacific Coffee Shop
A man in a set of beige casual outfit sat down across Savannah and Dollie. Savannah was shocked to see the man there. 'It's really him...'
Last night at the Huo family's manor, when she heard Miranda say that Sheffield was a doctor from the First General Hospital and that he was working on a research project, Savannah began to suspect whether he was the same man that Dollie was in love with.