Everyone fell silent, not daring to say a word. They didn't want to get between Sheffield and his father. Not when they were fighting like this.
A look of disdain flashed in Sheffield's eyes when he spoke again. "Now that you know I'm salty, maybe you'll find a private place where we can talk about work. I don't need all these losers around. I'll be willing to sleep with you, not to mention have dinner!"
The Tang family was like a spider's web. A hundred strands, and each of these strands was a secret. And if you lingered too long, just like an overly-curious fly, you'd be stuck fast.
"You little brat!" Peterson's face turned red from fury. "Get out!" he roared.
"Happy to!" Without any hesitation, Sheffield turned and stalked out the door. Then they heard the engine of his wine-red Maybach fading in the distance.
They were still quiet three minutes after he had left the house. They just sat in the dining room, trying to shed the aura of awkwardness that clung to them.
Peterson's eyes fell on Lea's face. He said coldly, "He's still a kid. Why were you so sassy about it? He didn't want to come back anyway. If you go on like this, he'll never want to come home!"
After listening to his words, Lea felt very aggrieved. She was Peterson's wife. According to her seniority, Sheffield should call her "Mom." Yet he never did. Instead, he verbally attacked her every chance he got. And every time, Peterson blamed it all on her. She wasn't happy about what Peterson was saying, but she had no choice but to accept it. "Okay, okay. I get it. Let's eat!"
Peterson calmed down a little bit because of her conciliatory tone. But soon he felt that what he said was unfair to Lea. So he comforted her, "I'll talk to him after he calms down. He should be more respectful."
"Yeah." Passing him the chopsticks, she began to pick up food for him.
Soon after the family started eating, a servant came downstairs with a child in her arms. "Mr. and Mrs. Tang, the young master is awake."
"Mom!" The second Nastas Tang woke up, he wanted his mother. Upon seeing Lea, he felt sad with tears in his eyes.
Putting down her chopsticks, Lea came over to take him in her arms and ordered another servant, "Bring the young master's dinner."
"Yes, Mrs. Tang."
Nastas Tang looked at Peterson, his father, and was too scared to say anything. Lea coaxed him, "Call him 'Dad, ' and Mom will give you some delicious food!"
Peterson knew his son was afraid of him.
He also knew it was because he looked serious all the time and didn't know how to act around children.
But he wasn't picking on anyone. He always pulled a long face. He was used to that, so he couldn't change who he was in front of his son, at least not in so short a time.
"Dad..." Nastas Tang said in a tiny voice.
Peterson's face softened. "Good boy. Let's eat!" Everyone was happier because of Nastas Tang's presence. And they felt more like making conversation after that.
Eating shrimp egg custard, Nastas asked Lea, "Mom, where's my brother?"
Lea knew which brother her son was talking about.
It was very strange. This little guy had only seen Sheffield twice, but he liked him a lot. He always asked about Sheffield.
She coaxed him gently, "He's at work. I'll take you to see him some time, OK?"
"No, I want to see him now." His mother had told him that Sheffield would be there today. Nastas Tang wondered what was going on. Why wasn't he there? Nastas Tang pouted and wanted to cry.
Peterson looked at his youngest son who was upset, and thought of Sheffield's attitude towards the little guy. Even though Sheffield never got along with his father, he was really nice to the little boy. To make the young boy happy, Peterson offered, "If you eat up, I'll take you to see Sheffield tomorrow."
Hearing what he said, Nastas Tang glanced at Peterson timidly. After he was sure that it was his father who said that, he took the spoon and ate his dinner obediently.
When Sheffield contacted Joshua on WeChat again, he found that Joshua had changed his profile photo.
He clicked on the picture and saw it was the picture of a cute little baby.
Looking at the photo of the tiny tyke, he couldn't help but chuckle. Who was the little princess?
"Hey, where did you get your profile photo?" he asked Joshua over voice chat.
"I saw it in my WeChat Moments, so I use it as my profile photo. Cute, isn't she?"
"Yeah, she is. Where are you? I'll come over and we can hang out."
"I'm outside. What do you want to see me for?"
Sheffield was annoyed to hear that. It sounded as if Joshua didn't want to see him. "Because somebody texted me that he missed me so much that he wanted to cry. Remember? It's been awhile."
"I was kidding. Don't take it seriously! Besides, I've seen you several times since you came back here. I don't miss you anymore." Joshua hadn't really seen Sheffield in the past two years. That was why he said he missed him.
But now he didn't.
Sheffield surmised, "You with Terilynn now?"
"How do you know?"
"Humph! I just know. Some friend!" Then Sheffield turned and drove towards his company.
"Go away. Don't crash my date, dude!" Joshua snapped in a voice low enough to be out of Terilynn's earshot, hoping Sheffield would get the hint.
Sheffield recalled something Joshua used to say about him. He retorted, "I know this guy. He always cracks dirty jokes and dates different girls, but is still a poor little virgin. He's texted the woman he likes for more than two years. But all he's done is touch her hand. They've never even kissed. Poor guy..." Sheffield's tone was filled with sarcasm.
"Get lost!" Joshua didn't want to waste more time on him.
With a big smile on his face, Sheffield hung up, leaving them alone.
At ten o'clock in the evening, a silver gray minivan stopped in front of Theo Group's office building. Felix reminded the woman sitting in the back seat, "Miss Huo, we have arrived."
"Okay." Evelyn put away the file.
Felix unbuckled his seat belt, got out of the car and opened the door for her. Then, he helped the woman in high heels out of the car.
With a box in her hand, Evelyn walked towards the entrance, bodyguard in tow.
"Go talk to the guard. I'll wait here," she told Felix. The only thing she wanted to do was see Sheffield without alarming anyone.
Felix nodded and walked up to a security guard. "Hello, Miss Huo of ZL Group is here to see Mr. Tang."
"Which Mr. Tang?" the security guard asked.
"The younger Mr. Tang. Mr. Sheffield Tang." After Sheffield assumed his position as CEO, many people called him the younger Mr. Tang to distinguish him from his father, Peterson Tang.
Before the security guard could speak, a man who was walking by stopped in his tracks. He cast a glance at Evelyn, who held a box with both hands, and asked with a smile, "You're here to see Sheffield Tang?"
Evelyn looked at him from head to toe when she heard him mention Sheffield's name. The man dressed as a successful businessman. He wore a grey striped suit with a dark blue tie, briefcase in his hand. He had fair skin, single eyelids and a faint smile on his face.
Evelyn was sure that she had never met this man before, so she didn't care about it and looked away.
Felix nodded, "We are!"