The man glanced at Evelyn and then turned his attention towards Felix again. "Are you sure you're referring to the same Sheffield Tang?" Felix exchanged silent glances with Evelyn and nodded.
"Yes, sir. Do you know Mr. Tang?"
"Do I? Of course! He slept with his sister-in-law when he was around fifteen. Who wouldn't know him?"
Almost immediately, Evelyn raised her head to cast a reproachful glare at the man, fuming over his comment.
Felix gestured at Evelyn with his eyes, telling her to calm down and then asked the man, "I'm sorry, I didn't get your name."
"Please forgive my ignorance. I am the fifth child of the Tang family, Sterling Tang. Sheffield is my younger brother." When Sterling's eyes met with Evelyn's, a strange feeling began to grow in his gut.
However, before Felix could say anything else, Evelyn's face darkened and she interjected, "How could you say something like that? Aren't you supposed to be looking out for your own brother? Why would you even be throwing mud at him? What kind of a brother are you?"
The tone of her voice made Sterling's heart tremble. Although it wasn't the first time he had seen this lioness of a woman, this was the first time they had been in such close proximity to one another. Their lack of acquaintanceship, however, wasn't due to Sterling's lack of trying to keep in touch with her. Quite the contrary, whenever he tried to approach Evelyn in the past, he'd be met with a bevy of bodyguards who'd follow her around at all times.
Sterling had never imagined that hidden underneath such a beautiful face was an imposing figure, no less than a queen. Evelyn was just standing there in a modest emerald green skirt suit, but her poise and physical grace were enough to render him breathless with excitement.
If he had remembered it correctly, Evelyn was just two years younger than him. Although she was just in her early thirties, she had a fiery charm that most women of her age did not possess. Sterling couldn't help but feel enamored with Evelyn, captivated by her stunning good looks and strong character.
If the past ten years of doing business had taught him anything, it was that ZL Group was of paramount importance to Y City's economy. Keeping that in mind, Sterling feigned a smile and said, "You're right. I am sorry to have upset you. However, I was just speaking the truth. I don't know what brings you here or why you have come to see my brother, but I just wanted to give you a little friendly heads up. After all, I'm sure our father had a good reason for disowning him and sending him abroad more than a decade ago."
Evelyn's glare remained unstirred, but there was no trace of emotion on her face. "Do you have any proof or are you just making all of this up? Did you see any of it with your own eyes?"
"Unfortunately, I have... the woman he slept with was my wife." Sterling lowered his head, his lips twisting into a grimace before transforming into a bitter smile.
Evelyn was overwhelmed with embarrassment, finding it hard to bear the shock and disbelief.
"Why would I make up something like that? With my own two eyes, I saw him in bed with my wife. He was just a teenager, but he was bold enough to sleep with a woman who was five or six years older than he was. Not just any woman, his brother's wife. Who does that? That's not it. Not only did he sleep with my wife, but he also molested our sixth brother's girlfriend. They ended up breaking up a year later, and he ended up marrying another woman..." As he spoke of the past, Sterling's eyes drowned in bitterness.
"Mr. Tang, what made you tell me all of this?" Evelyn frowned, shaking her head with disappointment.
"I didn't realize that Sheffield's pursuit of women had gotten so bad. Look, you seem like a good girl. I just don't want you to get hurt by a womanizer like him."
Evelyn's voice dripped with ironic sarcasm, as she spared a moment to glance at him and said, "Thank you for your concern, Mr. Tang. I assure you that there is no need to be concerned because I can take care of myself and I know how to judge people. I don't need unwanted advice from someone I don't know."
Having considered all the things he had just said to her, Sterling thought she would have hated Sheffield by now, but it didn't work out that way. Since Evelyn's implications of him being a telltale were made clear, he looked at her awkwardly and said, "If you say so, Miss Huo." Then he turned around and faced the security guard behind him. "Let Miss Huo in."
"Yes, Mr. Tang." The guard nodded and gave him a salute.
After all, Sterling was the general manager of Theo Group.
The security guard trotted over to Evelyn and said, "Please, this way, Miss Huo."
Evelyn nodded at the guard politely but then looked at Sterling with a cold glare and said, "Thank you, Mr. Tang."
However, before Sterling could say anything else, she strode forward and passed through the gate.
The elegance with which she walked away leaving Sterling behind aroused a deep desire in his heart.
If only this woman were his.
Inside the office of the CEO's assistant
A man in his fifties walked up to Evelyn the moment he saw her. "Welcome to our main office, Miss Huo."
"Hi, Tobias," Evelyn greeted politely.
Tobias Shen had been working for Peterson for nearly thirty years. Almost everyone in the business circle knew him as one of Peterson's right-hand men.
"I didn't know you were coming, Miss Huo. What can..."
Glancing at Sheffield's high-tech office doors, Evelyn simply said, "I'm here to see Sheffield Tang."
"Please wait a moment, Miss Huo. I'll report to Mr. Tang." Evelyn nodded her head and waited patiently.
"Mr. Tang, Miss Huo is here to see you. She's waiting just outside your office. Okay, Mr. Tang. I see."
After ending the call, Tobias Shen looked at Evelyn with an apologetic look on his face and said, "I'm sorry, Miss Huo. Mr.
Tang is busy at the moment and has asked not to be disturbed. He asked me to send you home first..."
Evelyn, however, stared at the closed doors silently.
How could he keep her waiting outside the doors like this? Evelyn told Tobias Shen in a firm tone, "Please go and open the doors. I'll take all the responsibilities."
"Miss Huo..." Tobias Shen was at a loss for words, finding himself in a very difficult position.
Evelyn knew what he was worried about and said, "Tell me how to open the doors. I'll go inside myself." Evelyn found Sheffield's office doors a bit strange because they didn't have a lock.
Tobias Shen explained, "There's a secret recognition system on the doors. To open them, you'll need to show the right palm print or face."
"Come with me," Evelyn told Tobias Shen. She had no intentions of leaving without seeing the person she had come for.
Evelyn stood there in front of the office doors, patiently waiting for Tobias Shen to open it. Feeling perplexed, the personal assistant wondered if he should do it or not.
Having lost her patience, Evelyn snapped angrily, "Call your boss now and tell him that if he doesn't open the doors, he will never see me again."
Just as the words had left her mouth, the doors opened automatically before Tobias Shen could even make the call.
"What's all the noise outside?" a lazy voice came from inside the room. "Tobias, what happened?"
"Mr. Tang, it's..."
"It's me!" Evelyn entered Sheffield's office.
When he saw her, Sheffield smiled and said, "Oh, Miss Huo, it's you." Then he looked at his watch and said, "Is there something important you'd like to talk to me about, Miss Huo?"
Sheffield's office was just as big as Carlos' and even though the decoration was simple, everything inside that room had tricks.
Sheffield stood up and walked towards her.
Suddenly, the office doors slammed shut, leaving only the two of them inside the large room.