Gillian begged, "Sheffield and I are deeply in love. Miss Huo, please stop pestering him. I know you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth and I am not as good as you, but please don't do this to me. Please don't steal my boyfriend!"
Almost everyone in the city knew about Sheffield and Evelyn; the employees of ZL Group were no exception.
But Gillian's sudden outburst took them by surprise. Although they were shocked by the news, they didn't dare to raise their heads to look at Gillian or Evelyn. They could only lend their ears while they pretended to be engrossed in work.
Many in the finance department knew that Sheffield had gone as Gillian's partner for the department dinner once. So, at least some of them were uncertain as to what to believe.
"What's going on here?"
A familiar voice came from behind Evelyn. She turned around and asked in surprise, "Dad?"
"Mr. Huo?" Gillian said in feigned surprise. She had long before seen him walking toward them.
Carlos and Dixon approached the two women. Carlos looked at Gillian, his eyes as sharp as daggers. "What did you just say?" he asked.
There was pin-drop silence around him. That was the kind of power Carlos wielded; the situation was now under his complete control.
Gillian was startled by his piercing look. She lowered her head to avoid his sharp gaze, and tried to sound upset. "Sheffield told me that he was being forced to be with Miss Huo. She is so domineering that he has no choice but to listen to her."
She had heard that Carlos was against Evelyn and Sheffield's relationship, so she assumed that he would grab this chance to split them up forever.
After all, Sheffield was in another city at the moment. There was no way for him to defend himself.
Carlos walked past the cleaning lady and stared at the tea stain on Evelyn's suit. "Who made your suit dirty?"
His tone softened as he approached his daughter.
Evelyn cast a sidelong glance at the anxious Gillian and explained, "I bumped into Miss Chi by accident." She was not sure whether her father would believe Gillian's words and misunderstand her relationship with Sheffield.
Carlos turned to Gillian. "Aren't you the supervisor of the finance department who was demoted by Evelyn recently?"
Some of the employees looked up discreetly at this point. Gillian felt embarrassed that he had brought that up. Nevertheless, she replied, "Yes, Mr. Huo."
"Evelyn, you are too softhearted. What was the point of keeping an employee like her at ZL Group? You should've fired her,"
Carlos said coldly, and then turned to Gillian again. "You just said Sheffield loved you. Then, why is he marrying Evelyn?"
Evelyn knew that Carlos wouldn't let go of the matter easily. She pulled at his suit and whispered, "Dad, there are employees here. Let's talk about it when we get back to the office, okay?"
Carlos looked at her as she tried to tug him away. 'Evelyn, this should be solved in front of them. Otherwise, people will misunderstand you and throw mud at you.' He stood his ground. "Why should we leave? Everyone has seen and heard what is going on here. So, it's best we solve this issue right away."
His tone was firm, and Evelyn knew that there was no point in arguing with her father after he had made a decision. That would just serve to make him mad.
But Gillian was still hoping that Carlos would not allow his daughter to be with Sheffield after this. She took a deep breath and said, "Mr. Huo, as I said, Sheffield is being forced to be with Miss Huo. He told me that she had gone to D City on her own to get back together with him."
Evelyn couldn't help but snort. 'Really? She wants to play this little trick in front of my father? How naive.'
Carlos replied in a cold voice, "Fine. I believe you." Then, he turned to Evelyn. "Why don't you dump him now? Let's see if he is still willing to choose you over Miss Chi."
Gillian wasn't sure where this was going, but she nodded and said, "Okay. Thank you, Mr. Huo."
After a moment's consideration, Carlos said, "Actually, we have so many of our people here, while you are all by yourself. People might think we are bullying you. How about this? You call Sheffield and tell him that Evelyn doesn't want him anymore. Let's see what he says. Oh, don't forget to put it on speaker. We want to hear how relieved he is after being dumped by Evelyn."
Gillian froze. 'He asks me to call Sheffield?' She managed to force a smile while her hands and legs trembled. "Mr. Huo, he's on a business trip. He might be busy."
Carlos raised his eyebrows. "That's not true. No matter how busy a man is, he would always make time to pick up a call from his beloved woman. I have been in Sheffield's place too, and I would never miss a call from my wife."
Just as Carlos finished his words, the employees turned their heads towards him. Someone exclaimed in a hushed voice, "Oh my God! Mr. Huo spoils his wife so much! He just confessed his love for her out loud."
"He is such an amazing husband!"
"He's right. Miss Chi just needs to make the phone call and we'll know whether she's telling the truth."
Gillian just stood there, not knowing what to do. Carlos' face darkened. The temperature around him seemed to have declined to freezing levels. "Are you aware of how much this company is losing while Evelyn and I stand here, doing nothing? Can you afford to compensate? Don't waste our time. Call him now!"
Carlos barked, his eyes ferociously fixed on her.
Gillian trembled in fear. She fumbled for the phone in her pocket and unlocked it slowly.
Carlos knew that she was stalling for time. "Make the call for her," he ordered Nadia.
"Yes, Mr. Huo,"
she replied, looking at the woman in contempt. 'First, it was Dollie. And now, this lady. Why are there so many brainless women around Sheffield?' she thought to herself.
'Does she really think that she can compete with Miss Huo? Miss Huo can deal with this woman even without Mr. Huo's help. She is no pushover.
No matter how many women turn up to destroy her relationship with Sheffield, Miss Huo will always find a way to deal with them.'
Nadia snatched Gillian's phone from her shaky hands and searched her contact list. "Miss Chi, what have you saved Mr. Tang's contact as?"
Gillian didn't answer.
Evelyn sighed and said indifferently, "Search for the number, 1881212..." She paused after saying "1212." It was her birthday.
After she recited the last four digits of Sheffield's phone number, Evelyn's voice trailed off. She remembered that his birthday was in March.
That was when she finally figured that his phone number was a combination of their birthdays.
When Nadia saw the name saved on Gillian's phone, she coughed embarrassedly and let Evelyn see the contact name—Dear Sheffield.
Gillian blushed. She tried to get her phone back, but Nadia reminded her coldly, "Miss Chi, please behave yourself."
She pressed the call button and Sheffield's ringtone was heard. It was Debbie's song.
Evelyn stole a quick glance at Carlos, who was glaring at Gillian's phone angrily. If looks could kill, her phone would have exploded by now!
He had no idea that Sheffield had become a fan of his wife.
While they waited for Sheffield to pick up the call, Evelyn told the gloomy woman, "His phone number is a combination of my birthday and his. And his ringtone is my mother's song. Do you understand what this means, Miss Chi?"
Gillian was speechless.