Among the Tang family members, Sandra was the first to contact Evelyn to snitch on Sheffield. After talking to her casually for a while, Sandra said, "I heard that Sheffield attended a party recently. Did you know that he was accompanied by several women? Evelyn, I should remind you this—men always chase after other beautiful women. You should be more careful."
'Ah, so that's what this is about, ' Evelyn thought, rolling her eyes. "Thank you for your concern, Sandra. But I don't believe that Sheffield would betray me. He is not like other men."
"That's where you are wrong! Sheffield is faithless and unreliable, just like all other men. He used to hang around with a lot of pretty girls. Didn't you know?"
"I'm aware. But that was in the past. Let bygones be bygones," Evelyn said calmly.
"Evelyn, you are being too naive! You should listen to—"
Evelyn wasn't in the mood to hear Sandra trying to sow discord between her and Sheffield, so she interrupted, "I have something to deal with at work. We can talk when we meet next time." Ignoring Sandra's protests, she hung up the phone and blacklisted her number soon after.
That was just the beginning. One after the other, the Tang family members began to follow suit.
Two days later, Evelyn and Daphne, Pierson's wife, "ran into each other" near ZL Group, and Daphne invited Evelyn for coffee.
They went to a nearby cafe and chatted for a while. After a few minutes, Daphne slid slowly into talks about Sheffield. "I don't know how to tell you this, Evelyn, but I saw Sheffield at a dinner party with a young model. Did you hear about this?" she asked, faking concern.
'Here we go again…' Evelyn replied with a calm smile, "I did not. But it's pretty normal to have someone to keep him company when he goes for a social engagement."
Daphne observed her expression, but didn't find anything different. She was disappointed; she had thought that Evelyn would fly into a rage. "The model is hardly twenty-one years old, and she is delicate and good at acting coquettishly. Men like Sheffield are attracted to young women. Evelyn, you should keep an eye on him."
"Thank you, Daphne, but I know Sheffield all too well. He has no interest in such women." Sheffield was like a teenager himself. How could he be interested in a girl who was even more childish than he was?
Seeing that Evelyn wasn't buying into her lies, Daphne smiled awkwardly and explained, "Well, I'm glad to hear that. I'm your sister-in-law. I just wanted to make sure that you were fine. I'm happy that Sheffield is loyal to you. Please don't misunderstand me."
"I know. Thank you, Daphne." Evelyn forced a smile.
Daphne didn't know what else to say or do, and quickly found a reason to leave.
A week later, Evelyn met Sterling and Dollie at a dinner party. Dollie was now engaged to Sterling and often accompanied him to parties and social events.
When they walked in, Sterling caught sight of Evelyn and greeted her in an exaggerated tone, "Evelyn, it's you! Long time no see! When did you come back from your honeymoon? Why didn't you give me a call? I would have invited you and Sheffield to have dinner with us."
Evelyn cast an indifferent glance at the woman by his side. Dollie was well-dressed and had light make-up on. She seemed to have returned to the glory days when her father was still the hospital director.
"I've been back a while. I didn't call you because we are not that close," she replied indifferently.
Sterling fisted his palms. He felt embarrassed by her outright reply. He forced a smile and sat next to Evelyn. "Don't make fun of me. I'm Sheffield's brother. How could we not be that close?" Then he turned to Dollie and continued, "Dollie, this is Sheffield's wife, Evelyn. Evelyn, this is my fiancee, Dollie. Her father used to be the director of Y City First General Hospital."
Without even looking at Dollie, Evelyn uttered, "Hmm...Mrs. Dollie Tang. It's not too bad." 'She got to be a Tang, after all. But I'm afraid it's not going to be easy being Sterling's wife, ' she thought to herself.
Dollie sat up straight and said, "Why, thank you. But why are you still sitting here, Miss Huo? Your husband is getting drunk with Mr. Shao's wife in the bar. Don't you need to keep him in check?" Her voice dripped with sarcasm; Evelyn felt uncomfortable.
"I don't. He's not a kid; he can take care of himself, and I know that he won't do anything to make me unhappy. I have my own business to deal with," Evelyn said casually.
Sterling flashed a wicked grin. "How can you be so sure? I heard someone say that Sheffield and Mrs. Shao were kissing and—"
Ignoring the rest of his words, Evelyn turned to the host of the dinner party. "Mr. Li, are these two your friends?"
"Yes, Miss Huo. The subsidiary company that Mr. Sterling Tang is in charge of has shares in our company," Mr. Li replied with a flattering smile.
Standing up from her seat, Evelyn told Nadia in a cold tone, "Nadia, withdraw our capital right away. Make a public announcement that ZL Group will not take part in any projects that Sterling Tang is involved in."
"Yes, Miss Huo." Nadia took out her phone to quickly carry out her order and followed Evelyn as the latter walked away from her stunned brother-in-law.
"Miss Huo, please. Let's talk this out! Miss Huo?" Mr. Li cried, trying to catch up to Evelyn.
As she walked out of the room, Mr. Li tried to negotiate. "Miss Huo, the contract is about to be signed. Why would you withdraw the capital at the last moment?"
"Evelyn Huo!" Sterling dashed out in fury.
Evelyn continued to walk away without turning back. When Felix realized that Sterling's hostility was aimed at Evelyn, he immediately came in between them and said, "Mr. Tang, please stay away from—"
"Save it! Stop right there, woman! Who do you think you are to make any decision for ZL Group? Don't forget that the real boss of ZL Group is Carlos Huo! You are just a woman. You know nothing about business! You decide not to work with me just because of personal reasons? How ignorant are you? Do you know how many people will lose their jobs because of this?"
Evelyn stopped and looked coldly at the man behind her. "Yes, Carlos Huo is the real boss of ZL Group. But you are forgetting that he is my father. Whom do you think my father will listen to—you, a nobody, or his daughter?"
Sterling's face turned red in embarrassment and anger. He yelled at her, "You're going too far! You took advantage of your family status to bully Dollie, and now, you are bullying the Tang family. You really are birds of a feather—you and Sheffield!"
As if Sheffield looking down upon him wasn't enough, now even his wife was undermining him. He couldn't hold his anger in anymore.
Evelyn, on the other hand, was rather calm. "Yes, I am bullying you. So what? If you are a capable man, you should establish your own company. Defeat ZL Group and Theo Group, and then take turns to bully me and Sheffield. But the question is—are you capable of that? Business is a world of power, Mr. Tang. If you don't do well, then you will be bullied by those who are in power."
"Fuck! How dare you! A mere woman! How dare you lecture me!" Driven by his reflex, Sterling raised his hand in an attempt to slap her. But Felix was ready. He grabbed Sterling's wrist tightly and kept him in place.
"Argh!" he cried in pain. "Let me go!" Under Felix's more violent threat, Sterling had no other choice but to beg for mercy.
Without another word, Evelyn walked away from the scene.