Wearing a pair of grey crystal high heels, Evelyn got out of the car. Tobias explained anxiously, "Mrs. Tang, Mr. Sheffield Tang and Mr. Sterling Tang are still in the conference room. Everyone in the company knows what happened..."
Evelyn nodded. "Which floor?" She straightened her clothes and walked into the office building of Theo Group without missing a beat.
"The conference room is on the 37th floor. We had a shareholders' meeting this morning," Tobias said, catching up with her.
"I see."
Evelyn rocked a long black and white designer dress. The moment she appeared, she drew everyone's attention. The employees hadn't seen their CEO's wife since they got married.
They all admired her sartorial style and noble demeanor. Tobias led Evelyn into the CEO's private elevator, and it took her straight to the 37th floor.
At the entrance of the meeting room there were some senior executives, who were all at a loss as to what to say.
"Good morning, Mrs. Tang," they said, greeting Evelyn as soon as they saw her.
Evelyn nodded at them. As soon as she reached the door, she heard a thump, and a strangled cry from inside. It was Sterling.
On the way there, she dialed Sheffield's number. But he had handed his phone to Tobias, so she hadn't had a chance to talk to him yet.
Tobias knocked on the door to the conference room. "Mr. Sheffield Tang, your wife is here."
The noise level in the room dropped. Tobias continued to pound on the door. "Mr. Sheffield Tang, please open the door. Mrs. Tang is here!"
The door was still closed, but they could hear no noise coming from beyond it.
Evelyn knocked at the door herself and said quietly, "Hey, sweetie. It's me."
The door was opened as soon as she said that. It was Sheffield, with bruises on his face. When he saw Evelyn, he rolled his eyes at Tobias and asked resignedly, "Who called my wife?"
Evelyn was relieved to see Sheffield, to see that he was okay. She jumped in to help Tobias. "No one called me. I called you. I couldn't get ahold of you though, so I decided to drop by."
Ignoring everyone else, Sheffield intimately put his arms around Evelyn. With eyes full of affection, he asked in a soft voice, "I didn't have my phone on me during the meeting. Anything wrong?"
Evelyn tried to see inside the conference room, but Sheffield blocked the way. It was almost like he was doing this deliberately. "What's going on in there?"
It was then that she saw the bloodstains on his black suit jacket.
"Sterling and I are in a meeting right now. Let's go upstairs. Tobias, I think you can take it from here." After saying that, he held Evelyn's arm and walked towards the elevator.
But Evelyn broke free of his grip and walked into the meeting room.
The room was a mess, and two chairs were broken. The beige floor tiles were stained with drops of blood, as well as red streaks.
Sterling leaned against a wall, gasping for air. His once-handsome face had been beaten to hamburger. Blood dripped from his nose, and his blue shirt was torn.
It was indeed... a horrible scene.
Making eye contact with her, Sterling wanted to say something. But it was too painful to talk, so he abandoned that idea.
Evelyn turned her head to look at the man who leaned against the doorframe casually. He wore a nonchalant face, but he didn't meet her gaze.
"Tobias, get Sterling to a hospital. Now!" Evelyn was worried that Sterling might die if he weren't admitted to hospital in time. If not from his injuries, then possible infection. If that happened, Sheffield would be a criminal.
"Yes, Mrs. Tang." Tobias called several security guards over and together they hauled Sterling to his feet, and helped him walk out of the conference room.
As he was guided past the young CEO, Sterling said, "Sheffield... I'm your brother. Why did you do this to me?" The man's lips were swollen, so the words were slurred.
Sheffield clicked his tongue and mocked, "My brother? I don't think you deserve to be called that. Do you?"
Sterling felt his blood boiling. He wanted to say more, but he felt blood rush to his throat. He had been beaten so hard by Sheffield that several ribs were broken. The next second, he spat out a mouthful of blood and almost passed out. The security guards had to redouble their efforts to hold him up, as his legs gave way.
They began to fear for his life. Not wanting him to die, they picked him up and carried him into the elevator.
On the top floor, in the CEO's office
As soon as the door of the office was closed, Sheffield gave his wife a backhug. "Honey, please don't be mad." He knew he was in trouble, and tried to sound affectionate.
His voice was soft and magnetic. "Why should I be angry?" Evelyn asked.
"Because I fought with Sterling and hurt him. A lot."
Evelyn turned around and stood face to face with him. Gently touching his bruises, she said, "That has to hurt. Got a first-aid kit around? Let's put some ointment on that."
It didn't look like she was angry at all. Sheffield felt a little odd about the way she was reacting. "You're not mad?"
"Did you want me to be?" Evelyn asked.
"No, I'm going to take the first-aid kit. Wait for me." He walked to his desk in a hurry, and buzzed his assistant. When he responded, he asked him to bring him the first-aid kit.
Within two minutes, the assistant knocked at the door. Evelyn came to the door and took the small box from him. "Thank you," she said with a smile.
"You're welcome, Mrs. Tang."
After his assistant left, Evelyn put the first-aid box in front of him and said, "Open it. You know what's in there better than I do. Find what you need and I'll treat your wounds."
"Come to think of it, I really don't need anything. I—" Under the woman's stern gaze, he corrected himself. "Well, here's a couple band-aids. This should cover it. I just have a couple bruises."
Evelyn took a closer look at his wound and found that it was not very serious. So, she got a band-aid, removed the polymer, and stuck it on his face.
After throwing the wrapper into the waste basket, Evelyn looked at him and shook her head helplessly. 'He's so handsome even with a band-aid!' she thought.
"What was that all about? Sighing and shaking your head like that?"
Evelyn pinched his uninjured cheek and said, "It means you're hopeless. And I'm hopelessly in love." Then she sat beside him and asked, "Does it hurt anywhere? I know your brother got banged up pretty bad."
"Yes, here!" The playful man gripped her hand and pulled it to his body.
When she realized what he was up to, her face blushed. "You're something else, you know that?" She drew her hand back and slapped him heavily on the shoulder.
He held her tightly in his arms. "I'm fine. Nothing happened to me. You trust me?"
"So, are you disowning him as a brother?"
"Yes, I can't let him off easily. He'll end up in jail." Then he told her what happened.
Some of the shareholders of the company reported to the board the kinds of illegal things Sterling had done. Sterling was furious and demanded to know if Sheffield was behind this. He got belligerent with his brother.
Sheffield didn't deny it. It was his job as CEO to see that these kinds of things were taken care of. So he revoked the man's shares, and was going to have him kicked out of the building.
This erupted in a huge fight, and Sterling raised his fists and his voice. He also brought up the past, and accused Sheffield of seducing and sleeping with his wife.