Sheffield began to confront Sterling about the past when they were left alone in the office.
Their argument heated, and they began to fight.
Sheffield wanted to get back at Sterling for every nasty thing he had done to him. But he hit Sterling a little too hard, and almost killed him.
After telling Evelyn about what had happened, he sighed with relief. "It doesn't matter whether he admits to me about all the illegal activities he had done in the company. The police will get the confession out of him. He will do time, at least ten years."
"If he is guilty, then he has to pay the price. What about your dad? Both you and Sterling are his sons; what does he say about all this? If there is a chance that Sterling might go to jail, he won't just sit by and do nothing, would he?"
Sheffield snorted, "What can he do? Sterling committed all these crimes while that old man was in charge of the company. He couldn't discipline his son. The least he can do now is let others do the job for him. If he insists on covering up for Sterling, I'll leave the company!"
It was a very direct threat to his father. 'If you help Sterling, then you lose me and the company.'
"Don't be so stubborn. You can't just suddenly leave such a large company with no care in the world. Now that the company is yours, it is your responsibility to keep it floating. You can't say something like that so easily."
Sheffield pouted. "Okay, honey. I won't say that again," he said obediently with a nod.
"Good boy!" Evelyn said, ruffling his hair.
Sheffield chuckled. "What?" she asked. "When I pet your head, I do it out of love. But when you do the same, it's like you're playing with a puppy."
Evelyn burst into laughter.
She ruffled his hair again. It did feel like she was petting a pup. She laughed even louder at the thought of that.
After seeing her bright smile, Sheffield didn't mind her treating him like a puppy anymore. He leaned closer to her and said, "Please take me home, master."
Evelyn played along. "Fine. But first, I'll go buy you some puppy food. So, stay here!"
Sheffield had something important to deal with, so he didn't argue. "Okay, honey. See you tonight," he said.
"Carry on with your work. I will wait for you at the manor."
"Okay. Take care."
As soon as Sterling was taken to the hospital, gossips started spreading about him having an affair, hitting his wife, and divorcing her to marry his mistress. It was all over the Internet.
There were no pictures of Sterling hitting Kaylee, but her injury was photographed.
The photos of Sterling being intimate with several other women came out soon after. There was also a record of him checking into a hotel with Dollie. Back then, he and Kaylee had not been divorced yet. So, Dollie became notorious as well.
She was painted as a home wrecker, and past news about her father being a convict sprang up once again.
She was like a rat crossing the street—reviled and cursed wherever she went.
When the gossips and pictures came into light, Kaylee hated Sterling and Dollie more than ever. Taking advantage of the heat of the topic that was spreading rapidly, she hired some men to beat her up on the street. She even recorded a video and posted it online.
In the video, Kaylee made herself look like a victim. However, it was exposed that she had slept with other men while she was still married to Sterling. So, the Internet roasted the three of them without any mercy. There were no victims in this sham. The netizens agreed collectively that Kaylee was a bitch who slept around; Sterling was a scumbag who was having an affair and he was also an asshole for hitting his wife; Dollie was a shameless mistress.
The news about the trio spread like wildfire only because Sterling was the general manager of Theo Group. But the matter subsided within two days.
But that was not the end. Just as the rumors about Sterling piped down, another piece of news started spreading on the Internet, which became much more sensational because it concerned both the Huo and Tang families.
It was Sterling's way of getting his revenge.
Soon after his fight with Sheffield, the police arrested Sterling on charges of usury, bribery and illegal money laundering, among other charges.
Before he was taken away by the police, he ordered his assistant to do something for him.
The gossip he wanted to spread was about Sheffield, Evelyn, and Gwyneth, whom in the release was referred to as Evelyn's illegitimate daughter.
A clear photo of Gwyn was posted on the Internet, and it was reposted so many times.
The article claimed that when Evelyn got married to Sheffield, she already had a daughter.
"Evelyn Huo was dissolute before getting married. Her daughter, Gwyn, is now Gwyneth Tang," it said.
"Evelyn Huo's illegitimate daughter" became the hot topic on the Internet.
Rumors and guesswork about Gwyneth's identity was everywhere, and there were more than ten thousand comments on each piece.
Sheffield and Evelyn were popular in the city. They had just had a luxury wedding a few days ago, and were also photographed by reporters on their honeymoon abroad.
Now that Evelyn was exposed to have an illegitimate daughter with an unknown man, the netizens were very concerned.
The public did the math. Since Gwyneth was one and a half years old, Evelyn had become pregnant two years ago. Those who had been paying attention to her all this time knew that she was engaged to Calvert at that time.
So, who was the child's father? Was it Calvert or someone else? If the kid's father was not Calvert, then how had Evelyn claimed to be the victim back then?
Reporters called Theo Group and ZL Group all day long, asking about the true identity of Gwyneth Tang.
Sheffield was in a meeting when he heard about the rumors. His assistant had burst into the meeting hall and had told him what was happening. His first reaction was to delete Gwyn's picture from the Internet. He didn't want his daughter to be exposed.
But he and Evelyn had attracted so much attention already that the netizens couldn't stop reposting or exposing the pictures on other platforms.
The amount of comments rose quickly on Evelyn's accounts on all social media apps. They wanted Evelyn to personally explain who Gwyneth's father was.
Reporters waited at the gates of both Groups, trying to get a glimpse of the little girl.
When the rumors broke out, Terilynn and Joshua were at the aquarium with Gwyn. A reporter somehow found out their location and greeted the little girl, pretending to be a passer-by.
Gwyn was so cute that many people often came to greet her. So, Terilynn didn't mind them saying hello to the little girl as long as they didn't get too close to Gwyn.