"No, it's all my fault. Hey, man, get over here." He dangled a set of keys from his fingers. "Here—the keys to my race car. Take care of it for me. I'll never race again!"
When Sheffield declared in public that he would quit racing, the crowd boiled over in astonishment.
"Oh my God! Is he really giving it up?"
"Looks like Maestro Tang is really quitting the racing scene!"
"Breaking news!"
Ignoring what the others were saying, Sheffield put his arm around Evelyn's shoulder and walked towards his car. "Honey, please don't be mad, okay? Let's talk about this."
Joshua was smoking, leaning against his car. His face was a mess. Dried blood, bandages, a pair of shiners under his eyes. When he saw Sheffield, he dropped the cigarette and ground it out. "Don't even talk to me. We're done!"
Sheffield snorted, "Fine by me. You slept with my woman. Some friend!"
Listening to his childish words, Evelyn couldn't help but sigh. "Sheffield…"
"Okay, okay. I just need some time!" Sheffield compromised.
As for what happened tonight, they all knew who set them up.
Evelyn felt angry at Carlos and guilty around Sheffield and Joshua.
With a guilty conscience, she said to Sheffield, who drove her home, "Go on home. I'll talk to Dad."
"I'll go with you," said Sheffield, gripping her hand. He wanted to be there to support her, even if Carlos beat him to death for it.
Evelyn shook her head. "Not yet." Her father must be still angry about the scandal.
It wouldn't be the best time for Sheffield to confront him. Carlos would take it all out on him.
Grabbing her hand tightly, he paused for a while before saying, "I guess I need to let you go. Call me if you need me."
"Okay." After Evelyn entered the manor, he started his car and drove off.
The internet rumors were contained, and only a few trolls were stirring up trouble under Evelyn's Weibo account. But Sheffield had already secretly taken care of everything.
In the Huo Residence
When Evelyn entered the house, Carlos and Debbie were waiting for her.
When she saw her, Debbie walked up to her and asked anxiously, "Evelyn, is he the same guy you met on your trip?" Debbie wasn't sure who the man was because she couldn't see his face clearly in the photos. But he looked familiar.
Evelyn didn't respond. She looked Carlos in the eye and said with as much outrage as she could muster, "Dad, you've gone too far this time!"
Confused, Debbie looked back and forth between father and daughter. She had no idea what Carlos did, what Evelyn was talking about.
The air around Carlos became oppressive. His eyes remained calm. "Since Joshua doesn't want to be the scapegoat, just let Calvert do it. He's okay with it."
"I broke up with him a long time ago. Why did you drag him into this?" Evelyn was annoyed.
"What happened, Evelyn?" Debbie asked with concern.
Since Debbie asked, Evelyn decided to tell her the truth. "Tell Dad to butt out and I'll tell you. Dad shouldn't have gotten involved in the first place. Even if he was wrong for me, it was my choice to make, no one else's. Regardless of what was going on, I didn't want to break up with him."
Debbie was even more confused. "You mean your father messed with your relationship? Your relationship with whom?"
"The one you saw in the pictures." Still, Evelyn didn't have the guts to tell her outright it was Sheffield.
Debbie knew that person in the pictures was the same guy Evelyn had met on her trip. "I want to talk to him. What did he say about the media circus?"
"Father arranged a good show for him before he could say anything!" Evelyn cast a reproachful glance at Carlos.
Debbie looked at Carlos, who was still sitting there calmly. She gave him the stink eye and asked, "What kind of show?"
"Dad set me up. He hired someone to make it look like I slept with Joshua. Then Dad arranged it so the man I like would find us in bed together. Neither of us has any idea how it happened, but I know Dad was involved somehow."
Debbie was taken aback. "Your dad did that?" she asked in disbelief. It was hard for Debbie to envision Carlos doing something like that.
"Yes." It never even occurred to Evelyn that her holier-than-thou father would do this.
However, Carlos didn't seem to feel guilty at all. Even when the truth was out, he was drinking tea calmly. He didn't appear to have a care in the world.
Excited, Debbie ran over to Carlos and berated, "Carlos, how could you do that? Didn't you think about the consequences?
Who might be hurt? Don't you think you crossed the line?"
Carlos put his cup down and replied flatly, "No, I don't."
Debbie rolled her eyes and snapped, "Unbelievable! You're not even sorry."
Carlos looked at Debbie and said in a harsher voice, "She forgot about all the pain that boy put her through. What about you? A few months ago, when she was dying on the operating table, you were devastated. It nearly killed you. I don't want to talk about it. Maybe he didn't do it on purpose. Don't you know he's going to be another man's son-in-law? How am I supposed to take that? Evelyn is confused because she's in love with him, so what's your excuse?"
"No, it's not like that, Dad. That other woman, he doesn't care about her the same way he does me." Evelyn thought it was a good time to explain everything to Carlos.
"Humph!" Carlos snorted and for the first time he scolded Evelyn in a harsh tone. "Since when did you become so stupid? That woman is pregnant. It's his kid! Did he even tell you about it?"
'Dollie is pregnant?' Evelyn looked at Carlos in stunned disbelief. "That's impossible!"
Carlos slammed his palm on the table and yelled, "I've already seen the pregnancy test. What more proof do you need?"
"There must be some mistake." She trusted Sheffield. There was no way that he would have sex with Dollie.
"What mistake? Do you know why he's with you? I heard him say his research team was short of money and he needed some cash. And he told Dollie he was using you." And it wasn't like Carlos had gone out of his way to find out. He was playing a few rounds of golf, and had retired to the locker room. Sheffield and Joshua were in there, and the young doctor was explaining to his friend that the research fund was nearly gone.
As for using Evelyn, that was what Dollie told him. She swore Sheffield told her personally that he was only using Carlos' daughter.
