"Oh, thank you, Grandma Miranda! You are so sweet!" Sheffield said, with a gentle and graceful nod.
The energy in the room was vibrant and festive. Debbie noticed the roses in Sheffield's arms and turned to look at Terilynn, chuckling. "Sheffield, you've met Terilynn, right? Why don't you just sit next to her?"
Debbie had deliberately left an empty seat next to Terilynn earlier on.
Sheffield, however, without saying anything, walked past Terilynn and went over to the main attraction of the party tonight—Evelyn.
When he stopped in front of Evelyn, Debbie walked up to him and reminded him in a low voice, "Hey, Terilynn is over there. This is Evelyn." Debbie's desperate attempt to fix up Sheffield with Terilynn was blatantly apparent.
With a smile, Sheffield turned to Debbie and explained, "Aunt Debbie, but I came here just for Evelyn."
"What?" The stunned expression on Debbie's face froze. However, the others seemed unperturbed and were all as calm as they were.
Sheffield pulled Evelyn up and handed her the roses. "Evelyn, happy birthday! Sorry, I'm late!"
Evelyn looked at Debbie, who was standing there in utter disbelief, and then at Carlos, who sat with a darkened face. Faced with her parents' watchful eyes, Evelyn didn't know whether to take the large bouquet of roses or not. She bit her lower lip and softly said, "Thank you…"
Joshua, having been Sheffield's wingman, cleared his throat and meekly said, "Evelyn, those roses are for you. Why are you just standing there?"
Evelyn cast an embarrassed glance at Debbie from the corner of her eyes and reached out her hands to take the flowers from Sheffield.
As soon as Evelyn put the bouquet of flowers in her arms, Debbie came back to her senses. She looked at Carlos, who was still silent, and said, "Is he the one you were talking about? The one with Evelyn in D City?"
'Oh my God! Am I the last person to know about this?' she wondered.
Carlos remained unresponsive. With a darkened face, he switched his cold gaze from Sheffield to Evelyn.
Carlos didn't deny it, and his silence had answered Debbie's question.
She looked down, patting herself on the forehead and murmured in disbelief, "Oh my God, it's Sheffield!" Debbie had spent almost half a month visiting First General Hospital, trying to fix Sheffield up with Terilynn. As it turned out, however, he and Evelyn had been together for so long, and Carlos knew the whole time.
Meanwhile, Miranda silently eyed both Sheffield and Calvert up and down, comparing them in her mind. Although she hadn't been home in a while, she knew what had happened between Evelyn, Sheffield and Calvert.
Sheffield was not only pleasing to the eyes, but also had a warm demeanor, unlike Calvert, who was as cold as her son, Carlos.
It wasn't that she thought being cold was wrong; she just didn't think Evelyn would be happy with a man like Calvert.
Before long, Miranda had the answer in her mind.
She was rooting for Sheffield. She wanted to ask him about Evelyn's ectopic pregnancy, but since Calvert was also there, she decided otherwise.
Sheffield felt like he had to say something, so he walked up to Debbie and respectfully said, "Aunt Debbie, I've been meaning to tell you that the person I love is Evelyn. Please don't misunderstand me. Any man would be more than lucky to be with Terilynn, but my heart belongs to your other daughter. I am very much in love with her and I'm sorry for not telling you the truth sooner."
Debbie couldn't help but look Sheffield up and down. After all, this whole time she had been trying to pair Sheffield off with Terilynn.
She sighed, looking back and forth between Evelyn and Sheffield. Eventually, she came to the realization that it would indeed be better if Evelyn ended up with Sheffield. Besides, Evelyn had been pregnant with Sheffield's baby. This was also a good chance for Debbie to ask him about the pregnancy.
Calvert stood up, took the bouquet of roses from Evelyn and put it back in Sheffield's arms. "I'm sorry, Mr. Tang, but Evelyn is my girlfriend. My parents are flying back from New Zealand the day after tomorrow to finalize our engagement. Uncle Carlos and Evelyn have already agreed the engagement. Mr. Tang, please don't waste your time pursuing my girlfriend anymore," he said in a cold voice.
'The day after tomorrow? Evelyn agreed to get engaged to him?' Sheffield couldn't believe his ears. After a short pause, he smiled and said, "It doesn't matter. You're not married yet. So far, as it stands, I still have the right to pursue Evelyn, right?"
Calvert was at a loss for words. Sheffield was right; they hadn't even gotten married yet. "Then Mr. Tang, you will need to try harder," he simply said.
As their gazes met, the determination in their eyes was communicated clearly.
Debbie decided to break the awkward silence by asking Sheffield to sit down next to Terilynn. "Sheffield, come and sit here." Besides, it was the only vacant seat at the table.
In truth, she just wanted to speak to Sheffield about Evelyn's pregnancy. However, realizing that this wasn't the right time or place for such a discussion, she decided to set it aside for later.
She was of the impression that Sheffield was unaware of Evelyn's pregnancy.
Suddenly, Joshua stood up from his seat and said, "Mrs. Huo, I want to sit over there. Let the man sit close to Evelyn. Am I right, Sheffield?" He secretly winked at Sheffield.
At the head of the table sat a brooding Carlos, while Debbie was on his left. On the left of the table were Evelyn, Calvert, Joshua and Savannah sitting in exactly that order.
While Miranda, Matthew and Terilynn sat across them, on the right side of the table.
"Sure! Thanks, buddy!" Sheffield didn't even try to hide his feelings. If it weren't for the fact that he was in the Huo family's villa, he would have pushed Calvert aside the moment he arrived.
As Sheffield thanked his friend, Joshua quickly moved to the other side of the table and quietly sat down next to Terilynn, the girl he loved.
Sheffield placed the flowers on the table behind him and then sat down. Calvert was sitting in between him and Evelyn, while Savannah was to his left.
He greeted the girl politely, "Hello, I'm Sheffield. Nice to meet you."
Savannah's mind, however, was still mulling over the fact that this man was responsible for getting Evelyn pregnant. Shaking herself out of her thoughts, she smiled and said, "Hello!"
The dinner began with everyone clinking their glasses of wine.
Soon after, Debbie temporarily set her thoughts aside and treated Sheffield warmly. "Hey, Sheffield. This roast beef has been carved from the cow's shoulders and baked by a professional chef hired by your uncle Carlos. Have a taste." The meat from a cow's shoulders was generally suited for barbecuing or hotpots.
With her eyes, she gestured at the maid, who accordingly, sliced a generous portion of black pepper beef and put it on Sheffield's plate.
Sheffield was so happy he grinned like a little boy and said, "Thank you, Aunt Debbie. This looks delicious!"
He put a piece of beef in his mouth and nodded. "The taste of black pepper is mild. I'm guessing the cook must be an Italian, right?"
"Wow! How did you guess that? That's amazing!" Debbie gave him a thumbs up. It was clear that Sheffield had seen the world with his own eyes.
The bountiful spread of food on the table was a mouth-watering combination of Chinese and Western cuisine. Apart from the Chinese house chef, the Western dishes were prepared by an Italian chef hired especially for tonight's celebration.
