'I was just a plaything in bed for her, a casual lover, perhaps.' Evelyn's heart twisted in pain at what Sheffield said.
Even though they had been together for such a long time, they'd never really established their relationship. She wasn't even his girlfriend.
At that moment, she was heartbroken.
Sheffield looked at Calvert and said, "From now on, you need to take good care of her. She is very choosy about what she eats. She likes dried plums, mangoes, truffles, and milk. She only drinks the milk manufactured by ZL Group. She likes seafood such as fish and crabs. But she doesn't like shellfish, cheese, egg yolk…"
Evelyn's heart ached as she listened to his words. Her eyes were blurred by tears.
"She's a clean freak just like me. But you can't let her do the housework—neither cleaning nor doing the laundry. After all, you need to take care of her and not the other way around. She doesn't like talking. She's a bit aloof but only on the surface. On the inside, she's kind and gentle. You just need to get her to trust you. She's absolutely adorable, and it doesn't take much to get her to laugh…"
"Oh, stop it, Sheffield…" Evelyn covered her mouth, trying her best not to cry out loud.
With a doting smile, Sheffield reached out and wiped her tears gently. "Why are you crying? Today's a good day. You're overthinking this."
Then he turned to Calvert again. "She likes her freedom. You should take time out of your busy schedule to go shopping with her every now and then. She doesn't like trying on clothes in clothing stores, so you should buy them all and let her try them on at home.
She works late most of the time. Whenever that happens, she can get really hungry so you should drop by her office with food. Don't ask your assistant to do that for you. You need to do it yourself to show your sincerity.
Her bodyguard, Tayson, used to have feelings for her. Luckily, he has gone back to his hometown to get married. Although she has a new bodyguard, I don't know much about him yet, so you have to protect her too. After all, with her status, it's not hard to believe that some people would want to hurt her."
Ignoring Evelyn's sobbing, Sheffield turned serious as he added, "You have to keep her safe and happy for the rest of her life. If you can't do it, call me and I'll take her off your hands. Any time."
"Sheffield…" Evelyn cried, grabbing the hem of his clothes.
Sheffield looked around and found that all of Evelyn's family members were staring at her. He then pulled her hand off him and released her. Looking at his empty hand, he smiled bitterly. "We have to make sure that we stay away from each other. I don't want to hear anyone saying anything bad about you. After all, you're the best girl in the world, Evelyn."
He raised his head and put on a smile. "Thank you for inviting me, Mr. Ji. I believe my business is done here. I have to go now. Goodbye, Evelyn."
After that, he turned around and left without looking back.
'No! I can't let him go!' Evelyn thought to herself. She tried to run after him because that was all that consumed her mind. She had to stop him no matter what.
However, Calvert grabbed her arm and warned her in a low voice, "Evelyn, everyone's watching. Are you sure you want to do this? Don't be so rash!"
Evelyn's heart broke into a million pieces as she watched Sheffield disappear from her sight.
Finally, she broke away from Calvert's tight grip on her, lifted the hem of her dress, and ran to follow Sheffield out of the banquet hall.
Although it was already early spring, the weather was still cold. Evelyn was only wearing a strapless evening gown. Ignoring her quivering, cold body, she called out, "Sheffield!"
Sheffield was already walking towards his car when he heard her voice. He stopped and turned around to look at her. Standing under the street lamp with one hand shoved in the pocket of his pants, he looked more handsome than ever. His crisp grey suit made him look more mature.
When her figure came into his sight, he called out her name in response. "Evelyn."
Before Evelyn could respond, he took off his suit jacket and strode towards her.
It wasn't until she felt the warmth of the jacket on her shoulders that she realized what he did. In an instant, the cold that made her quiver disappeared.
As Sheffield draped his jacket around her, he said in discontent, "Did Calvert just let you come out like this?"
As soon as he had finished speaking, Calvert trotted out of the hotel. "Evelyn!" he called out. He slowed down when he saw her standing at the gate of the hotel.
Sheffield curled his lips and said, "I have to go now."
Ignoring Calvert, Evelyn grabbed Sheffield's arm and said, "I'm sorry, Sheffield…"
Sheffield lowered his head to look at her hand. After a long while, he said, "Evelyn, I don't want to hear you say sorry." He wanted her to encourage him to wait for her. He wanted her to give him hope.
Evelyn held her breath, not knowing how to respond. At that moment, guilt filled her heart. She really didn't know what else she could say to console him and make him feel better, to make herself feel better. She could only apologize to him.
Sheffield waited for a long while, but she said nothing more. He sighed, "Evelyn, I just want to know, did you ever care about me? Did you ever think about my feelings?"
"I…" Evelyn raised her head and looked into his eyes. A range of emotions flashed through Sheffield's eyes: affection, love, and finally, resignation.
"I understand why your father would disapprove of me after you suffered from the ectopic pregnancy. I never wanted any of that to happen, but it was an accident. If I could, I'd go back in time and change whatever I can just to stop that from happening, but I can't. The least I could do is take care of you and make you happy to show you how sorry I am. But what about you? You didn't even give me a chance." 'You just gave up and decided to be with another man, ' he finished in his mind.
Evelyn stood there in a daze, listening to him pour out his feelings.
Sheffield didn't really want to let this all out, but if he didn't, she would go on with her life without facing her true feelings. "Did you ever think what it was like for me? When I saw you in the hospital, you have no idea what I felt then. You should've told me the truth, but you didn't. You even stayed away from me. Evelyn, you're so unfair to me."
Sheffield had asked himself these questions so many times: If Evelyn hadn't suffered from the ectopic pregnancy, would Carlos have treated him differently? Would he have accepted him? Would they have lived happily ever after? Would they have gotten married? Would they have had a marriage that was blessed with support and love from their families?
However, the bitter truth was that Carlos had never approved of Evelyn and Sheffield's relationship. It was as if Carlos had turned hating Sheffield into his hobby. Even though he knew that what happened with Evelyn was an accident, he still chose to blame it on Sheffield.
Still, he blamed neither Carlos nor Evelyn. He figured maybe he just wasn't good enough and Evelyn just didn't love him enough.
"Just this once, be brave and fight for what you want. Evelyn, did you ever fight for our love? Even just once?"
'Did I fight for our love? I don't know… Maybe not. Because if I did, then why am I second-guessing myself?' she thought bitterly.
