Debbie put the rest of the water back in the fridge. The water was just for the baby after all.
The road to the Leafside Village was bad. And it was an exhausting trip. Evelyn rubbed her temples and answered, "Not good. He's not planning on coming back. I guess I'll just have to take care of Gwyneth by myself from now on."
When Evelyn looked at her daughter who was drinking her milk, she smiled for the first time in days. She squatted down so she was looking into Gwyneth's eyes. "Gwyn, did you miss me?"
Gwyneth merely stared back at her, her face blank.
Evelyn then took Gwyneth from Carlos' arms. She'd missed her daughter so much.
At that moment, Debbie was just walking out of the kitchen. She stopped in front of Evelyn and asked, "Didn't you tell him about Gwyneth? His daughter?"
Evelyn shook her head. Sheffield was so cold and indifferent to her, so it was not like she had the chance to tell him.
Carlos rolled his eyes. "Why should Evelyn tell him? Let him go through what I went through." Carlos didn't see Evelyn until she was three years old. Gwyneth was one year old now. There was two years to go before she was three. He liked the idea of Sheffield not knowing about his own daughter until she turned three.
Debbie cast an angry glance at her husband. "This is different. Back then, I thought you were dead. How could I have told you about Evelyn? But Sheffield is in D City, perfectly fine and alive. I don't see why Evelyn shouldn't tell him the truth."
Evelyn lowered her head to kiss Gwyneth's forehead and said in a soft voice, "Dad, Mom, that's it! We can take care of Gwyn together."
This left Carlos and Debbie speechless.
They used to have way more servants in the mansion. However, Carlos had fired most of those servants due to the incident that happened a few months ago. Since then, Debbie and Carlos had been taking care of Gwyneth themselves.
When Gwyneth finished her bottle, Debbie took it from her and went to the kitchen to wash and sterilize it.
When she came back to the living room, Evelyn had put Gwyneth on the floor, watching her playing with her toys.
Debbie wiped her hands with a tissue and threw it afterward. "We're running out of water for Gwyn's formula. Are you going to send someone to buy more? Or just ask someone in France to bring some back?" she asked Carlos.
The water they used to make Gwyn's formula was from France. It was quite expensive and exclusively available there.
Carlos would send someone to France to buy the water in bulk or ask one of his friends to buy it for him when they flew back.
"Oh, don't worry. Dixon is going to France tomorrow. I've already told him to buy some," Carlos said. He wouldn't just allow some random guy to do this errand. It had to be someone he trusted.
"Okay. Carlos, you can go to work now. Evelyn's back and Gwyn's due for a nap anyway. We can manage ourselves here," Debbie said, urging Carlos to leave already.
Since Gwyneth was born, Carlos worked mostly at home. Every now and then, he needed to go to the office to settle a few matters, though.
"No way. Gwyn wouldn't sleep without me by her side," Carlos protested, refusing to leave.
Most of the time, it was Carlos who got Gwyn to sleep, which was why she was a little dependent on him.
The same way she was dependent on Evelyn and Debbie as well.
'What do you mean Gwyn can't sleep without you by her side? Admit it! You just don't want to leave her!' Debbie thought inwardly, rolling her eyes. "Hah! Your granddaughter is not that attached to you! Evelyn's back now, so Gwyn doesn't need you anymore. Just go! And get home early tonight!"
Reluctantly, Carlos stood up from his seat and picked up Gwyn from the floor to plant a kiss on her cheek. "Grandpa has to leave for work. Gwyn, be a good girl and listen to your mom and grandma, okay?"
Gwyneth blankly looked back at him.
Carlos was already used to this. He put her down, grabbed his coat, and left.
Debbie walked him out. Carlos kissed her cheek and said, "Go. Spend more time with Gwyn."
"Okay!" Debbie responded. He always missed Gwyn whenever he left her, and it was nice to see this side of him.
Time passed by and life was good.
It was a warm spring day and flowers were just blooming. The Theo Group was the talk of the city ever since a certain piece of news broke out.
The Theo Group was one of the top five hundred companies in the world. While they hadn't been exactly doing great the past few years, they weren't doing so bad either. However, in the past two years, their business seemed to have gone down drastically. Profits were at an all-time low and stores around the country were dropping like flies.
The previous day, Peterson Tang, CEO of the Theo Group, suddenly announced at a board meeting that he was stepping down and was consequently being replaced by his son.
His son? The public knew that Peterson had many children, five of whom were his sons. The youngest was only one year old. The older sons had their own jobs and yet none of them was a businessman. Was he appointing his one-year-old son as the CEO?
Turning a blind eye to the press, Peterson Tang decided to hold his abdication ceremony at the company's 40th anniversary in just three days.
A few hours after the announcement was released, Carlos received a phone call from his son, Matthew. "We're invited to the Theo Group's anniversary party, right? Make Evelyn go."
"Why?" Carlos was confused at his son's request.
"She's the ideal person to attend. Even more so than the two of us," Matthew said meaningfully.
"It depends. I'll ask her first. She's taking a break from the public eye. Most of her time is really just spent in taking care of Gwyn." Evelyn's priority was Gwyn, so she hadn't been to many parties in the past two years. It was perfectly reasonable for Carlos to assume that she wouldn't want to attend.
"Okay." Matthew then hung up the phone.
After the management meeting ended in the afternoon, Carlos asked Evelyn, "Are you interested in attending the Theo Group's anniversary the day after tomorrow?"
While she packed her stuff, Evelyn shook her head and answered, "No."
Carlos nodded. After a while, he added, "Matthew called and said he wanted you to go to the party. I guess he was planning something. Anyway, if you don't want to go, I can ask someone else to attend."
Matthew wanted her there? Evelyn thought for a while. 'Matthew isn't really the type to do something without a reason. There must be something going on if he specifically asked for me to attend. Is it because he wants me to meet the new CEO of Theo Group?' "Dad, I can go."
Carlos was just about to text Matthew when he heard this. In response, he deleted his message and nodded. "Okay! You don't have to worry about Gwyn. Your mother and I will take care of her. Just enjoy yourself."
"Okay. Thank you, Dad."
At the venue of Theo Group's 40th anniversary
The venue was exquisitely decorated and the air smelled of flowers. The food and drinks they served the guests were luxurious: snacks, fruits, wine, champagne, liquor, you name it.
It didn't have to be said but it was quite obvious that Peterson Tang was going all out with this party.
Since he was going to announce the new CEO of Theo Group, celebrities and distinguished guests alike filled the banquet hall.
That evening, Evelyn donned a wine-red fish tail gown that bared her back. As much as she tried to keep a low profile, she still attracted a lot of attention.
