"Yes. I was busy the other day, so I asked Terilynn to take care of Gwyn. She and Joshua took her out to have some fun. Joshua bought her the dinosaurs. Terilynn told him that Gwyn was her cousin's child." Debbie felt bad that Terilynn had to lie about Gwyn's identity.
"Oh." Evelyn was a little relieved.
At that very moment, Gwyn looked at the dinosaur in her hand and muttered, "Nuncle…"
The three adults in the room were stunned at once and stared at each other in complete silence. But they had no idea whom Gwyn was calling.
Evelyn was surprised that her daughter spoke. "Gwyn, did you just say 'Uncle'? Say it again, baby!" Usually, Gwyn hardly spoke. The few words she did speak included mom, grandpa, grandma and a few other simple words.
Evelyn had forgotten how long it had been since Gwyn had last spoken and she was now saying a new word. The three of them were pleasantly surprised to hear her voice.
Gwyn stared at Evelyn for a while, and then with her encouragement, she said again, "Nuncle."
Although she didn't know whom her daughter was referring to, Evelyn was glad to hear it. "Sweetie, well done! Mommy will teach you new words. Next one will be 'Auntie'!"
Gwyn didn't respond this time.
That evening, as soon as Terilynn arrived, Debbie dragged her into her bedroom and asked, "Did you teach Gwyn to say 'Uncle' the other day when you took her out?"
"What? Why are you asking?" Terilynn was confused.
"Gwyn suddenly said the word tonight! Twice! I wanted to know if you had taught her that," Debbie said.
Terilynn was surprised and happy to hear the new information. "She did?"
"Yes."
'Wow. Meeting her father has really helped her. Gwyn is willing to talk now, ' Terilynn thought. "I'll take her with me again next time to hang out with Joshua."
She couldn't tell anyone that she was actually taking Gwyn to see her father.
Debbie furrowed her brows, thinking. She turned to Carlos, who was reading something on his iPad, and asked, "Carlos, is it possible that Gwyn doesn't talk often because we never take her out much?"
Carlos didn't object. After a short pause, he said, "If hanging out with other people is good for her, then let's take her out of the house more often." Of course, he would arrange more bodyguards to protect his dear granddaughter.
Debbie turned to Terilynn. "One more thing! It seems that Gwyn really likes Joshua. Ever since she received the dinosaurs from him, she always has one of them in her hand every day."
They had figured that dinosaurs were boys' toys, so they had never bought any for the little girl. But now, it appeared that she actually liked such toys.
Terilynn chuckled lightly. It was not the dinosaurs that the girl liked, but the person who had bought them for her—Sheffield. "I'll take her out again on my next day off."
In order to not slip in front of Carlos, Terilynn thought it'd be better to leave her parents' bedroom as soon as possible.
"Okay! Go get some rest now," Debbie told her.
"Good night, Dad. Good night, Mom."
In the next few days, Evelyn discovered something odd about her daughter. Every time Gwyn played with the dinosaur, she would keep saying "Uncle." It even happened late at nights. Gwyn would stare at the dinosaur silently and say "Uncle…"
Evelyn was disturbed by Gwyn's recent unusual behavior. She decided to take her daughter to their family doctor.
After making the appointment, she took the girl to the doctor's office herself. She told the doctor about her daughter's recent abnormal behavior.
The doctor ruled out all other possibilities at first and asked, "Does Gwyn have an uncle?"
Evelyn finally remembered the incidents from that day when Gwyn had first said the word. "I have a friend. He bought the toys for my daughter. Is it possible that she is asking for him?" she asked, concerned.
"That's possible. He has obviously left a deep impression on Gwyn, and it looks she likes him very much. If possible, try to take Gwyn to see him more often."
'To see Joshua more often?' Evelyn felt a bit frustrated about it. Also, Joshua was busy preparing for a test to get a promotion.
After leaving the doctor's office, Evelyn gently placed Gwyn in the safety chair. She took out her phone to make a quick call.
"Terilynn, are you busy?"
"Nope. What's up?"
"I just took Gwyn to see the doctor. She suggested that Gwyn hang out more often with Joshua. Has he been busy lately?"
"Not really. He still has time to accompany Gwyn once in a while. Don't worry. I'll take Gwyn to see him tomorrow night." It suddenly occurred to Terilynn that she had forgotten to make an appointment with Sheffield.
"Well, thank him for me." After a short pause, Evelyn asked, "Terilynn, do you like him?" She had been going out with Joshua for some time now. Evelyn thought it was time to confirm their relationship.
"Maybe…" Terilynn faltered.
"What do you mean by 'maybe'? Are you still not over Tayson?"
"No! It has nothing to do with him! And please don't mention Tayson in front of Joshua. He gets really upset over that topic." Joshua was pretty soft-tempered, except when Tayson's name was brought up. He'd lose his mind every time.
Evelyn assured her, "Okay. I'm on your side on this one. And if Father objects to your relationship, I will help you."
"Really? Thank you so much, Evelyn," Terilynn said, her voice filled with excitement.
"I'm your sister, so naturally, I'll support your decision. And we know that Mom will stand on our side. Matthew certainly supports you as well. Dad will be alone in this fight. He can't win this battle," Evelyn chuckled.
"Great! But he wouldn't stop me from seeing Joshua, would he?" Terilynn asked. A lot had happened in the past, but Joshua had never hurt her. Evelyn didn't know how to reply to that, and there was no way she could figure out what was on her father's mind.
"I hope he doesn't go to such an extent this time."
Later that day, Evelyn met Sheffield again in a five-star restaurant. They weren't in the same private booth but bumped into each other in the lobby.
She was sure that he had also seen her, but they didn't exchange greetings because they were a bit far away from each other.
In the middle of the dinner, Evelyn came out of the booth and ran into an acquaintance in the hallway. "Hi, Mr. Qi," she greeted him in a cold voice.
Roscoe Qi was standing there with more than ten other young men. It seemed that they had just had a get-together
When he saw her, Roscoe Qi's reaction turned hideous and he remarked in a hostile tone, "Oh, it's you, Miss Huo. What a surprise seeing you here."
His friends saw her too and leered at her.
"Holy cow! Who is this beauty? Roscoe, introduce us!" "Roscoe, who is this chick?
She is really hot!"
"Roscoe, don't you have a girlfriend already?"
they exclaimed loudly. Evelyn ignored the crowd. She didn't look at Roscoe Qi again either, and waited for them to walk out of the restaurant.
But some of them had no intention of leaving her alone.
Roscoe Qi didn't want to introduce Evelyn to his friends, but since there were so many people egging him on, he had to put it simply, "This is Evelyn Huo, the eldest daughter of the CEO of ZL Group." Roscoe Qi felt bitter as he spoke her name. His brother was one of Evelyn's ex-boyfriends.
