During the meal, Sheffield rested his chin on his hand as he watched Evelyn gracefully drink her wine. "Evelyn, I am so much in love with you. What spell have you cast on me?"
After a pause, Evelyn asked, "How many women have you said that to?"
"Only you. You are the one I love the most in the world." His words were genuine; there was not a drop of lie in them.
Evelyn couldn't help laughing. "Yet, you stand beside another woman right in front of me."
Sheffield sighed. He felt it was time to explain his intentions to her. She had the rights to know. "I don't care about Dollie; it's Sidell whom I'm trying to get close to."
"What do you mean?"
"Evelyn, do you know why I chose to be a doctor?" No one knew the truth.
But to reassure her that she was the only one he loved, he had to tell her everything.
Evelyn stopped eating.
But Sheffield didn't continue.
She raised her eyes to look at the man sitting opposite her. He was lost in thought, and his eyes had turned gloomy, without the usual cheerfulness.
This was the first time Evelyn had seen him this way. He looked more mature than ever.
But this melancholy side of his kind of… broke her heart.
Everyone had their own secrets of the past, which they kept to themselves, just like Evelyn did. She had never told anyone about her ex-boyfriend and Melody Song.
She put a piece of spiced salt chicken on his plate and said gently, "Forget it. Let's eat. I trust you."
When she had seen Sheffield and Dollie show up together at the gathering in the video, she was angry, but she wasn't stupid. Even while he was holding Dollie in his arm, she could feel no intimacy between them.
At least, she could tell from the way he looked at Dollie that he didn't love her. There was no passion or affection in his eyes; it was nothing like the way he looked at Evelyn.
She was just angry at the time, because he said that he liked her, but still had Dollie by his side.
Sheffield gently held her left hand, and kissed it. "Evelyn, my mom passed away fifteen years ago. At that time, she was only forty-five, and I was just eleven."
She looked directly into his eyes. He had only ever mentioned his family once, while they were in D City. He had told her playfully that his father had a lot of sons.
"She was a doctor in the nephrology department too. She had a good heart and was always so concerned about her patients. My mother was like an angel to me. She was beautiful and gentle, and my father was good to her too. But everything changed one day. I was only eight years old when my world came crashing down."
Evelyn put her chopsticks down and stared intently at the man who was now lost in his past.
His eyes softened as he thought about his mother.
"I was pretty good at school. By the time I was eight years old, I had skipped to the fifth grade, while my peers were still in the second or the third grade. Mom was always so busy, but I still worked extra hard so that I could be like her someday. Once, she didn't come home for two days. It was normal for her, because work was her life. Most of the time, she ate and stayed in the hospital. But three days after that, news spread all over the city that Ingrid Chu, the director of the nephrology department of First General Hospital, treated a patient with counterfeit medicine, and that patient died.
Someone testified against her for trading fake drugs," he said in a heavy voice, looking out the window. His hold on Evelyn's hand tightened, as if he was trying to restrain his emotions.
"Do you know…" He turned to Evelyn with a bitter, sarcastic smile. "The one who had testified against her was a five-year-old girl."
According to the law, since children were too young to tell right from wrong and articulate clearly, they couldn't testify in court. The witness' testimony was to be verified, and then, it could be turned into evidence for prosecution.
But in Ingrid's case, the testimonies of that little girl were taken strongly into account.
A series of evidences were collected against Ingrid. At that time, Sheffield saw a lot of people come to their home, looking for his parents. He asked his parents what was going on, but no one told him anything. He was a kid, after all.
Ingrid comforted him, saying that everything would be all right. He had believed her.
The day Ingrid was arrested, Sheffield's father sent him to a school in America. Later, Sheffield's half-brother told him that his mother was in prison.
Sheffield called his father many times, asking for permission to come back. His father not only forbade him from coming back, but also arranged bodyguards to make sure that he studied hard.
He had no choice but to contact his grandfather, who was then old and isolated from the outside world. His grandpa then contacted someone who eventually brought him back to Y City.
When Sheffield and his grandpa went to see Ingrid in prison, she had already lost the light in her eyes and her beauty. She seemed much older in such a short time. She was only in her forties, but most of her hair had turned grey and she had lost a lot of weight.
When she saw Sheffield, she smiled for the first time in so many days. "Sheffield! You're back?" she asked her son.
Sheffield stared at the middle-aged woman in shock. He wanted to yell, "You are not my mother!" But she was.
"Mom, what happened?" Sheffield wanted to hug her, hold her close. But he couldn't. There was a huge glass separating them. He could only talk to her on the phone.
Ingrid smiled at him the whole time. She said, "Sheffield, you always said that you didn't want to learn medicine because it was tiring, difficult, unrewarding and dangerous. I never approved. But, listen to me now. Don't ever learn medicine, okay?"
Sheffield didn't say a word.
His mom continued, "Study hard abroad, and never come back here. I'll come to see you if I ever get that chance in the future. Live a good life, and be nice to everyone around you. Be happy. Don't be like me. I worked hard all these years, only to end up as a criminal—"
"Who said you are a criminal?" Sheffield interrupted her. "Why are they accusing you of being a criminal? You are not!"
Ingrid smiled, and then burst into tears. Perhaps her son was the only one who still trusted her. He was such a sweet boy. "Sheffield, you are a good son. Take care of yourself."
After they left the prison, Sheffield went straight home.
The moment he saw his father, he rushed towards him, ready to fight.
But he was so young. Even though he had fought many fights with his peers, this was a grown man.
He was soon subdued. His father was furious. "What the hell is wrong with you, Sheffield?"
Sheffield yelled back at him, "My mother is in prison. Why?! Why haven't you helped her?"
