In the middle of the night, Sheffield walked into the bedroom with the keyboard, trembling from the cold. He closed the curtains and stood by the bed, looking at Evelyn, who was lazily leaning against the headboard. He cooed, "My queen, I've finished saying 'baby' a thousand times already. May I come to bed now?"
Trying hard to hold back her laughter, she said, "You may not."
"What? Why?"
"Shower first. You can sleep after that."
"As you say, my queen…" he sighed and threw the keyboard onto the corner sofa. He slowly dragged his feet into the bathroom.
After a quick hot shower, he dried his hair and threw himself onto the bed, naked. Before she could run away, he wrapped Evelyn up in his arms.
"I'm sleepy! Leave me alone now," she warned.
Sheffield didn't respond. He held her tight against his body.
Evelyn kicked him hard. "Cut it out. I want to sleep."
He didn't say anything; he couldn't keep his hands off her.
He silently slipped into the quilt and lay on top of her chest.
Evelyn felt his warmth, but she was also really sleepy. She hadn't gotten a good sleep in the past few days since she was worried about Sheffield. And she was exhausted after being tortured by him in the nightclub. She had intended to tell him about Napier tonight, but now, she didn't have the energy for that either.
Evelyn patted on the quilt without looking. It felt like she had hit him in the head. She didn't care. She mumbled, "Sheffield, behave yourself before I kill you."
She was so tired that her tone didn't sound as menacing as she meant it to be. It turned out like a soft, cute warning.
When Sheffield had no intention of moving away, Evelyn lost her temper and kicked the man once again.
Reluctantly, he crept out from under the covers with a pout. When he saw the already asleep woman, he grinned and thought, 'I'll let you sleep peacefully just for tonight.'
In the Huo family manor
Unlike Sheffield, who was resting comfortably with his girlfriend in his arms, Matthew was trying his best to break through the network security system of ZL Group.
It was a piece of cake to break through the first layer and the second layer of defense, but the third layer was a bit of work. Now, he was stuck at the fourth layer. It was not that he was incapable. Very few hackers could break through ZL Group's third layer of network security system. Even though Matthew wasn't a hacker, he had done well so far.
Any defense system was bound to have some loopholes. After cautiously trying several methods to find the loopholes of the fourth layer, he still couldn't break through the system even past midnight.
At that same time, Sheffield received a mysterious phone call. He got up quietly and went to his study.
He switched on his laptop to find that the fourth layer of the defense system of ZL Group was being attacked by someone.
It was the fifth time he was encountering the situation this month. He hacked into the hacker's computer as usual and implanted multiple viruses in his system.
He casually yawned, turned off his laptop, and went back to sleep with his woman.
As Matthew was just about to break through the fourth layer, his computer suddenly went blank. After a few seconds, several pig heads popped up on his screen.
And there was a message along with it—"You're a pig, and your nose has too many holes to poke around in other people's business!"
Matthew clenched his fist in anger and disappointment.
It took him three hours to get rid of all the viruses. By the time he was done, dawn broke.
At breakfast
Since he couldn't get any sleep the previous night, not to mention, his computer was also hacked, Matthew showed up in the dining room with a long face. Carlos was having breakfast; Debbie and Terilynn were still asleep.
Taking the seat opposite his father, Matthew said in a flat tone, "You can set your mind at rest about the security system."
Carlos stopped eating and looked up at his son. "You couldn't break through the defense?"
"Uh huh. My computer was hacked by Star Anise when I was at the fourth layer and he crashed my system with a master load of viruses." A housemaid brought Matthew his breakfast.
Carlos nodded thoughtfully. He was satisfied with his son's efficiency. Matthew wasn't a professional hacker, after all. "Did you try to track down Star Anise's traces?" he asked.
"I did try, but it was no use. I also tried to use some previous clues to find his identity. Nothing so far. He seems to appear and disappear out of thin air." Matthew wiped his hands with a warm wet napkin and started having his breakfast.
Carlos was impressed by Star Anise. Now, he wanted to hire him even more than before.
The room fell silent. After a few minutes, Matthew asked casually, "Evelyn didn't come home last night. Is she at the Waterside Mansion?"
Carlos' hands froze. He answered uncertainly, "Probably."
'Probably? Father doesn't sound so sure about it.' Matthew probed carefully, "Has she been working a lot recently?"
"Not really," Carlos replied sourly. He didn't want Evelyn to overwork, so he had been going easy on her.
'So, she is not busy at work. She didn't stay at the office, nor was she in her apartment. She didn't come back here either. So, where is she right now?' He had a wild guess. Matthew cast a sidelong glance at his father.
Carlos was obviously not in a good mood, so Matthew assumed he had guessed right.
He wondered why his father hadn't tried to bring her back this time since he knew she was with Sheffield.
'Is he beginning to accept Sheffield?'
Matthew remained silent.
It was around ten o'clock in the morning. Evelyn slowly turned over in the bed and felt a warm breath on her face.
She opened her eyes and saw a bright smile on Sheffield's face. "You're awake. Good morning, honey." He planted a soft kiss on her lips.
Evelyn closed her eyes lazily and asked, "What time is it?"
"Half past ten."
Her eyes flew open. "Half past ten?!"
"Yes." He cupped her face in his hands and was about to give her a passionate kiss, before he was pushed away. "I have to go to the company. I have something important to deal with today."
When she sat up on the bed, she realized that Sheffield was already dressed in a casual white shirt.
He had been lying in bed, watching her sleep. Resting his head on his elbow, he looked at her and said, "Okay. I wonder if I could have the honor of having dinner with my beautiful queen tonight."
"I'll call you after work," Evelyn said as she got out of bed.
"All right."
When she went into the bathroom, Sheffield stared at her photo on the wall and exclaimed loudly, "My girlfriend is becoming hotter. But I take the credit; love is the best skin-care product." He always demonstrated his love for her with action.
Just then, Evelyn's angry voice came from the bathroom. "Sheffield Tang!"
"Yes, honey?" He jumped off the bed and dashed towards the bathroom.
"Are you an animal?" He slowed down and stood right outside the door.
He curled his lips. "I could be worse than an animal. But do you have time to find out?"
