Evelyn shook her head.
"Kiss me, and I'll show you." Saying so, Sheffield leaned closer to her.
Evelyn was used to his tricks by now. She sighed and gently pecked him on his cheek.
Sheffield's eyes brightened up. He removed his hand and smiled. "Tah da! I made it myself. It's kinda small, though," he said, a bit embarrassed. "But I am good at embroidery, aren't I?" he gloated. Evelyn stared at the hand-made pink soft satin hankie.
A pair of mandarin ducks were embroidered on it, along with some emerald lotuses, and two small letters on the bottom-right corner—ST.
'Did he…?' She looked up at the man in astonishment.
Sheffield knew what she was thinking. He nodded with a smug smile. "Oh, yeah. Did it by myself. All for my beloved woman. You're moved, aren't you, Eve?" he asked, winking.
Evelyn couldn't find the right words. She was indeed moved. She let her eyes settle upon his long, thin fingers.
It was difficult to imagine him, sitting on a couch, doing embroidery.
She chuckled, but her eyes turned red. This man always found a way to make her smile.
While she was distracted by his loving gesture, he grabbed the note she had hidden under the document.
Evelyn couldn't stop him.
He began to read the note with a grin. "Evelyn, my darling, I owe you an apology…" He looked at her and apologized directly in a serious tone, "Evelyn, I truly am sorry."
He continued to read the note, "I will make it up to you in the future. I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you…"
His tone and sincere expression made Evelyn's face burn red. "Enough! Shut up!"
She stood from her chair and tried to take the note back from him, but Sheffield stepped back and kept a distance from her.
When he saw the next sentence in the note, he sighed. But that was all in the past now. So, he skipped to the end and read aloud the last words on the note. "Your dear Sheffield."
Evelyn walked around the desk and reached out her hand to grab the paper. "Give it back!"
He tucked the note into his pocket instead and pulled her closer. "Tell me, am I your dear Sheffield?"
Evelyn's face burnt hot. She hit him on the shoulder.
"Give it back to me, or I will have you thrown out of here."
"You don't mean that. You don't have the heart to throw me out like that. Why are you still pretending like you don't want me here?"
Evelyn gritted her teeth; she was so angry that she stomped her feet and tried to snatch the note from his pocket.
Sheffield stepped back to avoid her.
Evelyn chased after him.
While she was desperately trying to get ahold of him, he extended his right foot and tripped her. Caught off guard, Evelyn fell forward.
"Ah!" she screamed, closing her eyes.
Sheffield stepped forward and opened her arms to catch her.
A familiar scent wafted into her nose and she knew that he had tricked her again. She didn't open her eyes. While he held her in his arms, she put her right hand into his pocket and successfully retrieved the paper.
It was Evelyn's turn to gloat. She swung the note in front of him and said, "This is mine. You think I'll let you have it?"
Sheffield was amused by her words. He grabbed her waist and kissed her forehead. "Look at how much you love me. You cherish a simple note from me so dearly. How about I write some calligraphy for you next time? You can frame it and hang it on the wall."
"No, thank you," she huffed, hiding her embarrassment.
Sheffield pinched her little nose in a doting manner and said, "All right, all right. I won't tease you anymore. But I really did do the embroidery myself!"
Evelyn got out of his embrace and picked up the handkerchief.
Something occurred to her out of the blue at that moment. She turned around to face him. "Sheffield?"
"Yes?" Seeing the gleam in her eyes, he had a bad feeling.
"I… um… I want to see you in a traditional costume." She remembered the time when she had once seen a handsome boy in white traditional wear at the mall entry. She never saw his face, but he had managed to attract her attention. 'If I ever find the love of my life one day, I will make him wear a traditional costume for me, ' she had thought back then.
"Traditional costume?" Sheffield asked, confused. He grudgingly remembered how he had to wear it once before. It was a long time ago. He lost a bet to Joshua and the other guys. He was tricked by them. In the end, he had to put on a white traditional costume with a wig and walk around the entrance of the most popular shopping mall in the city.
"Yes." She looked at him expectantly.
To her disappointment, however, he didn't answer. "Are you free tomorrow?" he asked instead.
Trying to suppress the disappointment, Evelyn nodded and said, "Yes, Dad cancelled all the appointments so that I can get some rest tomorrow."
"Perfect! It's snowing outside. Let me take you to see the snow. Will you come?"
"When?" Evelyn felt a little better after hearing his proposition.
"How about tonight? I have to deal with something first. After that, I'm all yours." Originally, he had wanted to leave with her right away, but he made a slight diversion from the plan.
"Okay, I'll come."
Before long, he left her office.
Later that evening, Evelyn received a message from him. "Eve, you go ahead to our meeting place first. I'll join you there. Be safe on the way."
He sent her the location along with his message. The address was to a resort in the suburb.
It was still snowing outside when Evelyn finished all her work. She was ready to leave earlier than usual.
Before she could leave, however, Carlos walked in. "Evelyn, are you going somewhere?" He was holding a file in his hand. His eyes fell on Evelyn's handbag, and she seemed all set to leave the office.
She answered nervously, "Yeah, I need to attend to something."
As the observant man he was, Carlos sensed that his daughter was pretty nervous about his sudden appearance. "It's snowing. Are you going home early?" he asked calmly.
"Uh, no… I have an appointment with a friend, Dad."
"I see," he said, nodding. "Will you come back to the office later?"
She was meeting Sheffield at a resort. "No," she answered firmly.
"I see. Well, come back to the manor after meeting your friend. Matthew's flight will be arriving soon."
Evelyn fumbled, trying to find an excuse to stay with Sheffield. "Dad, I'm not sure if I can make it to the manor."
Carlos looked at her and compromised. "All right. Go then. Be careful."
