Take My Breath Away

Evelyn gasped for air. Of course she knew what Sheffield meant.

Joshua stood along the roadside, watching the cars zooming by. He had no choice. He had to hail a cab. 'Damn him, ' he thought. 'Some friend!'

But it was rush hour now. There were few taxis. And the ones he did see were full of passengers.

Just when he thought of calling Terilynn and begging for a ride, a familiar car stopped in front of him. The window of the passenger seat lowered slowly, revealing Sheffield's handsome face. "Hop in!"

"That quick?" Joshua asked in surprise. He figured he wouldn't see them again tonight. Didn't anything happen? Or...

Sheffield frowned. "I know that face. What's going on in your head?"

Joshua opened the door and got into the car. "I thought you'd be awhile, is all. You haven't seen Evelyn for some time. You were done awfully quick. Having some trouble with your plumbing, bro? I know a good doctor..." He was so curious about this question that he didn't bother to fasten his seat belt.

Sheffield was already in a bad mood since he didn't get the chance to have sex with Evelyn. Now, being teased by Joshua only added fuel to the fire. He let off a scathing remark. "Fuck off!" The CEO scratched his ear. "I could ask the same of you. After all, you and Terilynn..."

"Dunno. Haven't tried it yet. But I'm sure I'd last longer!" Joshua would make himself a eunuch if he were impotent.

Sheffield lapsed into silence.

Joshua stopped kidding around and said seriously, "You know Sexton Qi? CEO of Qi Group? Roscoe is his kid. After his older brother died, Roscoe became the apple of his dad's eye. Beating him up like that probably wasn't the best idea. I'd be looking over your shoulder if I were you."

"Whatever! I'm not afraid." Sheffield didn't give a damn about it.

"Just be careful, okay? You're the head honcho of Theo Group now. You can't just do what you want, because you need to think of your employees. Sexton Qi might want to take your company. You should take that seriously," Joshua reminded his friend.

"Well, Roscoe's face had best take my fist seriously!" Sheffield replied nonchalantly, not taking his friend's advice.

Joshua's lips twitched. "You've lost your mind over a woman."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Sheffield said seriously.

Joshua rolled his eyes and said, "Fine, I won't worry about you, then. I give you advice and you do your own thing anyway. If you need help, let me know. If it's involved, give me time to prepare." Sheffield nodded, "Hey, I'm kinda hungry. Wanna hit a snack bar?"

"Nah, I've been busy with exams recently. I want to go home and hit the books." Joshua got a headache thinking of exams every now and then. Live and learn—that was his job, and so he did it.

"Then I'll drop you off there."

"Okay."

At the hospital

Evelyn stood silently in the hallway, listening to Roscoe's screams and his grandmother's comforting words coming from the ward.

After a long time, several doctors emerged from the ward, followed by Sexton Qi.

His face darkened the moment he saw Evelyn. But because of her status, he held his tongue. He pushed aside his anger and greeted her normally. "Hi, Evelyn, you here too?"

Evelyn nodded, "Yeah Uncle Sexton. I'm here to see Roscoe. How is he?"

"Several broken ribs. He's in a cast, thanks to Sheffield Tang," he replied flatly.

"I'm sorry, Uncle. It's all my fault." After all, if Sheffield weren't head over heels for her, he wouldn't have hit Roscoe.

Sexton Qi's lips quivered in anger. "No, not your fault. But I'm gonna sue Sheffield Tang into the ground. Be sure and tell him, okay? I want him to worry about it until I file the suit!"

His son had friends, and so word got out. He also knew Sheffield had beaten his son because he had badmouthed Evelyn.

After a short pause, Evelyn didn't want to get Sheffield in trouble, so she tried to mollify him. "Uncle Sexton, please don't be mad at him. It's all my fault. He had nothing to do with this."

Sexton Qi raised his voice. "Miss Huo, you don't have to cover for him. The sad thing is that I would have been okay with a modest beating. Roscoe has no filter, and shouldn't talk about you like that. But Sheffield Tang went too far. He broke several ribs. I'll send for an adjuster to check the degree of my son's injury and provide the proof, and then I'll sue the pants off him!"

Roscoe's grandmother came out of the ward after hearing the noise outside. When she saw Evelyn, her face changed. "Miss Huo, Richard died thanks to you. You come here to kill Roscoe too?"

Evelyn shook her head. "Sorry, Mrs. Qi. It was just an accident. We didn't mean to hurt Roscoe like that."

"Apologies are useless. Miss Huo, please go away." The old lady hadn't come to terms with her grief. Her eldest grandson died because of Evelyn. Now her youngest grandson was also hurt because of this woman, and so she hated Evelyn even more.

Just then, a voice rang out from the hallway. "Mr. Qi, Miss Huo came here to apologize. She's been nothing but respectful. And you treat her like dirt?" Dressed in the same grey suit and the leather shoes, he slowly walked up to Evelyn, a playful look on his face. "Look, I hurt your kid. If you have a problem with anyone, it's me. So, go ahead, unload on me, now that you don't have a woman to bully."

Looking at the culprit, Sexton Qi clenched his fist. "You have the balls to show up here, Mr. Tang?"

The old lady didn't know who Sheffield was at first, but after hearing her son's words, she realized that was the man who hurt her grandson.

"Of course. It's your son's fault. He's no gentleman, that's for sure. He trash-talked my woman, and paid for it." This sure didn't sound like an apology, but Sheffield didn't think he did anything wrong. He held his head high and stood beside Evelyn.

His attitude irritated Sexton Qi.

"Why are you here?" Evelyn asked quietly.

"I came to apologize to Mr. Qi!" Someone had to apologize to the family. And it wasn't Evelyn's job.

"Look at your attitude. Do you really want to apologize to us? Is this a stunt to tick us off?" The old lady snorted.

Sheffield curled his lips and answered, "I didn't want to apologize to you. But I didn't want Evelyn to take the blame for me either." So, he meant that he had to come, for Evelyn's sake.

Sexton Qi suppressed his anger. "Just get out of here, Mr. Tang! I've already asked my lawyer to draft a letter. Just go back home and wait for it!"

"Bring it!" Dropping the phrase, Sheffield grabbed Evelyn's hand, intending to take her with.

But Evelyn didn't move. "Mrs. Qi, Uncle Sexton, please deliver my apology to Roscoe."

The old lady snorted and went into the ward. Sexton Qi nodded reluctantly.

After entering the elevator, Sheffield released her hand and leaned against the wall. "You don't need to worry about this. I have a lawyer. I'll take care of it."

"My father's lawyer is Xavier Shangguan. I'll ask him to..."

"No, thanks. It's late now. You should go back home and get some sleep." After taking a look at the time on his wristwatch, he turned her offer down.

Evelyn didn't respond.

When they left the inpatient department, Evelyn stood where she was, watching Sheffield walk towards the parking lot.

Realizing that she wasn't following him, he turned around and looked at the woman standing there. "Aren't you going home?"

She took a few steps closer to him, "Roscoe is the younger brother of my second ex-boyfriend, the one who was the former CEO of one of ZL Group's branch companies."

Sheffield nodded without looking at her. "And? Are you feeling guilty? Is that why you let them treat you like that?"