Matthew was bewildered by Carlos' question, his face even darker.
Sheffield, however, was frightened. He didn't think Carlos was joking. To prevent any further misunderstandings, he stopped smiling and said seriously, "No, Uncle Carlos. You misunderstood us. I'm not gay. Now Matthew is a good-looking guy, but I prefer girls, like the lovely Evelyn."
Carlos cast a scornful glance at his son and commented, "At least you have good taste. Evelyn is much more skilled, much better-looking than Matthew."
Matthew was used to being compared unfavorably to his siblings. He snapped, "Yeah. She's better than me, and I'm better than you."
Carlos' eyebrows furrowed. "Ask Sheffield. He'll tell you who is more handsome: you, or me."
'How do I choose? Whoever I don't pick will be mad at me.' Sheffield swallowed his saliva nervously. That wasn't an easy question to answer.
"At least I'm not a big baby like you!" For the past couple years, Matthew saw that his dad was becoming more and more childlike. He lost his temper easily, throwing a tantrum when he didn't get his way. He often did things that were completely out of character for him.
Sheffield preferred to keep his mouth shut. It was a terrible battle, this conflict between father and son. And he preferred not to get hit by a stray metaphorical bullet.
Matthew continued, "You're always pretending you're better than me. But if you're so good, why didn't you know that the company's security system has been hacked?" "What?" Carlos was taken aback. "Who did it? Was it you?"
"No. That guy." Matthew pointed to Sheffield, who was peeling nuts for Evelyn.
"Is he..." Star Anise?'
Before Carlos could say the name, Matthew interrupted him. "Star Anise? No. He's the hacker's disciple, Eleven."
looked at Sheffield
some loopholes that my master taught me. Don't worry, your security is still
other time. But not now." If
special. She had the right to
was Star Anise's disciple prompted Evelyn's
by a virus. She didn't believe that Sheffield could fix it for her. In fact, Evelyn told him to just go home. Now
about it. Sheffield was a hacker, and she hadn't realized
was ready. This mealtime was fairly lively, because Sheffield was friendly and easy
father treats Matthew like shit. I don't want that for our son. Not at all." Boys were not popular in
in a low voice, "You can have a daughter, but..." She took a quick breath and continued, "Maybe
she thought about it,
was on his mind. "What? Why are you saying that? I want a daughter with you," he
dishing up food for Sheffield while talking to him enthusiastically, which made
was going to go for a walk with Evelyn. Carlos didn't say anything, and Debbie agreed. "Are you staying here,
We'll find somewhere
back tonight?" Debbie asked
answer this time, somebody coughed near
coughing, a hint of warning obvious in
the manor at all. But it was Lunar New Year's Eve, so he had to give up the idea. "Don't worry,
Then Sheffield looked at the sister and brother who were headed upstairs
him and didn't say a
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