Tears welled up in Debbie's eyes as soon as she heard her husband's voice. She missed him a lot. "I'm at home brushing my teeth and getting ready for bed," she said.
"Was everything okay at the party?" Carlos asked.
Debbie hesitated a little before giving him an honest answer. "I stirred up some trouble. I fought with your woman, Olga. I also enraged the Gu family, the Qin family, and other families. I'm sorry, Carlos."
"Olga is not my woman."
"But everyone is saying that she is," Debbie complained sadly.
Carlos furrowed his eyebrows. "Do you want me to announce that we're married?"
"Oh, no, not yet. It doesn't matter. You're a wonderful person, so women naturally adore you. I'm okay with it as long as you don't like them."
"Of course I don't like them. I love you," he assured her.
Debbie smiled. "I'm relieved. I'm worried that someday when I tell them that I'm your wife, one of them will retort, 'I'm Carlos' woman. The whole world knows.' That would be embarrassing." She giggled thinking about the scene.
"That won't happen. I'll take care of the matter with Olga."
"Okay," she replied. It bugged her that other women had greedy eyes on her husband. But if Carlos said that he would take care of it, he would. Debbie trusted him.
"Deb, do whatever you want. You're my woman. No one is allowed to bully you. I'm your rock. Even if you tore down the entire city, I would clean up the mess for you. But you can't chicken out, ever."
Curtis had told him what had happened at the party. Unwilling to let the situation get worse, Debbie had intended to apologize to everyone in the end.
That wasn't the Debbie that Carlos knew. She used to have a devil-may-care attitude and never held back. For example, she had challenged him repeatedly despite knowing that there would be consequences.
But nowadays, she would cave in just to spare everyone the trouble. Seeing this change in her attitude made Carlos sad.
"Er… You already know everything, don't you?" asked Debbie, burying her face in the covers.
"Yeah. You did a great job winning the fight! Keep it up. Remember, even if you blew up the sky, I would fill the hole," Carlos declared proudly.
"Bull! How would you do that?" Debbie couldn't help but laugh at his ridiculous words. Her annoyance at Hayden had disappeared.
"Just leave the worries to me. All you need to do is be yourself," Carlos said firmly.
Debbie understood him perfectly. Comforted by his words, she felt warmth spread through her body.
"Carlos Huo…"
"Call me what?" That was not the form of address Carlos desired. On this serene night, his magnetic voice sounded like a beautiful piece of music that soothed her nerves and took her into a wonderland.
"Honey…" she called.
"Sweetie."
"I miss you."
More than 2, 000 km away, Carlos listened to Debbie pour out her longing for him.
His eyes shifted to the outside of the window. The night sky was littered with stars twinkling here and there, as if they were winking mischievously at the people looking up at them. Under the stars, the lights coming from the buildings formed all sorts of shapes. Together, they looked like another star-studded sky, only more colorful and dazzling. It was a perfect night. "I miss you, too," he said with a smile.
He wished he could hug her at the moment.
Debbie rolled happily on her bed. "Go to bed early. Don't stay up late."
Carlos always worked late. Debbie was worried about his health.
"Noted. Wait for me to come home."
"Okay," she replied.
After hanging up the phone, she texted Carlos for a while before going back to the bathroom to resume her routine.
The next morning at school, when she was walking towards the classroom, a boy stopped her in her tracks. He looked her up and down and then asked contemptuously, "Are you Debbie Nian?"
Debbie flipped her phone close. "What can I do for you, Gus?"
"You know my name?" The boy frowned. He had always thought that he kept a low profile.
Debbie rolled her eyes. "You're Gus, Mr. Lu's younger brother, the fifth child of the Lu family…" '…and it is said that you're gay.' Debbie left that part unsaid.
"You fought well last night. Are you trying to get in between my brother and Colleen?"
It turned out that Gus had witnessed the fight at the party last night. After noticing how much his brother cared about Debbie, he was worried about the relationship between Curtis and Colleen.
Debbie forced a smile, then side-stepped him and continued walking. "Aren't you the best brother in the world? I think they should give you an award."
"Debbie Nian! Stop right there!" Gus shouted. Gus had heard a lot about Debbie. To him, she was an odd girl. Now, he was seeing it firsthand. Everyone else on campus fawned over him, as if even his farts smelled great. But Debbie was different. She talked tough and left him hanging
Of course, Debbie didn't feel threatened by the boy.
She turned her head and made a face at him. "Catch me if you can." After that, she ran away, because her class was about to begin.
Gus stood there, sulking.
Running was one of Debbie's strong suits. How could he possibly catch up with her?
Getting angrier and angrier, he called his brother to settle the matter once and for all. "Curtis, why did you help Debbie Nian? She's annoying."
Curtis was surprised by his question. "I told you to be nice to her, not to confront her. She's short-tempered. Be patient with her."
"Patient? Huh! Curtis, be honest. Do you have a foot in both camps? You know, you're too old for Debbie. Does Colleen know about this?"
Curtis was speechless at Gus' words. He thought that maybe he should get Debbie to beat some sense into Gus. Not wanting to explain, he simply said, "She knows."
Hearing this, Gus said disdainfully, "You're a shame to men and to the Lu family. You're a pig!"
The call was disconnected abruptly. Curtis guessed that Gus was frustrated with Debbie.
Meanwhile, Debbie was sitting in the classroom and counting down the days. Carlos had been away for three days and there were four more days to go before he came back. Life was boring without him.
Kasie walked into the classroom just as the bell rang. She ran toward Debbie as soon as she saw her. "Debbie, you've gone viral!"
"Viral for what?" Debbie was puzzled.
"Last night when I got home, my parents were talking about you. They said that there had been a fight between you and a dozen rich girls, and that Mr. Lu, Damon, and Hayden all protected you, so you didn't apologize to those girls in the end. In fact, they apologized to you! You rock, girl!"
Debbie hadn't expected the news to travel so fast. Kasie prattled on about the incident.
"You've become famous among the upper classes now. Since those three amazing men came together to protect you, all those socialite divas see you as a rival in love. If I were you, I would be more careful. You'd better ask your husband to hire a bodyguard for you."
Kasie wasn't exaggerating. The men that had protected Debbie last night were among the best in the upper class. It was said that Wesley and Carlos had almost come to her aid too.
Those men were the embodiment of power and wealth, every woman's dream men. However, Debbie seemed to have gotten the attention of every one of them. It was no wonder that the incident at the party was creating such a sensation. But what would be waiting for her next?
