Miranda furrowed her eyebrows, annoyed by Megan's crying. "Stop crying for heaven's sake! It's New Year—a day of celebration. Crying is bad luck. Besides, are you a snowflake or something? I hate people bawling all the time. You should learn something from Debbie. Now, get back to your room and get some shut-eye."
Instantly, Megan stopped crying. With a pitiful expression, she apologized to Miranda. "I'm sorry, Miranda. I'm leaving now. Have a good night."
Connie helped Megan walk to her room. When they walked past Miranda, Connie said softly, "Mom, have a good rest."
Miranda nodded at Connie and then went back to her room. Despite Connie's humble family background, Miranda was pretty happy with her—Connie was kindhearted and was never a troublemaker. No drama was Miranda's rule, and Connie adhered to that.
When Tabitha and Connie left Megan's room and walked past the study, they could still hear James roaring.
Tabitha shook her head with profound resignation.
Debbie was unpacking when she heard a knock at the door. She opened it and saw her mother-in-law. "Mom, why aren't you in bed? It's late," she said with a smile.
Tabitha looked at her, not as close to Debbie as before. Hearing Megan trash-talking Debbie definitely changed the way she saw the woman. "What are you doing?" she asked.
Pointing to the luggage on the floor, Debbie replied, "Unpacking."
"Don't mind James. He's short-tempered. Don't take his words to heart," said Tabitha.
Debbie was stunned for a while. Then she nodded, "Mom, I can understand…Dad. Maybe to him, I'm just some rando off the streets. Maybe he just can't accept it."
Back on the plane to New York, Debbie had secretly practiced addressing Valerie and James as "Grandma" and "Dad" hundreds of times. Unfortunately, she didn't have the chance to call them that to their faces.
"Yeah, I think you're right," Tabitha smiled. Then she pretended to mention Megan casually. "By the way, how well do you know Megan? Her parents saved Carlos and Wesley. Did you know that?"
Debbie didn't know why Tabitha suddenly talked about Megan's parents. After short consideration, she realized that Megan must have snitched on her to Tabitha. She nodded honestly, "Carlos told me about that. Mom, don't worry. I'll be nice to her and treat her like my own niece."
Tabitha was at a loss for words; she didn't know whom she should trust—Megan or Debbie. "Megan is an adorable girl. We all like her, especially Carlos' grandma. She's like family. You'll like her when you get to know her."
'I'll like her? A girl who said she could have been married to my husband? Not a chance!' Debbie thought. If they weren't in the Huo family's manor, she would have already taught Megan a lesson. But she decided to be obedient to Tabitha. "I'm three years older than her. I will humor her as much as possible. Don't worry, Mom."
Debbie's conciliatory attitude reassured Tabitha, who nodded in satisfaction. There wasn't much more she could ask for, and Debbie seemed sincere. At least there'd be less drama this way, she hoped. Tabitha didn't like family fights much.
After a long pause, Tabitha stammered, "D-Debbie, why don't you go to the study and get Carlos out of there? You know James' temper… If I go there, I don't think…he'll listen to me."
Debbie's heart sank when she heard James' roaring coming from within the study. 'If James wouldn't listen to Tabitha, then why does she think he'd listen to me?' Debbie thought.
But now that Tabitha had asked, Debbie decided to do as she was bidden. She didn't want the Huo family members to argue with each other over her.
Perplexed, she knocked on the door to the study. "Come in," came Wade's voice.
Debbie pushed the door open and saw Carlos leaning against a couch, smoking. Valerie and Wade were sitting opposite Carlos, and James stood before a desk. The floor was a mess—papers, pens, pen holders, knick-knacks, paperweights, paperclips, and staples. There was barely any place to step on that wasn't covered with debris.
"Grandma, Uncle, Dad, sorry to interrupt you," said Debbie.
James got even angrier at the sight of the girl. "What are you still doing here? Get the hell out of our house. Go back to Y City!" he thundered.
"James Huo!" Carlos called out his father's name as he stood up from the couch and put an arm around Debbie. He had kept silent all this time in the study, not giving a damn about what James said. In fact, he had even dozed off during James' tirade. He had heard it all before, and it bored him silly. But he couldn't bear to see James belittling Debbie.
James didn't expect his son to argue with him over a woman. He pointed at Carlos with a shaking hand and said through gritted teeth, "Ungrateful cur!" Hardly had his voice faded away when he threw a thick book at Carlos.
"Watch out!" Debbie shouted, and held Carlos to protect him. The book hit her arm and then fell to the floor.
She gave a choked cry; that really stung. Luckily, it was winter, and she was wearing thick clothes. Otherwise, she might have gotten hurt.
"Debbie!" Carlos grabbed her arm and rolled up her sleeve to check if she was okay.
Debbie heaved a sigh of relief and gave Carlos a wide grin. "I'm okay. Don't worry. It doesn't hurt much."
"Why did you do that?" he asked through gritted teeth. 'Why did you try and protect me? Why didn't you move out of the way? You know kung fu. Silly woman!' he cursed inwardly.
With an embarrassed smile, Debbie replied in a low voice, "I was too nervous to remember you know kung fu as well." Carlos was better at kung fu than Debbie. He had had several years of formal instruction, and was a 2nd dan black belt. It was a piece of cake for him to dodge the book.
He was tense and worried until he saw that Debbie's arm was okay.
It only made James feel worse when he saw the couple care for each other so much. "Stop showing off! Debbie Nian, I'll be frank. You're not part of the family. If you promise you'll divorce him when you're back in Y City, you can stay here for a couple of days."
Carlos was about to say something when Debbie grabbed his hand. She knew it was time for her to make a stand.
She stood straight with her head held high. "Grandma, Uncle, Dad, sorry I make you unhappy," she began, looking at them with no fear. "I don't know why you don't like me, but I'm Carlos' wife. We've been married for more than three years, and we love each other. We'll go through thick and thin together. Whether you accept me or not, I won't give up on him as long as he doesn't ask for a divorce."
Carlos held her hand in his, and this bolstered her courage. She went on, "No one gets a say in our marriage, except me and Carlos. And my temper's short. Dad, if you keep on treating us like this, I won't put up with it just because you're his father."
James was stunned, while Valerie stared at her like a poisonous snake. Debbie, however, didn't flinch. "Sorry, I guess I said too much. In short, no one is gonna split us up. And I'll come at anyone who tries to harm Carlos. Family members should care for each other. You should be happy to see Carlos have a happy married life. But on the contrary, you're all mad at him. You just want him to marry a woman that you like, even if he doesn't want to. Are you really Carlos' family?" Confusion could be seen in Debbie's eyes.
"How dare you!" Valerie bellowed and banged on the desk.
