Kasie was taken aback by Emmett's mischievous joke. She hastily explained to the middle-aged woman, "He's just kidding. He's only a friend."
Emmett smiled and waved at her. "I should get going. Bye Kasie."
"Hey, wait! Young man, don't leave!" the woman suddenly called out to stop Emmett.
Confused, Emmett turned around. The woman stepped forward, observing him from head to toe, and asked, "So how long have you two been dating? How old are you? Come inside, please. Have a drink. You can meet her father too."
'What? Meet her father? So this woman is Kasie's mother? Oh, Jesus!' Regret filled Emmett's heart. He shouldn't have made a joke like that! He had told this woman he was Kasie's boyfriend. 'Well, that's another fine mess you've gotten yourself into, Emmett.'
He straightened up, returning to his usual calm and serious self, just like at work. He said to the woman politely, "Oh, so you're Kasie's mother. Nice to meet you. I'm sorry for my joke. I'm actually one of her friends, but not a boyfriend. Sorry for the misunderstanding."
Despite his denial, Kasie's mother didn't mind it at all. Instead, a happy smile crept across her face as she studied his own. She was satisfied with the way he behaved and talked. He seemed quite respectful, and maybe her daughter might take up with him. He seemed to be a working man as well, and she could do much, much worse. "Never mind. Even if you're just her friend, you're welcome to come to our house and have a cup of tea too!" As she finished her words, she grabbed hold of his arm and led him into the elevator of the building. She didn't give him any chance to refuse.
Shocked, Kasie raised her hand but put it down immediately when she realized it was too late to stop them.
Watching the elevator door close, Emmett began to wonder how big a fool he really was. 'Now I'm really in it. All because I can't keep my big mouth shut. How could a fool like me become Carlos' personal assistant? I may have to thank Mr. Huo for not firing me all these years.'
But in fact, Emmett was pretty straightforward and effective in the office. He never made these sorts of stupid mistakes at work.
He would only play the bad boy in private, but unfortunately for him, each time he made fun of someone else, it backfired on him.
On the other hand, in New York, Debbie was leaning back, held in Carlos' arms. "What on earth happened? And how was Kasie involved?" she asked.
Carlos gently kissed her cheeks and said in a muffled voice, "Nothing happened."
'Nothing? Don't bet on it, ' she thought.
"Fine. Anyway, I should get up now. I may sleep until dark if I don't get up now." She had already missed out on breakfast. If she skipped lunch again, the elders of the Huo family would hate her more. Not like they hated her for any rational reason anyway, but there was no need to add fuel to the fires of their rage. She was already on thin ice as it was.
Thinking of it, she threw an angry glance at the man. 'Huh! It's all your fault, you bad boy. You tortured me until the wee hours and even turned off the alarm clock, ' she thought, pursing her lips.
Unaware of the complaining look on her face, Carlos whispered, "It's fine if you want to sleep till tomorrow." He didn't mind it at all.
"Till tomorrow? Are you kidding? I'd be thrown out of the house along with my luggage, and your father and grandmother would be waiting there to slam the door."
Debbie pushed him away and got out of the bed to dress herself. Leaning against the headboard, Carlos watched her put on her clothes and said, "They wouldn't!"
Unconvinced, Debbie answered perfunctorily, "Yes, dear."
Carlos smiled, "Freshen up and get something to eat. I'll take you out after that."
"Great!" On hearing that she could hang out with Carlos, Debbie got excited.
Moments later, at the dinner table downstairs, Carlos sat next to Debbie and they had lunch together. All the other family members ate their food silently. No one dared to speak a word against Debbie at Carlos' presence. It has been said that if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. They chose the latter option.
When the couple left the house, Valerie finally broke the silence and told James, "Just live with it. Don't start a fight with Carlos. He's going back to work tomorrow. We can deal with her then."
James let out a cold hum. "But that means I go back to work, too! I'm not that free."
Holding a string of Buddhist prayer beads in her hand, Valerie murmured an "Amitabha".
The living room was quiet with only the sound coming from the TV. Valerie cursed Carlos' grandfather in her mind, 'Douglas, why do you make me hate you so much even when you're ill and in the hospital? You've kept Debbie's grandmother in your heart for your whole life. You've missed out on her but you still tried to make her granddaughter marry into the Huo family.
When you wake up, you'll realize what a big mistake you've made…'
It wasn't too long before Debbie began to feel exhausted and sleepy. She hadn't fully gotten over the jet lag yet. It was about two o'clock in the morning in Y City. Her body wanted sleep according to her biological clock.
On returning to her bedroom, Debbie dove onto the bed and hit the hay immediately.
Shaking his head helplessly, Carlos had no choice but to head to the study and catch up on his work.
The next day, Carlos went to work in his branch company. Since he wasn't at home, Debbie thought she'd better stay in the bedroom and avoid the other family members.
So she lay in the bed, and played on her phone inside the bedroom. After looking through the news on Weibo, she finally figured out what happened. In no time, she dialed Kasie's number and so she could talk to her by phone. "I haven't gotten over the jet lag yet. Is it bedtime there yet?" Debbie asked.
"No, it's still early. I'm having fun outside," Kasie said. Hearing the loud music and cheering on the other end, Debbie guessed that Kasie might be having fun in a bar. But soon enough, the noise subsided—probably because Kasie had walked to a quieter corner to talk on the phone.
"I saw your comment. I'm touched, really. Thanks, Kasie. You always got my back!" Debbie expressed her gratitude sincerely.
"Of course! We're best friends. Though Emmett deleted my comment and handled everything, watch out for Megan. That girl is bad news."
Debbie had been aware of it. But to reassure her friend, she said, "Oh, I know. Carlos is always busy, too busy to take care of stuff like this. He doesn't care that much as long as I'm not hurt." To stop Megan's flood of tears, Carlos had asked Emmett to do damage control and delete all those comments against her. But that was all he did. He even told her that Kasie was Debbie's good friend and that Debbie would handle it herself.
'Kasie's my best friend. She pissed off Megan because of me. Of course I'll defend my friend. Yeah, I'll deal with her, alright—I'll buy her a drink, ' Debbie thought happily.
Kasie entered a quiet and empty room, turned on the lights and closed the door while protesting, "So…are you calling me from thousands of miles away just to brag about how well your husband treats you? We've suffered enough, Tomboy. Cut it out. Have mercy on a single woman!"
Debbie chuckled. "Just deal with it. When you score a sweet boyfriend one day, I won't mind listening to all your stories."
"Sounds good. I should go out and find a boyfriend, then."
"I'm looking forward to hearing the good news!"
Kasie paused and then begged, "Okay, okay. You win! Don't make fun of me anymore. How are you doing in New York? Everything okay?"
"Not too bad. I'm not welcome here. Most of the Huo family members don't like me, especially Carlos' grandmother and father. I don't get why. This is my first visit, and I'm not sure how I offended them," Debbie said gloomily as she rolled to and fro in the bed.
"Eh? Really? Doesn't Carlos' mother like you?" Kasie asked, confusion in her voice.
"Yeah, but it doesn't help. She just keeps quiet. And she seems to be scared of her husband. It's too complicated for me to understand."
"Is it? I'm sorry, dear. Oh, let me tell you one thing—Emmett bought me a handbag yesterday…"
Debbie wasn't sure she heard her right. Confused, she asked, "Emmett bought you a handbag? Why?" She couldn't understand how all these things came together. 'Jeez! I go nap for a bit, and the world turns upside down.'
Then, Kasie told her everything that happened yesterday. She summed it all up by saying, "you weren't there to see this. My parents treated Emmett like their son-in-law. They're really happy with him. I was close to fainting from embarrassment!"
'Emmett and Kasie? Is there anything romantic going between them?' Excited, Debbie sat up and suggested, "I think Emmett is way better than Lewis Huo. Carlos said that he had an annual income of at least a million dollars. And he just can't seem to find a girlfriend. How about you give it a try and date him?"
