Besides, Curtis had never heard Carlos trash Debbie in front of them, and likewise, no one was allowed to speak badly of Debbie.
"Mr. Lu, did you come to defend Carlos?" Debbie smiled helplessly. Curtis was indeed Carlos' loyal friend. She still remembered when they had a fight the other day, Curtis did the same thing and kept putting in a good word for Carlos. He would go to the mattresses for him, and wasn't likely to abandon him even in difficult circumstances. Which was exactly what a good friend was supposed to do.
Curtis shook his head. "No, I'm telling the truth."
"Can you get me out of here?" she asked expectantly. She was safe and sound without any injury this time after being saved from the river. But much to her frustration, Carlos stuck her in the hospital again. She couldn't bear another boring stay in the hospital. She was tired of inhaling disinfectant.
Curtis raised his eyebrows. "You don't want to stay here?"
"No, not another second!" More importantly, she also didn't want to see Carlos for the time being.
Moments later, Debbie blatantly stepped out of the ward, tagging along with Curtis.
Carlos and Damon were busy chatting in the corridor. They stopped talking all of a sudden when they heard the footsteps.
Curtis walked up to Carlos and said, "Hey Carlos, Colleen has something to say to Debbie. You'll get her back later."
Carlos didn't say anything, nor did he look back at Curtis. He had kept his eyes glued on Debbie the moment she walked out of the ward. Debbie, of course, had sensed his intent gaze, but she just looked away, trying to avoid eye contact with him.
Curtis looked between the silently bickering couple and laughed. He shook his head helplessly while patting Carlos on the shoulder. "She's still young, so childlike. Do you have to be so serious with her?"
Carlos finally broke the silence. In a cold voice, he snapped, "Childlike? Have you seen any of your students do something like this?" 'Beyond all her bad habits and outrageous behavior, she's gone overboard. She tried to kill Megan… in broad daylight!' Carlos thought angrily.
Curtis wasn't able to find the best words to defend Debbie.
Hearing his reply, Debbie finally shifted her gaze to Carlos. She sneered and taunted him, "Carlos, Kettle, Black. You had the guts to have your wife thrown to the sea to feed the sharks. I was lucky to survive, but then you wanted to bury me alive. Again, I was blessed by God and escaped your deadly grasp. But then you dragged me into the river to drown me. Am I your wife, or your enemy?"
Carlos lost control of his temper and darted toward Debbie to grab her. "Calm down," Curtis said. He hastily moved and blocked Carlos standing in between the couple to stop things from escalating.
Debbie stuck her head out from behind Curtis and smiled at the angry man. "Oh wait, Mr. Huo. I almost forgot. Congratulations on marrying Megan. Granted, if I'm your ex, then it makes sense that you did this… So now we see who you really are. Resorting to violence?"
"Debbie!" Curtis stopped her. He had been signalling her with his eyes the whole time.
Carlos, who was controlled by Curtis, slowly shut his eyes, bearing his anger. A moment later, without parting his eyelids, he accurately pointed at Debbie and ordered between gritted teeth, "Get her out of here, now!"
He didn't know how far he'd go if she didn't disappear from sight as soon as possible.
"Fine. I know how to follow orders. I should get going now! Just leave me alone!" As she was finished, she turned around and headed for the elevator.
Thanks to her parting words, Carlos was now overwhelmed by an urge to tie Debbie to a bed and punish her good. She always knew how to push his buttons and get his blood boiling in seconds. He wondered why he put up with her sometimes, but he also knew that the moments where he felt deep affection for her made it all worth it. She was his one and only, but sometimes she pushed him to his limits. Finally, he broke free of Curtis' grip, and shouted to Debbie, "You, stop there!
Hearing the heavy footsteps coming from behind her, Debbie picked up her pace to rush toward the elevator.
When she began to run, the usually mature man also started to run after her. They looked like two kids playing cat-and-mouse in the corridor.
Curtis and Damon were both dumbfounded by the funny scene. Fortunately, this was the VVIP floor of the hospital, so there was no one else here.
Debbie quickly slipped into the elevator and pressed the button. The door closed at the very moment Carlos reached it.
Carlos quickly moved to another elevator, but it was still going up. This was the 18th floor. He couldn't catch up with Debbie if he chose to descend the staircase on foot.
Left with no choice, he called one of the bodyguards on the ground floor, asking them to head to the elevator and stop in Debbie's tracks.
However, two minutes later, the bodyguard called him and reported, "Mr. Huo, Mrs. Huo got away…"
Still waiting for the elevator, Carlos asked in a cold voice, "How?"
"Um… She ran too fast and we couldn't overtake her…" the bodyguard stammered, embarrassed.
Carlos tried his hardest to hold back his anger. "So get in a car."
Gasping for air, the bodyguard looked in the direction where Debbie had disappeared and replied, "Mrs. Huo ran into the garden as soon as she saw us. Then she stopped a car on the road and jumped inside."
"Stopped a car?"
"Yes… Unless I miss my guess, that was Mr. Gus Lu's car."
Carlos turned to stare at Curtis, his face fell. After a while, he said, "Okay, I see. Just report to your post and stand by for more orders."
Confused by his stare, Curtis asked with doubt, "What happened?"
Carlos put his phone away and tidied up his clothes, returning to his stoic and imperious self. He said calmly, "Mr. Gus Lu… Curtis, why did you come here? Are you and your brother trying to make trouble, or…"
'My brother? Gus?' Curtis suddenly realized that Gus had come to the hospital for another checkup today. He chuckled under his breath. "Gus didn't mean anything by doing this. He had the stomach flu two days ago. He's recovered, but the doctor asked him to come back to make sure…"
'So Deb got lucky!' Curtis laughed in his mind.
Damon had been silently watching the show the whole time. He was laughing, because the situation was so absurd. Debbie was definitely giving Carlos a taste of his own medicine. Now he walked up to Carlos and rested his hands on Carlos' shoulders, looking into his eyes. A moment later, under the stoic man's cold glance, Damon finally said, "I'm sorry."
As amused as he was, he did feel sorry for Carlos. Debbie was such a troublemaker. Meanwhile, he felt lucky that his own wife was mature, composed and charming.
Outside the hospital
In the driver's seat, while driving the car, a young man took a glance at the cars behind them in the rear-view mirror. When he confirmed that there was no suspicious car following them, he finally let his guard down. Glaring at the panting woman in the passenger seat, he confronted her, "Hey, Debbie, you running from someone?"
Debbie patted her chest to steady her breath. "Yeah." 'My husband!' she exclaimed in her mind.
Gus snorted. He wouldn't believe her words. He didn't bother saying anything more about it. Instead, he said outright, "Get out of my car at the next intersection. And remember the fare."
"You're charging me for the ride? Should I call Mr. Lu now?" As she said this, she pulled out her phone from her pocket.
Gus shouted with anger, "Hey! If it weren't for me, those guys would have caught you! Is this how you thank me?"
Debbie relaxed her whole body and leaned back weakly in her seat. "Can a ride a little while longer? Long enough for a few phone calls?"
Then, she called Jared first. "Hey, Jared, drinks tonight!"
Unexpectedly, it was Jared's dad who answered the phone. "Debbie? It's Uncle Jasper."
"Oh…hello, Uncle Jasper!" Debbie said politely.
Jasper smiled and replied in a more formal and courteous voice, "Hello Debbie. I'm afraid Jared isn't free tonight. Take a rain check?"
Debbie felt that something was strange. But she couldn't put her finger on it. "Okay, doesn't matter. Uncle Jasper, I shouldn't take up more of your time. Goodbye now."
"Hmm. Don't be a stranger. Come to our house to have fun next time. I'll have Jared's mom make your favorite desserts," Jasper said.
