Carlos gazed at the big pair of eyes that had widened out of curiosity in his phone screen. "What are you thinking? My suit jacket just got dirty." A female client's perfume was so strong that the entire meeting room had been filled with its scent. Even after she had left, Carlos could still smell the scent on his jacket.
Debbie was disappointed. "I thought you were gonna strip for me."
Carlos picked up a brand-new suit jacket from the closet and put it on. "Wanna watch me strip?"
Debbie nodded excitedly, "Yes, yes!" The thought of his athletic body made her drool.
"Go to class now. You can feast your eyes tonight." Carlos winked.
Debbie nodded at his magnetic voice. "All right. It's a date. Don't back down later." She started shooting towards the classroom like a bullet.
Carlos was amused. "I won't. Bye."
"Bye!"
When Carlos walked out of the lounge, Megan was still doing her homework at his desk.
He looked at her and said flatly, "I'm going back to the meeting room. The meeting won't be over anytime soon. Ask Ashley to call a driver for you and tell him to take you home when your homework is done."
"Gotcha. Go back to your work. Don't worry about me, Uncle Carlos."
"Okay."
Debbie's days in England were pretty boring. Studying took up most of her time. It surprised her that a once hopeless student like her could be studying so hard now.
Without Carlos, her life was sort of like a photocopier. Every day was just a xerox of the other. It was always just class, yoga, and music.
Luckily, she had the weekends off to have some fun. Or she would have gone mad already.
It had been a month and a half since she had come to England. She had been away from Carlos for forty-five days. During these days, she reflected on what had happened in Y City in the past. She came to a few solid conclusions.
She had been too hot-tempered. Carlos had been nothing but good to her. No matter how busy he was, he always made time to keep her company. He provided the best for her. Why couldn't she have been more understanding? Why had she canceled the trip with him to the Maldives?
He had had fights with her over Hayden only because he loved her very much and had gotten jealous of her being close to other men. She should have been more patient and comforted him.
And then there was Megan. She always made things worse between Debbie and Carlos. She stirred things up and then pretended to be a good girl. She pretended to suck up to Debbie and comfort Carlos.
Yet, Debbie had easily fallen into her trap. She had fought with Carlos over Megan. She had forced Carlos to send her abroad sooner than needed.
Now that she was here… It took only one look at the A4 paper with Carlos' name scribbled all over it to know how much she missed him.
He shouldn't have been so indulgent with her.
And Curtis… He did nothing wrong.
He had been good to her ever since he had found out that she was family. But she had refused him coldly. She shouldn't have taken her hatred towards her mom out on Curtis and Gus.
She felt so stupid as she thought about everything that she had messed up in the past. She only wished that Carlos' love for her wouldn't fade because of her past follies.
She had heard a saying that a person grew up suddenly at some point in their life. It was so true. Debbie felt she had become more mature after spending some time alone, thinking.
She decided to start over with Carlos and treasure what they had. The process had been hard and tormenting. But a message from Kasie changed everything again.
She was pondering over a question on the English test paper when her phone rang. The message from Kasie said, "Tomboy, I wasn't planning on telling you this, but it's too important. I think as Carlos' wife, you deserve to know the truth. Carlos…he's injured."
"What happened?" she texted back immediately.
"Emmett said that he got hurt while he was trying to save… Megan," Kasie replied.
"Carlos had asked Emmett not to say a word about it to you. But Emmett slipped it in front of me and I felt bad about keeping this from you," she added.
'Megan!
Why is it Megan again?!' Debbie tried to calm down. She called Carlos immediately, but it was Megan who answered the phone. "Where is Carlos?" Debbie asked, suppressing her anger.
Megan whimpered, "Uncle Carlos is still unconscious. But the doctors said that his situation wasn't critical. The bullet has been removed. He needs to recuperate now."
"Bullet?! You are saying that is not critical?" Anger and anxiety made Debbie roar, "He was shot in the arm last time because of you. Where did he get shot this time? Tell me!"
Megan cried, "Aunt Debbie, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen."
"Stop crying and tell me where he got shot!"
Megan stopped wailing and said, "His shoulder…"
Debbie closed her eyes in pain, too furious to speak. She didn't know what to say either. She couldn't really blame Megan, because her parents had saved Carlos' life once.
That afternoon, Debbie bought an air ticket bound for Y City in the evening.
After spending an hour in the car, ten hours on the plane and another hour in a cab, Debbie dashed into the hospital.
At the entrance to the inpatient department, Debbie stopped and took a few deep breaths to calm herself down before climbing up the stairs, hauling her luggage behind her.
The VVIP inpatient department was always quiet. So, the whisper of the two nurses in the hallway could be heard pretty clearly. "I thought she wasn't Mr. Huo's wife."
"No, she is only his niece."
"Then, what's with the hugging? She's not a child. She should have some boundaries."
Debbie heard every word. 'Even strangers know that Megan should keep her distance from Carlos. But she acts like a little girl around him.
' Too focused on their gossip, the two nurses only nodded to Debbie as she walked past.
Debbie heard the sobs from inside the ward even with the door shut.
With one hand on the doorknob, she took another deep breath and pushed it open.
Megan was crying in Carlos' arms. His face was pale. His shoulder was bandaged. One of his hands lightly patted the weeping girl in his arms.
At his bedside were Damon and Zelda.
Zelda, who was the only one facing the door, saw her first.
"Mrs. Huo," she greeted Debbie in a surprised voice.
All eyes fell on her at once. Even Megan raised her head to look at Debbie with her red, swollen eyes.
The look of delight was so obvious in Carlos' eyes when he saw Debbie. But then he asked with a frown, "Who told you? Why didn't you tell me that you were coming back?"
He had specifically asked Emmett, who was close to Debbie, to not break a word to her. How did she know?
