Debbie grew anxious. She was eager to throw herself into Carlos' arms. But no matter how fast she ran, she couldn't get the slightest bit closer to him. "Mr. Handsome… Old Man… Please… Don't go!" she screamed.
Her hysterical shrieks jarred Sasha awake. Sasha, freaked out, quickly turned on the bedside lamp.
In the light of the lamp, gloom all but banished, she saw Debbie sitting on the bed with outstretched arms. She looked like she was reaching for something she couldn't hold.
Sasha hugged Debbie and asked with concern, "You okay, Debbie? Debbie…"
Debbie broke free from Sasha's embrace. "I saw Carlos. He's going to pick me up."
Sasha was taken aback, heart racing fast. She looked around her bedroom in fear but found nothing suspicious. No ghosts. "Don't scare me. Was it a dream?"
'Dream…' The happy smile froze on Debbie's face. 'Dream…It was just a dream. Carlos isn't here…'
Snapping back to cruel reality, Debbie buried her face in her hands and curled up in a fetal position, weeping. Engulfed by sorrow, she felt like she was falling into an abyss of despair.
'Honey, I miss you…I miss you so much…'
In just a few days, sweeping change had come to Y City, especially when it came to ZL Group. What happened to Carlos was still a mystery to everyone. No one knew the whole story. Shortly, James was elected by the board members to be their new CEO.
Miranda finally contacted Debbie, but she only replied via Facebook Messenger. "I'm in New York now. James is handling Carlos' affairs. He wouldn't let anyone else do it. The branch company in New York is having problems, so I came back to take care of it," she wrote.
"I told you not to be nice to the Huos, especially James and Lewis! They're all assholes! But you didn't listen. You even begged Carlos to go easy on them. Too late now. The car accident is still being looked into. I'll update you when I can," she added.
Debbie texted back while crying. "I'm sorry… It's my fault. I can't do anything." 'I lost Carlos, and I couldn't protect our marriage…' she thought remorsefully.
She sent another message. "I'm sorry. Carlos died saving me. I'm really sorry…"
Miranda didn't text back. Her eyes were filled with tears—Debbie's sorrow was palpable.
At the Mu family's residence
After experiencing enough grief to last a lifetime, Debbie became noticeably thinner—20 lbs thinner. Seeing Debbie so skinny worried Lucinda. She tried to convince the young woman to eat. "You're pregnant. Your baby needs you to eat. Please!"
But Debbie's head was in the clouds. It took her more than a few seconds to register that Lucinda said anything. She grinned and said calmly, "Don't worry about that. I got rid of it…"
She had lied to so many people over the past couple days that she almost believed it herself.
Unconvinced, Lucinda put on a stern face. "Oh come on! You've been with me the whole time! When would you even have time to do that?"
"Before I got here. It was in all the papers. Don't you read the news? It's true… Sorry I lied!" Debbie shifted from tears into hysterical laughter, which startled Lucinda.
Without a second thought, she quickly placed the chicken soup on the table and sat next to Debbie. "Hey, I think we need to go to the hospital. I don't think you're okay."
Debbie held her hand to stop her. "No. I'm fine. Is that Jared? Let him in."
Jared came calling several times trying to find Debbie. Several times last night, in fact. But Debbie had kept locking herself in Sasha's bedroom and refused to see anyone.
Sasha led Jared to her bedroom and then left, giving these two old friends their privacy.
Jared's eyes reddened the moment he saw Debbie's emaciated state. The once strong and active tomboy now looked fragile and depressed. It was heartbreaking. He called out in a hushed voice, "Tomboy."
Debbie turned around and looked at him. She forced a smile as thin as she was, and said, "Hey Jared. Haven't seen you for awhile. Where have you been?"
Something in her voice sounded odd. Jared's face went pale all of a sudden. In a panic, he walked over to Debbie, grabbed hold of her arm and asked worriedly, "You okay, Tomboy?"
Debbie sighed and giggled. She slapped his hand away and asked, "Why are you yelling? See? Totally okay."
For a moment, it seemed like the old Debbie was back. Jared heaved a sigh of relief and sat down next to her. "I've been worried about you. Kasie is at Emmett's house, and doesn't want to leave. Dixon's flying back from America soon…"
He had rambled on for a few minutes, but Debbie was quiet. He tried to probe, "My brother said you… aborted the kid. He said that that kid wasn't Mr. Huo's. I didn't believe a word of it. I even had a fight with him…"
Before he could finish his indignant words, Debbie chipped in, "Your brother was right. I did it. Sorry I lied." She smiled sweetly, as if she was talking something trivial.
Jared widened his eyes in shock.
He was sure that Debbie was off her rocker now.
Without asking her, he called a doctor to the house and asked him to check up on Debbie.
Debbie didn't turn him down. She cooperated with the doctor and kept smiling the whole time.
When the doctor was finished, he came out the bedroom and closed the door quietly. Everyone was curious about what was going on. The doctor cleared his throat and told everyone in a grave tone, "As far as I can tell, it's depression, brought on by trauma. You need to watch over and encourage her. Be positive. Otherwise, she'll get worse."
Everybody was worried even more, saddened by the news.
To stop Debbie's depression from getting worse, Jared invited her out to have some fun. He had also invited Gregory and Kristina to tag along. They hadn't seen her for some time.
Jared initially didn't want to ask Kristina along, because strangely enough, she hadn't even tried to call Debbie.
The moment Kristina saw how vacant Debbie's eyes were and how weak she looked, she broke into tears.
She ran up to Debbie and hugged her tightly, rocking her back and forth. Debbie had to shift from foot to foot to keep from falling over. "Tomboy! I didn't mean to avoid you. I'm so sorry. I thought you were mad at me… blaming me for breaking up with Dixon… I just couldn't."
Debbie smiled without saying anything.
"You're so skinny! What the hell? I'm sure Mr. Huo will be fine…"
"No, he's dead."
Debbie's words shocked Kristina. She suddenly stopped crying and let Debbie out of her arms. She stared at Debbie in disbelief. "What?"
Debbie wiped the tears from Kristina's face. She finally spoke, but incoherently. "Emmett's gone. Carlos…died protecting me… Kristina, I'm pregnant, I need to be strong."
She paused and continued, "Tell me this is only a dream, a nightmare, please! Didn't Carlos want to bury me alive last time? I won't run away again. If I was buried alive then I'd die, so he wouldn't die protecting me…
Why is he dead while I'm still alive? I should be dead, not my Mr. Handsome…"
Debbie cried out loud, reflecting all the grief and sorrow in her heart.
Standing near the two girls, Jared and Gregory felt so sad that their eyes reddened and tears formed. Jared turned to Gregory and asked, "Mr. Lu know anything more?"
