"No, don't bother." Carlos threw the used tissue into the trash can and asked flatly, "Anything else?"
"No…" Debbie shook her head.
He stood up and straightened his tie before striding out of the booth.
As soon as he left, Debbie listlessly sat back in her seat. 'That man is really ruthless when he doesn't love you anymore.'
Nonetheless, Debbie still persistently cooked for him every day. But like she said, she asked Frankie to hand it over to Carlos instead of waiting for him at the cafe.
This went on for a couple of days on end.
On the sixteenth day, Debbie went to a nearby shopping mall and bought him a gift. She bought two mugs. After returning home, she kept one of them in her apartment and packed the other one in the gift bag. Along with the lunch box, she headed to the company.
It was raining when she arrived at ZL Group.
She stood outside, waiting for Frankie to come down as usual. However, Frankie seemed to be busy that day, so after waiting for a few minutes, Debbie had no choice but to deliver it to Carlos' office by herself. She was afraid that the food would become cold. After putting on her mask and sunglasses, she walked into the building with an umbrella in one hand and the gift bag and lunch in the other.
She called Frankie. With his assistance, she arrived smoothly on the floor where the CEO's office was located.
It had been three years since Debbie had come to this floor. When she walked past the work area, she saw all those unfamiliar faces. That was the place where Emmett, Tristan and the other assistants used to work at.
Same place, different people.
Hearing the sound of Debbie's high heels, an assistant came to greet him with a polite smile, "Hi, are you Miss Nian?"
"Yes, I'm here for Mr. Huo."
"Please follow me." The assistant ushered Debbie to the CEO's office and knocked on the door.
After getting the go signal from inside, the assistant pushed open the door and reported, "Mr. Huo, Miss Nian is here."
As soon as Debbie set foot into his office, she saw Stephanie.
Carlos was sitting in his chair while Stephanie was standing right next to him, holding a document in her hand. They seemed to be discussing work.
Debbie wanted to spin around and run away from there.
She didn't know how much courage she needed to muster before walking in. She was afraid that she might break down and humiliate herself.
Carlos raised his head to take a quick glance at Debbie, who was standing at the door. He didn't say anything.
It was Stephanie who spoke first. She told the assistant, "Please welcome Miss Nian in." She sounded like the hostess of the place. Debbie was crushed.
Taking a deep breath, she managed to encourage herself to go inside, carrying the lunch box and the gift bag. Upon seeing the lunch box in Debbie's hand, Stephanie turned to Carlos and asked, "Oh, so were the lunches we ate together for the past few days cooked by Miss Nian?"
Debbie's face went pale when she heard her question. 'Together? Has she been eating the lunch I cooked for Carlos?'
Carlos frowned slightly. He simply told Debbie, "Put it down there, please." He didn't respond to Stephanie's question.
Debbie clutched the lunch box tightly and asked, "Did she eat the lunches too?"
Stephanie smiled and answered for him, "Miss Nian, isn't it just normal for me to share lunch with my fiance? You came at the right time. Carlos already had lunch with a client outside, but I haven't eaten anything yet. Please bring it here."
She walked to the table near the sofa and sat down, waiting for Debbie to bring her the lunch box.
Debbie sneered and took off her sunglasses. She walked over to Carlos and confronted him, "Are you happy? Is this fun for you?"
Carlos glared into her angry eyes. "I told you, you don't need to cook for me."
She smiled ironically. "Is that your excuse for wasting my efforts?"
He pressed his lips tightly together and looked intently at her.
Stephanie's cheerful voice came from behind Debbie. "How was it a waste of your efforts? Miss Nian, I ate all of it. I didn't waste a morsel of food you cooked. And honestly, I'm impressed by your cooking skills. But it's a little too light-flavored for me. Next time, please cook me some lamb chop or beefsteak."
'Lamb chop? Beefsteak?' Debbie turned to her and sneered, "How about some pork chop too?"
"Pork chop? Hmm…I think some sweet and sour spare ribs would be better," Stephanie said leisurely.
Debbie smirked. "You know, to get back at Carlos, each time I cooked, I purposefully left my hands unwashed after using the toilet. I touched all of those ingredients with my dirty hands. So…it was you who had been eating them, Stephanie? Was it really that delicious?"
Carlos' face fell. Stephanie's eyes widened in horror; she rushed straight to the bathroom and retched.
Taking advantage of their privacy, Debbie passed the gift bag to Carlos. "Mr. Huo, you do know how to hurt a woman. I won't bring lunch for you anymore. I bought something for you. It's not anything expensive. So, you could just toss it out if you wish."
Saying that, she took the lunch box and left his office.
Carlos opened the gift bag. There was an exquisite gift box inside it and inside the box was a ceramic mug.
A cartoony picture was printed on the mug. The picture was an animated photo of Piggy.
Carlos held the mug and gently stroked the photo with his finger. He felt empty and lost.
When Stephanie came out of the bathroom, she saw Carlos' gloomy face. To appease him, she apologized in a tender voice, "Carlos, I'm so sorry."
He shot her an icy-cold glance. Emanating an overbearing aura, he warned her, "Stephanie, don't mess with my private affairs. I don't want to see this happen again."
His cold warning sent a chill down her spine. She fixed her eyes on the mug in his hand and said, "We're engaged now, and she'll get married very soon. I just wanted to make her give up on you completely. It's for her own good."
"Go back now. You don't have to personally come here to handle this work." Carlos put the mug away.
Stephanie tried to change his mind. "But this project is important—"
"Let Frankie handle it."
She nodded helplessly. After taking a breath to maintain her cool, she said, "Got it."
When Carlos was finally left alone in the office, he took out his phone to text Debbie. "I'll attend your wedding on time."
But Debbie didn't reply.
The whole afternoon, while he worked, he kept an eye on his phone. But still, there was no reply from her.
He lost his patience at last and randomly tapped on her WeChat Moments.
He was surprised to find an update she had posted around two in the afternoon. "I can't control my feelings for you. But I won't expect anything from you anymore."
Below the caption were a few pictures of the lunch she had cooked. Fried green peas, fried mushrooms and broccoli, sweet-tea ribs, pearl meatballs and a bowl of fish soup.
He guessed that it was the lunch she had brought for him earlier.
Annoyed, he locked the phone screen and stood in front of the window. He lit a cigarette and took a drag.
It was only then that he noticed it was raining outside.
He checked the weather app on his phone. It showed that it had begun to rain from noon and said it wouldn't stop until that evening.
'Debbie came around one o'clock. She came to give me lunch in this rain?'
He nipped the cigarette between his index finger and thumb without taking another drag.
The cigarette burned out and hurt his fingers a little, which finally snapped him back to reality.
After snuffing it out in the ashtray, Carlos grabbed his coat and left the office.
As soon as he stepped out, Frankie trotted over and reminded him, "Mr. Huo, you have an appointment with Mr. Wang later—"
"Cancel it."
"And… the meeting half an hour later?"
"Cancel everything." Without wasting another moment, Carlos entered the elevator and went down to the parking lot. He got into his car and drove out.
