When Carlos walked into the sushi shop, he was still on the phone with Debbie. Around that time, she was nibbling at a meat floss sushi. "Why aren't you talking?" she asked, when she noticed his silence.
The man sitting opposite her choked when he saw Carlos walk in. He kicked Debbie under the table and winked at her as he gulped down his glass of water.
Debbie turned around to look directly at the man. Carlos ended the call and put his phone into his pocket. He looked at the man at the table and asked coldly, "Kinsley, what are you doing here?"
Carlos nudged Debbie, motioning her to move over.
Kinsley quickly swallowed a mouthful of fish eggs and explained, "Please don't misunderstand. I'm flying to Z Country this afternoon and will be staying there for the next three months. Me meeting Debbie here was a complete coincidence!" That was a lie. He had called Debbie to have sushi. He was curious about what was going on between Carlos and Debbie.
To his utter surprise, before he could ask her anything about their relationship, Carlos had called Debbie right at that moment.
He wondered if Carlos would believe his blatant lie. The man just glanced at him and remained silent.
Debbie was surprised that Carlos had found her so quickly. She looked at the haughty man, who was now drinking her juice, and queried, "Niles told you, didn't he?" It was the only possibility she could think of.
A waiter came along with a menu card and handed it to Carlos. He ordered a few dishes and said, "He dropped by." He didn't deny it.
"Yeah, right. What a coincidence!" Debbie observed sarcastically. Niles had seen them together earlier. When she and Kinsley had just gotten out of their cars in front of the sushi shop, Niles, who was waiting at the traffic signal at that time, happened to see them.
He waved to them and shouted, "What are you guys doing?"
Debbie had answered with a stony face, "Dating."
Shocked, Niles stepped on the gas and sped away.
Within the next ten minutes, Carlos had stepped into the sushi shop. It had to be Niles who had informed him of the meeting.
Soon after Debbie had mentioned him, Niles arrived huffing and puffing. He patted Kinsley on the shoulder. Kinsley took the hint and slid over to make room for him. Remembering that he was taller and sturdier than Niles, he switched seats with him.
And so, the two-person lunch turned into a lunch for four.
Carlos ignored the two single men completely. He kept flirting with Debbie.
He whispered something in her ear, and then kissed her lightly on her cheek. Kinsley rolled his eyes at him.
Suddenly, the sushi tasted bland to Niles. He stopped eating and started drinking some plum alcohol, continuously complaining about Carlos to Kinsley.
When they were done eating, they went their separate ways. Debbie said goodbye to Kinsley and Niles and left, ignoring Carlos.
As soon as she left, Carlos called without looking at him, "Kinsley."
Kinsley had a bad feeling. "What's up, man?" he asked with a grin.
Carlos watched Debbie leave. He gazed into the distance even after she couldn't be seen anymore. Then he said casually, "I heard that there's a woman that you hate since you were little."
The grin on Kinsley's face disappeared immediately. "Off I go. I
have a flight to catch," he said hastily.
"Kinsley!" Carlos turned to look at Kinsley, who was trying to run away.
Kinsley quivered and turned back to look at him. "Buddy, I'm begging you. Don't force me to see her. It was painstakingly difficult to get rid of her. Have a heart, man!"
Carlos straightened his cuffs and replied, "No."
"Carlos! How can you be so vindictive?"
Carlos glanced at him. "Don't you know anything about me?"
Kinsley had always known that the man was petty. And he had gotten on his nerves now. Damon had warned him how possessive Carlos was. "I only met Debbie to persuade her to forgive you. I was doing it for you, man."
"Well, that was what I thought at first. But then it wasn't."
'Why not? What did I do wrong?' Kinsley was confused. "Are you really going to go after me just because I invited Debbie to lunch?" If that was really the case, the man was really the king of jealousy.
Carlos gave him a sharp look and walked away.
As Kinsley looked on, Carlos and Niles walked back to ZL Group's office. Soon after, a familiar figure came into view. "Hi, Kins!"
Kinsley's face turned pale. 'Carlos, you asshole!' he cursed inwardly. He ran towards his car, trying to flee before the woman could pounce on him.
However, thanks to her previous experiences, the woman already knew what he was about to do. As he rushed to the driver's seat, she opened the back door and hopped into the car.
Their eyes met in the rearview mirror.
"Kins, don't blame Mr. Huo. He promised to let you endorse ZL Group's clothing. This is a big deal. Just imagine how bright our future will be!"
'What bright future? This is more like a disaster!' There was no future for him with this woman, only nightmares. Carlos deliberately put him into this position and then promised the endorsement to appease him. He didn't care.
That evening, Debbie was invited to a celebration dinner for the completion of a movie. She looked perky and innocent in her green flowy dress.
Her bodyguard secretly took a picture of her and sent it to Carlos. When he saw that, Carlos dropped whatever he was doing and asked Frankie to drive him to the hotel where the dinner was taking place.
The dinner wasn't over until past nine o'clock. Debbie had her arm around a male co-worker's as she walked out of the hotel. The man saw Carlos' car and let go of Debbie frantically. "Gotta go." With that, he ran away.
'Huh?' Debbie didn't realize what was going on until she saw Carlos step out of the car.
Under the public gazes, he walked towards her with a tender smile, put his arm around her and led her to his car.
Inside the car
Carlos pressed his body against hers and lifted her chin to make her look directly into his cold eyes. "Can't you just stay the hell away from other men?" he asked grimly.
Debbie wasn't afraid of him. She retorted, "Mr. Huo, what am I to you? Why are you meddling with my life?"
Carlos said through gritted teeth, "Let's get remarried right now!"
"It's late. The Civil Affairs Bureau is closed now."
"It'll be open if I want it to be open!"
