Carlos pulled her into his arms and whispered, "Don't worry about me. I can carry you home and still show you a good time. I can prove it to you."
"Stop it." Debbie covered his mouth with her hand.
Carlos pulled her hand away and kissed her on the lips. "What? Can't I say this stuff to my wife?"
"Maybe. And maybe you should be locked up for saying things like that."
"Just think about how lonely you'd get if I were put in prison. Not a good idea. You'd miss me way too much."
"You're so modest!" she giggled. He was right. She was getting a bit tired.
The rain was starting to come down in earnest. It was drizzling and their hair was starting to get wet. They ducked under an overhanging roof, trying to stay dry. Carlos took off his overcoat and spread it over her head.
Debbie pulled it off again. "No. This is your favorite overcoat. And very expensive. I can't let you do this. It'll get ruined." She knew how much Carlos liked that particular article of clothing.
Carlos put it back over her head. "I can always buy a new coat. I don't want you to get sick."
He was so considerate. Debbie was enormously moved. What was happening reminded her of a song which goes, "For the rest of my life, I want only you, for better or worse."
If Emmett knew Carlos had protected Debbie from the rain with his favorite overcoat, he would have marveled at how important Debbie was to Carlos. He already thought of Carlos as Debbie's slave, and that would have proven it even more. That was something new to Emmett, and he figured that bending over backwards for someone wasn't healthy. But then again, he had never been in love, at least not that kind of deep, enduring love, so he wouldn't know until he fell that deeply.
The rain was getting heavier. Worried that Debbie might be cold, Carlos called his assistant to ask him to pick them up.
The next day, Debbie didn't show up downstairs until eleven, still yawning.
The first thing she saw was Valerie's grim face. Standing next to Valerie was Megan, who waited on her like a maid.
"Grandma," Debbie said.
"So you still know to get up? Do you know what time it is?" Valerie berated her, pounding her cane on the floor.
Debbie poured a glass of water for herself and took out her phone to check the time. It was eleven o'clock. "I'm sorry. I still haven't gotten over the jet lag."
The old lady snorted loudly, refusing her explanation. "You can't sleep in anymore. I won't allow it."
Debbie fluttered her eyelashes in disbelief. "You should discuss this with your grandson."
"Carlos went to work early this morning. How am I supposed to discuss this with him?" Valerie asked angrily.
Debbie yawned and explained helplessly, "Your grandson comes home late from work every day. And he usually brings some work home and doesn't go to bed until the small hours. I try to get some sleep, but every night, he kisses me until I wake up, and then has sex with me."
Not giving the other two any chance to interrupt her, she continued, "Normally, he falls asleep in the middle of the night, but sometimes, he won't leave me alone until the birds start chirping. So you see, Grandma, you have to talk to him about this. I used to practice martial arts, but even so, I can barely walk…"
"Enough!" Valerie's face turned red with embarrassment as she was listening to Debbie. "So rude!"
Megan blushed and kept her head bowed the whole time. "Aunt Debbie, maybe you should keep this kind of stuff to yourself in the future."
Megan supported Valerie with her hands as the old lady walked towards the door. Debbie watched them, confused. "That's my husband I was talking about. Isn't it normal for couples to have sex? Don't be shy, Grandma. We're all family here."
Valerie hadn't even made it to the living room yet when she turned back and reprimanded, "Shut up!"
Debbie picked up the glass of water and put it to her mouth. Valerie's red face made her want to laugh so much. She stifled her laughter and somehow thought the old lady was adorable at that moment.
Spending days in the Huos' house was quite boring for Debbie. She was despised every day. The family always directed mean comments at her, and it didn't seem to matter if she clapped back or not. She wanted to have some fun outside, but it was very cold. It was snowing outside, and the flakes rested on the ground and blanketed the countryside in bright white. It probably wasn't the best idea to go out when you could see your breath in the air. Maybe she should have asked Carlos to assign her as his bodyguard.
After lunch, Debbie bundled up warmly, and decided to go outside and have some fun. But Valerie stopped her by saying, "The help has the day off. The first floor is dirty. Go clean it up."
Debbie was shocked to hear her say that. The first floor was at least two hundred square meters, which usually took a few servants to clean it. Now Valerie wanted her to do all the work by herself? This wasn't a reasonable expectation of work. This was a punishment.
Valerie cast her a disdainful look. "What? You have a problem with it? Or is it too hard for you? As the daughter-in-law of the Huo family, you can't even handle something simple like this?"
'Huh! So you finally acknowledge that I'm the daughter-in-law, ' Debbie sneered in her heart. "I can clean it. But I need her help." Debbie pointed at Megan who wore a smug smirk on her face. It was obvious she was enjoying this.
Megan didn't care, because she knew the old lady would help her out.
Sure enough, Valerie said, "Megan has better things to do. What you need to do is clean.
" For Carlos' sake, Debbie decided to put up with it, pretending that she was killing time.
She fetched the tools from the shed and started doing the work.
It had been a long time since the last time she did housework.
She had been treated like a queen ever since she married Carlos. Soon after she had started, she began panting. Her shirt clung to her uncomfortably, and she started to perspire. It didn't take long before she got really tired. She wanted to take a break, but she wasn't sure that Valerie would allow even that.
Megan and Valerie, on the other hand, were chatting and laughing in the living room. 'So, Megan's job is to keep Valerie company while eating fruit and talking with her?' Debbie couldn't help but wonder inwardly.
Later, Connie saw Debbie doing the cleaning and tried to help her, but Valerie sent her away. When Lewis saw her mopping the floor, he held her hand and tried to take her away from the family, but he was scared away as his grandma hit the floor with her cane.
It took her three hours to finish all the work.
When she put the tools back in the shed and walked out, Valerie said, "You forgot the bathroom. Go clean it."
Debbie felt anger rise inside her, but once again, she chose to push it down deep inside her. 'Cleaning. No big deal!'
However, the size of the bathroom frustrated her as soon as she saw it. It was huge, with multiple sinks and a huge mirror running the length of the wall. It not only had many sinks, but also several stalls. There were store bathrooms that were smaller than this one.
'Why do they need such a big bathroom? Do they have to waste money like this just because they have it?'
"Call me and ask me out, now!" Debbie texted Carlos secretly.
She started waiting hopefully, but after a long while, Carlos still didn't reply to her message. Then the old lady came to check on her. "It's taking you forever! Give me your phone!" '
Am I really the daughter-in-law of the family, not a servant?' she thought.
She tried to talk the old lady out of it. "Grandma, I'll be more efficient if I watch a video while cleaning."
"You should be more focused. Hand it to me!"
Debbie wanted to toss the rag onto her old, wrinkled face. 'Calm down. This is Carlos' grandma. My dearest husband's grandma.' She tried to compose herself.
It was very late when Carlos came back. Exhausted, Debbie had gone to bed early after grabbing a bath.
When he came in, she looked at him and closed her eyes once more. She had been worked to the bone, and she definitely needed to rest.
