Carlos' words amused Debbie. She rolled on the bed and said, "No need to check what kind of bird I am. I was a humble sparrow in the past. But after I got married to you, I became a shining phoenix."
Carlos was in no mood to banter with her any longer; he needed to teach her a lesson in his own way. He pulled her into his arms and began to take off her clothes.
"Don't, Carlos. You are hurting me. Aaaaargh! Stop taking off my clothes. I was kidding. I don't have wings."
Debbie's cries were so loud they traveled outside the bedroom.
"Why are you kissing my back? I said I didn't have wings!"
"Shut up!" Carlos demanded coldly.
"No. I know what you're trying to do. This is daytime, and I'm not in the mood." Debbie knew more about Carlos after she had spent months with him. When he was mad at her, it would be torture to have sex with him—he would bang her like a stallion on steroids.
Without stopping, Carlos said through gritted teeth, "How could you meet your ex behind my back? And you were in his arms! Were you going to cheat on me?" The more he thought about it, the angrier he became.
Debbie shook her head immediately and tried to mollify him. "I'm sorry. I was really, really wrong. I won't see him again. Please forgive me, old man."
"Old man? Who's old? When he held you in his arms, what did you call him? Mr. Gu? Hayden Gu? Hayden? Or honey?"
Debbie kept her mouth shut. Otherwise, she would be unable to hold back the impulse to yell back at him.
"What's wrong? Cat got your tongue? Did he do this?" he asked, caressing her breasts.
"Carlos Huo! You're an ass! Aaaargh! He didn't! He didn't do anything to me!" Debbie struggled hard, but to no avail. She was no match for Carlos' strength. Why was he still angry with her? Nothing happened, and it was all Hayden's fault. Well, maybe not entirely true. She did agree to meet him, knowing that he still carried a torch for her. If she hadn't gone to meet with Hayden, Carlos wouldn't have been alerted, and he wouldn't have witnessed anything.
She felt wronged. 'I gave my first kiss to Carlos. Why doesn't he believe me?'
After what felt like an eternity, Debbie lay in bed, motionless. Her body was killing her. Carlos, however, was donning his clothes again.
She couldn't understand why Carlos, an aloof CEO before the outsiders, would turn into a sex maniac when he was alone with her.
"Waah…" Debbie burst into tears as she pointed at Carlos, who was now in a suit. "We need separate bedrooms now. I can't stand it anymore."
Carlos cast a cold glance at her and asked casually, "Still want to argue? I guess I need to bang you more so that you won't have the energy."
Debbie shook her head immediately and covered her face with the quilt. "No, no, no. I'm not going to argue with you. Just go to work."
When Carlos descended the stairs and entered the living room, Valerie was sitting on the couch, watching TV. When she saw Carlos, she snorted and snapped, "It's the middle of the day. What were you thinking? Even the servants heard her cry. What are you, a sex fiend?"
Without slowing his pace, Carlos said, "Grandma, I know you already have a great-grandson, and you may not want another. But I'm dying to be a father."
'Great-grandson?
Of course I want another great-grandson, ' Valerie retorted inwardly. She had a great-grandson—her eldest son Wade's grandson, who was a junior middle school student. The boy had a fight with his father Frasier, and went to his maternal grandpa's home to celebrate the New Year.
Brooks, Wade's second son, had some health problems and had no sons or daughters.
Lewis, Wade's third son, was a playboy, and hadn't gotten married yet.
She really wished that Carlos, son of her youngest son James, could have a baby. But she didn't want the baby's mother to be Debbie.
After Carlos left, Valerie turned off the TV and began to ponder on how she could drive Debbie out of the Huo family.
When Debbie woke up again, it was already dark outside. She struggled out of bed and went to the bathroom to take a bath.
Her jaw dropped when she saw herself in the mirror—she was black and blue all over.
'That asshole!
He was worse than a dog in heat!' she cursed inwardly.
Despite the anger, she didn't dare curse him to his face.
The next morning, she didn't wake up until noon. She readied herself and took a deep breath. 'Once more unto the breach, ' she thought, echoing the speech in the classic play. She had to steel herself every time she was together with that family. She went down the stairs to have lunch. Much to her surprise, no one in the Huo family was hostile to her.
After lunch, she went back to her room. 'Did Valerie decide to make peace with me after I stood up to her? Thank God. Finally, ' she thought.
In the afternoon, Miranda invited her to come along and visit Carlos' grandpa in the hospital.
Miranda and Debbie had no common interests, so they didn't chat on the way. The old man was still in a coma. After that, Miranda asked the driver to send Debbie back to the Huo family's manor, and she herself hailed a taxi and went off to work.
Debbie was really confused. 'Why did she invite me to visit Grandpa?
I mean, it's normal to visit him. But it's not normal for us to visit him together. We barely know each other.'
Despite the confusion, Debbie didn't ask Miranda for an answer. She went back home obediently.
When she arrived at the manor, Valerie was taking a stroll with Megan. They saw Debbie and looked away as if she were invisible. Debbie greeted Valerie out of politeness, but she didn't respond.
Debbie went back to the bedroom and felt something was not right. 'This is weird. It's like the calm before the storm. Is Valerie planning something behind my back?' Debbie mused. And she was right.
After supper, Valerie asked everyone to sit down in the living room.
She even called Carlos back from work. He wasn't finished, but he did as she asked anyway.
Since Debbie had been caught seeing Hayden, Carlos had been terribly cool towards her. When he entered the living room and saw the family waiting for him, he came up to Debbie and sat next to her naturally.
Since Carlos was now here, Valerie cleared her throat and began, "Debbie, I heard your academic performance was not good."
Debbie was confused. "What?" 'Is she going to yell at me in front of everyone or something?' she thought to herself.
With a mocking smile, Valerie continued, "I don't care whether you're a bad student or not. But I won't have a thief as a granddaughter-in-law. Your behavior has brought shame on the Huo family."
"A thief? What do you mean?" Debbie couldn't believe her ears.
Valerie said with a cold smile, "Ever since you set foot in this house, things have gone missing. I lost a string of Buddhist prayer beads, Megan lost a limited-edition lipstick, and Miranda lost a limited-edition handbag…"
Debbie finally got it. "So, you think I stole them?"
"I don't think. I know," said Valerie firmly.
Debbie was at a loss whether to laugh or to cry. Taking a deep breath, she defended herself by saying, "Grandma, you may not know it, but your grandson treats me very well. He's given me a ton of precious gifts. Each of them is much more expensive than your string of beads. As for Megan's lipstick, your grandson built a lipstick laboratory for me. Well, Aunt Miranda's limited-edition handbag might be valuable. But use your head. Your grandson provides for me quite nicely. Why would I need to steal anything?
