Debbie had been to Jared's house a couple of times. Faye Ji, Jared's mother and Damon's stepmother, had been very nice to her, as she thought Debbie was Jared's girlfriend. They corrected her, and she was somewhat embarrassed by her mistake. Nonetheless, she still treated Debbie very well.
"Okay. Thank you, Uncle Jasper. Goodbye," said Debbie.
"Bye, Debbie."
After hanging up, Debbie called Kasie. But unfortunately, her phone was off.
She sighed and then tried to contact Kristina. But before she could do that, her phone rang. It was Colleen.
"Hi, Colleen," Debbie called out in a depressed voice.
Colleen could tell that she was in low spirits. "Hey Debbie! What are you doing now? You free? How about we go out for drinks?"
This was exactly what Debbie wanted! She slapped her thigh and agreed cheerfully, "Sure. Why not?"
She was trying to find someone to hang out with when Colleen called.
"I'll book a place and send you the location on WeChat," said Colleen.
"Mm-hmm. I'll be waiting for you."
Debbie heaved a sigh of relief as she could drown her sorrows this evening.
"I thought you weren't allowed to drink," Gus said to Debbie in confusion.
Puzzled, Debbie asked in reply, "What? Who told you that?"
"Curtis. He told me your husband banned you from drinking," he answered honestly. His brother also told him that if he saw Debbie drinking, he should not only pay her tab, but also get her to a safe place so that Carlos couldn't lecture her.
Debbie was left speechless. 'Really? Ban me from drinking? Well, he might be someone else's husband soon. And he has no right to tell me what to do anymore.' She was more convinced than ever she was right about that. Carlos chose to defend Megan over her, so as far as she was concerned, they were done. Besides, she thought it was a stupid rule that she couldn't go out and drown her sorrows in alcohol. How else was she supposed to bleed off stress? Meditate?
Not knowing where else to go, Debbie asked Gus to drop her at a shopping mall.
She had originally planned to visit her aunt and uncle with Carlos. But now it seemed impossible. The stubborn girl didn't want to even think about her errant husband right now.
Debbie went on a shopping spree, walking past all the things the mall had to offer. Movie theaters with the latest releases, karaoke lounges, lively gaming arcades, tranquil beauty spas, indoor ice rinks, not to mention the hottest restaurants in town. It seemed a great place to kill some time, but she knew what she had her heart set on. She took a cab to the Mu family's house with loads of shopping bags. Only Lucinda and Sasha were home.
Lucinda opened the gate and got confused when she saw Debbie's haul. "Why all the bags?" she asked.
With an embarrassed smile, Debbie told a lie. "I…wanted to visit you and Uncle…with Carlos, but…he's too busy to make it. So I came here alone."
"Really?" Lucinda was still not convinced. "Carlos called me and said he was too busy to visit. He already sent us gifts. Why did you buy more?" Debbie was shocked. "Gifts? When did he send them?"
Lucinda helped Debbie put the bags in a corner and led her to the living room while saying, "Yesterday. Emmett dropped by and left gifts, along with Carlos' apologies. Your husband said you guys would come by when he wasn't busy. You didn't know?"
Sasha was lying on the couch, a facial mask covering her face. She greeted Debbie in a mumble, "Deb!"
Debbie nodded at her, and then said to Lucinda, "He didn't tell me. Forget it. I can still bring you gifts, even if he already did. The more, the merrier!" Carlos didn't reply to her message, so she thought he didn't want to visit Lucinda with her.
Lucinda rolled her eyes at Debbie. "Come on! Don't say it like that. You're husband and wife, and you should behave like a couple. Come here. Have some fruit. Emmett brought all kinds of fruit—flown from overseas. So sweet!"
Debbie was again speechless. She was still mad at Carlos, and didn't want to eat anything he sent.
However, she didn't want her aunt to worry about her. So she picked up a slice of mango with a fork, pretending to enjoy it. She couldn't deny that it was succulent and delicious.
In a few minutes, Debbie got Colleen's WeChat message along with a location. It said, "6 o'clock. We'll grab some dinner first. Then clubbing. Cool?"
Debbie replied, "Cool. See you then."
She didn't have other plans, so she stayed there until nearly 5 p.m. She then bade Lucinda and Sasha goodbye.
At the Han family's house
As soon as Damon got home, he went upstairs to find Jared.
The door to Jared's bedroom was open. Damon could hear Jasper lecturing Jared. "What? You thought you were 3 years old? Do you know what you did? How dare you offend Mr. Huo!"
Covering his head, Jared tried to avoid his father's strikes. "Just stop, okay? You grounded me and took my phone. I just wanted to get some sleep, yet you came in and started hitting me."
Faye Ji was standing off to one side, looking anxious.
When she saw Damon, she grabbed his hand and said, "Stop your dad and cool him down."
Damon rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall, thinking, 'They can't pay me enough to do that.' Watching the scene, he said casually, "Why not enjoy the show? Dad should teach him a lesson so that he won't mess around with Debbie again."
"Hey, what? I didn't mess around. You messed around! Your whole family messed— Aaaargh!" Jasper caught him off guard and gave him a heavy blow with his duster.
He stared fiercely at Jared and said through gritted teeth, "Your whole family? Are you cursing me? You ungrateful cur!"
Damon laughed out loud at his father's words. "Jared, listen to Dad. Mom, don't worry about it. Do you know what he did today? He pushed a young girl into the water. Ten-meter-deep water! That girl was Megan, Carlos' niece. See, Carlos would probably stick up for Debbie. But a prick like Jared? Hah!"
"Watch your language. Megan deserved it. She caused Tomboy's car accident," Jared retorted angrily.
Damon rolled his eyes. "You believe whatever Pepper Nian says, don't you? Megan wasn't there when she had the car accident, anyway. How could she have caused it? Come on. Pepper Nian was just jealous and tried to frame her."
Jared fumed with rage when he heard Damon. He pushed Jasper away, who was about to hit him again with the duster. Jasper staggered and fell onto the bed.
Jared grasped Damon's collar and shouted, "You said Debbie framed Megan? Don't talk about her like that!"
"Dude, I've known Megan for more than five years. She wouldn't do anything like that," said Damon angrily.
"Dammit! I've known Debbie for seven. She wouldn't do that, either." As he said this, Jared raised his arm and threw a punch towards Damon's face.
Damon was quick enough to dodge the attack. Now that Jared started a fight, he wouldn't take it lying down. He aimed a hammerfist at his brother.
Jared blocked it. Then, the brothers began to fight in earnest. Fists flew and tempers flared.
Jasper and his wife stared at the two, mouth agape. The brothers fought over girls. The funny thing was, those girls weren't even their girlfriends.
