Debbie had seen Stephanie kiss Carlos lightly on the lips. Totally different from the passionate kiss she had seen a minute ago.
Ironically, Carlos had kissed Debbie passionately too in her apartment earlier the same night.
It was awkwardly quiet. Nobody dared to break the silence.
Stephanie seemed drunk. She kept throwing herself at Carlos. Every time Carlos pushed her away, she would hug him tightly again. "Carlos, I don't feel well. Can we go home?"
Debbie remembered she used to talk to Carlos like this too. Instead of his name, she would call him honey or old man.
She couldn't believe that another woman was now calling his name, hugging him, and being spoiled by him just like how it had been between them before.
The happiness she had felt from their shared moment earlier vanished.
Maybe, men were born liars; they were just incapable of faithfulness.
Debbie watched Carlos hold Stephanie and put her into his car.
Tears welled up in her eyes. She leaned her head back to keep them from falling. She could feel pain enveloping her entire body, her heart shattering into a million pieces. She could feel her whole world collapsing before her. She could cry all she wanted and she could mope around all day if she wanted, but now was not the time. She clenched her fists, gathered herself, and turned to Megan. Her face twisted into what she intended to be a smile. "Miss Lan, I haven't seen you in so long. Why, what have you been busying yourself with? Still being a home wrecker?"
Three years had passed. Megan was still the same Megan. She frowned at what Debbie had said and tried to explain, "No, I think you have it wrong. It was me who called Uncle Carlos. I asked him to come and pick up Aunt Stephanie."
'Aunt Stephanie…'
It seemed like a regular thing to say, but it hit Debbie like a truck.
Debbie used to be the person Megan referred to as her aunt, but now it was Stephanie.
Debbie already braced herself for Megan, but nothing she did could prepare her for realizing that she wasn't anyone in Carlos' life right now. No one referred to her as aunt because she was nobody! Debbie wasn't sure if Megan purposely said that to spite her. Still, she had to admit the girl had made quite some progress over the past three years.
Carlos closed the door after putting Stephanie in the car. Debbie's eyes had reddened. She refused to look at him, afraid that the tears would fall. Debbie sneered at Megan, "I don't care what you say. You're still the same, old manipulative lying woman that you were three years ago. I thought that by now you'd have found yourself some new target. You know, make someone else's life miserable. Oh, by the way, are you still living off Carlos and Wesley like the leech that you were? Are you that pathetic and desperate that you don't know how to live on your own?" Debbie's friends were stunned by how brutal Debbie was being. She seemed to have grown a tougher shell from those three years.
However, one thing about Debbie remained the same—if she was unhappy, everybody else was going to know about it.
That was a great job letting Megan know. The girl's face was white as a sheet.
"Debbie Nian!" Carlos warned.
Instead of cowering in fear, Debbie smiled as she looked at him. "Yes, Mr. Huo? What is it? Did I say something wrong? You may have lost your memory, but I didn't. Three years ago, you sent this manipulative, blood-sucking leech abroad and told her never to come back. So what the hell is she doing here? Are you really going to wait until she pulls off whatever plan she has and have the same thing happen all over again?"
Before Carlos could respond, Debbie glared at Megan and spoke in a threatening tone. "I'm warning you. If you have anything planned, you will not only be sent away this time. I'll make sure you never see any of your friends or family ever again!"
Megan burst into tears. She grabbed Debbie's hand and begged, "You misunderstand me. I won't do anything against you from now on. I'll focus on school. Lockup is a horrible place. I don't want to go there ever again. Can you please not send me back there? For Uncle Carlos?"
'I sent her there?' This only angered Debbie further. She shook Megan's hands away and said sharply, "Miss Lan, did you hit yourself in the head? You went to jail because of something you did. You disappeared after what you did to Kasie. What does that have anything to do with me? Don't you ever mention Carlos to me. It won't work. You're just wasting your breath. And if you ever do anything to me again…" Debbie's voice trailed off, but she gave Megan an evil smile.
Then, just like that, she walked away.
In the club, the music was loud.
Jared trotted over to Debbie and gave her a thumbs-up. "Tomboy, you were impressive back there. Respect. You learned from the best. You were just as cold as Mr. Huo. And so cool. You're my idol from now on. You have to take me under your wing and teach me."
Kasie and Sasha agreed. "Megan was so angry, I could tell. But, of course, she couldn't show you because she was trying to beg for your mercy! Every time I think of her face, I burst out laughing," Sasha chimed in.
"That's true. Mr. Huo's eyes were sparkling when he looked at you. He must've been impressed too." At that time, Kasie had watched Carlos as Sasha watched Megan. Nothing had escaped their eyes.
Hearing Kasie's comments, Debbie smiled bitterly. 'Carlos was impressed. So what? Is that what I want? To impress him? No, I want him to love me.'
Debbie remained silent. The others exchanged a look and decided to drop the topic.
A waiter led them to their booth. Jared opened the menu and threw it onto the table. "Fellas, it's my treat tonight. Order anything you want. Don't be a stranger."
"Have you ever seen that movie?" Kasie asked Jared.
"What movie?"
The rest of the group looked at her in confusion.
"The Big Shot."
Before anyone could realize what she was saying, Kasie put her hands over her mouth and shouted, "Everybody, Mr. Han's picking up the tab tonight!"
"Wait, wait, wait…" Jared tried to stop her, but it was too late.
A lot of people had already heard her. The DJ even reenacted the scene from the movie by playing music that pumped up the crowd and shouting in the mic, "Mr. Han's footing the bill tonight! Cheers!"
That specific line from the movie had stuck with everyone — hoping that it would happen to them in real life.
And it was happening now. The club was ringing with cheers, laughter, and shouts.
Jared pointed at Kasie, who was wearing a smirk. His hand was trembling and his lips quivering. He enveloped himself in Sasha's arms and complained, "Sweetheart, Kasie's bullying me!"
Sasha merely blinked at him and said, "Well, you deserve it. Kasie paid hundreds of thousands of dollars last time for what you did, remember?"
It was a long story but basically, Jared was drunk and got into a fight. The man he'd been brawling with ran into a coffee house. To catch the guy, Jared managed to destroy the cafe.
