"Old man… Mr. Handsome, are you okay? Why are you staring at me that way?" Debbie noticed the ocean of mixed emotions in Carlos' eyes and the complicated look on his face. She felt anxious, and her heart pounded hard in her chest.
Carlos kept gazing at her and still said nothing.
All he wanted to do was quietly admire her, hug her, feel her warmth, and kiss her.
That was just what he did. He embraced Debbie, holding her tightly to him and began kissing her tenderly. The kiss was soft, full of love and affection, unlike his usual imperious and hungry kisses. Debbie was taken aback by his show of affection and gentleness.
After the unexpected kiss, Debbie was left breathless. She swallowed nervously and stammered, "Have…have you done anything wrong to me?"
Carlos gazed at her and smiled. He stroked the strand of hair near her ear and said, "Go and bathe now. I'm going to make a call."
"Hmm. Okay!" Debbie nodded. She wanted to take a moment to be alone and calm herself down.
Carlos let go of her. He sat on the edge of the bed and watched Debbie go toward the bathroom. Every step of the way, Debbie kept turning back to Carlos, trying to spot anything suspicious. When she finally entered the bathroom, Carlos returned to his cold self again and left the bedroom.
He went straight to the study and called Frankie.
"Give me the phone number of Ivan's mom." It would have been better for Frankie to call Ivan's mom for him. But now he urgently needed to handle everything concerning Debbie, in person.
"Yes, Mr. Huo."
A few minutes later, Carlos received the number and called Elsie at once. "Good evening Mrs. Wen. This is Carlos Huo speaking. I'm sorry to bother you this late at night."
'Carlos Huo?'
Elsie was suddenly caught by surprise from the unexpected call from Carlos. She hastily sat up on the bed and turned the bed lamp on while kicking her husband to wake up. "Hello, Mr. Huo. It's okay. We aren't sleeping yet. Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Yes, there is. It's something very important."
Elsie became tense. "What is it?"
"Mrs. Wen, there's no easy way to tell you this, so please prepare yourself for what I'm about to tell you. Ivan took advantage of my memory loss to marry my wife, but he doesn't love Debbie at all. He loves men. After marrying Debbie, he doesn't treat her well. He's even romantically involved with Debbie's best friend, Kasie. Mrs. Wen, I know all of this because I have seen it all with my own eyes. I'm not telling lies." Carlos cut to the chase and filled Elsie in on all the essential and necessary information.
Elsie's eyes were as wide as saucers at the shocking news. She took a deep breath, trying not to scream out. When she spoke again, her tone was still high. "Ivan loves men?"
"Yes, it's true. But please rest assured, Mrs. Wen. The man that Ivan used to be involved with is now locked up behind bars. He was accused of instigating and aiding others to commit ****."
"The man is locked up in jail?" Elsie could hardly take in and register all this information. She felt like she didn't know her son at all.
As he tapped his fingers on the desk, Carlos concluded, "Yes. I didn't mean to bother you with all this, but I feel great pity for Debbie. I hope you can stop Ivan from hurting her and ask him to divorce her as soon as possible."
Elsie got his meaning. The last sentence was the key point of his phone call.
She managed to compose herself and said in a shaky voice, "I understand, Mr. Huo. Thank you for the information."
"You're welcome, Mrs. Wen. I should be thanking you. I'm sorry for disturbing your rest. If you have time to visit Y City someday, I would be happy to accommodate you and Mr. Logan Wen."
"Thank you, Mr. Huo. I hope we can meet up next time. Goodbye." The moment the call was disconnected, Elsie slumped back against the bedhead and was silent with a worried face.
In a neighborhood of Y City
Kasie wanted to go back home after leaving the party midway. However, Ivan convinced her to go out with him for a late-night snack.
After the snack, Ivan drove towards his apartment, and then he suddenly glanced at her and said, "Debbie and I will be divorced soon."
Sitting in the passenger seat, Kasie looked across and asked, "Why? Because of Mr. Huo?"
"Yeah." Ivan noticed the subtle expression on Carlos' face at the party. He believed that Carlos had already regained his memory. 'Undoubtedly, I'll be Carlos' first target to deal with.' At the thought of that, Ivan sighed and smiled helplessly.
No one would be able to stand up to the overbearing Carlos.
Looking at the scenery outside the car window, Kasie asked in a gloomy tone, "Sad?"
"Who?" Ivan was confused.
She turned to look at his profile. "You. Are you sad?"
"Why would I feel sad?" On the contrary, Ivan was quite happy because Debbie would have a bright future with Carlos soon.
"Aren't you sad about getting divorced?"
Ivan finally understood. He smiled and instead of explaining anything to her, he requested, "Call your parents. Think of an excuse and tell them that you won't be home tonight."
"Why?" she asked.
His smile broadened. He could see a bright future with Kasie too. "I have something to tell you."
"You can tell me now and then drive me back home." Kasie had a rough idea of what he wanted to do.
"I think I'm going to need the whole night to say it all."
She gaped at him, speechless. Did he really take her for a fool? Nonetheless, she pulled out her phone and called her mother.
Putting on a relaxed voice, she said, "Mom, I'm at my friend's house. I've had a bit of wine, so I'll spend the night here."
"You drank wine? Which friend? Do I know your friend? Is it a boy or girl?" Mia asked routinely. It wasn't the first time that her daughter had stayed overnight at a friend's house. Each time, Kasie would call her to let her know so she didn't worry.
"Of course it's a girl. Mom, when have I stayed overnight with a man?" Kasie lied, her eyes darting around with guilt. Typically, she would have hung up impatiently after her mother's string of questions. However, she didn't dare to now that she was telling her a lie.
Fortunately, Mia couldn't see her guilty expression, so she agreed. "Okay. Take care of yourself."
"Will do. Bye!"
Kasie heaved a sigh of relief as she hung up the phone.
Ivan asked with a smile, "Do you often stay at friends' houses?"
"Well, sometimes… When my friends and I have a lot of fun. I'll stay at some friend's house or find a hotel myself, and then go back home the next day." Kasie had quite a lot of friends, from all walks of life. Apart from doing investment and business, she would go out to have fun with her friends during most of her leisure time.
"Sounds like you enjoy playing, just like Piggy," Ivan remarked.
When Piggy's name was brought up, Kasie felt warm inside and said, "No, I'm not like Piggy. My god-daughter is way lovelier than me." Then she sighed and joked, "I'm getting old."
Ivan disagreed. He glanced at her and said, "No, you're cuter than Piggy.
Unconvinced, Kasie said, "I'm flattered. But Ivan, how can you blatantly lie to flatter me?"
"What can I say? I feel good."
Kasie was lost for words and shook her head.
Once they had arrived at the apartment building and parked the car, Ivan held Kasie's hand and led her towards the elevator.
Kasie looked around nervously. She was afraid of being seen by someone. "I think we should part our ways here. I'm not going upstairs." She lost her nerve and chickened out at the last minute. Even if Ivan and Debbie didn't love each other, they were still a married couple. It didn't feel right for her to spend the night at Ivan's house before they got divorced.
Ivan pressed the elevator button. "Relax. Do you know what Debbie is doing now?"
Kasie thought for a second and replied, "She and Mr. Huo should be coaxing Piggy to sleep now."
Checking the time on his wristwatch, Ivan shook his head. "It's past eleven now. Piggy would have been in bed much earlier."
In an instant, Kasie realized what Ivan was hinting at. But she still tried to defend Debbie and said thoughtfully, "No. Debbie told me that Mr. Huo wouldn't bug her for sex until she divorces you. Debbie won't betray your marriage."
Ivan was amused. He wanted to laugh at how naive Kasie and Debbie both were. "Yes, what Debbie told you is right, but that was only relevant before tonight. Now there's no telling if Carlos will keep his promise or not."
