Kasie stared at Ivan, evidently confused by his words. "Why?"
Ivan wrapped his arm around her waist and whispered in her ear, "Mr. Huo has his memories back."
She froze, eyes popped out, her mouth agape. "Really? How do you know? When did this happen?"
"Tonight, at the party. But Carlos, that cunning fox, kept it to himself. He may be waiting for the right time." Ivan didn't know him very well, but from what he could see, Carlos deserved to be seen as a cunning fox, in business and in his private life.
Kasie was still wallowing in the exciting news. "Does Debbie know?" 'Thank God! Maybe she'll finally have something good happen in her life, ' she thought, genuinely happy.
"I think Debbie is still in the dark. Don't tell her. Let's just focus on you and me for right now." Ivan gallantly held the door open to his apartment and let Kasie walk in first.
She felt around the wall for a light switch and turned it on. Being able to see, she searched for a pair of slippers, just like when entering her own home.
Ivan smiled as he watched her behave casually. He wanted her to feel comfortable.
"Why can't I tell her? That's so unfair. She's been hanging on, waiting. I'll give her a call." After shedding her coat, Kasie pulled out her phone to call Debbie.
But Ivan swiftly snatched her phone away from her hand and held onto her with his other arm. Leading her into the living room, he hissed, "No, don't ruin the moment."
Kasie stopped walking and looked at him with a serious look. "Seriously, why are you okay with that?" She thought Ivan must feel something for Debbie. Otherwise, why did he marry her?
Tossing her phone onto the sofa, Ivan pulled her into a hug and kissed her lips.
Kasie couldn't resist his affectionate kiss.
Gradually, the air between them became warmer. He pushed her up against the wall, and his kiss became more passionate. She locked her arms around his neck, like it was the most natural thing in the world.
His lips suddenly left hers, and seductive words came from them. "Kasie, I love you."
The woman who was so smitten with his kiss suddenly snapped back to reality. Her half-closed eyes abruptly opened wide like saucers.
But before she could react, Ivan scooped her up and pushed open the door to his bedroom with his foot.
In a split second, Kasie was lain on his bed, her heart pounding rapidly. Seeing him undoing his tie, she swallowed a bit of saliva and hesitated again. "Ivan, no. Not now. Debbie…"
She still couldn't jump over this issue.
Debbie, marriage… These words were like a curse that halted their relationship, a wall neither of them could climb. Ivan had almost given himself over to passion, and was so close to letting Debbie's secret slip.
Kasie was struggling to sit up but Ivan pinned her down again. "Kasie, listen. It's not what you think. Debbie and I are just friends."
"I know you aren't in love. But let's do this right. Wait until you're divorced." Truth be told, she was so moved to hear his confession of love. She didn't need to hide her true feelings from him anymore.
But she knew that she didn't want to rush into anything either. Especially sex.
However, Ivan didn't think the same way. He wanted her now.
Helpless, his voice thick with passion, he lowered his head to nibble her earlobe and whispered, "Listen!"
"Yes?"
"We're not really married." He blurted out the truth.
"What? How?" That was the last thing she expected to hear. Kasie was stunned for a moment, but then she said with a smile, "No way. Stop kidding around."
He raised his head to stare into her eyes. "I'm not kidding."
The sincerity in his eyes was so evident that Kasie stammered, "But… but Debbie never told me that. I'm…her best friend. Why didn't she tell me? Besides… I came to your wedding. And…Mr. Huo walked her down the aisle…"
"Yeah. We tried to do the ceremony. But Debbie got nabbed by the cops before she could say 'I do.' We aren't actually married."
"But… You guys got the licenses. Everything's official." After she dropped these words, she suddenly remembered something. Debbie had once showed off her marriage license.
Kasie took one look and replied casually, "Nice. But honestly, you and Ivan don't look like an item. You and Mr. Huo look better together."
Then Debbie smiled mysteriously and swung the marriage license in front of her and asked again, "Guess how much we paid?"
Kasie rolled her eyes at her. "Think I'm an idiot just because I'm single? Everyone knows it's 9.90 here. Next you'll be telling me they're spun from gold."
Debbie said nothing back but just smiled.
Now remembering their conversation, Kasie started to piece it together. She widened her eyes in shock and looked at Ivan, who was smiling blissfully. "The marriage licenses are fake too?"
Pecking her cheek, he said, "Always knew you were a smart cookie."
"But, Debbie never told me. At least, not in so many words… I'm her best friend!" Kasie wanted to cry. No wonder there were only a few people at their wedding.
Ivan shook his head. "Don't blame her. I swore her to secrecy. You're the third one to know."
"All right…" Kasie sighed, having a surge of mixed feelings.
Now it made sense. No wonder Ivan had no problem kissing her. Behind her back, or even in front of her at the party. He wasn't angry at all when he saw Debbie and Carlos flirting at the seaside resort. Instead, he seemed quite happy to see them together.
Ivan had unbuttoned his shirt. "Let's get marriage licenses tomorrow. What do you say?"
"What? So soon?"
He shook his head. "It's not that soon. If my guess is right, Carlos has already taken steps to get me out of the way. I'll be in big trouble if we don't."
"What do you mean? What trouble?" Kasie had difficulty figuring out what he meant.
"He'll tell my mom I'm gay, or he'll ruin my company, put my stock in freefall…"
"But we haven't talked to our parents…" Kasie still hesitated.
Ivan closed his eyes tightly; he was burning with desire already. "Kasie, please. This is torture."
Seeing the beads of sweat forming on his forehead, she tried her best to stifle her laughter. A single word left her lips, "Okay."
Taking this as permission, Ivan hungrily kissed her.
Ten-odd minutes later
A song echoed through the room, interrupting the busy pair. It was Ivan's ringtone. Frustrated, Ivan caught a glimpse of the caller ID on the phone screen. 'Let me guess…Carlos got to her!'
Kasie was ready for him, so she was also a bit flustered. Still, the ringtone went off again. She tried to calm her breathing and managed to gasp, "The phone… Just answer it."
Ivan wasn't really in the mood to care about the call, but since Kasie had urged him, he had no choice but to pick it up. "Mom."
"You brat! What else did you do behind my back? Think I wouldn't find out?" Elsie barked on the other end. It was rare for the graceful lady to throw a tantrum like that. Even Kasie was blown away by this.
Each word of her rant could be heard clearly in the dead of night.
With his eyes glued to Kasie's blushing face, Ivan asked calmly, "Mom, what's going on?"
"You tell me. Ivan, you… you love… men? How do you think that looks? Your dad and I are a laughingstock. And now you hook up with Debbie's best friend! What were you thinking? You need to come back home. Now!" Elsie was so pissed by what her son had done that she pretty much shouted at him over the phone.
