After Debbie had downed three glasses of liquor, she'd earned more than 10, 000 dollars.
Jared finally revealed himself. He was tipsy, and staggered out of the bathroom, slumping back into his seat. Since there was a throng surrounding Debbie at that moment, Jared couldn't see her, so he turned his attention to the girl he had met earlier.
By the time Kristina found him, Debbie had already drunk seven glasses of liquor. She let him know, and the news sobered him.
Jared rushed to Debbie, snatched the glass from her hand, and snarled, "What the hell do you think you're doing? How much have you had?" Noticing the thick wad of notes, Jared shivered. 'If Mr. Huo finds out about this, I'm screwed.'
Debbie waved her hand and said, "Eh, relax. Look at the money I've made. Thousands of dollars a glass. And I'm not drunk yet."
She really could hold her liquor. After seven glasses, her face was red but she was only a bit tipsy.
She was in a good mood now. She figured she could drink more and make more money. The man in the bar poured another glass of liquor for her. Once again, she emptied the glass and took the wad of notes thrown on the table.
Her husband Carlos was rich and generous, but she considered it wise to have some private savings, just in case she and Carlos got divorced one day. She didn't want to end up homeless and penniless after the divorce. And she figured she'd found her calling.
Seeing that Debbie wouldn't listen to him, Jared cleared his throat and shouted at the man, "Go away! Do you have any clue who she is? You have some serious stones to get her drunk like this. You're playing with fire!"
Jared wasn't a regular. As a matter of fact, it was no short drive for him to get here. The only reason he was here was Debbie. So the man didn't know either of them. Jared's words didn't faze the man. He just shrugged and assumed an innocent tone. "You saw it. I didn't force her. She wanted to drink."
It frustrated Jared that what the man had said was true. He wanted to punch the man in the face, but he lacked a reason. Then he whispered in Debbie's ear, "Think about your husband. You forget what he did to us the last time we got drunk? And that was just beer. But you've put a lot of glasses away. What do you think he's going to do when he finds out?"
The thought of her husband made Debbie tremble. "Why didn't you tell me about this earlier?" she complained and belched.
At that moment, two men walked over and grabbed Jared's arms. "Are you blind? Bernard's having fun. Boss is rich enough to buy this whole damn bar, let alone a few drinks. Now, get lost!"
With that, one of the two men gave Jared a rough shove. Provoked, he grabbed an empty bottle from the table and smashed it against the table. "I don't care who the hell Bernard is. Go ahead, make her drink again! I'll kill you," he spat, pointing the remaining broken bottle at them.
Carlos' name completely cleared Debbie's head. Afraid of what he'd do, she put the money in her purse and was ready to leave the bar. However, Bernard grabbed her arm. "Since you took so much of my money, don't you think you owe me a song?"
"Maybe next time. I'm too drunk to sing," Debbie grinned and took a step forward.
"What's your hurry? If you're drunk, then sing drunk!" Bernard was not happy.
Sensing Bernard wasn't going to let her go, Jared smashed the broken bottle against his head. Blood gushed out and flowed down his face. Some of the customers screamed and fled the place, afraid of what might come next.
Bernard touched his head and soon his hand was covered with blood. His eyes went bloodshot with rage. He kicked away the chair in front of him furiously and yelled, "Asshole! You'll pay for that! I work for Oscar! You're so dead!"
"Oscar?" Jared repeated with a sneer.
Debbie felt the name sounded familiar, but she didn't remember where she had heard it.
"Yes, Oscar's my boss. You want to save your ass? Beat it. She took my money and she belongs to me tonight." Assuming that Jared was scared by the name Oscar, Bernard got cocky.
Jared didn't get angry. On the contrary, he calmed down rather quickly. He patted Bernard on the shoulder, pointed his thumb at Debbie, and said to him, "Oscar was beaten to a pulp and sentenced to life in prison. Know why? He offended her. That what you want?"
Everyone in the underworld knew that Oscar was beaten up at Orchid Private Club and thrown out half dead. People said it was because he pissed off Damon. Soon enough, he was given a life sentence.
Bernard cast a weird, suspicious look at Debbie, who was a little tipsy. "So she's Damon's woman?' Thinking of the tens of thousands he had spent on the drinks tonight, he felt humiliated and furious if it was all for nothing. "You can go. I want my money," he said shamelessly.
Debbie hadn't expected the man to be so cheap.
She put her hands on her hips and retorted, "Why should I? I drank so much liquor. At your request! I earned every penny. If you couldn't afford to lose it, why did you give it to me in the first place?"
The man's suspicion thickened at her words. "You said she's Damon's woman. Would Damon's woman care about a tiny amount like that?" Bernard knew that Damon was Carlos' good buddy. All Carlos' friends were rich and powerful, so he was pretty sure that the woman wasn't Damon's woman.
"I never said she was Damon's woman. That was all you," Jared said impatiently. Then he turned to Debbie. "Ignore him, Tomboy. Let's go." Jared took her by the arm and started to walk towards the entrance of the bar.
Finding out that Debbie wasn't Damon's woman, Bernard was relieved. Also since she was just a nobody, he was more reluctant to let her leave with his money. "You—"
At that point, the manager came over. He was obviously unnerved and sweating. When he saw Debbie, he frowned and said, "What are you doing here? Hurry. A big shot upstairs wants you to sing."
"I don't want to." Debbie refused crisply. She felt dizzy and just wanted to go home.
The manager was anxious. The person upstairs was too important to anger. "Do hurry. How about I raise your pay by 5,000?"
'5,000? Who's so important that's he's willing to put so much cash? You look up "cheap" in the dictionary and the manager's face is there, ' Debbie couldn't help but wonder.
"She wouldn't sing even if you paid her $10,000 an hour. She needs to go home." Jared shouted angrily. Carlos would kill him if he found out Debbie had gotten so drunk. He must get her back before Carlos got home so she could take a shower and go to bed. If she were to sleep, Carlos wouldn't bother her.
The manager knew Jared as a rich kid. Although he wasn't as important as the man upstairs, the manager didn't dare to offend him either. "Mr. Han, to be honest, even your brother wouldn't dare to mess with the guy upstairs. I think you better let her sing," he explained to Jared politely.
Few people could make the manager so afraid. Bernard looked at him and thought the person upstairs must be pretty important. "Who is his brother? And who is the person upstairs?" he asked, pointing at Jared.
"His brother is Damon and the name of the person upstairs is confidential," the manager answered impatiently.
Learning that Jared was Damon's brother, Bernard instantly shut up. For a moment, he couldn't feel his legs anymore. The money was forgotten and his head even didn't hurt so much anymore all of a sudden. All he could think of was running as fast as he could.
In fact, Jared didn't know Damon well. There were a lot of people that his brother wouldn't dare to offend. Therefore, he didn't think this was such a big deal. "I don't care who is upstairs. I intend to get her out of here. Move away!"
At that moment, he had forgotten that there was one person who made him care---Carlos. Later, when Jared saw the person upstairs, he wished he could take back what he had just said.
Debbie's eyelids were getting heavy. The liquor had a strong delayed effect. It was starting to go to her head. If they stayed any longer, she might pass out.