Not that Lucinda and Sebastian looked down on Debbie. On the contrary, they felt bad about Gail constantly picking on her. It was just that Carlos was so unapproachable. They felt it didn't make sense for him to marry a plain girl like Debbie.
"Hayden?" Sebastian tried to remember the man. "He just came home from abroad recently, but in a short time, with the help of his powerful family, he's already quite influential in Y City. I don't know much about him, though. I'll do a background check on him later," he promised.
"That's not necessary. Since he's Debbie's husband, she has agreed to bring him here for dinner some day. We'll know more when he comes."
"Okay," Sebastian agreed.
When Debbie got to the villa, Carlos wasn't back home from work yet. When she passed by the living room, she saw the tens of bags of various sizes on the floor. It was only then that she remembered she had been on a shopping spree before she had gone to her aunt's.
She had bought a load of cosmetics at the Shining International Plaza. Even she herself was shocked by the number of the extravagance. When did she become so wasteful? Was that the right kind of influence she was picking from Carlos? On the nightly shopping spree, she had gone to Shining International Plaza to buy a tobacco pipe for Sebastian. But on impulse, she had visited the cosmetics shop, which happened to be running a sales promo.
She was lured by a sales assistant who pushed a pitch of ridiculously discounted items.
But when Debbie got to the counter to pay for what she had picked, she realized she had been tricked. She hated their bait and switch sales tactics, but she didn't want the embarrassment of appearing that she was a flat broke ass, so she just accepted the items. With a kit of hydrating toner, lotion, and cream going at $10, 000, the prices were simply over the top, forcing her to call Carlos for his opinion before she paid for anything. It was his money after all. To her surprise, he upbraided her.
"Debbie Nian, I have loads of money that you'll never finish a fraction in a thousand lifetimes. You can't afford to be a penny pincher when you have my money and my heart, dear. If you ever hesitate again to spend the money, I'll move the most expensive cosmetics shop in the Shining International Plaza into your bedroom," he warned.
After the brief call, Debbie leisurely walked back to the counter and paid for the cosmetics without batting an eyelid. She had been hesitant about the hydration essence and face mask a moment ago, but after his nudging on the phone, there was not a thing she'd leave out.
After paying, she called him once more and proudly anounced, "Mr. Handsome, I just blew $36, 570 on the damn things. A good treat, huh?"
Carlos was glad that she finally bought herself something fancy, but Debbie despised that needless obscene spending.
"All the skin care products are having a sales promotion now. The customers who have spent $200, 000 or more will get a free 8-day trip to the Maldives. Accommodation, refreshments, transportation, all included. Deb, wouldn't you fancy an all expenses paid trip to the Maldives?" Carlos asked.
Debbie nodded violently, "Yes, yes, I do. But... how can I manage to spend so much money on one night's shopping spree?"
The so-called free trip would only be a fraction of the money spent at the mall first. Annoyed by the manipulative sales gimmicks, she passed by as if she hadn't heard what the sales crew were touting.
"What have you bought?" Carlos asked on the phone.
After hearing Debbie out, he continued, "Go buy two more sets of the same items, if you don't mind. In addition, you can also buy some lipsticks and other cosmetics. Stay away from the cheap ones, please."
Debbie was astounded.
"If you can't spend $200, 000 by yourself today, I'll go to the mall and pick out some things for you later." If Debbie couldn't even spend $200, 000 in one day, it would only prove that the fancy cosmetics shops in Shining International Plaza were lower end.
"No, no—"
"Go to the lounge to have a rest. I'll have the manager bring the samples of everything to you so that you can decide what you want."
"I said no—"
"Sweet pie, it's only $200, 000. That isn't much for a man of my means."
Debbie sensed that she didn't have a choice. "Okay," she replied.
"Good girl. Remember to claim the Maldives reward at the service counter afterwards. Then don't leave the mall yet. Go to the compartments for men and buy some articles for me. Spend at least $200, 000 on me as well. Let's go to the Maldives together. Don't you like the idea?"
Debbie wasn't very impressed, but she had to play along.
Because if Carlos came and chose the cosmetics with her, he'd blow away far more than the $400, 000 he was telling her to spend. "Okay," she agreed.
Carlos smiled. "From now on, Zelda won't be in charge of shopping for me anymore. It will be your duty. I believe you'll keep our skin care products in adequate supply."
Later, with the help of the housemaids, Debbie moved the bags delivered to the villa by Shining International Plaza from the living room to her bedroom.
She cautiously took the products out of the bags and put them on the dressing table.
When the top of the table was all occupied, she stuffed the rest into the drawers. 'Obscene spending, ' she chastised herself silently. Careful not to ruin her day by dwelling so much on the negatives, she told herself to unwind. Heaving a deep, reflective sigh, she pulled out her phone, took a photo of the items and posted it in Moments on WeChat. "For the 8-day trip to the Maldives, I shopped like crazy at the Shining International Plaza!" she captioned.
Since Carlos had been sleeping in her bedroom most of the time lately, and they had had sex the night before, Debbie thought he wouldn't sleep alone in his bedroom anymore. So she kept his cosmetics in her bedroom.
The thought of what had happened last night made her blush. With the palm of her left hand on cheek, she put one set of skin care products for men into her bathroom. There were only a few items for Carlos, but each was exquisite.
She marveled at the fancy packaging while she unpacked a face cream.
According to the sales assistant, tell packaging had won the first prize of an international skin care products design competition. Did the packaging design make the product look better? No, of course not, but it made it more expensive. That was the point.
The cream for men was as expensive as a few sets of skin care products for women. Debbie removed the lid and wondered whether it was gold inside the jar. Wow, it smelled so good. The faint fragrance was simply ethereal.
She smeared some cream with her finger and dabbed it on the back of her hand.
Later, she found out that it was very effective in hydrating. It left her hand unbelievably smooth. It seemed their pricing was justified, after all.
Then she noticed the cologne she had bought for Carlos. To find the perfect scent for him, Debbie had smelled all the cologne samples, but none of them was close to the perfume he usually wore.
At last, she had to go with a soft Calabrian bergamot scent, just perfect for her man.
When everything was tidied up, it was ten o'clock already. After a bath, Debbie opened several bottles and smeared her body all over. Then she slipped under the covers.
Before having a beauty sleep, she intended to play a little bit of Candy Crush Saga on the phone for a while. But seeing the time on the screen, she wondered, 'it's pretty late already. Why is Carlos not home yet?'
Immediately, she called him. "Hi." The phone was answered quickly.
"Do you... I'm wondering when you are coming back. It's already 10 p.m."
'Does she miss me?' Carlos wondered. A smile crept over his face when he sat in the back seat. "I'm on my way. I'll be home in five minutes."
"Oh, okay then. See you later."
"Bye."
After hanging up the phone, Debbie got out of bed quickly, the phone still in her hand. She trotted down the stairs into the kitchen and started to heat up a bottle of milk.
Within five minutes, the doorbell rang and Carlos was home, true to his word. How she wished he'd be like this forever.