After James finally finished his rant, Carlos said calmly, "She's not just some random woman I plucked off the streets. I have the final say in my marriage, Dad. As for the Li family, go explain to them yourself. This has nothing to do with me!"
His words caused James' blood pressure to surge. Hearing the noise on the other end of the line, Carlos shut his eyes and inhaled deeply. He knew that his father was rummaging through the drawers, looking for his medicine. He patiently waited on the phone.
After downing the pills, James gradually got a hold of himself. When he was able to speak again, he yelled, "Divorce! You have to divorce her!"
In a colder voice, Carlos asked, "Anything else?"
"Last month, I talked marriage with Stephanie's grandfather. You and Stephanie grew up together. You're 28 years old, and she's 27. If you guys can tie the knot before you're both 30..." James just wouldn't stop. He kept urging Carlos to marry Stephanie Li as if Carlos weren't already married. But he was. To Debbie. It had already been arranged, and Carlos found himself continually surprised by, challenged by, and head over heels in love with Debbie. He didn't want anyone else.
"Seems like you're quite fond of her, Dad. How about you marry Stephanie yourself? That way Mom can relax too."
"You asshole! Goddamn ungrateful..." The call was cut all of a sudden. Carlos figured that James must have thrown his phone against the wall or something. That was just like him, and it wouldn't be the first time.
James had broken a number of phones over the years. If he'd kept those phones in decent shape, he could have opened his own phone store.
From experience, he knew what James would do next: find someone to vent his anger at. And the target was probably... Leaping into action, Carlos quickly dialed Tabitha's number. He waited a long time for her to pick up.
"Carlos, what's up? It's late. Haven't you gone to bed yet?" Tabitha asked, though she had guessed what had happened. She heard the man hollering a few rooms away, and heard the unmistakable sounds of a phone shattering against the wall.
"Mom, I'll get my assistant to pick you up. Please pack a few things and move into my villa. I'm flying to New York soon, two days before the Spring Festival. I can bring you back home then." Carlos had several houses in New York. If she stayed in one of his estates, James wouldn't be able to do a thing to her.
Wiping her teary eyes, Tabitha forced a smile and said, "I'm okay, Carlos. Don't worry about me. I'll just stay in my room. Just take care of Debbie, okay? You have your own life now."
Fretful, Carlos closed his eyes tightly. "Mom, you've suffered enough. Why don't you leave him? Why do you put up with him? Do you want your depression to get worse?"
As a matter of fact, a few years ago, Tabitha had been diagnosed with mild depression thanks to James' temper. Carlos had accidentally found out about her mental health challenges and sought out the best doctors. After some therapy combined with traditional Chinese medicine, she got better. However, as long as she was living with James, it would be impossible for her to recover completely. Her illness returned time and again.
Carlos had even given Tabitha his keys to the villa in New York, but she refused to move in. She had been determined to live together with James and make the best of it. The Huo family had a distinguished status in H Country and even in New York. The last thing she would do was dishonor the Huo family name.
"No, Carlos. Your dad and I..."
"Pack your luggage now. I'm sending my assistant over to drive you to my villa." As he finished, he hung up at once, without giving Tabitha the chance to refuse. Then, he called his assistant at the New York branch of his company, requesting that he ferry Tabitha to his villa.
Carlos leaned back in his seat and lit a cigarette. Contemplating the view outside his window, he was deep in thought. Moments later, Debbie's face popped into his mind, and he came back to his senses. Thinking of her, he immediately grabbed his phone from the table and opened WeChat. He tapped Debbie's Moments.
Like Debbie usually did, she had updated her status again. She was quite an active WeChat user who enjoyed sharing her daily life and thoughts. There were new posts in her WeChat Moments almost every day.
A few moments ago, she posted another pic. You could see her cute manicured toes, and her hand held the glass of wine he had just poured for her. Above the photo, there was a line of text: "Cupid shoots me with his arrow! Love comes so fast like a tornado!"
'Love comes so fast...' Carlos smiled. 'Yeah, before I knew Debbie was actually my wife, I had a feeling that I'd fall in love with her if I didn't shoo her away as soon as possible.
And I was right. I did fall in love with her, and I love her with all my heart. Luckily, she turned out to be my legal wife...'
His mood lit up as he scrolled down to see her other posts. Apparently, Debbie was still a little girl, even though she behaved like a tomboy. She expressed her feelings and shared everything in her life.
For awhile now, most of her posts had to do with him, like her post today, or the one a few days ago.
That was when they were having dinner with Debbie's cousin, Sasha. Then, after escorting Sasha back to school, they walked back to the hotel, hand in hand. Debbie had taken a photo of their clasped hands and posted it too. She had written a comment, "I hope I can keep holding your hand until the end of my life."
All of his unhappiness and gloom vanished into thin air now.
After putting out the cigarette in his curved glass ashtray, Carlos left the study. When he walked back to the bedroom, he saw that Debbie had already hidden herself under the quilt, chatting fervently with her friends on WeChat.
Carlos climbed onto bed, pulled her into his arms and kissed her damp-dry hair. "It smells good," he whispered in her ear.
"Of course. I used the best shampoo and body wash made by your ZL Group. It should smell good." His hot breath fell on her neck, making her feel itchy, so she tried to move away.
"Hmm. I see. The design team will see a little extra in their paychecks. I make that happen tomorrow."
Debbie was shocked, speechless. Maybe he was too rich to use up his money, so he had to find some ways to spend it.
"Your hair is still wet," he said.
'Yes, I know. I just didn't care." her hair was long and thick. She didn't have the patience to dry it all.
Carlos raised his eyebrows. "Let me help you dry off." He wrapped his arms around her waist and flipped her over, making her look at him.
Debbie moved her body to the edge of the bed, letting her hair fall straight down like a waterfall. This way, her wet hair wouldn't the bedding damp. She entwined her slender arms around his neck and asked with a sweet smile, "Are you really going to help me dry my hair?"
Carlos grinned playfully. "Yes, but I need to be paid."
Seeing the passionate look in his eyes, Debbie instantly understood what sort of payment he was asking for. She struggled to sit up. "No, no. I'll dry it myself."
"Think you can run away?" Carlos asked without stopping her. He slowly followed Debbie into the bathroom again.
In the bathroom, when Debbie found the hair-dryer, she saw Carlos come in too. She swung the hair-dryer in front of him and urged, "I'm going to dry my hair, seriously. Just go back to bed."
Instead of leaving, he grabbed the hair-dryer from her hand. Debbie assumed that he was really intending to help her dey her hair. She remembered he had done this for her before. Without thinking too much, she turned around, back against him, and reminded him, "The cord is short. Maybe move closer to the outlet."
Putting the hair-dryer aside, Carlos clung to her and whispered in a husky voice, "The cord might be short, but you know, a certain part of my body isn't..."
Debbie's face flushed bright red. She patted him on his hand, trying to drive him away. "Go away, don't bother me."
However, it was too late. The man's lust was triggered. Unable to constrain himself anymore, he turned her around and pressed her against the sink. His hands ran up and down her body. driving waves of pleasure through her again and again, before they both surrendered to love's embrace.
The next morning, Carlos had gone to work while Debbie still slept soundly in bed. Her phone jarred her awake. It was Kasie, asking her out on a shopping trip. As the Spring Festival was just around the corner, Carlos had given the yoga teacher and dancing teacher a holiday at Debbie's request. She also wanted to enjoy a relaxing holiday without any lessons. She could just sleep, eat and play all day long!