Actually, Debbie was never a troublemaker. If Megan hadn't gone too far, Debbie wouldn't have cussed her out. No woman was willing to give up her husband without a fight, and Debbie was no exception.
Any news related to Carlos was a hot topic. Before long, Kasie's comment on Weibo was in the top 3, with a ton of likes.
Many people agreed with Kasie. When Carlos had come out of the hotel with Debbie in his arms back then, paparazzi had asked him whether the girl was Megan. But Carlos, the man of few words, had simply said, "Megan is my niece."
Megan's name had always been linked with Carlos, and many people actually thought she would be Mrs. Huo—or worse, already was Mrs. Huo. As the saying goes, "There's no smoke without fire." If Megan really treated Carlos like her uncle, things would never have developed like this. The truth was, they had spent too much time together, and the press was on that. And tabloids love to spread salacious rumors.
Kasie's comment had been shared a countless number of times. Weibo users left comments under Carlos' and Megan's Weibo posts asking about their relationship.
When Kasie opened her Weibo again, she was startled by the number of likes and comments. She was thinking of deleting the comment, as she didn't want to offend Carlos. But it was already too late. She herself became a hot topic, as her comment was shared via screenshot to all the online gossip rags. Some staff at these websites even sent her private messages about her relationship with Mrs. Huo.
What was more, her post had caught the attention of the ZL Group's PR department.
It was Emmett who was responsible for dealing with news related to his boss. After all, he was Carlos' right-hand man. When Emmett saw the comment, he thought something wasn't right and asked the technology department to find the poster's profile. That was when he found himself staring at Kasie's information.
Many Weibo users left comments under Megan's posts and asked her, "Why are you bugging Carlos Huo? Are you trying to seduce him?"
The next morning, Carlos got dressed and went downstairs to have breakfast. Debbie had just fallen asleep. The Huo family was having breakfast in the dining room—everyone was there except Lewis and Debbie.
Valerie cast a glance at Carlos and then at the stairs. "Where's your wife?" she asked in a cold voice.
Carlos sat at the table and answered casually, "Sleeping off the jet lag."
James banged his chopsticks on the table and shouted, "Then why didn't Megan have to sleep off the jet lag? I swear that woman is so delicate!"
Megan was sitting opposite Carlos. Her face went pale. At the mention of her name, she began, "I... I didn't... get any sleep last night."
"What happened? I thought you had gotten used to New York time," said Valerie, concern in her voice.
Megan looked at Carlos, who was placing a table mat in front of himself. He raised his eyes and saw her reddened orbs. "Why are you crying?" he asked indifferently.
His words caught everyone's attention. Tabitha's heart broke when she saw how sad Megan was. She handed Megan a tissue and asked, "Sweetheart, what happened? Are you okay? Just tell us if anything is wrong."
Megan was always a cheerful girl, and the Huo family seldom saw her cry. They all looked at her, wanting to know who had bullied their beloved girl. Miranda, however, was an exception. She always thought Megan was a troublemaker and disliked her. She thought this woman was two-faced and cozied up to Carlos too much. As if she heard nothing, she continued eating her breakfast.
"I... I got cyber-bullied last night..." Tears streamed down Megan's cheeks. She dropped her chopsticks, her voice choked with tears.
Valerie was anxious. "Tell us what happened."
Megan wiped her tears with the tissue and said with a sad smile, "I'm sorry, Valerie, James, Tabitha. I'm okay now. Please—just keep eating."
Carlos furrowed his eyebrows, but he said nothing. He just ate his breakfast silently.
After the breakfast, Tabitha dragged Carlos to a corner out of earshot and told him, "Megan cried last night. And now she's crying again. Put your people on this. Find out who this cyber-bully is and deal with it."
Tabitha treated Megan like her own daughter and couldn't bear her beloved girl suffering from any kind of bullying.
The moment Megan said she suffered from cyber-bullying, Carlos knew why she was crying. He had already knew that the media had talked about him flying back to New York with his wife.
Emmett kept him informed as well, and let him know that Kasie was the one who had caused this stir.
"You got it," answered Carlos. He then cast a glance at his family; they were busy consoling Megan. Then he walked up the stairs.
"Uncle Carlos!" Megan called out in a choked voice.
Carlos stopped and turned to look at her.
Megan stood up from the couch, her eyes and nose red. "Uncle Carlos, I know she's Aunt Debbie's friend. Just pretend that you don't know anything, okay? I don't want you and Aunt Debbie to end up in a fight."
"Keep Grandma company," Carlos nodded.
Then he turned around and left, saying nothing more.
When she heard this had something to do with Debbie, Valerie kept on prodding Megan, "Tell me what happened."
"Grandma, it was all my fault. I should've flown here alone. Some paparazzo took pictures of Uncle Carlos, Aunt Debbie and me waiting for the flight. Aunt Debbie's friend was so mean. She said I... I wanted to seduce Uncle Carlos... But I never thought anything like that..." Megan started crying again.
Valerie's heart broke at the sight of her tears. "It's okay. Don't cry. I trust you. Before that Debbie Nian popped up out of nowhere, you flew here with Carlos every time. Don't worry, Megan. I won't let that woman off the hook so easily."
James snorted, "I knew it. Debbie Nian is just a drama queen. Birds of a feather flock together. She and her friend are both troublemakers."
It was the first day of the Lunar New Year. No one in the Huo family had to work today. They were all gathered in the living room, listening to the conversation. Most of them chose to remain quiet until they could find out more.
Megan pretended to be anxious and began to defend Debbie. "James, you don't get Aunt Debbie. She's nice. Can she control what her friend did? I don't think so."
James shook his hand. "You don't need to put in a good word for her. She's rude and doesn't respect her elders at all. She certainly wasn't raised right. She's not my daughter-in-law!"
Miranda had changed her clothes and walked down the stairs. When she heard James, she taunted, "It's too late for you to disagree. They're already married."
James was shocked speechless. His sister-in-law always had a way to shut him up.
Miranda put on her sunglasses and left the house with her head held high.
Meanwhile, Carlos pushed open the door to his bedroom, and Debbie was still sound asleep inside. He kissed her softly on the forehead and entered the adjacent study.
He closed the door behind him and called Emmett. "Delete everything that says something negative about Megan—all the news posts, and all the comments."
Emmett opened his laptop and began complaining to his boss. "Do you know where I am right now?"