"But there's a line. I hope for your sake you don't cross that line again. As an elder, you should know better. I'll let Megan off the hook this time, but if she talks about my parents again, things won't be so easy for her, I swear."
After that, Debbie turned and went upstairs.
Valerie was too furious to say anything. If it were possible, steam would have poured from her ears.
Back in her room, Debbie decided to get comfortable. She drew a nice warm bath and washed the grime away. She had hardly put clean clothing on before her phone rang. She knew the number by heart, even though she didn't have him in her contact list. It was Hayden. 'Why's he calling?' she wondered.
In a bad mood, Debbie decided not to answer it, just let it go to voicemail. She wasn't very good company right now. Then she got a text message from him. "I'm in New York. I need to see you. It's important."
'Hayden is in New York?' Debbie was a little worried. "Why are you here? What's so important?" she asked in a text.
"I'll give you the details when we meet up. If you don't come and meet me, I'll go to the Huos' residence to find you,"
he threatened. 'What the heck?' Debbie cursed inwardly. She figured she'd better do as he said. After all, it might cause a scandal inadvertently. She called Carlos to let him know.
"I want to go out for a while," she told him.
"Okay, I'll ask the driver to take you wherever you want to go."
"Okay. Carlos..." Debbie intended to tell him that she was going to meet Hayden, but remembering how jealous he could be, she decided not to.
"Yeah?"
"Oh, nothing. What time are you coming home tonight?"
Carlos smiled. "Since you miss me so much, I'll come home early."
To his surprise, Debbie didn't scold him this time for hitting on her. "Okay," she replied sweetly.
On Broadway Avenue
Debbie got out of the car at an intersection, sent the driver away, and walked to the coffee shop where she was supposed to meet up with Hayden.
When she got there, Hayden was already waiting for her. Seeing her walk in, he waved at her.
It was a very cold day. She could see her breath in the air. Debbie felt she could hardly stand the cold after stepping out of the Huos' house. They kept that place hot like summer with the heat on all the time. She took off her hat and scarf, unzipped her down jacket, and sat opposite Hayden before ordering a latte for herself.
For a moment, neither of them spoke. Debbie's coffee came. "Thank you," she said to the barista who had just brought her the coffee. Hayden just leaned against the sofa and watched her.
It made Debbie feel uncomfortable. "Mr. Gu, I'm here, so just say what you have to say."
"You married Carlos Huo."
It was not a question but a statement.
Debbie nodded, "Yeah."
Though he knew the truth earlier, Hayden felt a pang in his heart when he heard her admit it in person.
He composed himself and stated, "I've heard that there's an arranged marriage in the works. The Huo family and Li family. Carlos and the daughter of the Li family grew up together and make a perfect couple. Everyone thinks that they'll get married sooner or later. James told the press a few days ago that the daughter of the Li family would be his daughter-in-law."
Just now, Debbie finally understood why James didn't like her. She represented a threat to their business interests. It turned out that he had chosen a daughter-in-law a long time ago. Debbie was an unpleasant surprise to him. And his decision was based purely on the business advantages it would bring.
"I know. Not a problem. Carlos and I love each other. We'll convince his father to accept me." Carlos' family might have some problems with her right now, but that was no reason for her to give up.
"And Carlos' grandma likes his niece, though she's not a blood relative." Hayden had done some research on Carlos. Although there wasn't much, he found out something about his family.
Debbie was not blind. She could see that Valerie liked Megan a lot. "It doesn't matter." She believed that the love between her and Carlos was strong enough to overcome any obstacle between them. They would pass this trial.
Hayden sighed, resigned to his fate. He still couldn't win her back. He said in a defeated tone, "Fine. Tell me why you lied to me."
Debbie held the coffee mug to warm her hands. "When did I lie to you?" she wondered.
Hayden smiled wryly. "I thought you were married to Emmett, and you didn't deny it." He felt played, felt that he made a fool of himself in front of Emmett and her. He didn't like that feeling, not one bit.
"You and I broke up. Remember? So I have to tell you who I married? None of your business!" Debbie retorted with a sneer.
Her brutal tone stung. Hayden felt his heart was bleeding. He leaned forward and grabbed her hand resting on the table. "Deb..."
"Get your hands off me!" Debbie said angrily, trying to pull her hand out.
Hayden didn't move his hands away. He held her hand tighter and pulled it close to his face to smell her scent. "Deb, don't cancel me. Please."
Debbie looked around the coffee shop and found that Hayden and she were all the customers the shop had. She raised her voice and demanded, "Let go of my hand! Don't push me. I'm getting pissed!"
Hayden looked up at her. "What's the worst that can happen? You already left me a long time ago anyway." Sensing her anger, Hayden conceded, "Fine. I'll let you go, but don't walk away, okay?"
Debbie gritted her teeth and nodded. As soon as he let go of her, she asked a barista to bring her a wet towel to wipe her hand.
Embarrassed, Hayden gave a bitter smile.
Debbie wiped her hand again and again before asking, "What's so important that you have to tell me in person? What are you up to?"
"Does Carlos Huo treat you right? Why did you marry him? Did you two make a secret deal or something? How much is he paying you? Tell me, Deb. I've been worried about you ever since I found out you married him."
"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but he really treasures me. And there's no deal between us. We're in love. Got it? Oh, my mistake. I forgot you never loved anyone, so you might not know what it is."
When they were dating, Hayden always thought he was better than Debbie and despised her on every level. Soon after, he hooked up with some rich girl and often showed up as a happy couple in front of Debbie. That was when Debbie realized he had never loved her.
"Come on, Deb, our breakup was mutual. Don't act all innocent." Hayden sighed, trying to defend himself.
"What do you mean? I poured my heart into our relationship. Wasn't that enough?"
Hayden shook his head. "I didn't say you weren't good to me. You were great to me. But, in that time, we only held hands. We were a couple, but we didn't even kiss. Not fair."
That was something Hayden hated to mention. He had only kissed Debbie on the cheek. That was all.
Debbie replied, "I was too young." She hadn't even come of age yet when they started dating. She thought she was progressive and free-spirited enough to do that. But she had standards, and she wasn't going to violate those.