Pride was written all over Debbie's face. Not until now did she realize that Carlos had given a lot to her, and she felt so grateful.
With knitted eyebrows, Carlos stared at his grandmother and said angrily, "Debbie may be a bad student, Grandma, but she's better than that. Quit trying to frame her."
Valerie scowled at him and snapped back, "I'm not lying! Before she came here, we never lost anything. She must be the thief! Besides, she always tries to bully Megan. If I hadn't been with Megan, this woman would've probably beaten her. She eats too much. She's lazy, and doesn't respect her elders. She doesn't wake up until noon. What's worse, she even cheated on you. Carlos, I won't accept this woman as my granddaughter-in-law."
Debbie was shocked at Valerie's words—she never imagined she thought so low of her. Bitterness flooded her at this moment.
She had done so much housework to please Valerie, but she thanked her by calling her a thief.
'I don't give a rat's ass what they think of me. But I do care about... Carlos' opinion. Does he think of me like that too?' she thought to herself.
She didn't dare to look Carlos in the eye, as she was afraid that she would see disappointment glinting there.
Carlos leaned against the couch, his face deadpan. When he heard Valerie's accusations against his wife, he held Debbie's hand and began to play with it.
Debbie was left speechless. 'What's he doing? I thought we weren't on speaking terms. Is he trying to defend me?
Or is he only doing this to save face?'
Just when Debbie was lost in her own thoughts, Carlos spoke in a cold voice. "I don't know why you think of her that way, Grandma. But she's a good girl. You just won't give her a chance. You said she had bullied Megan. If she really wanted to do that, she would have beaten her up whether you were there or not. See any bruises? No. So you just overreacted."
Valerie's face turned livid. Ignoring her, Carlos continued after a short pause, "You said she didn't respect her elders. In my eyes, she always treats our family members with the utmost respect. You guys, on the other hand, are shitty to her. She doesn't wake up until noon? Well, she suffers from jet lag. And it's my fault. She's up until the small hours because of me. If you do mind that, I'll try to let her get to sleep earlier. She cheated on me? I already explained it, and I don't want to talk about it anymore. You said she stole things? Haha! You must be kidding. My wife would never want your cheap things."
Disdain could be seen in Carlos' eyes.
A myriad of emotions flooded Debbie at this moment. She was so moved by Carlos she wanted to cry. She didn't think she was good enough to catch his eye, but he treated her like the most precious thing in his life.
Valerie was too angry to utter a single word. After a long time, she finally cooled down a little and asked in a sad voice, "Carlos, how did she bewitch you? Why are you going on like this?"
"Because she's my wife," Carlos replied.
"Don't you think you're focused on the wrong person? How about Megan or Stephanie? But why Debbie? She's a thief and a cheater!" James thundered, as he couldn't bear Carlos' attitude any longer.
'Stephanie? Who's that?' Debbie thought to herself.
Carlos stood up from the couch and dragged Debbie along with him. "Don't call me out of work again and then run this...this circus! I'm super busy, and I don't have the time to deal with stupid shit. As for your lost things, I'll have my people look into it. And you, Grandma, you need to apologize to her once the air is clear."
Then he and Debbie went up the stairs, hand in hand. No one dared to stop them.
Valerie hadn't expected things to go down like this. She thought once she said Debbie was a thief, Carlos would get angry and hate Debbie. But it turned out she was wrong.
The moment they entered the bedroom, Carlos told Debbie, "I still have work in New York, and we can't go back to Y City now. If you don't feel happy here, how about we move out?"
After she thought about it a bit, Debbie shook her head. "We're going back to Y City in a few days. Why go to the trouble? I'll go out for the day while you're at work." She decided to keep herself away from Valerie as much as possible.
Then she fell into his strong arms, and she could smell his cologne. With dark eyes, Carlos asked, "Go out? Is Hayden Gu still around?"
Debbie got a headache thanks to Carlos' words. 'I thought he forgot about Hayden. Turns out I was wrong.' "I don't know whether he's still here or not. It has nothing to do with me. I'm not going out to see him. Let me guess, you don't want me to go out, do you? You want to ground me?"
With a snort, Carlos released her and warned, "I don't want to find out that you pulled something like you did with Hayden again."
Sticking out her tongue, Debbie teased, "Fine! I won't tell you."
The next moment, she was scooped up and thrown onto the bed.
"Trying to piss me off?" he asked in a hoarse voice as his hand began to stroke her waist.
Debbie went rigid. "It was just a joke. I'm sorry, honey," she apologized immediately.
Carlos stood up, adjusted his clothes, took out his phone and dialed a number. "It's me, Carlos. A number of things have gone missing in the Huo family's manor. I trust you can look into this."
Debbie turned over on her stomach on the bed, looking at Carlos with pitiful eyes. After he hung up the phone, she asked in a low voice, "Carlos, do you really believe I didn't do it?"
Carlos undid his tie and cast a sidelong glance at her. "I know my woman well," he said shortly.
Debbie was so touched that she stood up and jumped at Carlos. He caught her and held her tight. She kissed him repeatedly on both his cheeks. "I love you so much, honey."
His heart softened, but he managed to maintain a poker face. "Don't try to fool me. I will always remember what you did behind my back."
'Why does he sound like I cheated on him?' Debbie cursed in her mind.
"What a petty man!" she grumbled, pouting her lips.
"Petty?" he repeated.
"No, no, no! You misheard me. You're so handsome that I— Aargh! Don't bite me. I was wrong. My husband is the most wonderful man in the world!"
Deep inside, she began to curse, 'Carlos Huo! I swear I'll make you stand barefoot on a porcupine.'
In the Gu family's house of Y City
Portia was on a phone call on the balcony of the living room, taking in the snow-covered landscape.
"Tell me why all my activities have been cancelled! It took me a long time to set them up. And now, you're telling me that all of them have been cancelled! What on earth is going on?" she shouted angrily into the phone.