Hayden had been talking about work with his assistant the whole way. He hadn't intended to interrupt Debbie either. He respected her space, and sometimes it was just enough for him to catch a glimpse of her. They were downtown before he finally took the initiative to talk to her. But this time, he had a pretty important question to ask.
"Where's your house?"
Debbie hesitated at the question. 'Should I go back to the manor? Carlos and Megan are probably there already.' Not in the mood to see Megan, she replied, "Please drive me to East City Villa."
Hayden raised his eyebrows. "Oh, what a coincidence! I have a house there too," he said to Debbie. He turned to his assistant. "Alfred, I'll stay in East City Villa tonight. Have someone ready the house for me," he instructed.
"Yes, Mr. Gu."
Debbie's breath caught in her throat. If she had known he had a house there too, she wouldn't have rattled off that destination.
Even so, they remained silent again all the way to East City Villa. She didn't feel much like talking, and she was hoping Carlos wouldn't figure out where she was right now, or that she'd caught a ride with Hayden.
A few moments later, the Porsche pulled up in front of Debbie's previous villa. Hayden personally helped her remove her luggage from the trunk.
Debbie reached out her hands for the luggage while saying, "Thank you for the ride, Mr. Gu. Goodbye!"
Instead of handing the luggage to her, Hayden suggested, "I figured out what you could do to repay me for the ticket. You used to make the most wonderful egg tarts. I haven't had any in a long time. How about you make some for me now? Then we go our separate ways, and you owe me nothing. What do you think?"
Frankly, this was rather a far-fetched excuse. He knew it, and so did Debbie. It was just an excuse to spend more time with her. And she didn't want to do that. She wanted to talk to her friends, and be alone with her thoughts. Hayden was a constant—and dangerous—distraction.
Of course Debbie turned him down and refused bluntly, "If I recall correctly, you don't like egg tarts, do you? On top of that, I don't know how to make egg tarts. I think I'd better buy you a meal some other time."
The truth was, she could make egg tarts if all the ingredients were ready-made. There were pre-made egg custard, pastries and tart tins sold in the supermarket. She just needed to fill the tart tins with the egg custard and put them into an oven to bake for a while. But she didn't feel like doing that now. She didn't have the energy to do much at all.
Back when she and Hayden were dating, she had once made egg tarts for him. But he'd just looked at the egg tarts with contempt in his eyes without taking a bite.
"Deb, I didn't cherish what we had. I've been regretting ever since. Please, I'm not asking much now. And we're already at the door of your house. Don't refuse me, please?" Hayden stared at her expectantly.
Debbie pulled a long face, annoyed. "I don't have any ingredients at home."
He immediately turned to his assistant and instructed, "Go to a nearby supermarket and buy a full set of egg tart ingredients and tools. And a new oven too. Be quick!"
"Yes, Mr. Gu."
Debbie was at a loss for words. Hayden was becoming bolder and more annoying now. He had always done something that made her hard to turn him down. Now he was not only buying all the ingredients for egg tarts, but a brand new oven as well. Never let it be said that he wasn't one for grand gestures.
Eventually, she opened the gate of the villa and allowed him in. Julie and the other housemaids were still on a vacation for the Spring Festival and hadn't come back yet.
Debbie impatiently led Hayden into the living room. In an angry voice, she warned, "Just sit there and wait. Don't speak to me. Or else I'll spread your nose across your face!" She raised her fist in front of him as she said it.
Hayden laughed and nodded. Inside, he felt remorseful again. 'She's so cute when she's like this! What an idiot I was! I've lost her...'
Leaving Hayden alone in the living room, Debbie lugged the bags upstairs to her bedroom first. He had wanted to help her carry the luggage upstairs, but she rejected his help.
She had been kind enough to allow him to enter the villa. That was enough for her. By rights, she should have sent him home. But there was always a small part of her that wanted to care for the smallest parts of his soul. He was like a lost child now, and seemed as pitiful as anything else. However, letting him help her with the bags would mean letting him into her bedroom. That would be too ridiculous.
Shortly, his assistant had bought all the needed items for making egg tarts. Looking at the clean kitchen, Debbie felt at a loss. 'What should I do first?'
It occurred to her that this situation was similar to what her husband had done a few days ago. That night, Carlos cooked noodles for Megan, and now, she was going to make desserts for Hayden. She smiled bitterly. 'It's so ironic.
If anyone saw this, they might think I'm deliberately doing this to get revenge on Carlos.'
Taking a deep breath, she shook off all these thoughts and began to wash the tools. Then, she clumsily placed the crust on the tart tins and filled them with the egg custard.
It proved again that Debbie wouldn't be a good housewife. Now, she had poured too much egg custard into some of the tart tins and it spilled out. And then again, her elbow accidentally swept some of the tart tins off the table onto the floor. The kitchen was already a mess even before she put the unbaked egg tarts into the oven.
Unknowingly, Hayden had already come into the kitchen. He asked with worry, "Need my help?"
In a tearing hurry, Debbie nodded and said, "Yeah. Help me preheat the oven first."
Hayden then opened the box and took out the new oven. Quickly glancing over the instruction book, he switched it on and pressed the preheat button.
Finally, Debbie finished the first step and put all the unbaked egg tarts on a tray. Steadying the tray in her hands, she carefully moved it to the oven. When she drew back her hands, her bare left hand accidentally touched the hot oven grilling pan. With no oven mitt, she was definitely asking to be burned.
"Ouch!" she groaned and stepped back.
Unexpectedly, Hayden was standing right behind her and she fell into his arms...
On the other hand, Carlos had hurried back to his office after getting off his private plane. He had just sat down in his seat when Tristan called him and reported to him that Debbie was in Hayden's car.
After hanging up, he immediately called Emmett in, his face darkened. "Besides bidding for the contract of the Century Group, what else has the Gu Group been working on recently?"
Emmett quickly checked the documents in his hands and replied, "They held a new product release event. A few international A-list stars attended it and endorsed the products for them."
Carlos looked out of the window, overlooking the whole Y City, and instructed calmly, "Now, go and prepare a spring fashion show from ZL Group. What's more, some time ago, there was a rumor that the Gu family and the Qin family would be allied by marriage, right? Do something to push forward the arrangement..."
Emmett silently swallowed his spit as he took note of his boss's orders. 'Mr. Huo is causing a lot of trouble for Hayden!'
Half an hour later, Carlos got another call from Tristan. This time, the report from the other end of the line made Carlos leap up from his seat. Kicking the seat away in fury, he strode out of his office while holding the phone in his hand.
Outside the office, when Emmett noticed Carlos' deadpan face, he knew something terrible had happened. He quickly gave a few instructions to his men and followed Carlos to the elevator at a rapid sprint. At the last second before the elevator door closed, he squeezed inside, breathless and panting.
'Is Debbie in danger?' Emmett wanted to ask but he didn't dare to, because the man standing next to him was on the verge of going ballistic. The atmosphere inside the elevator was heavy and oppressive.
In the parking lot, Emmett gestured to Carlos to take a seat in back.
But when Emmett had just sat in the driver's seat and fastened the seatbelt, Carlos suddenly got out of the car and opened the door of the driver's seat. He pulled him out while yelling, "Move!"
Emmett obediently moved to the passenger seat.
Thanks to Carlos' excellent driving skills, the engine of the pricey and high-end Emperor roared to life, and handled like a dream. The gleaming high-performance engine could be heard clearly as the car raced through the city streets. As the car zigzagged along the road, Emmett held tightly onto the interior handrail, fighting the urge to vomit. His eyes were fixed on the windshield and his lips were zipped.
Undoubtedly, Carlos' mad behavior must have something to do with Debbie.
About twenty minutes later, the Emperor rolled to a stop at the East City Villa. Seeing the sapphire Porsche and Tristan's car parked in front of Carlos' villa, Emmett was even more certain about his guess.
'Mr. Huo always loses his composure when it comes to Debbie, ' he thought smugly.
Using the fingerprint lock, Carlos silently pushed open the door and walked toward the living room. He didn't even bother to change his footwear from outside shoes to ones more appropriate for the house.
In the kitchen, holding Debbie's hand tightly, Hayden asked anxiously, "Deb, does it hurt? I'm taking you to the hospital now!" That said, he gathered her into his arms straightaway, giving her no chance to refuse. He started to carry her out of the kitchen.
Feeling her body leave the ground all of a sudden, Debbie reflexively wrapped her arms around his neck. "No, put me down first..." 'It's not that serious!' she thought.
Hayden ignored her protests and rushed out of the kitchen, carrying her in his arms. Just as he stepped out, he saw a man in the living room and slowed his pace.