The innocent Emperor was the one to receive the kick. Zelda sat stiffly in the driver's seat, not daring to move. This was her boss' favorite car.
Carlos' aura got grimmer. "Debbie Nian," he warned.
Debbie wasn't scared. Glaring at Carlos, she snapped, "What?"
Somehow, her angry tone made him laugh. "If you're angry about something I did, then be mad at me. Don't take it out on the innocent."
'The innocent?' "Mr. Huo, by 'innocent', did you mean your car or Megan?"
Carlos' anger had worn out. He wondered since when he had become so patient. "For the last time, get in the damn car!"
Making sure nobody was around them, Debbie kicked Carlos in the shin while saying, "No problem. I'll take it out on you!"
Looking at the footprint on his suit pants, he asked, "Are you happy now?"
"Yes, I am," she replied. She could hardly stand the cold anymore. Besides, she had just nerved herself to kick Carlos. She had had enough.
Without waiting for Carlos' reply, she got into the warm car.
After she was driven back to the hospital, Debbie walked to the changing room silently and changed into her hospital clothing. She shoved the nurse's uniform at Carlos' arms, but the man just stood and stared at it.
Debbie glared at him stubbornly. Her bright wide eyes read, "Are you going to take it or not? If you're not, I'll be very mad."
Carlos looked at the uniform in disdain and said, "This is another woman's clothes. I don't want to touch it."
Debbie was lost for words.
Debbie grumpily walked to the next room and said to the nurse on duty, "Please return this to your co-worker and apologize for me. Thank you."
Then she ran back to the bed and slipped under the covers without another word.
Again, Carlos was neglected.
After some time, how long Debbie couldn't say, she was about to drift off when Carlos said to her, "Here, take this."
She didn't respond.
Carlos lifted the covers. Debbie opened her eyes and gave him a cold look.
In his hand was a new high-end phone developed by ZL Group. "Your SIM card is already in it."
She grabbed the phone from him quickly without so much as a "thank you" and tucked herself in again.
The first thing she wanted to do was talk to her friends on WeChat.
She thought that she might have to log in first. To her surprise, when she opened WeChat, her account had already been logged in. She wondered if Carlos had logged into her WeChat account.
There was no chat log. And it didn't seem that anyone had browsed through her messages or her updates in Moments.
She opened the group chat with her closest friends and typed, "Jared, Kasie, Kristina, Dixon! Let's do something crazy after I am discharged from the hospital."
Jared didn't respond.
Kasie sent an emoji which had a face with a question mark.
Kristina sent an astonished face emoji.
Dixon said, "I heard you had an accident. I called you, but your phone was switched off. How are you?"
"I'm fine now, but I can't leave the hospital yet. Dixon, are you back in Y City?"
"Not for another two days." Dixon had gone to visit his hometown for the Spring Festival. They still had several days to go before the new semester began.
Debbie had slept a lot during the day, and since chatting with her friends was so much fun, she was still busy typing on her phone past midnight.
After his evening routine, Carlos came into her room. As soon as he lay on her bed, Debbie covered her phone with her hands, as if she was hiding something from him.
"What are you doing?" she asked warily, rolling her eyes.
"Sleeping," Carlos said, stone-faced. He knew what she was doing with her phone. He decided to ignore it. He had read her updates in Moments.
Just as he had anticipated, she had gone straight to WeChat and other social media as soon as she had gotten her hands on the phone.
She had posted an update in Moments. "I won't forgive you."
She didn't care whether Carlos saw it or not. Actually, she hoped he would. Then she wouldn't have to tell him again.
"Why don't you go home? How am I supposed to sleep if you stay here?" Debbie locked the phone screen and stared at him instead.
Carlos ignored her attitude. "I'm married. I'm supposed to sleep with my wife, and this bed is big enough for two people."
"We're having a fight."
"I didn't fight with you," he shrugged.
'If this isn't a fight, then what is it?' Debbie wanted to ask him. On second thoughts, if she chased Carlos away, she might get frightened at night to be alone in a hospital. So she dropped the topic.
Turning her back to him, she unlocked her phone screen again and continued replying to her friends' comments.
However, Carlos grabbed her phone from her clutches and said coldly, "It's late, and your wound hasn't healed yet. Go to sleep."
"I slept too much during the day. I'm not sleepy now. Give me back my phone. I have to reply to my friends' messages."
Carlos put the phone aside and pulled her into his arms. "Do it tomorrow."
"Hey! We're having a fight! You can't hug me like this. I'm mad at you. Mr. Huo, You—" She was silenced by his kiss—a long, gentle kiss.
"You'll make me lose control over my urges. You're on your period. I don't want to be an inconsiderate asshole. So, stop moving," he warned in a husky voice.
In the darkness of the hospital room, Debbie smirked. 'Am I that sexy, turning a universally acclaimed good man into a horny asshole?'
Debbie wanted to talk to him, but she was afraid that the topic might become upsetting and that the conversation might go ugly.
She would end up sleeping alone in the hospital. She decided to silently fall asleep in Carlos' arms while listening to his steady heartbeat.
Debbie behaved well in the hospital the next day since she had her phone.
In the afternoon, Kasie, Kristina and Jared came to see her. They talked for the whole afternoon.
While Carlos and his secretaries were working outside her ward, Debbie and her friends were hatching a big plan.
Debbie began in a conspiratorial tone, "Wanna take someone out?"
The other three looked at each other and then shook their heads vigorously.
Debbie rolled her eyes. "You don't have to kill anyone."
"Then, don't say 'take someone out'," Kristina corrected her, sighing.
"Fine. How about doing something really crazy? Interested?"
Jared nodded. "Of course. How could I miss that?"
Since nobody needed to die in their little operation, Kasie and Kristina nodded too. "As long as it doesn't go against the law, count us in."
'Against the law...' Debbie thought about it. 'Does it?'
"It doesn't, I suppose," she said with a grin.
For a moment, her friends stared speechlessly at her.
Kristina finally said, "I doubt it."