The next afternoon, as Debbie drowsily lay next to Carlos, her phone suddenly rang, jarring her awake. She grabbed her phone and saw that it was from an unknown number.
Since Carlos was working on the bed, she didn't want to interrupt him. She got out of bed and walked to the corridor to answer it. "Hello?"
"Hello, is this Mrs. Huo?"
"Yes, who's asking?"
A few minutes later, Debbie returned to the ward and threw a glance at Carlos, who was having a video conference. She silently opened her suitcase and selected a set of light-colored clothes and her cosmetics bag before going into the bathroom to freshen up.
Half an hour later, Carlos saw her come out of the bathroom, wearing delicate make-up. He was about to ask her where she was going, but she paid no attention to him. Without giving him so much as a glance, she grabbed her handbag and walked towards the door.
"Wait!" Carlos said and paused the video conference.
Debbie turned to look at him. "What's up?"
"Where are you going? Why are you wearing make-up?" he asked curiously. 'Is she dressed well to meet a man?' he thought angrily.
Remembering the phone call earlier, Debbie could hardly force a smile. "Tell you after I come back."
Ignoring his glare, she turned around and left.
Debbie arrived at a crowded street in downtown and got out of the car. It was already five minutes later than the agreed time. Entering a cafe, she quickly walked upstairs as per the instructions given by the woman on the phone earlier.
There was only one person sitting at a table on the second floor. She looked quite pretty and was around the same age as Debbie. She was wearing a red dress and a white coat, along with soft flats. She had some light make-up on her face.
As soon as the woman spotted Debbie, she stood up. Debbie noticed the slight baby bump. 'She's indeed pregnant...' Debbie confirmed in her mind.
The woman took the initiative to greet Debbie. "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Huo."
Instead of feeling raged, Debbie was actually amused as she stared at the woman who claimed to be Carlos' mistress. She wondered if all mistresses nowadays were this shameless to blatantly challenge a legal wife. Besides, this woman had played her cards well. Debbie had just returned to Y City the day before, but this woman was able to get wind of the information and had even managed to contact her.
Debbie took a glance at the glass of orange juice on the table and apologized politely, "I'm sorry for being late. I don't think I know you."
"It doesn't matter that you don't know me; Mr. Huo knows me very well," she said outright. As she spoke, she took out a few photos from her handbag. With a smug smile lingering on her lips, she laid them on the table, gesturing for Debbie to sit down.
When Debbie sat down opposite the woman, a waiter came to take her order. But Debbie shooed him away. She wasn't intending to waste much time with this shameless woman. Moreover, she didn't think she could share a conversation with that woman for as long as a cup of coffee's time.
The woman scanned Debbie from head to toe. Trying to hide the envy in her eyes, she collected herself and ridiculed, "I never expected Mrs. Huo to be such an ordinary woman. I heard that you'd gotten married to Mr. Huo three years ago, but you still haven't given birth to his child. Is that true?" While she spoke, she deliberately touched her swollen belly.
Debbie slowly picked up the first photo from the table. It was a picture of the woman holding Carlos' arm as they walked out of a parking lot.
As she examined the photo, Debbie casually replied, "Yes, that's true. I'm still a student. I don't want a child yet, so my husband respects my decision because he cares for me. What about you..." She coldly shifted her gaze to the woman and asked, "You look like you're around thirty. Why did you wait for so long to have a baby? Do you have any unmentionable disease or something like that?"
The woman's face fell at once. She yelled furiously, "You!"
'I'm just twenty-one. This is the right age to get pregnant. What does she mean by unmentionable disease?'
Debbie couldn't help but snort. She had thought that the woman might be smarter and would have a better strategy since she claimed to have Carlos' child in her belly. But she lost her composure so easily by Debbie's provocation. 'You're more ill-tempered than me, ' Debbie laughed in her mind.
"Me what? You are short-tempered, aren't you? My temper is not too good either. How about we fight this out in front of Carlos? We can find out if he'll side with me, his legal wife, or protect you, a nobody who is pregnant with the Huo family's descendant. What do you think?" Debbie snapped fearlessly.
The woman tried her best to suppress her anger. Taking a deep breath, she adjusted her emotion and said, "Don't try to provoke me, Mrs. Huo. If you anger me and cause harm to the baby, you know the consequences. I think you'd better focus on the photos in front of you."
Debbie casually picked up the photos on the table and looked through them one by one. The photos were well taken...or edited, showing her intimacy with Carlos. The photos showed them entering a hotel room together, and when they came out, her long hair was disheveled and her clothes were in a mess.
Anyone could figure out what they had been doing in the hotel room.
Placing the last photo down, Debbie mocked, "That's it? Too bad. I expected to see something more sexy. You should have taken a photo of Carlos' sexy face after having sex. You know, he looks really hot and charming with that sensual look of his." As she spoke, she indulged herself in the memories of Carlos' hot face while they made love.
Debbie's answer was an unexpected one. The woman was completely dumbfounded.
"Oh, right!" Debbie came back to the present and asked the woman, "By the way, how many months pregnant are you?"
This was a more welcome subject for the woman. Her face softened as she touched her belly and said with a smug smile, "More than a month. I was together with Mr. Huo on the night after you left for England. He told me that I could give birth to the baby if I got pregnant. He assured that he would officially declare my baby as a member of the Huo family."
"Oh, I see. Would you mind telling me about the sex positions you took in bed? Who was on top of whom?" Debbie teased playfully. The woman's face blushed a bright red.
Before she could answer, Debbie clicked her tongue and said, "You have the guts to be a married man's mistress, why are you so shy to talk about it?"
To which the woman retorted, "What does it matter? Anyway, I am bearing Mr. Huo's child now. You'd better get a grasp of the situation and give up on being his wife already. I'll become his legal wife and my baby will be his successor."
Debbie laughed. The pregnant woman was confused by her lack of seriousness and asked, "What are you laughing for?"
"Lady, let me tell you Carlos' little secret," Debbie stopped laughing and said in a mysterious tone. She leaned over the table and drew closer to the woman. "I don't want to continue with this sharade anymore. So, let me tell you the reason why I haven't gotten pregnant all these years. It's because... Carlos is sexually impotent. Then tell me, how can you be pregnant with his baby?" Debbie burst into a wild howl of laughter after making up the story.
The woman was stunned, her mouth agape. Shocked by the news, she stammered, "You... Are you trying to fool me?"
"Fool you? Why would I? Do you know what Carlos did before becoming a businessman?"
"Yes..." Everyone in Y City knew that Carlos had been in the Special Force.
Pulling a sorry face, Debbie asked her, "Then you should have heard about his story with Megan too, right?" 'Of course, I know! Megan Lan, the lucky woman who has always been under the protection of the four most respectful men in Y City. Everyone knows about it!' the woman thought, eager to know more.
After a pause, Debbie continued, "You see, when Carlos and Wesley were on a mission, a gangster stabbed a knife in his...you know... and cut his..." She let the sentence go unfinished, but the woman's eyes widened. "It was such a tragedy. Carlos was in great pain and the gangster tried to kill him. It was then that Megan's parents saved his life. From then on, he and Wesley have been treating Megan so well. Curtis Lu and Damon Han are Carlos' good friends, so they protect Megan too."
Debbie narrated the fictional story with such pleasure while the woman listened with keen interest. In the end, the woman muttered to herself, "No wonder Mr. Huo has never dated any woman..." With a look of pity, she said to Debbie, "This is all so shocking. How did you manage to live for three years with an impotent husband? I bet it gets really lonely every night, since your needs are not satisfied."