Debbie was lost in her complicated thoughts when Zelda dropped by to give her an invitation. "Mrs. Huo, Mr. Huo was afraid that you might be bored at home and asked me to give you the invitation to a tea party held by the wife of a high-ranking official."
Ignoring what Zelda had said, Debbie grabbed her hand and asked anxiously, "Why is Carlos' phone switched off?"
With an embarrassed smile, Zelda answered, "I have no idea either, Mrs. Huo. Maybe his battery is dead."
"Tell me the truth!"
Zelda sighed helplessly, "Mrs. Huo, I really have no clue. I'm not Mr. Huo's personal assistant. My answer will be the same even if you ask me another ten times."
Seeing her sincere expression, Debbie gave up. "All right. Thanks. Bye, Zelda," she said in a hushed voice.
Zelda bade her goodbye and drove off.
Looking at the invitation in her hand, Debbie puckered her mouth. She was in no mood to go to the party. She knew that the guests would be a bunch of gossiping women who would act all elegant and aloof on the surface.
Kasie, however, liked to attend these kinds of parties. So Debbie called her and offered, "Hi Kasie. Carlos' assistant, Zelda, just brought me an invitation to a tea party. Would you like to go?"
"A tea party? Is it Mrs. Jiang's?"
Debbie took a closer look and saw the name on the invitation. "Yep."
"Yeah! I'll go! Why don't you go along with me? Mrs. Jiang is really fond of holding parties, and she hires Michelin star chefs to prepare the food. Come on, foodie! Join me!" Kasie said in a cheerful tone.
Debbie was not at all in a good mood because of Carlos' sudden disappearance. She told Kasie in a low voice, "If it weren't for Carlos' injury, I would've already been on a flight to England. I'm in no mood for some stupid tea party." She hated mingling with those hypocrites. She was afraid that she might end up having a row with some of them.
Kasie didn't give up. "Come on. If you stay at home alone, you will get more and more dejected. Just ask Zelda if she can give you an extra invitation. We can attend the party together. If she can't, then you'll have to go alone."
Sighing in defeat, Debbie agreed to accompany her.
Zelda soon came back, holding another invitation with Kasie's name on it.
That evening, Debbie and Kasie arrived at the tea party together. She gave Kasie one of the invitations.
The party was being held at a tea house on the first floor of a building. The building also had hotel rooms on dozens of floors.
There was a security guard at the entrance of the tea house. Debbie gave him the invitation. It was only then that she noticed the invitation in her hand had Kasie's name on it.
It was not a big deal, so she didn't give much thought to it.
The guard eyed Kasie from head to toe when he saw the name on her invitation. But Debbie didn't notice it.
They entered the tea house. Just as Debbie had expected, the party was filled with ladies from well-off families in Y City.
Many walked over to Debbie to greet her.
Debbie, however, barely knew them. Nevertheless, she had to smile back at them politely.
Mrs. Jiang even invited Debbie to a private room where they chatted over tea. After a while, Mrs. Jiang bade Debbie farewell as she had to attend to other guests as well.
Debbie heaved a sigh of relief. She really didn't enjoy the company. She left the room and went to the food section where Kasie was busy tasting different dishes. "Kasie, how's the food?" Debbie asked with a faint smile.
"Yummy! Here, taste this!" Kasie fed her a macaroon from the spread.
"Wow, indeed. It's not too sweet." They sat together, eating and talking.
Before long, a woman came over and invited Debbie to join them. She was Lucinda's friend, and Debbie had to oblige.
Debbie even caught a glimpse of Portia, who was as arrogant as ever. Neither of them greeted each other.
When Debbie returned to the food section, Kasie was nowhere to be found.
She waited a long time, but Kasie didn't come back. She pulled out her phone and called her. But her phone was out of range. It was weird because Debbie had seen Kasie playing on her phone earlier.
She put her plate on a nearby table and began to look for her.
Debbie looked everywhere, but to no avail. She got anxious and began to ask people about Kasie's whereabouts, but no one had seen her.
She had a bad feeling—like something horrible had happened to Kasie. As time ticked by, she became more and more unsettled.
While Debbie had been busy with other women, Kasie had kept herself glued to the food section. She was stuffed after eating all those snacks, and the scented tea was so inviting that she ended up having too much of it. As a result, she had to run to the restroom.
Kasie was washing her hands in the ladies' room, and she saw a tall woman in the mirror. The woman was taking out a handkerchief from her purse.
Kasie didn't pay much attention to her because she didn't know the lady.
The next thing she knew, the woman grabbed her from behind and covered her mouth and nose with the handkerchief.
After wriggling to get out for a while, Kasie passed out.
She didn't know how long she had been unconscious. When she came to, she felt someone throw her onto a bed. She struggled to open her eyes, but there was no lighting in the room. Too sleepy, she closed her eyes again.
She wanted to cry out for help, but she had no strength left. And her body felt like it was on fire.
Before long, she heard someone open a door.
Her head was spinning so fast. She wanted to look who it was, but she didn't even have the strength to open her eyes anymore.
After she heard some rustling of clothes, a person pressed against her. She wanted to struggle and yell, but she was too weak to defend herself.
There was a sudden loud sound, and she passed out once again.
As Debbie was struggling to find Kasie, a girl came running towards her.
Debbie recognized her. They had attended a dinner party together some time back. It was at that party that Debbie had splashed wine at Olga and Portia. Olga had tried to spill wine back at Debbie, but the latter had dodged and the wine had spilled all over this girl.
She had been a little chubby back then. But now, she was a lot thinner.
That girl had been looking for Debbie as well. Upon seeing her, she said anxiously, "I saw a woman take your friend to the lift, and it stopped on the twelfth floor. You better hurry. Something was not right with your friend."
Debbie thanked her and rushed to the lift.
When she reached the twelfth floor, she was dumbfounded by all the similar-looking doors. She didn't know which room Kasie was in.
'Kasie, I'm here. You're gonna be okay. Wait for me!' Debbie prayed.
She stopped a passing waiter and asked him in a hurry, "Two women came by here not too long ago. Which room are they in?"
"Sorry, Miss. We value our guests' privacy," the waiter said.
Debbie was on the brink of a meltdown. "Tell me! This is a life-or-death situation!"
"I'm really sorry..." The waiter was frightened, but he insisted that he couldn't disclose the information.
Debbie was at her limits. She pinned him against the wall and punched him in the face once. "I won't stop until you tell me their room number," she threatened.
Two more punches later, the waiter cried and said, "They are in Room 1206. A man just entered the room."