The next morning, Debbie didn't sleep in as usual. She got up early with plans of meeting Lewis. Before she left the house, she called Tristan, asking him to locate Lewis. Since she had seen Lewis at the hotel last, Debbie suggested that Tristan call the hotel manager; he should know where he was.
Three minutes later, Tristan called back with the bad news.
Lewis wasn't at the police station.
The police had arrested him. But Lewis had pulled some strings and was released before he was taken to the police station.
Debbie was furious. "Can no one touch him except Carlos?" she asked Tristan.
"Something like that," he replied. Lewis was Carlos' cousin after all. Nobody dared to offend him, unless it was a direct order from Carlos.
"Fine. Find out where Lewis is. I need to talk to that jerk." Debbie was frustrated. Without Carlos at her side, she couldn't even put Lewis in prison after what he had done to Kasie.
"Yes, Mrs. Huo."
While Tristan was tracking Lewis down, Debbie took a cab to the military hospital where Megan was hospitalized.
She went straight to Megan's ward. The girl was sound asleep. Debbie walked over and sat on the edge of the bed silently.
Sensing someone's cold stares on her, Megan woke up and saw the person sitting on her bed.
She jerked up and moved away from Debbie, frightened. "Wh-what are you doing here?" she asked.
Seeing how intimidated Megan was, Debbie smiled. 'I'm glad that she thinks I am scary.'
"Carlos is on a military mission." She got straight to the point.
"That's normal. He used to be an outstanding special force soldier." Megan didn't sound surprised at all.
"He is doing it for you," said Debbie, studying her face.
Megan was a little taken aback by the news, but then she said, "Who else would he do it for? "
Debbie gritted her teeth. "Are you saying that it's obvious that he is willing to go on such a dangerous task for you, or that he is willing to do it only for you?"
Before replying, Megan got out of bed and sat on the sofa, trying to move farther from Debbie. "What difference does it make? And anyway, he only engages in such dangerous missions for my sake. He has turned down dozens of provisional missions before."
Bitterness filled Debbie's heart. "Once those gangsters are taken out, you wouldn't be in any danger. Do you think Wesley and Carlos would still care so much about you?"
"What do you mean? Are you saying that they should let those gangsters live and watch me get hurt every day? They would rather risk their lives for me."
Debbie grabbed a teacup near her and smashed it against the wall. The cup broke into many pieces.
Megan was startled. She got up and ran towards the bathroom. "What do you want?"
Debbie sneered, "What do I want? I want to kill you! If it weren't for you, Carlos wouldn't have agreed to go on this insane task when he is already wounded. If it weren't for you, he wouldn't have to put his life on the line. You are making him do this!"
She squatted and picked up a piece of the broken glass.
She stared at it. How much she wanted to stab the glass into Megan's heart.
Megan's face went pale. She opened the door to the bathroom so that she could run and hide inside. "Debbie, don't do anything stupid. You will have to die for it if you kill me."
"True. So, I won't kill you. Don't worry." Dropping the glass onto the floor, Debbie stood up.
Megan was relieved to hear it.
Debbie warned her, "This is the last time my husband risks his life for you. If the gangsters are all taken out, count yourself lucky. Once Carlos comes back, I will never allow him to do this kind of thing again. If the gangsters escape, well, sucks to be you. But don't worry, I'm not ungrateful. I'll always remember what your parents did for Carlos. I'll have you sent to someplace where they will never find you, and make sure you live comfortably. Either way, you will leave Y City." 'And leave Carlos.'
If Megan was content with being his niece, Debbie would have protected her along with Carlos.
But she was not. Debbie couldn't stand to watch Carlos risk his life again and again, especially for someone like her.
"No, I will never leave Y City!" Megan shouted. "There's no way you can make me leave Carlos! I love him. I can only be happy if I see him every day."
Debbie was already unstable because she knew that Carlos was involved in something dangerous at that very moment. She was on the verge of a breakdown, and when she heard Megan say that she loved Carlos, Debbie lost all her control. She darted towards Megan and slapped her hard across the face. "Shut your bloody pie hole! You don't deserve him!"
Megan fell to the floor from the force of her slap. Covering her reddened cheek, she retreated backwards and yelled, "How dare you hit me!!"
"So what? What are you gonna do about it? Call Carlos and ask him to divorce me? Go ahead." Debbie would be glad if Megan could get a hold of Carlos. At least then, she would know whether he was safe or not and when he would come back home.
"You think I couldn't do that? You're rude and uncivilized. I will do everything I can to make Uncle Carlos leave you!" With that, she grabbed her phone from the table and dialed Carlos' number.
Debbie assumed that his phone would be switched off just like how it had been when she had called him a million times. Unexpectedly, the call connected. Megan put her phone on speaker. "Megan, what's up?" It was Damon who answered the call.
"Uncle Damon, where are you? Aunt Debbie is trying to kill me. Help me, Uncle Damon!"
Megan cried. Debbie watched. It fascinated her how she could cry without any tears.
Damon said anxiously, "We're on our way to the hospital. Your uncle Carlos needs treatment. You'll have to wait."
'Treatment? Did his old wound reopen or was he injured again?' Debbie thought in shock. She wanted to ask Damon, but he had hung up already.
Megan was forgotten. Debbie wasted no time. She took out her own phone and called Carlos' number. Again, Damon answered it. Pretending to sound relaxed, he said, "Debbie, we're in the middle of something. What's the matter?"
"Where is Carlos?" she demanded.
Damon was silent. When he spoke again, the feigned relaxed tone was gone. "He's in an ambulance. We're on our way to the hospital." Since Debbie would know about it sooner or later, there was no point lying to her.
Her throat ran dry. Her eyes stared ahead, but she saw nothing.
"How bad is it?" she asked in a low voice. After a pause, Damon answered, "Severe."