Debbie's warning made James angrier. He raised his hand to slap her again. Tristan nerved himself to grab his wrist and said, "Mr. James Huo, Mrs. Huo is telling the truth. She knew nothing about the mission. If you want to talk about it, why not wait until Mr. Carlos Huo wakes up? You can ask him directly."
James shook Tristan's hand off and continued to insult Debbie. "I know how much money Carlos has spent on you, you blood-sucking harpy. You asked him for a huge ring, you wear only designer clothes worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. You even made him buy you a limited edition watch to apologize to you. What right do you have to do all this?"
Debbie clenched her fists and demanded, "I am a blood-sucking harpy? You want to know what my rights are? What about you?" She looked James directly in the eye and went on, "You are my father-in-law, and yet, you asked the servants to put birth control pills in my food for a really long time. Right now, Carlos is lying in there unconscious, but as his father, you don't even try to check on him. All you want to do is bellow at me. What kind of father are you?"
"You!" James raised his hand again. Tristan and Tabitha stopped him. "James, let's go check on Carlos," Tabitha persuaded.
"How? He is in the ICU, and this is not visiting hours. We can't get in."
The fierce conflict between the two had drawn a lot of gazes. Tabitha looked at Debbie resignedly and asked, "Can you leave for now?"
"No! I'll only leave when Carlos is out of danger and has been transferred to the general ward." Needless for them to say, she had already decided to leave by then.
James snorted, "Shameless!"
'Why should I put up with his insults like this?' she thought angrily. She lifted her fist to strike James. Tristan saw it. He let go of James immediately and stood in front of her. "Mrs. Huo, this is a hospital and Mr. Huo is still unconscious. Calm down," he whispered in her ear.
Suddenly, Debbie felt dizzy. Her head spun uncontrollably. Her legs were too weak to support her, and she collapsed onto Tristan's shoulder.
Tristan was flustered. "Mrs. Huo, what's wrong?" he asked as he led her towards the bench.
Debbie closed her eyes a moment, trying to clear her head and regain some strength. Then she waved her hand and replied, "I'm fine."
James spoke with a cold snort. "Even as a married woman, you flirt with another man in public. How much shame do you intend to bring on this family? This is outrageous!"
Tristan let go of Debbie's arm quickly and stepped away from her. "Mr. James Huo, it's not what you think. Mrs. Huo hasn't eaten anything since Mr. Huo was brought here. She isn't feeling well."
Debbie leaned back against the bench with her eyes closed, trying to hold her temper. If anything, she just wanted James to get out of her sight. He was the worst father she had ever met.
At that moment of tension, Damon came back from Wesley's ward after visiting him. He smiled at James and Tabitha, and greeted them. James acted as normal as he could.
When Damon turned to Debbie, he saw the slap mark on her face. Shocked, he asked, "Pepper Nian! Which son of a bitch had the nerve to slap you?! He must have a death wish if he's brave enough to slap Carlos Huo's beloved wife. Carlos is powerful enough to wipe out anyone off the face of the earth. What kind of fool would take that risk?"
"Pfft!" Debbie burst into laughter when she heard Damon cussing James without knowing it. Her anger evaporated.
James and Tabitha stood there, embarrassed. But Damon didn't notice. He continued, "What are you laughing about? Tell me who hit you, and I'll beat the shit out of that bastard! No one can treat you like this!"
"It was me," a familiar voice came from behind Damon.
Damon knew who it was. Dumbstruck, he looked at Debbie for confirmation. There was a smirk on her face.
He apologized immediately, "I'm so sorry, Uncle James. I didn't know that it was you. I thought it might have been someone else. I never would have said that if I knew it was you."
James' face was hideous, like he had just accidentally eaten a fly. He snorted and sat on the nearest bench.
Not long after, Carlos' condition stabilized, and he was transferred to a VVIP ward.
The doctors assured them that Carlos was out of danger and that he just needed to recuperate. Debbie felt a weight lift off her chest.
Soon, Carlos' ward was crammed with visitors. Silently, Debbie took out her phone and booked the earliest flight back to England for the next morning.
After midnight, Debbie asked Tristan to take her back to the manor. When she got out of the car, Tristan couldn't help asking, "Mrs. Huo, why did you leave the hospital?"
She had stayed in the hospital for so long, waiting for Carlos to wake up, and he would soon. She just needed to wait a little bit longer. Tristan didn't understand why she had left before he woke up.
Debbie gave him a faint smile. "Thank you for everything you did tonight, Tristan. Drive safe. Bye."
Tristan knew that she didn't want to talk about it, so he nodded and left the manor.
The next morning, before getting on the plane, Debbie sent Carlos a message. "Mr. Huo, when Kasie and I went to a tea party the other day, she was drugged and taken to a hotel room. When I found her, Lewis was trying to violate her. I tried to have him arrested, but couldn't. Apparently, nobody would dare to touch him without your saying so. So, please help Kasie. She deserves justice. Thank you very much, Mr. Huo. Take care."
Her tone sounded very formal in the message, as if she were talking to her boss, and not her husband.
Carlos woke up later that day. He wanted to see Debbie, but she wasn't there. When he read her message, he was so angry that he almost passed out again.
He sent Emmett to the manor to get Debbie, but when he came back, he told Carlos, "Mrs. Huo has gone back to England in the early morning flight. I have received news that she has arrived safely."
Carlos rubbed his forehead. He knew that she was furious with him.
Emmett went on, "Since the moment you were brought in, Mrs. Huo had stayed here without eating or sleeping. She was here when you were in the surgery room, when you were in the ICU, and when you were finally moved to this ward. She didn't leave until you were out of danger."
Carlos was confused. 'So, she was worried about me. Then why did she leave when I was just about to wake up?'
he wondered.
"Mrs. Huo almost had a meltdown when she found out about the mission. Mr. Huo, you have to do something to make up to her."
Carlos nodded. He had anticipated that she would be mad, and was ready to do anything to appease her.
At that moment, Tristan poked his head into the ward and asked, "Mr. Huo, where are your parents?"
Carlos replied, with his phone still in his hand, "They went back to the manor to get some rest."
Hearing that James wasn't around, Tristan hastened towards the bed. He looked at Carlos, hesitating about whether to tell him what had happened earlier.
Carlos raised his eyebrow to give him a sidelong look. "Speak," he commanded coldly.
Tristan took a deep breath and decided to tell the truth. "Last night, your father hit Mrs. Huo, and insulted her as well."
Carlos' fingers froze on the phone screen.
"What?" A grim cloud formed on his face. Tristan repeated what had happened the night before, including how Debbie had been slapped and bellowed at.