Carlos' eyes darkened. His tone became threatening. "You sure you want to hang out with hot guys?"
"Nuh-uh!" Debbie shook her head vigorously. 'Carlos is uber-possessive! I can't even speak to another man.'
That evening, the couple stopped by Sebastian and Lucinda's place to check on them.
Gail and Sasha boarded at school, so they weren't there. Nevertheless, the four of them had a nice dinner together. The two women talked about how things were going, while the two men talked about business. They shared good company in a warm home over a few glasses of wine. A couple of hours later, they were glowing and in good spirits.
After that, Carlos and Debbie bade their farewells and went back to the manor.
They had a walk in the garden first. As they traced their way along the cobblestone path, they took in the heady scent of blossoms. The buttercups were like living gold, and the grass was shade of a meadow as seen in a dream. They agreed that they would go to the hospital together to check on Kasie the next day and then visit Curtis and Colleen—the would-be groom and bride.
However, the next day, Debbie went to the hospital alone. Carlos was too busy at work to get away.
When she arrived at the hospital, Kasie's parents were not there. Emmett was dabbing at her face with a wet napkin.
He told Debbie that Kasie had actually finally woken up this morning. But she said nothing and dozed off again. She slept all this time, so he looked after her.
Debbie was relieved to know Emmett was there to take care of Kasie.
Since she was now at the hospital, Debbie decided to have herself examined. She put on a mask and a baseball cap and went to the obstetrics and gynecology department.
Her problem was that her aunt Flo didn't visit her this month. And when a woman didn't get her period, that meant either there was a problem, or she was pregnant.
She idly wondered if she had been drugged with birth control pills again. But that was highly unlikely given the family dynamics now. The person who needed to be humbled was not her. The Huo family members probably weren't going to pull that again.
An hour later, Debbie showed up at the offices of ZL Group.
Despite her gauze and baseball cap, many employees still recognized her. They said hi to her, and she was forced to acknowledge at least a few of them as she made her way to Carlos' office. She pressed the button for the elevator and waited for a while.
When she arrived at the top floor, Zelda was the only secretary there. Debbie shushed her and quietly opened the door to the CEO's office. She wanted to tell him the good news in person.
Before the door could be opened all the way, she heard a girl weeping. The door was only opened a crack, but she could hear it clearly from where she was. "I didn't do it on purpose. Uncle Carlos, please help me fix this!" she pleaded.
Debbie stopped in her tracks—it was Megan.
Carlos just sat there silently. 'Good on him, ' thought Debbie. 'He shouldn't get himself in trouble just to get her out of it!'
In a choked voice, Megan continued, "I didn't see her when I was backing out! She was behind my car, and I didn't see her at first. I hit her..."
'Hit her?
Who did Megan hit?' Suddenly, Debbie had a bad feeling about this. She thought she knew exactly whom Megan hit with her car.
Carlos finally answered in a serious voice, "Megan, you're all grown up now. Take a little responsibility, okay?"
"Please, Uncle Carlos! I didn't do it on purpose. Once Kasie Zheng is recovered, I'll apologize to her personally. Help me cover this up! And have the footage deleted, okay?"
Debbie had been beaming since she had left the hospital, but she wasn't smiling now. Megan had run over Kasie!
Carlos frowned and said nothing.
Megan kept pleading, "Uncle Curtis is getting married soon. I really, really want to go. Uncle Carlos, please help me! Don't tell—"
Bang! Debbie pushed open the door heavily.
The door hit the wall, making a loud sound. Even Zelda, who was forced to keep quiet, was startled.
When she saw who was standing at the door, Megan shivered, pale as a ghost.
Even the unflappable Carlos seemed surprised, furrowing his eyebrows. 'Did she hear everything?' he wondered. He strode towards Debbie and called out, "Honey—"
"Don't you 'honey' me!" Debbie yelled at the top of her lungs, looking furiously at the two. 'The shameless couple...' She took a deep breath to calm down. 'No. They're just uncle and niece...'
Megan and Zelda were shocked into silence. Debbie talked back to him when she was angry, and she was the only one who was allowed to. Neither Megan nor Zelda could get away with the tone that Debbie took with Carlos now.
Sighing in defeat, Carlos stood there, staring quietly at his wife. An awkward silence settled over the office.
Fixing her smoldering gaze on Megan, Debbie asked angrily, "Did you hit Kasie?"
"Yes... No... Not on purpose..." Megan's legs were shaking.
She was too afraid to face Debbie, so she turned to Carlos for help. Seeing that, Debbie reprimanded, "Don't look at him! Eyes up here!"
Megan immediately lowered her head, weeping and covering her face with her hands.
"Why did you run? Why not see if she was okay? What were you thinking? Did you hit her intentionally?" Debbie asked slowly as she approached Megan. She added emphasis to every word. Whenever she took a step forward, Megan would step backward.
"No! I didn't mean to. Aunt Debbie, I'm sorry. I'm really sorry..."
Seeing the two women confronting each other, Carlos rubbed his aching head and walked towards Debbie. He put his hands on her shoulders and tried to mollify her, "Calm down! No reason to be so upset..."
"Calm down?" Debbie taunted as she cast a sideways glance at him. "How can I calm down? You were going to help her cover it up, weren't you? You're an accomplice! I should call the cops!" She threw off his hands.
Carlos explained, "Look, I only just found out about this..." Tristan had discovered the truth, and Carlos wasn't going to help Megan weasel out of this.
Debbie sneered and pointed at Megan. "I don't care when you knew! Ask her to apologize to the Zheng family now! And turn herself in!" she demanded.
"NO! Aunt Debbie, I'll apologize. But please don't put me behind bars!" Megan yelled excitedly as she grabbed Debbie's hand.
Carlos grabbed Debbie's other hand and said, "Come on. Let's talk about this when you cool down."
'Seriously? Is he still trying to protect her?' Debbie withdrew her both hands, took a deep breath and took out a piece of paper from her purse. She crumpled it on Megan's chest and said, "Read this first, Carlos Huo. After that, tell me what you're going to do. Make sure it's the right decision. See you in the operating room."
Megan had to take the paper, because otherwise it would have fallen onto the floor. Debbie said with a sneer, "You want to marry him, huh? See if you do now! Just look at this and see who he loves more."
After saying that, she walked off, head held high.
With shaking hands, Megan smoothed the paper and set her eyes on it. When she saw what was printed on it, her eyes widened in shock.
Carlos wanted to catch up to his wife, but seeing Megan's expression, he decided to check the paper first.
He took it from her and looked at the paper. His heart skipped a beat.
He took a second look at the name on the paper—it was indeed Debbie. His wife. The one he loved.
A broad smile appeared on his cold face.
He was thrilled at this moment.
'I'm going to be a father! My wife is pregnant! She is... two months along.'
Then he realized something was off. 'She just said that she would be waiting for me in the operating room.'
Confused, he ran out of his office. What did she mean by that? He decided to call her. The call connected soon. Too excited, he stammered, "Honey...wait..."
'Wait?' Debbie said indifferently, "You saw the results, huh? Yeah, I'm pregnant. If you don't put her behind bars, you will never see your son again!"
"What do you want?"