'Apologize? For what?' Curtis was confused. He casually glanced at his wife and son before answering, "We'd love to. What do you want to eat? When will you be available?"
"How about lunch tomorrow? Would you be able to reserve a table for us? I haven't been here for years," Debbie said.
"No problem. Is this your number? I'll call you tomorrow."
"Yeah. See you tomorrow, Uncle Curtis."
"See you."
Excited, Colleen asked Curtis, "How's it going? Debbie wants to treat us to dinner, huh?"
Curtis nodded with a smile and sat on the edge of the bed. "She said she wanted to apologize to us face to face. She asked me to bring 'Aunt Colleen' along."
"Apologize? What did she do wrong?" Colleen was also confused.
Curtis shrugged. "I don't know what's on her mind. Let's see what she's going to say tomorrow." Then he pinched his son's chubby face and told him, "Boy, Daddy will take you to meet Debbie tomorrow."
The boy was more than twelve months old, and was just learning to speak. Upon hearing that, he stuttered, "De...bbie..."
Colleen kissed him on the cheek and said cheerfully, "Honey, you're so smart! I love you."
Curtis pulled her into his arms and said, "When we see Debbie, don't tell her that Carlos is going to get engaged to Stephanie. Okay?"
"Debbie's already been here. She must have already heard the news. What I can't understand is why she had insisted that Carlos was dead. And all the news posts about her three years ago. Were they true?"
Curtis sighed helplessly and said, "I know. James lied to Debbie, telling her Carlos was dead. He said it was to test her integrity... Before Debbie went missing, she called me and told me that all the scandals about her were true. Nonetheless, I still don't know exactly what happened and I don't think things were necessarily what they seemed. I think Debbie was hiding something back then."
Damon and Wesley, who didn't know Debbie as well as Curtis did, believed what James had said, and they hated her very much. They even blamed Curtis for protecting her.
Colleen asked worriedly, "Did Debbie really... betray Carlos? First, I don't think she would even dare. Second, she loved Carlos too much to do that. And what about her baby? Did she really get an abortion?"
"Yes. She told me she did. Honey, don't ask her about this tomorrow. There is no point in opening up old wounds. We now have our own kid, and we know how painful it is for a woman to lose her child. And I don't think Debbie would betray Carlos either." Even though Debbie had told him herself that she had cheated on Carlos, Curtis still didn't believe it.
Colleen rested her head on his shoulder and said softly, "Got it. Don't worry. I won't say anything inappropriate tomorrow."
Meanwhile, Debbie had already taken a shower and video chatted with Piggy. When Piggy fell asleep, Debbie had nothing else to do. She went on to toss about in her bed. She then decided to send Carlos a message on WeChat. "Old man, what are you doing?"
Carlos had just left his study when his phone beeped. He picked it up from the nightstand to take a look. Stephanie saw it and asked casually, "Who is it? Need to work?"
He locked his phone. "Nothing. I'm going back to my bedroom. You should go to sleep."
Stephanie nodded and watched his figure disappear. She lingered for a while, deep in thought, before returning to her bedroom.
In his bedroom, Carlos unlocked his phone and replied to Debbie's message. "I'm going to take a bath."
Debbie replied right away, "Wanna take a bath together? I have a tub that can fit us both."
Carlos was at a loss for words when he saw Debbie's message. He recalled that he and Debbie had almost slept together in Z Country. He was a bit irked.
He headed to the bathroom, ignoring her message.
Debbie knew that Carlos wouldn't respond to that kind of flirting, yet that didn't stop her from doing it anyway. She waited and waited for his reply before sighing helplessly.
She sent him another message saying, "Old man, don't get angry. I'm all alone in my apartment while you are with your girlfriend. Alas! I'm so pitiful."
She waited for a while, but still there was no response. So she added, "Let's walk our dogs together tomorrow evening. See you." Before she had gone back to Z Country, she had sent Harley to a pet shop for fostering. She decided to take it back home after having lunch with Curtis and Colleen the next day.
The next morning, she got up early. Carlos used to jog at 6 a.m. every day, but Debbie liked jogging at night. So he had shifted his jogging at night too. 'Maybe he jogs in the mornings again after he's lost his memory, ' she thought to herself.
She didn't even wash her face before she went downstairs.
She wandered around and found that a lot of people here jogged in the morning. But still no sight of Carlos. 'Hmm, so does he jog at night?' she thought.
She was just about to turn around and head back home when she spotted a familiar figure. The man was wearing a grey sweatshirt and black shorts. Beads of sweat could be seen rolling down his face like he'd been jogging since 5 a.m.
It was Carlos.
Debbie's eyes lit up as she ran towards him.
"Old man, what a coincidence!" Debbie greeted him and jogged with him.
Carlos cast a sideways glance at her and said ironically, "It is a coincidence!" She smiled sweetly, completely ignoring the irony in his voice.
"What time did you start jogging? Where's your girlfriend? Isn't she jogging with you? I love jogging too. I can jog with you every morning." Debbie was never good at keeping her feelings to herself.
"I'm good. I don't always stay here." It was James who had insisted that Carlos live with Stephanie. James wanted Carlos and Stephanie to have a baby, and Carlos, for the life of him, couldn't figure out how to turn James down.
During Carlos' first night staying with Stephanie, they had slept in the same bed together. He realized that he wasn't remotely attracted to her—most especially not physically. By midnight, he had already transferred to another room.
Debbie was a little disappointed at Carlos' answer. She then offered, "Where else do you live then? I can move there."
"East District Manor. So you plan to build a manor there too?" he taunted.
Debbie was silenced. She couldn't afford to build a manor there.
They had already gone around and back twice. Carlos wondered to himself, 'She seems strong. We've probably already run a thousand meters and she doesn't even look tired.'
"Old man, why are you jogging? To lose weight?" she asked.
"No," he answered coldly.
"Then you must want to be fit." She approached him and said excitedly, "I have a way to help you lose one kilogram instantly. Give it a try?"
Debbie's ideas weren't exactly reliable—Carlos knew this so he simply snorted and ignored her.
Debbie knew that Carlos had always been a man of few words, so when he didn't say anything, she pressed on, "Are you not curious?"