After bidding farewell to Ivan, Debbie turned around to leave, but a woman stepped in her way. It was Ramona.
With sympathy in her eyes, Ramona stared at Debbie. "You're sad, aren't you?"
Debbie's heart trembled. She did her best to bury her emotions, hoping her face would betray nothing. She ridiculed the woman. "Why would I be? Because you threw me away, or because you left Dad? Nah, that can't be it."
Her words pained Ramona's heart. She tried to mollify her. "I'm so sorry. Give me a chance to make it up to you."
Before Debbie could reply, an old voice rang out, "Ramona!"
When Ramona saw the old man approach, her face changed abruptly.
Debbie wasn't interested in talking to either of them, and tried to bolt. But Ramona suddenly had a meltdown, shouting, "Dad! You're a parent. You should know how I feel. I haven't seen my kids in more than twenty years. Don't start with me."
Her miserable voice struck a chord in Debbie's heart. It didn't sound like she was pretending to be sad at all. Her anguish sounded genuine.
Debbie froze on the spot. She was conflicted, because she wanted to leave, but not like this. She turned to look at the woman engulfed by sadness. Her whole body trembled. Elroy showed no emotion whatsoever and simply gestured to the bodyguards standing behind him. On command, two of them stepped forward, ready to grab Ramona and take her away.
In response to this, Ramona completely lost control of her emotions. She cried hysterically. "Am I really your daughter? You've tortured me for more than twenty years! Why? When my own daughter is finally in reach, and you do this? Fifty is just around the corner. I don't have much more time. If I can't see my kids, why go on living?"
"Shut up! Take her away!" Elroy barked. Her cries elicited no sympathy from the old man, but instead, they added fuel to the fire.
Standing next to Elroy was Ramona's stepmother, Sybil. The woman just stood there, watching impassively. She made no move to stop Elroy.
As the bodyguards approached Ramona again, she suddenly turned around, rushed to Debbie and hugged her tightly. "The best thing I ever did was marry your dad, but probably the worst thing as well. Remember, I love you, and your brother too. Forgive me. I can't love you anymore."
Debbie was shocked by her emotional words. An ominous feeling rose in her heart.
When Ramona suddenly loosened her grip, Debbie instinctively reached out to catch her hand, but failed. The sad woman crazily dashed towards the busy road outside the parking lot before the bodyguards could reach her. Debbie knew what she was going to do, and an empty hole was there where her heart was only seconds before.
The bodyguards immediately pursued Ramona.
Debbie sensed something was wrong with her mom. In an instant, she took to her heels and ran after her, ignoring the inconvenience of the high heels.
What Debbie didn't know was that when she began to run, the man behind her followed her, and quickened his pace as well. He had left the party early, since he was busier than ever nowadays.
"Carlos!" Stephanie cried out behind him.
But Carlos didn't hear her. His entire world was taken up by Debbie.
His keen mind had already figured out that Ramona wanted to commit suicide by running into the heavy traffic. If Debbie followed her, she might be in danger.
Carlos guessed right. Now Ramona stood in the middle of traffic, refusing to move a muscle. Cars whizzed past her crazily, swerving to avoid hitting her.
But her luck didn't hold. A car couldn't stop in time, and the driver leaned on the horn to alert her. Brakes squealed as the car bore down on her.
Debbie saw a car hurtling towards Ramona but the desperate mother stood there, arms akimbo as if welcoming it. In a panic, Debbie picked up the pace, but unfortunately, she tripped over her high heels, falling onto the roadway awkwardly. Seeing the imminent danger, Debbie yelled at the top of her lungs, "No!"
Ramona turned around and looked at her daughter with a faint smile. The despair in her eyes was plain for anyone to see.
Everyone was shocked by the scene. Even the bodyguards stopped in their tracks seeing the heavy traffic on the road.
While Debbie struggled to her feet, a person sprang out from nowhere and sprinted towards Ramona. The man caught her arm and pushed her away. She fell to the ground, rolling into the other lane right before the car would have hit her.
Following the sound of the screeching tires, Ramona's savior swiftly jumped onto the hood of the car, and somersaulted in the air, carried by the car's momentum. Then, he landed on the ground behind the vehicle, rolling twice before finally laying still.
"Carlos!" Debbie called out in fright when she saw who it was. She was so worried about him her mind went blank.
Ignoring the pain in her ankles, she kicked off her high heels and ran into the heavy traffic.
Carlos' safety was the only thing on her mind. 'Oh God. Please be okay. Please be okay!' she prayed in her mind.
The screech of brakes and angry horns pierced the air again, sending shivers down every pedestrian's spine. Carlos' face went pale as he saw Debbie run towards him amidst the onrushing cars.
Right then, a black car sped towards her.
All of a sudden, Carlos was stricken by a migraine. A woman's figure popped into his brain. Some vague scenes flashed by, and his mind was full of Debbie's face.
However, given the urgent situation, he didn't have time to dwell on what this meant.
He pressed his lips and ran over to Debbie. Before the black car reached her, he quickly pulled her into his arms.
They lost their balance and fell to the ground, rolling. Carlos shielded her with his body. They didn't stop rolling until finally his back hit a car parked on the side of the road.
Meanwhile, Debbie's head hit his sturdy chest. Carlos closed his eyes in pain. He wasn't a weak man, but he was getting battered.
"You okay? Are you hurt?" Debbie asked nervously as she tugged at his sleeves.
But before Carlos could answer, a group of people caught up to them. "Carlos! Oh my God, are you okay?" Stephanie anxiously asked.
Then James came upon the scene. "Carlos, are you hurt? You need a hospital, Son?"
"How are you feeling?" a relative asked.
Hearing all these voices, Carlos broke free from Debbie. He closed his eyes for a second. When he opened them, he returned to his cold self. Instead of responding to everyone, he stared at Debbie and scolded, "You stupid woman!"
Debbie was silent.
Stephanie dusted off his clothes and straightened them as best as she could. She shot an angry glance at Debbie. "Miss Nian, Carlos is mine now. Back off!"
Not giving a damn about Stephanie's cold attitude, Debbie looked at Carlos expectantly. "Did you remember us? Is that why you saved me?"
Everybody around them went silent, each with different emotions in their hearts.
Carlos replied flatly, "Stephanie and I are officially engaged. I hope you can give up on me."
'Give up on you?'
Debbie's heart was shattered into a million pieces.
Stephanie and James led Carlos away, leaving Debbie standing at the spot in a daze.
A few bodyguards had already stepped into the roadway, stopping the cars to make way for them.
When they reached the other side, Debbie suddenly came back to her senses and yelled, "Carlos!"
Carlos stopped. After a little hesitation, he turned around.
"Fine. You win. Just promise me one thing." The man was only a few lanes away from her, but to her, he was far beyond her reach now. It was like he was thousands of miles away.
"Yeah?" He emanated an icy-cold aura, eyes dark as a black hole.
"I'll be married soon. Will you give me away, since I have no father?"
Her resolute voice pierced through the air.