Ivan took a look at the woman under him and said over the phone, "You sure you want me to go back home now? Come on, Mom. You want a grandchild, right— Ouch!" A pinch from Kasie made him end his sentence prematurely. He started massaging the area she cruelly manhandled.
Blushing a shade of bright red, she shot him an angry glare and then buried her face in the pillow, embarrassed.
"What? A grandchild? With whom?" Elsie softened her voice.
To save him from more drama, Ivan patiently explained, "Mom, the marriage was a sham. Debbie and I aren't married. Sorry for lying to you. And I don't love men. I love Debbie's best friend, and I wanna marry her. We're getting married here, so you and Dad will need to get tickets."
"W-what...is that so?" The sudden change of the story put Elsie in a daze. She needed time to process everything.
"That's it, Mom. I just married Debbie to get you and Dad off my back. But this is real. If you don't believe me, you can fly here and watch us get the marriage licenses with your own eyes."
Ivan wanted to hang up but Elsie quickly stopped. "Hold on. No wonder Debbie didn't want me to visit her uncle and aunt, and didn't want any gifts. Now I get it. So which family is that girl from?" 'Debbie's best friend...' Elsie tried to remember who that was, but came up short. She hadn't really gotten to know the girl.
She saw her once at Ivan's wedding, but she was too excited to notice anything.
"She's the daughter of the Zheng family here. Her father is Mason Zheng. I think Dad knows him." At this point, Ivan began to lose his patience.
If Elsie didn't end the call, the sun would be up soon. He wouldn't have enough time to enjoy his special moment with Kasie.
Elsie nudged her husband, who was lying next to her. "Do you know Mason Zheng? Ivan says you know him."
Without hesitation, Logan nodded, "Yeah. I knew him from university."
Elsie asked further with the line still on, "I never heard you mention him. You close to him?" She heard a beep, and the line went silent. "Hey, Ivan... I'm not done."
As Elsie tried to call again, Logan stopped her and said, "Look. He's with his girlfriend. Don't ruin the moment."
Elsie's hands froze. She carefully thought about his words again and took in his meaning. Realizing what her son was doing now, she blushed and scolded, "That brat! Why didn't he tell me? Honey, I roared at our son just now. Do you think she heard me?"
Instead of answering her question, Logan pulled a long face and criticized, "Ivan is already thirty. He's a mature man, and the CEO of the company. But he can't take marriage seriously!"
Elsie patted his shoulder. "Don't get mad. I'll give him an earful when I get the chance. And maybe I was a little pushy about grandkids, but still...What a brat!" she said in increasing anger.
"Humph! Even if we did drive him to it, why Carlos' woman? Is he an idiot or something? I'm pretty sure Evelyn is Carlos' kid," Logan said.
"Oh, really? No wonder she's so clever."
Logan let out a heavy sigh.
At last, the old couple decided that they would teach Ivan a lesson.
In the East District Manor
When Debbie emerged from the bathroom, she didn't see Carlos in the bedroom. Too sleepy to go find him, she climbed onto bed straight away.
In her sleepy and hazy state, she felt a familiar man hugging her close.
It felt wonderful. Without thinking, she turned over and wrapped her arms around the man's waist, nestling comfortably in his arms.
But then she felt his hand exploring her body, accompanied by a seductive voice, "Honey..."
Debbie thought she was dreaming, so she didn't open her eyes.
And that was when she felt something heavy on top of her. Her eyes whipped open. In the dark, Carlos was staring at her, eyes thick with lust.
He was really going to do it. Shocked, Debbie tried to steady her breathing and asked between moans, "Not before... before...I divorce Ivan, right?"
He yelled in a hoarse voice, "I've waited too long!" All he wanted to do now was teach her a lesson and love her with his heart and soul.
"Carlos, where are your morals?" she snapped, confused. Back when they were trapped on the desert island, Carlos had wanted to bang her, but he had managed to constrain himself by swimming a few rounds in the sea. But why couldn't he stop himself now?
"I have plenty of those. But they're for another time, another place. I want you by my side, forever."
Debbie couldn't help but wonder again if he had regained his memory. He had been acting so strangely since the party earlier tonight. But he had denied it and kept asking her to divorce Ivan, just like usual. She wasn't so sure.
Carlos didn't give her any more time to think. As he moved with full passion, her heavy and short breaths came one after another.
The next morning, the sound of her ringtone jarred Debbie awake. It was Ivan. She reached out for her phone and slid her finger along the screen. Face buried under the covers, she said in a sleepy voice, "Hi, Ivan."
"Still in bed?" Ivan's voice sounded refreshed and joyful.
"Yeah. I stayed up last night..." Thanks to Carlos, she didn't get any sleep till the sun rose.
Ivan grinned and looked at Kasie, who was also sleeping. "I'm getting married," he announced.
"Congratulations," Debbie said without thinking. She wasn't quite awake yet.
Ivan chuckled under his breath. "Debbie, I'm getting married to Kasie."
"Awesome," she yawned. "Ivan, congrats... Wait...who... Oh, my God!"
Ivan heard a loud voice from the other end.
'Now you're getting it, girl.' He grinned broadly and told her, "My parents are taking the red-eye out here. We're all visiting Kasie's family today. We're getting the licenses today, too, if there's time."
Massaging her sore waist, Debbie stretched and quickly ran her eyes over Carlos' room. He wasn't around. But that wasn't what she was interested in currently. She shifted her attention back to the phone and asked, "So you're marrying Kasie?"
"Yeah. You heard me right. You're not dreaming," Ivan confirmed helplessly.
She scratched her messy hair and heaved a sigh. "And Kasie said 'yes?'"
"Yeah. We talked about it last night."
Debbie reminded him with a huge smile, "Treat her right, or I'll beat the tar out of you!"
Ivan assured her, "You have my word." Then he teased, "I don't fall in love every day. Why wouldn't I be nice to her?"
Debbie giggled. "Again, congratulations. You owe me a meal."
"Okay, I'll buy you a big one next time."
After a pause, Debbie thought of something. The smile on her face froze, and she said in a heavy tone, "You should probably visit Emmett's grave with Kasie. He might like to know how she's doing."
"Already thought of."
"Hmm. That's good."
After chatting a while longer with Ivan, Debbie dragged herself out of bed. She plodded towards the bathroom, legs trembling
In Ivan's apartment, after ending the call with Debbie, he waited until Kasie woke up. They had lunch together in his apartment and shared some more intimate moments. In the afternoon, before his parents arrived, Ivan got in the car and asked Kasie to get in, too. He rebuffed all her questions about where they were going.
Kasie's face changed as she looked out the window, watching the scenery fly by. She turned to look at Ivan and asked hesitantly, "Where are we going?"
Ivan patted her hand to comfort her. "I think you know."
Kasie fell silent.