Carlos wore a broad smile as Valerie made comments on Evelyn. 'No matter who she resembles in character, I will love her forever, ' he thought.
After a while, Valerie gave his phone back and said, "Please bring her here to visit me if you have time. I don't know how much longer I will live."
"Grandma, don't say that! Debbie and I will have another baby and you will have to take care of it for us," Carlos said with a soft smile. He gazed at the photo on his phone for a while before locking it and putting it back into his pocket.
"She's pregnant again?" Valerie asked, eyes wide open.
Carlos shook his head. "Not yet, but it won't be long before she is."
Valerie was a little disappointed, but she still had Evelyn. "If you are too busy, just send her here. I'll take care of her myself."
Carlos stood up, poured a cup of tea for her and said with a sigh, "Grandma, I'm afraid I can't bring her over now."
"Why?" Valerie asked in confusion as she took the cup from his hands. "What happened?"
Carlos paused, wondering what he should address Miranda as. "Mom has been delegating her duties in New York. She will be flying to Y City next week to take care of Evelyn."
It took Valerie a few seconds to realize that Carlos was referring to Miranda, and not Tabitha. She comforted him, "Carlos, it was me who had forced Miranda to give you up to James and Tabitha. Please don't blame her for that. Be nice to her and your dad."
Carlos nodded his head as he stared out the window absent-mindedly.
Before he and Tristan left the Huo family's house, Carlos promised Valerie that he would stay overnight at her place.
He was incredibly busy. After visiting Valerie, he had to go and meet Stephanie's parents.
In Y City
It had been four days since Carlos had left for New York. Debbie stared dejectedly out the window. Not too far away, workers were working. That place used to be a villa which her music studio and yoga room were in, but then James had it demolished and planted a garden instead. Now Carlos hired these workers to build a new villa there.
Debbie turned away from the construction site. 'Ugh! This is so boring, '
she thought and pulled out her phone to call Carlos. The call connected soon, and before the man could speak, she spat, "Carlos Huo, I need to get out of this house today. If you still refuse to let me leave, I will not divorce Ivan!"
"Okay."
She was ready for a retort, not having expected that he would agree so easily. "What?" she asked in disbelief.
"Where are you going today?" he asked, his voice devoid of any emotion.
'Did my threat work?' she wondered. "I need to go to work. And I also want to pick Piggy up from the kindergarten myself," she replied.
"All right."
'Since when has Carlos Huo been so open to persuasion? Is he plotting something?' She scrunched up her eyebrows.
But Carlos said nothing more and hung up on her abruptly.
Confused, Debbie stared at her phone, wondering what he was doing in New York right now.
'Whatever! I can focus on my work now.'
Debbie called Ruby and began to schedule her work. She had many ads to shoot.
One day, when she had just finished a photo shoot for the cover of a magazine, her phone rang. She picked it up from the table and checked the caller ID—it was an unknown number.
'It's probably someone from the Huo family, '
she reckoned. "Hello?" She answered the phone.
"Debbie Nian?" came an unfamiliar woman's voice.
"Yes. Who is this?"
After a moment's pause, the woman answered, "Glenda Shi, Stephanie's mother. I'm in Y City right now. How about you and I have a cup of tea together this afternoon?"
'Stephanie's mother?' Debbie didn't know what the woman wanted, but she knew that she was up to no good. "I'm sorry, but I don't have time for a meet and greet. What do you want?" she asked.
Glenda's expression changed; she felt offended. "I need to talk to you face-to-face about my daughter and Mr. Huo."
Debbie chuckled and said casually, "I don't think we have anything to talk about, Mrs. Li."
Glenda clenched her teeth and spat, "This is the first time I've seen someone so shameless. Who do you think you are? You are nothing but a mistress!"
"A mistress? Me?" Debbie scoffed. "I think you are well aware who the mistress is between the two of us. That word suits you and your daughter more than anyone else."
"What did you say?" Glenda yelled at the top of her lungs.
Debbie pulled her phone away from her ear. She smirked and thought, 'I thought Glenda was more scheming than Stephanie. Looks like she can hardly retain her composure either.' "Didn't you hear me? Fine, I'll repeat it for you. You and your daughter are the mistresses here."
"You bitch!" Glenda cursed, unable to control her fury.
"Tsk! Tsk! Mrs. Li, don't forget who you are. You are a lady of the high society, and yet you are acting like an uncouth shrew." Debbie's outright disdain only enraged Glenda even further.
Gasping for air, she scoffed, "I've never seen a woman so bitchy like you. You not only seduce my daughter's fiance, but even disrespect your elders. It's really no wonder. Your parents haven't taught you any manners."
The smile on Debbie's face vanished. "Mrs. Li, do you know how the last person who had said those words ended up?"
Glenda froze. "What do you mean?"
Debbie sneered into the phone, "Do you know Megan Lan? She had once said those same words you did. And you know what? She's dead now." Actually, it was Valerie who had said those words, and Megan was just present at that time. But Glenda didn't need to know the details.
And of course, Glenda knew Megan.
Her daughter and Megan had acted as friends on the surface, but had always been enemies.
When Debbie mentioned Megan, Glenda felt shivers travel down her spine. She turned around to look behind her. She was at a mall, and she heaved a sigh of relief when she saw the crowd around her. No one could attack her at a public place like that. "Don't you try to scare me! It's useless. Wait! The murderer hasn't been caught yet. Are you saying that you were the one who killed her?"
Debbie laughed at her response. "Mrs. Li, congratulations. You've successfully attracted my attention. Let's meet. When and where?"
"I'm at the Shining International Plaza now. You can come over right away," Glenda said.
Debbie, however, simply said, "Oh, I'm sorry, Mrs. Li. I'm quite busy at the moment. Maybe another time."
Glenda was so angry that her hands started quivering and her knuckles went pale.
Before Glenda could respond, Debbie hung up on her. Unconvinced, Glenda continued to call her, but Debbie didn't bother to answer.
She looked at the many missed calls on her phone screen. 'Who does she think she is?
Why should I waste my time on her?' Debbie thought to herself.
At ZL Group
The moment Carlos arrived in Y City, he went straight to his office.
Frankie stood before the desk, giving his report. After that, he put an envelope on the table and said, "Mr. Huo, the letter is from Mr. Wen. I didn't open it."
Carlos cast a sideways glance at it and said coldly, "Open it."
"Yes, Mr. Huo." Frankie opened the envelope swiftly.
He was stunned for a moment, and then looked up at Carlos. "Mr. Huo, it's a wedding invitation." He unfolded it slowly.