Take My Breath Away

Gail had gone there to meet Debbie, but when she reached Debbie's room, she saw that there were two people looking for something in the room. Her breathing became faster until she realized it was two bodyguards. And after watching them for a while, she realized that they weren't looking for anything. Rather, they were packing Debbie's things for her. What was going on?

What surprised her even more was that there were two bodyguards packing her things. The special treatment wasn't enough to make her suspicious, the number was. How much luggage could Debbie possibly have? Only then did it hit Gail that things were not as simple as she had thought. Something was definitely up, and she was curious what.

The bodyguards saw her, but both of them seemed not to care. They merely continued with their work. After they had packed everything that was visible in the room, one of them flipped the covers over, wanting to make sure that nothing was left behind. Instead of Debbie's belongings, a white blanket came into view. It looked much like an electric blanket to Gail.

Sure that nothing was left behind, the bodyguards remade the bed almost oblivious to the blanket. At that point, Gail couldn't help it anymore and dashed into the room like a tornado. With one enormous swipe, she lifted the covers and the sheets. Aha! It was indeed an electric blanket. Shocked, she looked around to find an electric warming fan in the corner as well. What was more, there were a number of more articles for daily use spread across the room, which were brand-new and barely seen in the village.

'None of us got any of these things except for Debbie. Why?'

It seemed that Debbie had more secrets than she had thought, and there was more to her story than she was letting on. Then Gail recalled that Debbie had invited her to sleep in her room the first night they were here, but she had refused, even insulting her in a way. Thinking about her stupid decision, she was extremely regretful. If she had said yes that night, then not only would she have slept soundly, she would have found out about this whole thing earlier.

Panting, Gail went in search of Debbie once more. The latter was saying her goodbyes to some elders in the village.

Regardless, she dragged her away from those villagers and demanded some answers. "How come your room had much better facilities than ours? What's so special about you? And tell me one thing: why do I need your permission to leave this godforsaken place!? No wait. I get it. Tell me this: is it Emmett or Mr. Huo you are involved with?"

Gail studied Debbie's face after the string of questions she had thrown her way. With makeup, the girl had been the center of attention at the party the other day. But what was surprising was that even with bare face, her skin looked fantastic. Quite unusual!

The past few days had been really tough for every one of those students and they had to make do with the bare minimum of facilities. However, even under such circumstances, Debbie had managed to look more feminine and beautiful than before. Gail hated to admit it, but that was the truth. She had noticed it herself.

And she was convinced that only money, a lot of money, could bring about that kind of change.

The puzzle was—was it Carlos or his secretary who had spent that kind of money on Debbie? Either way, it was clear that Debbie was close to Carlos.

Gail started trembling at the thought. If Debbie's secret lover was Carlos, Gail believed that her miserable days would never end. Since Debbie was in power while she was with Carlos, she could make her life very miserable indeed.

"Who told you that you have to get my permission to leave this place?" Debbie responded with a question of her own. Gail noticed that she sounded a bit curious. 'My permission? Why?' It sounded odd to Debbie.

Gail bit her lower lip hard and answered resentfully after a long while, "Emmett! I don't want to get on that crappy minibus again. And you know... I came here only because of you. My dad wouldn't have forced me to come here if you hadn't joined this project. If you're leaving, then you have to take me with you. And you really don't have a choice, because I am gonna tell my parents what you are. As soon as they find out you've been fooling around with so many men, you're done!"

Debbie valued Lucinda's and Sebastian's opinions quite a lot, and Gail knew that very well. What infuriated her was the fact that it was almost as if Debbie had managed to steal her parents away from her. Nothing she did seemed to be good enough compared to Debbie. She hated every moment of that.

Debbie took a deep breath, trying to control a wave of anger on her face. She then told her, "Gail, I can take you with me, but you have to promise me not to mess with me again. And don't ever repeat that last sentence in front of me. I'll have you know that there's only one man I'm involved with."

"Who is he?"

"You'll know that one day. But today is not that day. Can you do what I asked you to or not?" If Gail knew about Debbie's relationship with Carlos, the whole world would know. She wasn't the sort who were too keen on keeping secrets. Debbie couldn't tell her yet.

Gail was left with no choice now and promised.

When Gail finally left her alone, Debbie bid her farewell to the kids who had just played "Drop the Handkerchief" game with her and her schoolmates. It was a tearful scene with the kids when they found out she was leaving. Her eyes watered a bit too. It was sad to say goodbye to these kids. Although she had not been here for too many days, she still felt a strange attraction to the place.

When she finally left the school, still immersed in her sorrow, Jared suddenly popped out from nowhere and started dragging her towards the village itself.

"Where are we going?" she asked, pulled along. She felt that both Jared and Gail were acting really weird today.

"To where I was staying."

"But why?"

"To pack my things."

Debbie wanted to kick him right in the shins when she heard that. "You can pack your things on your own. What do you need me for? To do it for you?" she asked in exasperation.

"Of course not."

The village was tiny and it didn't take them more than three minutes before they found themselves in Jared and Dixon's room. As soon as they came to the door, Jared pulled Debbie inside and locked the door.

He opened his suitcase and threw all his items in as he kept an eye on Debbie. "You can't get in the car without me. Otherwise, I am going to be stuck here," he explained, noticing her curious glance.

He believed that Carlos wouldn't allow him to get in his car, unless Debbie was with him.

Debbie saw his point. "Dude, you came here with me. Do you really think I will leave you and Dixon behind? Is that how you see me?"

"No. Of course you won't leave us behind," he replied immediately, "but your husband will!"

His packing was done within minutes, usual for boys.

While they were walking towards the luxury cars, Jared grabbed Debbie's arm tightly, as if he was afraid she would run away from him anytime. Emmett was waiting by the Emperor car for her. Upon seeing them, a bodyguard took Jared's suitcase and led him towards the car behind him. "Mr. Han, please follow me," he asked respectfully.

Jared clutched Debbie abruptly like an insecure child while shouting, "Where're you taking me? I'm going nowhere. I just want to go home!" He was sick of this place and couldn't stay here any longer.

Emmett stifled his laughter somehow, even though it was really hard to do after even a fleeting glance at Jared, and assured him, "Mr. Han, please relax. The cars waiting behind are for you and your friends."

Hearing this, Jared was relieved and calmed down. "Okay, that sounds fair. Tomboy, I'm getting in the car." He sounded a bit embarrassed for having made a scene.

Looking at the Emperor beside her, Debbie took a deep breath before getting in. When Emmett opened the door for her, she found the overbearing man she had been thinking of the past few days sitting inside staring at her. "What are you waiting for?" he asked.

Debbie's heart started pounding, and she felt a burning sensation in her face. All the fights and arguments they'd ever had between them vanished completely from her mind. Even before she had gotten in the car completely, she had already wrapped her arms around Carlos' neck and kissed him on the cheek.

Carlos was surprised by her sudden affectionate reaction.

After the kiss, Debbie got out of the car again and smiled. "I have to go find Dixon. Be right back."

"Flirt with me and run away right after?" Carlos complained in a husky voice.

Debbie's face turned crimson. "No, idiot. I don't plan to do that just yet. I'll be back soon," she retorted.

She was about to turn around when Emmett assured her, "Mrs. Huo, all your friends have gotten in the cars. Please don't worry."

"All right, then." She found Emmett was a very considerate person. Nothing to worry about, Debbie bent down to finally get in the car.

Suddenly a man in navy blue ethnic clothes called from behind her, "Debbie, wait!"

Debbie turned around. The village head's son was running towards her.