Take My Breath Away

'Gregory will be missing some very important parts of his body?' Colleen was taken aback by Carlos' threat. She knew Carlos meant it, and figured she'd better warn Gregory. After all, whenever it came to Debbie, he was a raging, jealous mess.

She hung up on Carlos, and immediately dialed Gregory's number. To her dismay, his phone was off, and the call went straight to voicemail.

She dialed the number again and again, but to no avail. She didn't dare to call an angry Carlos; instead, she sent him a private message on Facebook saying, "I'm sorry, Carlos. Both Gregory's and Debbie's phones are off."

Of course, Carlos knew it. He had called his wife five times, but couldn't get through. The last time, he slammed the phone down on the seat next to him in disgust. He'd seen his dad ruin enough phones to know that when he was that mad, he needed a cushion he could throw his phone at. He couldn't call with a broken phone.

The tall, proud man sat in the back seat of his car, visibly upset. Suddenly, his phone rang, and it was Wesley. "I'm at the hospital now. Megan just woke up, and she's asking for you. Where are you?"

Rubbing his arching brows, Carlos felt a little annoyed when Wesley mentioned Megan. "I can't make it now. Just keep her busy till I get there." His wife was about to sleep with another man, and he was eager to find her. He had no time for anything or anyone else.

"Hmm," Wesley answered. "What happened? How did Megan fall into the river? Was it Debbie?" His voice was as cold as ice.

"It's not what it looks like. Debbie might be a brat, but she's not psycho. She wouldn't kill anybody." Carlos' head cleared after he took some time to cool himself down. Debbie had always been square with him before, so he saw no reason not to defend her now. She tried his patience—a lot—but in the end she always had a heart of gold. And now, he knew her spirit was broken. And her heart. He figured that maybe if he could clear the air, she'd believe that she was his one and only.

Wesley paused as Blair's words entered his mind. "If Megan's so important to you, then marry her!" She had once yelled at him like this.

None of the two men hung up, nor did they say anything. They were both lost in their own thoughts.

On the other hand, when Debbie and Gregory left the restaurant, she got into his car and made sure both of their phones were powered down. "If our phones were on, Carlos would call and find us, and then we'd be screwed," she said.

Gregory couldn't do anything but glumly retort, "I don't think it'll help."

He knew Carlos far too well. Everyone did. The arm of his vengeance was long, and he had men who were quite efficient at carrying out his orders, whether they were to seize someone, break up a fight, or finish one. They were pretty ruthless, often as efficient as Carlos himself. If he couldn't handle a situation personally, he put his assistants or bodyguards on it. Could he find two people with ease? Does a bear poop in the woods? Even if you hid in those same woods, it was just a matter of time before he found you.

Gregory's words did make sense to Debbie. But she was stubborn... She murmured, "Carlos Huo is too busy to look for us. He's holding Miss Mi in his arms right now. And he might go to the hospital to keep Miss Lan company later."

Gregory looked at the sad and dejected girl, and felt it necessary to console her. "I really think you're taking all this wrong. Carlos treats Megan well just because she's his niece. But you're different..."

"Gregory, you don't know her..." Megan had once told Debbie that she would've married Carlos if it weren't for her. She even tricked Debbie once, making her think that Carlos had chosen Megan over her. But Debbie didn't tell him, as she didn't think it was anyone else's business.

Whenever Megan wasn't around, Debbie was one hundred percent sure that Carlos loved her very much. She was sure the man thought of her often. However, as long as Megan was around, Debbie was not so sure anymore.

Silence befell the car. Gregory was a young man of few words. He wanted to comfort Debbie, but didn't know how. He wasn't even sure he could. But he was sure of one thing—even with tear stains lining her face, she was a lovely sight.

"Gregory, if Colleen's busy and can't make it, just drop me off here," Debbie said. "I'll figure something out."

"Colleen's not busy. She called me when you were using the ladies' room. She's at the Rock Bar now," Gregory said quickly. He didn't want to leave her alone.

"Oh, really? Awesome. Thanks for driving me there," she said with a smile. She felt a little embarrassed. Gregory had paid for dinner this evening, and now he was driving her to the bar. She felt like a leech.

"Come on. It's no big deal. We've known each other for years." Gregory flashed a smile.

"Yeah. From school. That was you: Gregory Song, a straight-A student, always made the Dean's list... It took me awhile to figure out it was you." That was the reason why his name came up so often—the teachers always praised him. Although she'd heard the name, she hadn't paid any attention to him.

Gregory had always kept a low profile—he was never a class monitor or student body president. She hadn't gotten to know him until her third year of college.

The traffic lights cycled to red, and Gregory eased the car to a stop. "Seriously? Was I that low-key? Maybe I was just an ordinary, boring guy that you wouldn't look at twice in high school." He cracked a joke, if only to make her smile.

Truth was, Gregory would ask the head teacher to remove his name from the rolls when he was voted into a student body position.

After all, his mother was his father's mistress, and he didn't want to attract too much attention. His family's reputation was on the line, and he didn't want to do anything to drag their names through the mud.

"An ordinary, boring guy?" Debbie eyed him from head to toe. "You're tall and handsome. You could be a model." Women of all ages would think Gregory was hot. He could become famous overnight if he wanted.

Gregory burst into laughter. "Hah! As if."

"Believe me. You'd be a heartthrob." Debbie shook her head, sighing.

'I thought that was actually what Gregory wanted—to become a star, but his family forced him to major in economics and management, ' she thought.

When they arrived at the bar, Colleen was already there, waiting for them in a booth.

Before they sat down, Colleen couldn't resist asking, "What's wrong with you two? Debbie, your husband is super angry. What happened?"

Debbie got more depressed at the mention of Carlos. "I don't care. I'm not happy either," she grumbled.

Colleen poured Debbie a glass of beer and pried, "Why not call him back?" She was really frightened by Carlos' threat. If he did something bad to Gregory, how could she face their father?

Debbie pouted her lips. "No! I want some wine. Let's get drunk tonight." She drained her glass and asked the waiter for two bottles of Cassia wine.

Both Colleen and Gregory were startled.

After several glasses, Debbie began to curse Carlos. "Go to hell. You piece of trash!" she kept repeating. The siblings didn't know what to do. This didn't seem to be easing her depression. Instead, it seemed to be making it worse.

Half an hour later, Emmett entered the bar and walked over to them. "Mr. Song, Miss Song," he said in greeting. Then he turned to Debbie, who was leaning over the table. She could barely hold her head up, so she used her elbows to keep herself steady. Emmett said in a loud voice, "Mrs. Huo, Mr. Huo asked me to drive you back home."

The music was deafening. Debbie raised her head and looked at him asking, "Emmett, what did that asshole tell you to do?"

Despite discouragement from those around her, she emptied her glass rapidly.

Emmett wanted to answer "That asshole asked me to drive you home," but he didn't dare to say so. After all, walls have ears. "Come on Mrs. Huo. You can't escape. Mr. Huo has men at all the exits. Just come with me."

To be honest, Emmett sympathized with his boss. Carlos had to ask people to surround the bar to get his wife back home.