Take My Breath Away

When the cashier hesitated to take her card, Debbie lost her patience and snapped, "Didn't you hear me? I said, take my card and give me the receipt!" The truth was, she felt bad that she had to direct her anger at the cashier as she knew why the woman behind the counter was unwilling to do her job; she must have known whom Gail had called.

"Miss, I'm sorry, but could you please wait a minute? That lady… she seemed to have called the vice-general manager of our mall," the cashier explained while looking back and forth between Debbie and Gail. She had no idea what was happening. All she knew was that she wanted to offend neither of the customers.

'Huh? The vice-general manager of Shining International Plaza? What's the big deal? My husband is the owner," she retorted in private.

She walked towards Gail with an irritated expression and said in a sarcastic tone, "How many times have you been to the dean's office? Did you think I was stupid? I know you were the one who snitched on me. If I could, I would tear that mask off your face, but I'm simply too busy to be bothered right now. We both know that does not mean I'm afraid of you. Fortunately for you, I had been in no mood to have open disputes with you regarding the matter, even though you kept stabbing me in the back. You won the last time. But if you think carrying on with that attitude is going to keep giving me losses, then you better get ready. I'm warning you, Gail Mu. If you dare provoke me one more time, I'll make sure you're on the losing end."

Gail turned pale upon hearing Debbie's threats. She knew that the feisty girl before her was not afraid of her at all -- if she had to be taken down, she would be. She shuddered at the thought that she was arguing with someone who was not afraid of anyone.

"What kind of nonsense are you spewing now? I didn't tell the dean anything!" Gail denied, hoping to escape Debbie's wrath. That was her strategy; she would refuse any accusations against her, knowing full well that Debbie had no concrete proof that she was the one who had told on her.

However, the nervous look on her face had already given her away. Her voice had begun to tremble whenever she would try to explain herself. Debbie, who was already expecting Gail's reaction, flashed a mocking smile and silently cursed the bitch. "For the sake of your parents, I will not be beating you up today. Instead, for the last time, I'm going to tell you that this collar pin is mine, so you better choose another one. Otherwise, you know you'll be walking out of here limp," Debbie warned her. She had her arms crossed before her chest, projecting a demeanor and gesture of someone who was fearless.

Kristina and Kasie giggled behind Debbie because they knew that their friend was just bluffing. Debbie could be a little tetchy but she had a tender heart.

Debbie would not really beat Gail up because the girl going against her was her aunt's daughter -- they were in fact cousins by blood, so she was actually quite tolerant of her cousin; even after what Gail had done to Debbie, the latter had still begged Carlos not to get her cousin expelled.

However, Gail did not share the same sentiment as her relative. She got pissed off and yelled, "Who do you think you are? Don't think that I don't know your dirty little secret. The BMW you're riding? It must be from your sugar daddy, huh? The guy must be old. I don't think the collar pin will suit him." She made her voice louder than ever on purpose so that everyone could hear what she was on about.

Rumor had it that Debbie had a sugar daddy, and almost all the students in the university believed it to be true.

Gail believed that only a successful businessman like her boyfriend deserved that pin they were arguing to purchase, and she would, by no means, give it up to Debbie.

The people surrounding them all turned to look at Debbie with judgmental and condemning eyes.

When Debbie noticed that everyone around her had chosen to trust her spoiled cousin's statement, she heavily banged her palm on the counter, making a thump loud enough to silence the people chattering and murmuring about her.

All of a sudden, Kasie rushed towards the rumor-mongering girl. She was fuming when she said through gritted teeth, "Do you think I don't know what you've done to Debbie behind her back? How dare you make up stories to frame her? Are you appealing to death? Apologize to Debbie, now!"

The girl before the enraged friend knew what Kasie was talking about. She had made up a story that Debbie was a lesbian.

She was backed up in a corner and did not know what to do. Luckily for her, a man in a black suit and leather shoes entered the shop.

He was in his thirties and he looked very frail as he was thin as a stick. Nevertheless, he was Gail's savior. 'Who is this guy? How is he related to Gail?' the trio thought to themselves in wonder.

Gail's eyes lit up when she saw the man. She gave him a pitiful look before throwing herself into his arms. "Victor, you're finally here. I was scared to death."

'Scared to death? By me? Am I a rabid animal? It's not like I really came after her, ' Debbie thought. The fierce girl rolled her eyes.

The man, Victor Liu, patted his girl's back and consoled her for a while.

He then walked towards the salesladies. "Who bullied my girlfriend?" he asked in a stern voice. The salesladies, who were afraid of both parties, shook their heads immediately, pretending not to know in order to not get involved.

When the trio realized that the man who had stood up for Gail was her boyfriend, they exchanged glances in shock and disbelief, for the man Gail was with was at least ten years older than her.

Debbie covered her face, feeling embarrassed for her cousin. She did not expect her to be so shameless to the point of finding herself a sugar daddy.

Her heart ached for her aunt and uncle; had they known about this, their hearts would break. She lost all will and drive to argue. All she could set her mind on now was telling her aunt about what she had found out when she met her next time. All she had to do now was pay the bill. She turned to the cashier and once again demanded that her item be packed for purchase.

However, the cashier still remained silent and refused Debbie's card -- the man was the vice-general of the mall, after all. She did not want to risk losing her job over such a petty quarrel.

"Victor, I saw the pin first and wanted to buy it for you as a birthday gift. But by the time I had gotten out of the lady's room, she already had it in possession." Gail pointed to her cousin and pouted her mouth. Victor Liu was elated at Gail's words as he loved the expensive gift.

Debbie cursed her own cousin inside her mind, 'Fuck you, Jail Mu!' "Shame on you for being such a big liar. I saw it first! Besides, if you were the first one to see it, then why didn't you buy it in the first place? Admit it; you just want to mess with me!" the fuming girl said.

It was not until then that Debbie caught the attention of Victor Liu. His eyes lit up when he saw her pretty face. A dirty smile began to form on his face. 'Damn it! If I had seen her first, then I wouldn't have addressed Gail as my girlfriend, ' he thought to himself.

"Miss, could you please let my girlfriend have the item? I will find you another nice pin. What do you think of it?" the man bargained while looking at Debbie from head to toe. He had never seen anyone so pure, and being a creep, he thought, 'She must be a virgin.'

Upon seeing how disgusting the man was when he looked at her, Debbie almost threw up and turned his offer down without any hesitation. "No, I only want this one. No one in here can force me to give it up," Debbie clarified.

The two parties had run into a dead end. Victor Liu found that Gail was tearing up and then turned to Debbie to beg her, "Miss…"

Before he could even finish his sentence, Debbie interrupted and exclaimed, "Pack that for me or I'll sue the shit out of you and this store!" She gave the cashier a deadly glare which caused the woman to finally reach out to take her card.

Victor Liu had gone red from the anger caused by being disrespected by the young girl. "Don't sell it to her! I'm the vice-general manager of the mall and you do as I say!"

While what he said was true, he never really got to the top of his position without his father's funding. Shining International Plaza was under the ZL Group, and he had done well. Thus, his father had spent a lot of money to make him the vice-general manager of the mall.

Debbie gave the man a scornful gaze and mocked him, "Vice-general manager? So what? You think I'm buying it?" 'My husband is the CEO of the ZL Group! Have I ever shown off like that? the ferocious girl retorted inwardly.

Victor Lui was absolutely livid about it and turned to the cashier demanding, "Pack the item for my girlfriend! She is going to take it. And do your job. Let her pay the bill."

'What the fuck? Is Gail really his girlfriend? He doesn't even pay for her expenses!' Kasie thought as she crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.

"Yes, Mr. Liu," the cashier obeyed. She then set aside Debbie's card and turned to Gail's direction.

Gail immediately took out her wallet to pay for the collar pin and the brooch, but before she could do that Debbie was already mad to the point that there was no turning back anymore.

She snatched her cousin's wallet and threw it out side the store.

Gail looked at her cousin in utter disbelief. "Bitch, what did you just do? Why did you do that?" exclaimed the enraged girl.

The wallet, which contained fortunes, attracted so much attention that a crowd began to form around it.