Take My Breath Away

Just as Debbie was having quite a hard time fighting it out with the bodyguards, a flash of blinding light obscured her vision for a moment. Within seconds after that, she saw the car and realized that it was actually James' limo trying to run her over. As she was staring straight into the headlights, she made out the sound of the car's screeching tires. She turned rigid. In that instant, she suddenly recalled something that happened three years ago—the car accident. At that point, a terrible idea spontaneously popped up in her mind, regarding the possible cause of that accident. 'Could it be possible...'

It sent shivers down her spine, but she couldn't afford to think about it given the position that she had been in. Acting on instinct as a response to the imminent danger, Debbie quickly pressed her hand hard against the hood of the car just as it was about to hit her, and hastily sprung up, landing on top of the hood. James stepped hard on the gas after seeing her dodge. The car then began to accelerate, leaving her without a choice but to hold on for dear life over to the edges of the car. She gripped it as hard as she could, struggling to make sure she wouldn't roll off of it.

The vehicle was about to arrive at a bend, so James was forced to slow down before the turn. Not wanting to waste this window of opportunity, Debbie speedily leaped off the car, darted toward her car and hopped in it.

Starting the engine, she immediately shifted to reverse gear, stepping on the gas while promptly turning the steering wheel in order to make a sharp turn. Probably due to the adrenaline kicking in, she managed to pull all of these steps under just one breath. Before James or any of his men could do anything to stop her, she had already put the pedal to the metal and drove her car away at breakneck speed, successfully getting away from their watchful eyes.

Keeping the car's speed between 110km/h to 120km/h, she had no intention of slowing down until she was completely sure that James was already out of sight. Once she was certain that she had already gotten far enough, she eased up the tension that had built up in her calf muscles. She gradually let go of the accelerator and slowed down little by little.

After stumbling upon such a busy street, Debbie pulled over, switched on the light inside the car, and started checking up on all the injuries she might've accumulated in her arms and legs.

Her leg had gotten scraped when she tried to dodge James' limo. Apart from that, she also got a couple of bruises in her arms which she might have received after having a scuffle with the bodyguards.

Fortunately, all she got were just minor injuries and it wasn't anything severe. Heaving a heavy sigh of relief, she immediately headed over to the hospital.

After she was done receiving some first aid treatment at the hospital, it was already late in the evening. So, Debbie immediately sent Colleen a text message, telling her that something suddenly came up and that she would just have to postpone her visit to the kids some other time.

At the ZL Group's New York branch

Inside the general manager's office

A secretary was knocking on the door. After getting the go signal to let her in, she entered the room and said, "Ms. Shu, there's a lady outside who would like to see you."

With her head buried deep within the countless piles of papers, Miranda didn't even have the time to raise her head and glance at her secretary. "Do you know who she is? Is it something urgent?" she hastily asked.

"She told me that her last name is Nian and that there was some important matter she had to discuss with you."

'Nian?' Miranda visibly raised her head upon hearing this last name being mentioned.

'Could it possibly be her?'

She immediately brought out her mobile phone and searched for an image of a poster. Showing it to the secretary, she told her, "Go ahead and ask the people at the front desk. See if this is the woman who wants to see me."

The secretary promptly pulled out her cellphone as well to take a photo of the said poster. After that, she sent it to her colleague at the front desk to confirm.

About a minute later, the secretary got a reply and informed Miranda right away, "Ms. Shu. They said that it was indeed the same woman as the one on the poster."

Pausing for a brief second, Miranda told her what to do next. "Alright. Please show her the way to the reception room."

"Understood, Ms. Shu."

At the reception room

There was a woman sporting a light-purple dress, leaning into the window, and overlooking the city, bustling with activity.

As soon as she heard the sound coming from a pair of high heels approaching, she turned around to check who it was. At that moment, the door suddenly flung open and Miranda entered the room, a woman she hadn't seen for the past three years.

Wearing a creamy white office suit, there she was, standing by the doorway. Soon enough, their eyes met. The businesswoman looked as composed just as she would always be while Debbie, on the other hand, became a bit more mature than she was in the past, with a tinge of a forbidding look in her eyes. That being said, the moment she laid her eyes on Miranda, the expression she was wearing instantly eased up and she greeted her, "Aunt Miranda..."

"Stop addressing me that way!" Miranda shifted her gaze away from her, walking over to the sofa.

Debbie knew full well what she had meant by that. With a deep breath, she went straight to the point right away. "Aunt Miranda, I came here to talk about the matters regarding me and Carlos."

The door flung open again all of a sudden. The secretary stepped into the room carrying a cup of coffee. Upon placing it on the table in front of Miranda, she left without saying a word and closed the door behind her.

Taking a sip from the cup of coffee, Miranda asked casually, "What does your situation have to do with me?"

"I really need you to back me up on this, Aunt Miranda. Carlos is suffering from memory loss and James is doing everything in his power to oppose me," Debbie said, sitting directly across her.

With a cold expression on her face, Miranda looked straight into Debbie's eyes. Jeering at her, she replied, "I thought I already told you to stop calling me Aunt Miranda. Let me remind you that we're not that close. When you left Y City three years ago, you left without even saying a word. And now that you've found out that Carlos has gotten better, you're telling me that you want to be reunited with him? Debbie Nian, aren't you ashamed of yourself?"

Those remarks cut Debbie's heart just like a knife. She had thought long and hard about how Miranda might treat her before she headed for New York. But she never would've imagined that she would receive such a cold and unpleasant response from the older lady, knowing that she used to be on her side in the past.

For that reason, Debbie was so down in the dumps. Taking in another deep breath, she tried her best to hold everything, every bitter feeling, inside her heart. "I understand that you might be taking this the wrong way. But I promise that I can explain myself for the actions I had taken from three years back. You just got to give me some time. But first and foremost, what I really want to do at this moment is to apologize to you, Aunt Miranda. I'm so sorry. I didn't listen to your advice that year and ended up being fooled by James and falling for the trap he had set. I had been so rash and my recklessness brought about all of the problems and sufferings we have right now."

Springing up from the sofa, Miranda simply brushed her off and replied, "I'm a busy woman. Miss Nian, if you don't have anything important to say to me, then you should just leave. Stop wasting my precious time."

"Aunt Miranda!" Debbie exclaimed in protest, in an attempt to stop her from exiting the reception room. She had gone through lengths and flown all the way to New York just to meet her. So, she couldn't just turn back and return empty-handed. "Are you still mad at me for all of the disgraceful events that supposedly happened that year? All of those were merely false allegations which James came up with. He had every intention to ruin me and take everything away. If I can bring you some sort of proof to show that I didn't have anything to do with it, will you lend me a hand in getting back at him?" Debbie asked, hoping that she would say yes.

Having been left at such a loss for words, Miranda stopped dead in her tracks. It was as though Debbie had perfectly read her mind. In fact, that was precisely the reason why she had been treating her so cold. All throughout these past three years, she would get upset every single time she thought of Debbie.

She used to have such a good impression of Debbie, believing that she was the one who had been destined for Carlos. Be that as it may, from what she had been told, Debbie left Carlos after the unfortunate car accident and filed for a divorce, had an abortion, and in the end, eloped with another man. Getting so saddened by that, she felt so utterly disappointed in Debbie.

Miranda didn't bother looking at her, and she didn't give her any sort of answer as well.

Debbie went ahead and added, "James tricked me into believing that Carlos didn't make it, and pressured me into leaving Y City. I know you may find it so hard to believe right now after everything that happened. I completely understand that. But Aunt Miranda, if I can find a way to prove myself to you and that I'm telling you the truth, I hope that you will help me win Carlos back again. Would you please do me this favor? If I have to beg, then I'm willing to do that. This way, Carlos will also end up being able to regain the executive rights to the ZL Group. Isn't that right?"

Everything that Debbie just said sounded quite believable and was within reason. As a matter of fact, James had won the support of the senior managers and successfully secured his position in the company while Carlos was still in a coma.

No one was capable of making him step down apart from Carlos. Having said that, James had done such a good job pretending to be a respectable father while Carlos was suffering from memory loss. Because of that, the amnesiac Carlos had complete trust in him, and not once had the thought of taking back the ZL Group ever come to his mind.

Whenever she would get the chance to speak with Carlos in private, Miranda would always try to remind him that he could easily take back his position in the company. However, Carlos would just simply refuse considering the idea every single time. It even came to a point where he actually gave her a fair warning not to sow the seeds of discord between him and his father.

Given that Miranda still wasn't saying anything and just kept quiet, Debbie tried asking once more, "There's something else I've been meaning to ask you about, Aunt Miranda. Was it also James who told everyone what the cause of the car accident was? Did he tell you that it was because the truck driver had been extremely exhausted while he was driving?" With the cause of the car accident being mentioned, Miranda finally turned around to look at Debbie. This was something she wasn't expecting to hear, so her curiosity had gotten piqued.

A bit taken aback, she asked her directly, "What are you trying to imply from that?"

Seeming so resolute, Debbie peered straight into her eyes. "Just two nights ago, James tried to run me over with his car. And as luck would have it, somehow, I managed to dodge it. But that incident reminded me of what happened that year. Being at the jaws of death, I had a suspicion that it was..."

"Bite your tongue!" Feeling so anxious, Miranda looked over towards the door. Upon checking through the glass window and making sure that no one was standing outside the room, she flatly said, "You should be acting your age. Are you not aware that out of the mouth comes evil? Be mindful of what you say. For now, why don't you head back to Y City? And don't come back until you could bring me some proof that would be enough to prove your innocence. If you can't come up with anything to prove yourself, I'm telling you right now that you shouldn't expect getting any help from me, and I will even help James get rid of you!"

With her eyes bloodshot, a smile crept onto Debbie's face. Finally, she pulled it off and somewhat managed to convince Miranda to give her a chance. As her voice was breaking, she said with gratitude, "Thank you so much, Aunt Miranda. I will go back right away."

As she watched Debbie walk away and leave the room, Miranda tried to catch her breath and plopped down on the sofa, losing the strength on her legs. Lowering her head, she reflected on the information Debbie had just given her.

In Y City

The moment Stephanie wrapped up her meeting and stepped out the conference room, her phone suddenly rang. "Hello?" she said upon picking it up.

"Miss Li, were you trying to reach me? I was a bit preoccupied earlier," the person on the other end of the call responded.