Take My Breath Away

The apartment door flew open. Much to Debbie's surprise, she saw Megan and Stephanie standing in the doorway, both wearing dark expressions. She didn't expect to see Stephanie at Megan's apartment.

'So, how much did Stephanie hear?

That's okay. Now I can kill two birds with one stone. It'll save time, ' she thought cheerfully to herself.

"Don't listen to her, Aunt Stephanie. She's a liar. Uncle Carlos couldn't have..." Megan stopped abruptly, as she saw what Debbie was hiding under her scarf.

Debbie unwrapped it to reveal the love bites on her neck.

The singer wore a smug smile. Ignoring their shocked faces, she walked past them and made her way to the living room. She had the designer handbag in hand and was wearing her new dress, all bought with Carlos' money.

Before she put the handbag down on the end table, she made a show of brushing the dust off and blowing it.

"Why the hell are you here?" Megan asked as she fixed her eyes on the blue handbag. She knew the brand well. It was the latest style of an international designer brand.

Not just Megan, Stephanie also recognized the brand. After all, they were raised in the upper-class circles. Luxury brands were common in the worlds they were from.

The two women calculated the price of that bag in their heads. They guessed the price to be at least eight hundred thousand dollars.

Megan couldn't afford one on her own. Stephanie could afford it, but it would still hurt a lot to put up that kind of cash. In order to spend more time with Carlos, she had resigned some of her positions within the corporate structure. She had left some committees and board postings. Consequently, her annual income was about one third of what it was.

Therefore, she couldn't squander money like she used to. Even buying a designer handbag was a difficult expense.

"I came here to visit you, Megan. I wanted to catch up. I didn't expect to run into Miss Li as well," Debbie said as she discreetly scanned the apartment.

"Seems like you're just trying to use Carlos to one-up Megan. Am I right?" Stephanie asked calmly.

"Not really, but now that you mention it, it's more fun with you here," Debbie said as she rested her chin in her right hand, glancing at Stephanie, a playful look in her eyes.

Megan bit her lower lip. "So, you got a dress and a purse? What are you bragging? Am I supposed to be jelly? This says way more about you... than it does about me."

Debbie smirked. "You're probably right. But I'm not trying to brag. If I wanted to show off, I would have brought the crystal piano model that Carlos bought me. It was sculpted by Quintin Yu from A Country, and it's worth a few million!"

'A crystal piano model carved by Quintin Yu?' Megan and Stephanie were both shocked.

They knew his name. Any piece done by this foreign sculptor was worth at least six figures. Moreover, this particular piece was made of crystal, so that just added to the price tag. Not only that, it was said that his artworks were a difficult find even if you were a rich man.

The fact that Carlos bought Debbie a luxurious gift like that made the two women positively green with envy.

Although Megan was living an extravagant life with Carlos' money, it was still far from what Debbie was getting from him.

Stephanie used to be able to squander money, but not anymore. Even more exasperating, Carlos treated Debbie better than her.

That realization ticked her off. Hands trembling in anger, she

said sternly, "We'll be engaged next month. Cherish your smug smile now, because I'll be wiping it from your face once Carlos and I are married."

Debbie blinked her eyes nonchalantly, stood up from the sofa and slowly approached Stephanie. "So, Miss Li, how did you get to be Carlos' girlfriend after he came out of his coma?"

She carefully examined every expression on Stephanie's face.

That was embarrassing for her. She tried to hide the guilt and looked up arrogantly. In a defiant voice, she said, "Because we're in love. We always have been."

"Always?" Debbie laughed. "Then why wait so long to get married?"

Stephanie was incensed. "You have some stones, don't you? You came between us!"

"If I could do that, then maybe you weren't really in love," Debbie scoffed. After giving her a contemptuous glance, Debbie walked towards the kitchen.

Megan followed her. "Where are you going?"

Debbie waved at her. "You have any eggs in there?"

"Eggs? Go to a supermarket, you stupid bitch!" Megan snapped angrily.

Debbie spelled out her purpose honestly. "I think you need a taste of your own medicine."

"Debbie Nian, what exactly do you want?" Megan shouted.

Ignoring her yelling, Debbie sneered and silently opened the fridge. There were some eggs in there.

She got a bowl from the cupboard. Then, standing in front of the fridge, she began to crack the eggs into the bowl.

An ominous feeling rose in Megan's heart. She asked in a shaky voice, "I want to know...what are you doing?"

"You'll see." Debbie turned around to look at her. The playful look in her eyes was already replaced by coldness and resentment.

After cracking seven eggs, Debbie finally stopped as the bowl was almost full.

She closed the fridge door and carried the bowl to the dining room. As she put the bowl on the table, she said, "Megan, I made this for you. Drink up!"

'Drink...raw eggs?' "Why?" Megan protested.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Debbie crossed her arms. "On the night of my concert, who got those people to throw eggs at me? Huh? Don't tell me you don't know! Need proof?" Not waiting for her response, Debbie pulled out her cellphone from her pocket. As she observed the flustered look on Megan's face, she found a video on her phone and played it for the flustered pair of women.

On the video, a couple people, a guy and girl, fell to their knees and pleaded, "Please let us go. Megan paid us. Megan...um...Megan Lan. She asked us to get some people to throw eggs at Debbie. She said she would pay each of us ten big ones. I just needed the money..."

Megan's face went pale all of a sudden. "Bullshit! That wasn't me. You trying to frame me? That's low even for you!"

"Frame you?" Debbie put her phone away. "You're the expert. You should know. I'm not asking for much. Just drink what's in this bowl, or..." Debbie looked at her with threatening eyes as she pulled out a knife from the other pocket and placed it on the table. "Or things get a little rough."

At this point, even Stephanie began to lose her composure when she saw the knife, her eyes full of fear. 'What the hell? Is she psycho?'

In a panic, she hurried back to the living room and took her phone from her handbag. She was going to call Carlos for help.

Debbie understood what Stephanie was going to do. "Go ahead. Call Carlos. He won't help you," she said firmly.

Stephanie glared at her. With nowhere else to turn, she called Carlos.

Debbie shook her head. She unsheathed the sharp knife and extended her arm. The knife point was now at Megan's throat. The drama queen shrieked in fear. Meanwhile, Carlos answered the phone, and the first thing he heard was Megan's shrieks.

A little taken aback, Carlos frowned and asked with concern, "What's going on?"