Take My Breath Away

"Carlos, help! Debbie's gone insane. She's pointing a knife to Megan..." Stephanie yelled on the phone, sounding terrified. Even though she was a decisive and composed businesswoman, she still lost her cool facing the sharp knife and looming danger. After all, she was just a woman who grew up comfortably.

Carlos shut his eyes tight. 'Debbie and Debbie again! What a great troublemaker she is!' he sulked. "I'm coming now."

No sooner had Stephanie ended the call than Debbie's phone rang. It was Carlos calling.

Debbie ignored it and shifted her eyes back to Megan. "Don't waste time. If you don't drink the raw eggs now, I'll move my hand. This is a new knife, and the blade is perfectly sharp for the job. Do you want to forever live with a deep scar strung around your beautiful neck like an ugly necklace?" she threatened coldly.

Beads of sweat broke out on Megan's brow, her eyes popping out in fright. She knew Debbie wasn't joking. With trembling hands, she grabbed the bowl and stammered, short of breath, "I...drink it..."

Noticing that Megan began to gasp for air, Debbie suddenly remembered her asthma. She loosened her grip and moved the knife a little away from her neck. "Be quick," she demanded.

Eyes closed in disgust, Megan held her breath and began to gulp the raw eggs.

The stench of raw eggs reaching her nostrils made her want to throw up. As soon as the first mouthful went into her mouth, down to the stomach, she bent over the trash can and retched.

But Debbie ordered coldly, "Don't you dare spit even a dot. Go on! Gulp it down, unless you want me to give you that permanent necklace!"

Stephanie silently took out her cellphone and opened the camera. She was planning to video record the ugly drama and send it to media outlets. That would be the perfect way to damage Debbie's reputation.

However, Debbie was alert to the slightest movements. With one quick move, she grabbed the leather sheath and flung it at Stephanie, aiming at her phone. The missile hit the bull's eye, catching Stephanie by surprise.

"Debbie Nian, you lunatic!" Stephanie screamed in terror as her phone dropped to the floor.

Casting Megan a sidelong glance, Debbie grinned with a sense of triumph. "Yeah. That's a good description of me. Next time, you should be careful to mess with a psycho."

'But I become crazy all because of you guys. You have no idea of what I've been through all these years!' she thought angrily, with no intention of backing down.

At that moment, she looked at the bowl, only to realize, to her chagrin, it wasn't empty yet. Running out of patience, she demanded, "Finish that damn eggs in the bowl, lady!"

Frightened, Megan quickly took a swig, tears streaming down her cheeks as she swallowed with great difficulty.

This whole time, Debbie's phone had kept ringing, but she ignored it. At long last, Megan managed to gulp down the whole bowl. Just then, the phone stopped ringing, as if on cue.

Radiating a satisfied smile, Debbie put away her phone and the knife and gave Megan one final warning. "Next time you're up to mischief, watch whom you mess with. Try it on me, and you'll live to regret it."

Mission accomplished, she made her way to the living room, grabbed her designer handbag and left the apartment.

Just as she banged the door closed behind her, Megan, who was still rooted to the same spot, plopped onto the floor. Down on her knees, she reached for the trash can and began retching again.

By the time Carlos arrived at the apartment, Megan had vomited so much in the bathroom that she feared she might pass out.

Stephanie, who had watched helplessly, heaved a sigh of relief when she saw Carlos. Looking distraught, she pleaded urgently, "Drive Megan to the hospital now. She's already lost so much fluids, vomiting, in addition to lose motions. She..."

She stopped mid-sentence when she noticed a love bite on his neck. His collar and tie couldn't cover all the love bites there. It reminded Stephanie of the hickeys on Debbie's neck. 'So...Debbie wasn't lying. She and Carlos...'

Oblivious of the sudden change of her face, Carlos asked, "What did Debbie do to her?"

Stephanie feebly lifted her arm and pointed at the empty bowl on the table. "She forced Megan to drink up a bowl of raw eggs," she replied absent-mindedly.

"Raw eggs?" Confusion was written all over his face.

Megan finally walked out the bathroom, her face white as a sheet. Supporting her body against the wall, she broke into tears. "Uncle Carlos... Three years ago, before she disappeared, Debbie used to bully me all the time. Now she's only been back for a short time, and she's back to her old habits. Why must she always pick on me like that? Oh, help me, Uncle Carlos!" she cried out.

Emotionless, Carlos stood still. After a while, he said flatly, "I'll drive you to the hospital now."

On checking-up, she was diagnosed with food poisoning.

Seeing Megan fall asleep in the hospital bed, Carlos walked out to the corridor and called Debbie again.

But her phone was powered off.

Debbie wasn't going to answer his calls. She knew him well. He would definitely seek justice for Megan without getting to the bottom of the story, and moreover, with his amnesia, he would punish her much more harshly.

Nonetheless, on a second thought, she turned on her phone. It was Megan who started the fight, after all. Despite his current memory loss, it would be unreasonable of him to blame Debbie every time. So Debbie, encouraged by the fact, decided to answer his call.

In the CEO's office of the ZL Group

James was in a terrible mood. He had to personally acknowledge his mistake and apologize to the public later. The PR team had just prepared a speech for him when his phone rang. "What did you say? Carlos went to the hospital? Why?" he asked, springing up from his chair.

All of a sudden, he got so flustered that he couldn't think

straight.

"There is a little situation with Megan and Carlos has brought her in for medical attention," explained the doctor on the other end of the line.

Hearing the reason, James relaxed and sat back into his chair. "How's Carlos' memory now?" he asked.

The truth was, James didn't expect Carlos to survive the car accident.

Back then, after going several months in a coma, against all odds, Carlos began to show some real improvements. But instead of seeing a reason to celebrate, the old man felt threatened. If Carlos recovered, James feared being axed out at the helm of the ZL Group. To prevent this, he bribed a doctor to inject Carlos with a drug that would permanently mess his memory. Wicked old man as James was, he now hoped that Carlos would get into a fight with Debbie and even kill her, given his current memory loss.

Now the same unethical doctor who had received a bribe to harm a patient was on call with his accomplice in the crime. James rose from his chair once more and walked into the lounge. Here he was sure no one would overhear what he said. "Don't stop Carlos' medication. Next month, when he comes to the hospital for his routine check-up, give him some more of that stuff again," he said, casting eyes here and there on high alert, over his criminal scheme. Before ending the call, he reminded the doctor, "That's it. Be cautious. Don't let slip any suspicious clues to anyone."

At the hospital

A scene from three years ago was playing out again.

Megan was lying in the hospital bed with a deathly pale face, while Carlos, Wesley, Damon and Stephanie surrounded the bed, keeping her company.

Meanwhile, they all waited for Debbie, the troublemaker, thanks to whose antics they were once again in this foreboding place.

She had already answered Carlos' call earlier and promised to come.

Ten minutes later

They heard footsteps from the empty hallway, coming closer and closer. It didn't sound like there was just one person, but a few people coming.

And among the footsteps, there was the click-clack of high heels and the slightly softer sound of leather shoes. So there must be a few women and men coming.

'Who could they be?' Everybody in the ward was curious.

Soon enough, a bodyguard pushed open the door to the ward. Everybody turned their heads to the doorway, where a woman in white short rompers appeared. Around her slim waist, she had a shiny belt that perfectly complimented her fine, shapely body. On her feet, she sported a pair of creamy-white high heels.

Earlier at Megan's apartment, Debbie had spilled some raw eggs to her new dress when she cracked the shells. So she went back home for a change of clothes. Then before coming to the hospital, she called a few people to tag along.

In the supporters she had Yates, Xavier, Blair, Adriana, along with three bodyguards.

Fortunately, the VIP ward was large enough to hold even a larger group.

Even after Debbie and her supporters arrived, there was still room for more. Yet, despite the ample room, the air in the ward took on an odd, oppressive feel as the two groups confronted each other.

It was Damon who broke the silence. He trotted to Adriana and smiled falteringly. "Honey, why did you come with Debbie? Are you...visiting Megan too?"

Adriana smirked and pinched his ear. Ignoring the presence of other people, she scolded, "Damon, are you so free? Huh? Your son's starving already. Go back home now!"