Take My Breath Away

Flustered, Debbie quickly took back her hug and pushed away from Jared. Tears still welling in her eyes, she slowly turned her head towards the voice. Carlos held Evelyn in his arms, and Kasie stood near the door, a gift in her hands. How long had he been standing behind her? She couldn't say. But one thing was for sure—he wore a dark expression.

She felt like a kid again, caught stealing candy. But pretending innocence, she wiped her tears and kicked Jared in his shin. "Bad boy. Where's my gift? See? Tears? Why did you do that? Sasha will be jealous."

Sasha shook her head, explaining, "No, I'm not..." 'Jealous? I know you guys are just friends. I was actually moved to tears, too!' Sasha thought.

Debbie flashed an embarrassed smile, and cut in quickly, "Don't lie, girl! I know you're jealous. Ah well, moving on." She turned to her daughter. "Oh, Piggy! You're here. Mommy missed you so much."

Carlos put Piggy down, and the little girl ran to Debbie, saying excitedly, "Missed you too." She hugged Debbie's legs as hard as she could and, Debbie bent down to hug her too. Then, she looked up at Ivan and greeted, "Daddy! Missed you."

Ivan stretched out his arms to Piggy and said tenderly, "Hi little one, come here and get a hug." Ever since Debbie and Ivan got married, Piggy started calling Ivan "Daddy," just as if he were her real dad.

Ivan scooped the little girl up in his arms and played with her. They both laughed happily.

Carlos sulked silently as he watched them, his expression sullen. But no one knew why. They figured he was still jealous of Debbie hugging Jared.

Frankie was standing behind Carlos with a large gift box in his hands. The angry man walked up to the birthday girl and called out, "Hi, mother of Evelyn."

Debbie furrowed her brows in confusion on hearing how he addressed her. 'Mother of Evelyn? Why does he address me this way all of a sudden?' she wondered. It sounded so strange.

Nevertheless, she didn't think much and forced out a smile. "Hi, Mr. Handsome."

Carlos opened the big box Frankie held and said, "Happy 25th birthday!" T

he whole room brightened as soon as the box was opened. Everyone stopped to gape at the gift, trying to see what was inside.

Jared exclaimed, "Huh! All I can see is money."

Kasie teased, "Sure you can hold it by yourself?"

Sasha echoed Kasie's joke, "Maybe I can help Debbie carry it to my house."

Blair said, "I wonder how much it's worth."

Ivan held his chin and guessed, "Let's see, there are about 25 roses. Made of sterling platinum, and certainly not the hybrid platinum you find on the common market. Besides, each flower has leaves and a stem, so each one weighs quite a bit. I guess each rose is priced at least 200, 000 dollars, so 25 flowers means five mil easy. But if we factor in labor, that shoots the price even higher."

Everyone stared agape at the large gift box.

Unaware of the situation, Blair was still confused. "So what does it mean? Why did Mr. Huo spend so much on Debbie?"

Ivan flashed a thin smile and went on to explain, "A rose is the flower of love, and platinum is a durable precious metal. So this bouquet of platinum roses means that Carlos' love for Debbie will last forever."

And yes, this looked a bit vulgar, like showing off how wealthy he was. But it was a sweet intention, with a beautiful, romantic meaning.

Looking at the shining platinum roses, Debbie felt so moved, but also a little helpless. 'He always goes overboard when it comes to money. I guess he has it to burn, though.' She was still gracious, and said, "Thank you very much, Mr. Huo."

She stood there, regarding Carlos' gift box, still held diligently by Frankie. 'I wonder if I could even handle such a heavy box.'

Carlos closed the box, grabbed it from Frankie's hands and handed it to Debbie. She reached out her hands to take it from him. But it was so heavy that she could hardly stand up straight.

She shuffled closer to him, angry at the humiliation. "Did you do this on purpose?"

He frowned in confusion.

"It's so heavy I can barely lift it. How am I supposed to get it home?"

Carlos gave her a contemptuous look. He took the gift box from her arms and gave it back to Frankie. "Send the gift to her unit in Champs Bay Apartments," he ordered.

"Yes, Mr. Huo."

Soon after Frankie left, Curtis and Colleen showed up. When she saw the birthday girl, Colleen gleefully strode over and handed her the birthday gift while singing, "Happy birthday to you."

"Thank you Aunt Colleen, Uncle Curtis!" Debbie greeted her aunt with a big hug.

When they sat down at the table, the other guests came by. Better late than never. They were Damon, Adriana, Hayden, Irene, Xavier, Niles and the last one—Wesley.

The two Feng brothers couldn't make it. Kinsley was in Australia, and Yates was in M Country, but both had asked their assistants to deliver a gift to Debbie.

The party went smoothly. The sounds of laughter, cheers and clinking of glasses filled the room. Since everyone knew each other, they kicked back, relaxed, and had a good time. Party favors livened up the scene. There were balloons, noisemakers, and parlor games for people to play with.

Jared and Kasie were always the life of the party. They encouraged everyone to get the birthday girl drunk. So Debbie was feeling no pain by the end of the night.

When the party ended, she was plastered and could barely keep her feet. She was in no mind to send her guests home. But of course, her friends didn't mind. They left one after another.

Even in her drunken state, Debbie didn't forget one very important thing. She looked at Ivan and told him, "Ivan, why don't you drive Kasie home. She's drunk too. Not safe to hail a cab with her like that."

Ivan only had the occasional bottle of beer. He was sober by now, but he didn't like getting drunk that much anyway. Hearing Debbie's request, he shot to his feet and walked up to Kasie. "Okay. Kasie. Let's get you home. My driver's out front."

Kasie's face turned a bright red color. She threw a glance at Debbie, only to find the birthday girl had already staggered to Carlos' side and rested her head on his shoulder, eyes closed.

Kasie smiled helplessly at her friend. Then she followed Ivan out and left the club.

Finally, Carlos and Debbie were the only ones in the room. It was dead quiet, except for the noises of night animals. He suddenly said curtly, "Leave Evelyn with me whenever you're busy."

"Why?" Debbie was a little dizzy. She didn't detect anything suspicious in his tone.

"You asked me why?" Carlos smirked and lit a cigarette. Then, he took a drag, pulled the woman into his arms and blew out the smoke into her face.

"Ugh..." Debbie coughed, choking on the smoke with tears in her eyes. "You jerk!" she cussed. She struggled to open her eyes, and fumbled for the pack of cigarettes and lighter on the table.

She then skillfully nipped a cigarette between her fingers, lit it, and took a drag. She then blew a smoke ring, which diffused when it hit his face.

Carlos wasn't choked by the smoke. But he was shocked by how expertly she was smoking. His bushy eyebrows crooked in anger. 'When did she learn to smoke?'

She was still doing smoke tricks. She took a long drag and kept it in her mouth, then blew smoke through her nose and two sides of her mouth. She looked like a fire breathing dragon. In a fit of anger, he suddenly snatched the cigarette away from her fingers and gripped her chin tightly, making her look at him. "Who lets you smoke?" he dropped the words one by one between gritted teeth.

Feeling pain in her jaw, Debbie pounded ineffectually at his chest. "Let go of me. You're hurting me..."

Seeing her face scrunched in pain, he loosened his grip a little and said in a loud voice, "Answer me."

Debbie stopped attacking him and spat out, "My husband!"

"Damn you!" Carlos flared up, eyes fuming in anger.

'Husband, her husband!' Hearing her call another man as husband made him feel even angrier. He had an urge to find Ivan and kill him.

Debbie smiled happily at his glum face. His jealous reaction made her feel so good.

Her smile added fuel to the fire. Carlos put out the cigarette in the ashtray. In a swift move, he pinned her down on the couch and began kissing her passionately.