Take My Breath Away

It wasn't the first time that Damon had seen Carlos wear a mask of cruelty. It was the same mask he wore when he dealt with his enemies. But that was before he became an enemy. Now, Damon's heart jumped into his throat. In an instant, he played the pity card and pleaded, "No, Carlos, my friend. Don't, please. Wesley and I were tricked. I owe your wife an apology, and I'll make it up to her. I swear!"

Carlos' anger finally subsided a little and he let go of him.

Damon straightened his clothes, pulling his collar taut and wiping his brow. He heaved a deep sigh of relief. When Carlos seemed to have calmed down, Damon suggested anxiously, "Hey, if you really remember everything, I wouldn't let Debbie know. She'll make you pay for what she had gone through."

Carlos looked at him, now perplexed. Damon explained, "Think about it. No matter how badly Wesley and I treated her, she will probably go easy on us once we apologize. But you made the deepest, most painful cuts. She loved you and trusted you, and you hooked up with Stephanie. You disavowed her. You made her marry Ivan. If you were her, would you forgive what you did?"

Kinsley thought Damon's words made sense. "Carlos, he's right. You hurt her a lot. You should treat her well from now on to make things right. When she forgives you, then you can tell her you got your memories back."

Carlos said nothing, mulling over their suggestions.

Inside the room, Niles seized the chance to make fun of Ivan. "Wow, Mr. Wen, I never knew you loved guys. What do you think about me? Your type?"

Ivan squinted at the naughty doctor and snapped, "So Carlos says I'm gay and you believe him. How much does he know about me? Or maybe he's my date?"

"If it's not true, why would he say it?" Niles wouldn't drop the subject.

Ivan shrugged. "He's not the only one with a lawyer. I could file charges for slander."

Niles leaned against the couch and grinned evilly. "Okay, so you're not gay. Got any proof?"

"I got my proof right here." Ivan sprang up from the couch and made his way to a woman sitting at the other end of the room.

Seeing the direction Ivan was walking in, Xavier reminded him, "Carlos is on the balcony. He can still see everything. Don't do anything stupid."

Niles also got worried. He tried to calm him down. "Okay, bad joke. You're not gay. I was just kidding. Don't—don't kiss Debbie... Hey...wait...wow!" The doctor ended his sentence in absolute shock, as he saw Ivan kissing the most unexpected woman.

Yates' eyes widened in disbelief. "Nice! There's something you don't see every day."

Blair covered her mouth in shock and asked, "What in the world?"

Xavier clicked his tongue and joked, "Well, if you can't be with the one you love, then love the one you're with."

Colleen wrapped her arms in Curtis' own, and remarked, "I'll never understand the rich and their complicated relationships. Glad I have a good husband."

Curtis sighed helplessly and caressed her hair. Then he planted a kiss on her forehead.

Gregory was completely dumbfounded. His thoughts were bombarded with questions. He'd been gone for three years, and obviously things had changed while he was out of the country. 'Isn't he married to Debbie?' he wondered.

In fact, everybody except Gregory knew very well that there was nothing romantic going on between Ivan and Debbie. It was a marriage in name only. But Ivan was still Debbie's husband. And now that husband kissed Debbie's best friend in front of everyone. That was really something to see.

Debbie covered her eyes to give them a little privacy. The couple was right next to her, kissing passionately like there was no tomorrow. "Ivan, take it down a notch. People are watching you," she reminded.

As Kasie struggled fiercely, Ivan finally let go of her.

Flushing a deep shade of red, Kasie bowed her head, not wanting to look at anyone. Then she grabbed her handbag and rushed out of the room. Ivan stood up and gave everyone an apologetic smile before following her out.

The three men talking on the balcony were clueless about what happened inside. When they came back, they noticed Ivan and Kasie were gone. But they just shrugged and rejoined the party like nothing had happened.

During the party, Debbie stole glances at Carlos from time to time, still wondering whether her guess was right or wrong. Did he still have amnesia or not?

Yates abandoned his seat to plop down next to Curtis and kept his voice low. "Wanna make a bet? $100k says Carlos has his memory back.

Curtis smiled gently as he observed Carlos. Swirling the red wine in his glass, he told Yates, "100 grand? How about a million? His memory has definitely returned."

Yates' lips twitched. So it seemed that they all figured it out. "Debbie still doesn't know," he said, shifting his gaze towards the young mother.

Curtis raised his eyebrows. "It's not just her. None of the women do."

"Mr. Lu, do I detect a note of sexism?" Yates smirked mischievously.

Curtis didn't pay any attention to Yates' barb. He shook his head and turned to ask his wife, "Honey, see anything different about Carlos tonight?"

Colleen nodded, "Yes. He's even more possessive and overbearing than usual. I don't like him. Honestly, I don't know what Debbie sees in him.

"Anything else?" Curtis prompted.

"No."

Curtis looked at Yates and raised an eyebrow with a triumphant smile. 'I wonder if this is the difference between men and women, ' Yates thought. But then he asked Curtis again, "Think Niles has figured it out?

Curtis shifted his gaze to the naughty doctor trying to pull a prank on Wesley, and said, "I don't think he knows, either."

Yates nodded, "Agreed."

Little did Niles know that the two men loathed him.

After the party ended, Carlos held onto Debbie with one arm and carried Evelyn with his other arm, and then led them to his car.

He had a little red wine tonight, so he asked Frankie to drive. A child seat was installed in the back seat of the car. After Debbie was settled in next to the child seat, there was not much room left, but to her surprise, the tall, strong guy also squeezed into the back seat. They made a wonderful sight, the three of them.

Debbie felt embarrassed. It was so crowded that she was half-sitting on Carlos' lap. "I'll sit in the passenger seat," she said, moving to try and make for the door.

But Carlos didn't let her budge even a little and ordered Frankie, "Drive."

The car drove into traffic and sped away from the Orchid Private Club.

On their way home, Carlos kept staring at Evelyn with an affectionate look in his eyes while talking to her the whole time. He was sad that he missed three years of her life. He never got to feed her a bottle, hear her first words, or see her walking. That wasn't going to happen again, if he had anything to say about it.

On the other hand, Debbie had been staring at Carlos again. She was sure something was wrong with him, but what was it?

The car rolled up to the manor. As usual, Carlos helped Evelyn bathe and tucked her into bed.

Debbie leaned against the door of the kid's room and watched him. By the time Evelyn had closed her eyes and was sleeping peacefully, she couldn't help yawning. She said quietly, "I have work tomorrow, Mr. Huo. I think I'll turn in."

Carlos silently tucked his daughter under the covers and got out of the bed. He adjusted the thermostat before walking over to Debbie.

He grabbed hold of her wrist and took her to his bedroom. He closed the door behind them.

Looking at the closed door and his huge hand, Debbie suddenly had a bad feeling. 'What is he going to do?

While she was in a trance, she was pressed onto the bed by the man.

Debbie was confused. But she knew he wouldn't have sex with her before she divorced Ivan, so she wasn't afraid. She gaped and yawned once again. "Mr. Huo, I'm really sleepy. Just let me go to my room, okay?"

Carlos said nothing. He stared intently at her face, eyes full of affection.

This was his woman. The woman he had sworn to love and spoil for his entire life. But she had been bullied and hurt by other people. His heart ached. It was his fault. He didn't protect her when it mattered most.