Take My Breath Away

At ZL Group, Carlos was listening to one of his secretaries, Zelda, do a report in his office when his phone rang. The caller ID said it was his mom.

"Mr. Huo, that's all. I'll leave it at that." When Zelda realized it was a personal call, she put the file on the desk and excused herself.

Once she stepped out and closed the door behind her, Carlos took the call. "Hello, Mom," he greeted.

"Son, did I catch you at a bad time?" Tabitha Luo asked in a gentle voice.

"No, not at all. What's up?"

"Your father and I saw the news this morning. Did you..." Tabitha Luo didn't finish her sentence.

Carlos knew what she was trying to ask. "Yes, Mom, it's true," he admitted.

"Then bring her home, please. Your father and I would like to meet her. Or, even better, I can come over in the two days I'm taking off duty." Something important occurred to Tabitha Luo. She urgently needed to meet her daughter-in-law-to-be.

"Okay. I'll have Emmett book an air ticket for you." For Carlos' part, he wanted to wait until his mother arrived to tell her that he and Debbie had already gotten married.

"Okay then. I'll let you go back to work. Take care of yourself. Okay?"

"Sure. I will, Mom. Bye."

Hanging up the phone, Carlos looked out the window, deep in thought. Not long after he and Debbie had registered for marriage, his grandfather had fallen into a coma.

Therefore, till now, his parents still hadn't known about the marriage.

At the Economics and Management School

Out of the bathroom, Kasie suddenly dragged Debbie in her arms and asked in a whisper, "Tomboy, tell me, last night, did you and Mr. Huo...Huh?" Instead of finishing her sentence, she gave Debbie a mischievous wink.

Hearing last night mentioned, Debbie yanked her hand free and rolled her eyes at Kasie. Her face turned red. "You know it all, don't you?"

"I have some clues, sweetie," said Kasie in a naughty tone. "Well, I can tell when a woman has had sex. You walk differently. In addition to the news this morning, I can put two and two together," she whispered.

Debbie was so embarrassed she p

ould think of were the words "mother-in-law" and "coming."

'What does she look like? Will she like me? What if she doesn't...' Her mind traveled miles away.

"What do you want to have for lunch? How about you come to my office so that we can have lunch together?" Carlos continued.

"What? Lunch? Oh, lunch..." The word "lunch" brought Debbie back to senses. She looked at Kasie, who was talking to her friend on WeChat, and complained, "It's all your fault. Now I have to buy Kasie lunch for a month. I can't have lunch with you anymore."

Hearing that, Kasie knew she won. Cockily, she held up two fingers and made a victory gesture.

"Huh?" Carlos was confused. 'Why is it my fault?'

Debbie bent over the desk listlessly and told him, "I had a bet with Kasie and I lost..."

"A bet on going hiking?" Carlos guessed and he was right.

"Yes," she answered.

Carlos was amused. "Come to my office for lunch later. I'll sort it out with Kasie. Okay?"

"No. I lost the bet, so I'll buy Kasie lunch for a month. We had a deal," Debbie declared.

"Deb, I was kidding. It doesn't matter you buy me lunch or not. Don't take it too seriously," said Kasie.

They were good friends. Even if Debbie broke her word, Kasie wouldn't mind.

"Put Kasie on the phone. I'd like to talk to her." Carlos knew how much friendship meant to Debbie. And her word was her bond. He decided to help her out.