Take My Breath Away

'She cheated on me and even had another man's baby?!' Carlos pulled a long face as he thought of Debbie's bright smile.

'So this is the real reason why we got divorced. Now she knows that I'm recovered, so she is trying to get back together with me.'

"Dad, it was not your fault. But why did all my assistants leave the company?" Carlos asked. From what he had been told, all of his assistants were not in the company anymore.

After a moment of reflection, James answered, "When it was reported that your chances of living were very unlikely, both Tristan and Zelda resigned. As for Ashley and another assistant, they must have quit over my style of management."

Everything now made sense to Carlos—some employees would resign when their boss was replaced.

But he somehow felt something was not right with Tristan's and Zelda's departure.

"After Tristan tendered in his resignation letter, I personally went to him to see if I could convince him to continue working with us. I told him I was only holding the fort while you were away, but apparently, judging from your condition, it wasn't easy to believe you'd make it out alive. Besides, he turned me down saying he had found a more suitable employer. Not long after, he went abroad."

'So, Tristan's hopped to a better company, ' Carlos thought to himself.

Listening to James' explanation, Carlos was convinced.

"Then what happened to Curtis?" he pressed further. Although his memory was problematic after the accident, there were a few things he could recall. His friendship with Curtis was one of those few exceptions. They had always been close. Bosom buddies, if he could use that. What had changed that he no longer saw Curtis?

Feeling helpless, James sighed, and was tempted to change the subject. However, he knew that would only work for a time. "Well, it's not easy to explain everything in detail, Carlos. But in short, Debbie is Curtis' niece, and in the tough times that followed, he chose her over you. That should be understandable, I think. Any reasonable man in his situation would have done the same. To protect Debbie, he worked hard to take down all the negative news posts about her from the Internet.

Anyway, he didn't know why I had told Debbie that you were dead. It was just a test of her loyalty to you, but she failed. What else could explain her rush decisions which followed almost immediately? Couldn't she have waited a little longer, at least to confirm, or if not, to mourn her husband? It surprised me how quickly she replaced you with another man. You know what? Three years ago, under her influence, you put Lewis behind bars, on false charges. That woman has al

as sickening. What did this woman have for a heart?

"Jeez!" he bellowed and banged on the desk. The pen that was sitting on the edge of the desk fell to the floor.

"And this woman thought she'd fool me again? Damn!" he shouted. When he realized he had shouted, he looked around cautiously, then said through gritted teeth, "Woman, I'll make you pay!"

Carlos kept swearing.

Elsewhere, Debbie started to sense something was off when Carlos hadn't contacted her for the third day in a row. She sent several messages to him, but there was no response.

She walked her dog around several times, but didn't see Carlos once.

To kill her boredom, she went to Curtis' house and had some fun playing with Piggy and Justus, but the bad feeling just wouldn't budge. Later, when she came back home, she called Carlos.

Several times, she tried, waiting and hoping he would pick up, but there was no response. At long last, when she was almost giving up, her prayer was answered, or so she thought. She greeted him cheerfully, "Hey, old man. Are you busy now?"

Stephanie had put the phone on speaker, so Debbie's voice reverberated in the office.

On hearing the familiar voice, Carlos couldn't help but recall the photos and the accompanying gloating note. His face darkened.

When Debbie didn't hear any response, she looked at her phone screen and asked in confusion, "The phone is connected. Old man, are you busy now?"

Seeing that Carlos had no intention of speaking, Stephanie, who had taken a few steps back, came closer to answer. "And what do you want from Carlos, if I may ask?" she asked with obvious derision in her tone.

Debbie was shocked. 'Why is Carlos not answering?' she wondered.

"I need to speak to him, madam. Where is he?" she asked bluntly.