Take My Breath Away

Debbie changed her pajamas before accepting the video call. "Hey, Uncle Curtis," she greeted him. Sitting just behind Curtis was a familiar figure and a closer look revealed that it was none other than Carlos.

Judging by the way his eyes were narrowed, she wasn't sure whether he was staring right at her or sleeping.

Debbie started to feel a little nervous as she wasn't expecting to see Carlos. Tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, she said, "Uncle Curtis, what's going on?"

Curtis giggled and adjust his phone so that Debbie could only see him. "Carlos has been drinking all night. Damon's already passed out. Neither of Wesley and Niles is a heavy drinker. I guess I will be the next to get wasted. Debbie, you have to help me."

Both Niles and Debbie were rendered speechless.

'Wait. Carlos has been drinking?' Debbie furrowed her brows and said anxiously, "Carlos is still on his medication. He really shouldn't be drinking at all."

"I know! But he has already drunk four and a half bottles of liquor. And, guess what? He has already smoked three packets of cigarettes. Any sensible human being would think that he's probably trying to kill himself."

'What? Is Uncle Curtis joking or something? What will I do if Carlos dies? And Piggy?'

Debbie couldn't accept the thought of losing Carlos again and she raised her voice saying, "Uncle Curtis, could you please give your phone to Carlos?" She didn't know whether Carlos would speak to her, but she had to give it a shot.

Curtis waved his phone before Carlos and said, "Debbie's on the line. She wants to talk to you."

Carlos cast a cold glance at Curtis to dismiss him at once. He knew Curtis was using Debbie to stop him from drinking. "No!" He turned Curtis down without hesitation.

Upon hearing that, Debbie felt both hurt and embarrassed. "Uncle Curtis, I have to get back to work now. You should just call Stephanie."

Before Curtis even had the chance to say something, Debbie ended the video call, without saying goodbye.

Almost immediately, an awkward silence permeated the private booth. None of them knew what to say or do.

After a while, Curtis stood up, walked to the wine cabinet and grabbed a bottle of wine. "This bottle of wine looks nice. Niles, get us some glas

arlos? Ah, it must be Pepper Nian. Woman, since you are here, I have to talk to you. How could you betray my friend? I'm so disappointed in you. Jared and you are best friends, and I thought you were a good girl. Damn! Carlos has fallen for you again even after losing his memory. Are you a femme fatale or something? Ugh... You know what? I'm actually impressed by your influence on Carlos. He just can't seem to get you out of his mind, huh?"

Stephanie's smile froze and she said coldly, "Mr. Han, I'm Stephanie."

"Oh. Hi, Stephanie. Carlos is drunk. Please, take him back home. If Pepper Nian was here, he would have to stand barefoot on a porcupine. My brother is the CEO of ZL Group, and a proud man. How can he stand barefoot on a porcupine?"

Fuming, Stephanie decided to not talk to Damon anymore. She turned around and left without even saying goodbye.

The two men stared at each other, dumbfounded. When they saw the sly smirk on Damon's face, they realized that he had said all of that on purpose.

As Stephanie got inside her car, Damon threw his head left and right to the two men and said, "Carlos is my buddy. I need to be there for him all the time. Even though I don't like Debbie, I'm on her side now for Carlos' sake."

The two men's jaws fell to the ground simultaneously. Why was he telling them about private matters?

On the way to Niles' place, Carlos insisted on getting out of the car, so Niles had no choice but to ask the driver to take them to Champs Bay Apartments instead.