Take My Breath Away

Elmer drained his glass again. Debbie didn't pay much attention to it. She only assumed he liked drinking alcohol. But man, that guy could drink. After refilling his glass, she pointed to two dishes she had ordered and politely directed his attention to them.

Elmer took a bite. "So how do you know Mr. Huo and Mr. Wen?" he asked out of the blue.

Debbie was surprised. 'Men can be gossipy too, ' she thought.

She swallowed her food and smiled, "I thought everyone knew about my relationship with Mr. Huo. I'm his ex-wife. Mr. Wen is my friend and a mentor. He helped me get my singing career off the ground. Thanks to him, I signed with Star Empire."

Almost no one knew she and Ivan were married.

Actually, Elmer knew about Debbie and Carlos. Everyone in Y City knew about them. Carlos had once bought an extremely expensive watch at an expo to apologize to her. Elmer was there and had seen it all.

He had asked to see how truthful she was. It turned out she was honest. Brownie points for her. "Why did you two split up?" She lost her smile for a moment. "Please, don't be offended. I'm just curious. Mr. Huo is a great guy. And you seem nice too. What went wrong?" Elmer pursued.

He was actually thinking, 'If those two get back together and Debbie's still endorsing our products, that'll be a serious moneymaker.'

"Personal reasons. I don't feel like talking about it. Let's talk about something else." The truth was as wild as the rumors that dogged her. She didn't know Elmer that well and her personal life was private. She wouldn't share it with just anyone.

"Okay, let's drink," he said with a smile.

'And another? How many glasses is this guy going to down?' Debbie realized that they had been drinking nonstop.

Elmer told her he only had twenty minutes, but their dinner lasted three hours. When they were done, they'd finished one bottle of the private reserve. The other bottle went unopened. To make him happy, Debbie gave it to him as a gift. He grinned ear-to-ear, and cradled the diamond-studded gold and sterling platinum bottle in his arms.

After seeing him off, Debbi

Drugged one night by her ex-boyfriend, a mysterious man took advantage of her in an ecstatic night filled with sex.

To take her revenge, she married the man, and used him.

"As long as I'm alive, I'm still his legal wife, while all of you are just his mistresses."

She remained adamant even when he was involved in scandals with other women.

Eventually she stormed off after she learned that he had betrayed her again.But life brought her back to him a few years later, to his astonishment.

t Ivan's wound, Debbie went to the privacy room to video chat with Piggy.

While they were talking, Elsie stuck her face in the frame. "Debbie, what are you and Ivan up to? Why aren't you on your honeymoon?" She could feel something was wrong.

Debbie's heart tightened when she heard this. "I've been getting ready for my tour. There're lots of things to do to put on a concert. And Ivan's company is expanding. He has agreed to be on the ticket, though. Mom, don't worry about us."

"Okay. Take care of yourselves. I want a granddaughter as cute as Piggy." To avoid Piggy hearing it, Elsie had taken the phone somewhere else and whispered.

Debbie understood she wanted to spare Piggy's feelings. Elsie was great to her and Piggy. Yet she and Ivan had been lying to her about their marriage. She felt bad. But what could she do? "I know, Mom. Thank you for taking care of Piggy."

"Don't mention it. Piggy is my grandchild now." Elsie had always liked Piggy. Now that the cute little girl had become her granddaughter, she couldn't be happier.

Tears welled up in Debbie's eyes. "Thank you, Mom," she said.

She had only ever called two women Mom—Tabitha and Elsie.

Tabitha didn't talk to her anymore. She was institutionalized. Debbie had been mulling over visiting her. She had once been nice to her after all, no matter how briefly. And she had given her the family heirloom—the bracelets.