Take My Breath Away

"I've got nothing to do with Ivan. Why would I care what he would say?" Decker snapped. Indeed, he wasn't lying because he hadn't had any interactions with Ivan yet.

Carlos leaned against the closet and stared him down. In a cold voice, he said, "So, you're another one of Debbie's admirers?"

"Damn you!" Suddenly, Decker hurled a photo frame towards Carlos.

Carlos swiftly dodged it without much effort as the photo frame hit the closet and landed on the floor.

He straightened his coat and glared at Decker. "So, it seems like you have a death wish?"

Decker gnashed his teeth and stayed on the bed. "Yeah, so kill me now, if you have the balls."

Much to his surprise, the defiant look in Decker's eyes suddenly reminded Carlos of Debbie. This wounded man somewhat resembled Debbie, especially in terms of his personality. The most common quality would be their audacity to stand up to him.

Unfortunately for Decker, however, he wasn't Debbie. Carlos might have excused this if it were Debbie, but he wasn't going to let this man walk away after disrespecting him. He strode towards the bed and grabbed Decker's arm, ruthlessly yanking him off the bed.

"Ahh!" A pained groan escaped Decker's lips as the sharp pain shot through his arm the moment he fell to the floor.

'Damn you! Carlos Huo, you pathetic wretch!'

Carlos stomped on his hand, possibly crushing a few bones, leaving behind an impression of his leather shoes. "If you somehow manage to get out of this room alive, you win!" The cold look in his eyes suggested that he wasn't joking.

"Aargh...you..." The searing pain from his hand was unbearable and Decker let out a might wail in hopes of releasing some pain. Carlos watched with a deadpan expression on his face as Decker writhed in agony.

Decker's face was white as a sheet. Just as his vision faded and he was about to surrender himself to the arms of darkness, the loud shrill sound of Debbie screaming from the doorway kept him awake. "Carlos! What are you doing?"

Immediately, Carlos froze on the spot. He drew his foot away and shot a sharp glance at Debbie's worried face. 'Why is she so worried about this man?' The mere thought of it filled his heart with anger.

Debbie dropped the bag on the floor and rushed towards them. She reached down to pull Carlos' long legs away from Decker. "Brother, are you okay? Please look at me!"

'B-brother...'

Carlos' facial expression changed dramatically.

"Decker, wake up!" Debbie kept calling out, but her brother didn't respond to her cries. In a fit of anger, she sprang up to her feet and glared at Carlos. "What is the matter with you? Did you do this to him?"

Carlos didn't respond, but hi

ed closer to her brother, cupping his clenched fist in her hands.

Sensing the touch of her hand, Decker opened his eyes and took a deep breath. The sight of his sister's worried face forced a tear to drop from the corner of his bloodshot eye.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Debbie seemed puzzled, trying to think who it could be. Carlos asked her to open the door and said, "It's Niles."

'Niles? What's he doing here at this hour?' she wondered.

She let go of Decker's hand and ran to open the door. It was indeed Niles, standing outside, with a big medical box in his hands.

"Hi, Little Pepper, where's Carlos?" Niles asked, gasping for air.

Debbie pointed at the bedroom door with her finger. Niles quickly took off his leather shoes, and rushed to the bedroom without even changing into slippers.

Niles heaved a deep sigh of relief upon seeing Carlos sitting there, safe and sound. "Hey, man. You look all right. I thought you were hurt."

"Cut the crap and take it from here." Carlos felt at ease and immediately stopped stitching the moment he saw that the man, who was more capable of fixing up people's wounds, had arrived.

Niles took a glimpse at the patient on the bed. Having realized that he wasn't acquainted to him, he turned to look at Debbie and asked, "Who is he?"

Niles grabbed the suture kit from Carlos' hand and continued from where he had stopped.

His hands moved even faster than Carlos'. After all, he was the doctor. This was his home turf.

After a brief pause, Debbie answered, "I don't know him."

Yes, she didn't know the Decker in front of her. From what she could recall, he was just a good-for-nothing creep. But what he did today completely changed her impression of him, leaving her to doubt whether she even knew him in the first place.