Take My Breath Away

Ivan took a look at the woman under him and said over the phone, "You sure you want me to go back home now? Come on, Mom. You want a grandchild, right— Ouch!" A pinch from Kasie made him end his sentence prematurely. He started massaging the area she cruelly manhandled.

Blushing a shade of bright red, she shot him an angry glare and then buried her face in the pillow, embarrassed.

"What? A grandchild? With whom?" Elsie softened her voice.

To save him from more drama, Ivan patiently explained, "Mom, the marriage was a sham. Debbie and I aren't married. Sorry for lying to you. And I don't love men. I love Debbie's best friend, and I wanna marry her. We're getting married here, so you and Dad will need to get tickets."

"W-what...is that so?" The sudden change of the story put Elsie in a daze. She needed time to process everything.

"That's it, Mom. I just married Debbie to get you and Dad off my back. But this is real. If you don't believe me, you can fly here and watch us get the marriage licenses with your own eyes."

Ivan wanted to hang up but Elsie quickly stopped. "Hold on. No wonder Debbie didn't want me to visit her uncle and aunt, and didn't want any gifts. Now I get it. So which family is that girl from?" 'Debbie's best friend...' Elsie tried to remember who that was, but came up short. She hadn't really gotten to know the girl.

She saw her once at Ivan's wedding, but she was too excited to notice anything.

"She's the daughter of the Zheng family here. Her father is Mason Zheng. I think Dad knows him." At this point, Ivan began to lose his patience.

If Elsie didn't end the call, the sun would be up soon. He wouldn't have enough time to enjoy his special moment with Kasie.

Elsie nudged her husband, who was lying next to her. "Do you know Mason Zheng? Ivan says you know him."

Without hesitation, Logan nodded, "Yeah. I knew him from university."

Elsie asked further with the line still on, "I never heard you mention him. You close to him?" She heard a beep, and the line went silent. "Hey, Ivan... I'm not done."

As Elsie tried to call again, Logan stopped her and said, "Look. He's with his girlfriend. Don't ruin the moment."

Elsie's hands froze. She carefully thought about hi

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.

and asked, "So you're marrying Kasie?"

"Yeah. You heard me right. You're not dreaming," Ivan confirmed helplessly.

She scratched her messy hair and heaved a sigh. "And Kasie said 'yes?'"

"Yeah. We talked about it last night."

Debbie reminded him with a huge smile, "Treat her right, or I'll beat the tar out of you!"

Ivan assured her, "You have my word." Then he teased, "I don't fall in love every day. Why wouldn't I be nice to her?"

Debbie giggled. "Again, congratulations. You owe me a meal."

"Okay, I'll buy you a big one next time."

After a pause, Debbie thought of something. The smile on her face froze, and she said in a heavy tone, "You should probably visit Emmett's grave with Kasie. He might like to know how she's doing."

"Already thought of."

"Hmm. That's good."

After chatting a while longer with Ivan, Debbie dragged herself out of bed. She plodded towards the bathroom, legs trembling.

In Ivan's apartment, after ending the call with Debbie, he waited until Kasie woke up. They had lunch together in his apartment and shared some more intimate moments. In the afternoon, before his parents arrived, Ivan got in the car and asked Kasie to get in, too. He rebuffed all her questions about where they were going.

Kasie's face changed as she looked out the window, watching the scenery fly by. She turned to look at Ivan and asked hesitantly, "Where are we going?"

Ivan patted her hand to comfort her. "I think you know."

Kasie fell silent.