Take My Breath Away

Chapter 376: Made My Life Hard

How did Debbie have access to James' hair? The woman she hired to have sex with James, of course. After she had strands of hair from both Carlos and James, she had the DNA tested.         

    

So all the netizens that took James' side three years ago abandoned him. And Debbie was able to sway them to her side, thanks to the articles the media picked up.     

Even though the articles and posts were being taken down, people still kept excoriating James online. The old man himself had an affair, but still had the arrogance to make it look like Debbie had done the same. He didn't deserve to be Carlos' father or the CEO of ZL Group. More and more voices called for bouncing him out of the company.     

Much to everyone's surprise, Debbie had personally responded to one of the negative commenters on James. She wrote, "I don't condone his behavior, but I understand it. After all, my former mother-in-law has been sick for a while, so I get it..."     

Debbie's comment brought more people to comment. "So his wife couldn't give him any loving, and he was horny..." they wrote.     

Debbie made the comment to deliberately give context to all this. Now she would look like she was sticking up for her poor former father-in-law. Her revenge on James had just begun. So she didn't want him to go down in flames too quickly. She wanted to torture him bit by bit. There would be more scandals later that she would unveil.     

Carlos had his ways of handling things. He was always able to get what he wanted in short order.     

In less than thirty minutes, Frankie called him and reported, "Mr. Huo, we found out who sold the video to the media."     

"Who?"     

"Debbie Nian," Frankie answered.     

That didn't surprise Carlos at all. He figured as much. He took a drag on his cigarette and said calmly, "Ask Debbie to come to my office."     

"Yes, Mr. Huo."     

Five minutes later, Frankie called again. "Mr. Huo... Miss Nian confirmed it was her. But she refused to meet you here. She said she was thrown out of your office last time and was humiliated. So...if you have anything to say to her... you can drop by her house. Any time."     

Carlos sneered. 'She's got balls, I'll give her that.'     

"Tell her, if I have to find her that way, we'll do more than just talk."     

Frankie then called Debbie back, and passed on Carlos' warning, word for word.     

Debbie wasn't scared. She told Frankie, "As I said, he's welcome here any time. I promise we won't just talk. We can do something more interesting."     

Frankie's lips twitched at her words. He wondered what he'd done in a previous life to deserve this. Delivering "he said, she said" messages with sexual overtones? 'Come on, guys. I'm just doing my job.'     

Instead of calling Carlos again, Frankie went straight to his office and reported what she'd said.     

Before he could respond, his cellphone rang. He tapped the answer key and said, "Hello, Aunt Miranda."     

"Hi Carlos. We need to talk," Miranda replied, cutting to the chase.     

"I'm listening."     

"Good. Don't talk, just listen. First, stay out of your dad's mess. It's complicated, and you don't know the whole story. Second, don't do anything to Debbie. You might regret it later. Third, you'd better think twice about marrying Stephanie. If you do, I'm sure you'll regret it the day you get your memory back."     

Carlos was stunned. "But... why would you say that?"     

"Debbie's a good girl. I hope you two can get back together. I know Stephanie's quite well-connected, but I don't think you need her help. She's not right for you. Marriage is for life, and a good marriage is a happy one. I don't want you to rush into things when you don't know your own heart. Your decisions affect more than just you now. Make the right one."     

Miranda never beat around the bush. Whether Carlos took her advice or not, she didn't hold back. In the end, she added, "Get your company back. If you want, I'll help you. No strings attached."         

    

"Aunt Miranda, did Debbie pay you off?" That was the only answer Carlos had for why she would have told him all that.     

Miranda didn't mind his suspicions. She smiled and explained, "Just remember I only want what's best for you."     

That he could trust. Although Miranda was cold, she had treated him well growing up.     

"Yeah, I know," he replied.     

"Okay then. I have to let you go. I have some work to do. Bye."     

The office was quiet again. Carlos stared at his phone and thought hard about every word Miranda said.     

She never talked bullshit. Every word of hers had meaning.     

He couldn't help but wonder what on earth happened while he was in a coma.     

Why did Debbie hate James so much?     

It wasn't long before Debbie finally understood the consequences of turning Carlos down.     

She had already signed a contract as an artist under Star Empire. She was exhilarated, reporting for the first day of work with a spring in her step and a light heart. And when she rounded a corner in the wonderfully air-conditioned hallway, that was when she saw Carlos. He was her new boss.     

It wasn't long before all the employees were summoned to a general meeting. Carlos stood up on stage, a huge screen behind him. He introduced himself, and the new employees, including Debbie, introduced themselves. After the introductions were out of the way, they got down to expectations. "All the new artists need to release a new album in two months time," Carlos demanded.     

'Release a new album in two months? Are you nuts? It takes at least six months to produce a quality album. How can I do that in two?     

You are obviously punishing me! I see how it is, taking advantage of your position to make my life hard, ' Debbie thought angrily.     

Nevertheless, Debbie accepted the challenge. She wouldn't admit defeat so easily. So she turned down a lot of other offers and locked herself in her room, concentrating on composing songs and writing lyrics.     

She lived every day at full throttle.     

Two weeks later, at one night, when Debbie was busy writing lyrics, she got a call from Jared. "Hey, you busy? You gotta go out with me tonight," he said playfully.     

"I can't. I need to get this done," Debbie refused bluntly. She was almost driven crazy by the heavy workload and her hermit-like existence. She wasn't really in the mood to hang out with Jared.     

"You'll never guess what I saw tonight," Jared said again, smiling evilly.     

Debbie scratched her hair. "Quit your games. Out with it."     

She had only managed to compose four new songs. She still needed to compose five more to finish the album. But staring at a blank piece of paper had only dampened her mood and she couldn't think of a thing. It was killing her.     

Sometimes she wondered if Carlos deliberately did it to stop her from pestering him.     

"You're no fun. Your ex-husband got drunk, and Damon couldn't drive him home because he had something else to do. So he tapped me for the job. Carlos is drunk! There's no better chance than now. Sure you won't come?"     

As Debbie had strained her brain, she couldn't take all that in. "What do you mean no better chance?"     

Jared was disappointed by her ignorance of subtext. "A chance to sleep with him! Make him feel guilty afterward. And then you guys get married again. Get it?"         

    

'Sleep with him?' Debbie sighed. 'I wish. But Carlos has an iron will. Last time, I got him into bed but we didn't knock boots, ' she thought gloomily.     

When she didn't respond, Jared sighed and said, "Okay, forget it. I'll let Stephanie know. She'll know what to do."     

"Hey, hey, wait! What? Okay, I'm coming! Wait for me!" Debbie finally figured it out. She stood up and rushed to the bathroom.     

Jared heaved a sigh of relief. "Hurry up. Room 888 at Orchid Private Club."     

"Okay, got it."     

Then she took a quick shower, put on a bare amount make-up and wore perfume with a light fragrance before going out.     

When she arrived at Room 888, she saw Jared impatiently waiting at the door. At the sight of her, he quickly urged, "He's in there. I should get going now. No need to thank me."     

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