James was pleased to see her capitulate. "Don't make trouble. Remember, Carlos isn't around to protect you. Killing you and your baby would be like squashing ants underfoot," he continued threatening her.
Debbie cursed through gritted teeth, "You bastard!"
Now that he had gotten what he wanted, James was as happy as a clam. He didn't react to her cursing. He even said, "When you wake up, you can see him one last time," as if he were merciful.
Debbie closed her eyes, ignoring him. He didn't mind and left the room with his minions before Debbie fell into a dreamless sleep.
When Debbie woke up, she found out that she was in a room next to the ICU. She changed into scrubs and a mask, then dragged herself into the ICU weakly.
A nurse followed her inside, watching her like a hawk. The moment Debbie saw Carlos, grief overwhelmed her.
She grabbed his hand tightly. "Old man, it's me, your wife. Wake up! Look at me. Look at me."
His hand felt icy cold, like he truly was dead. Debbie put it to her lips with trembling hands and kissed it gently. "Old man, I miss you so much. I'm worried about you. Open your eyes and look at me, all right?"
But Carlos didn't respond at all. He was indeed as quiet as a dead man.
Just when Debbie felt his forehead, the nurse reminded her, "Your minute is up, miss. Please leave."
'My... minute? ' Debbie realized that she had traded her marriage for a single minute with Carlos. "Can you give me a few more minutes? I need more time,"
Debbie pleaded.
However, the nurse wouldn't budge on this. She shooed Debbie out of the ward.
Once she stepped out of the ICU, Debbie sat on the bench dejectedly. Till now, she still couldn't believe Carlos was gone. It had to be a trick. James was behind it.
But it still didn't feel real. Debbie left the hospital temporarily. She borrowed a phone and called Jared.
When it all went down, Jared had gotten blind stinking drunk and was crashing at a friend's place. His phone was dead. When Debbie called, he had ju
arlos had died just like that.
Then she asked Jared to call Curtis. But Curtis' phone went straight to voicemail. Maybe just as Damon said, Curtis was on a plane bound for Y City.
Debbie pressed her head against the car window, mumbling, "Damon never liked me. I don't trust him. I'll ask Mr. Lu when he comes back. He's a good guy, and wouldn't lie."
However, a few minutes later, another big news item shocked the entire city.
It was about Debbie. And it had gone viral. The headline read: "Mr. Huo injured in accident. Wife files for divorce and gets abortion." Reading further, the subheader detailed how his assistant died at the scene and she cheated on him. Jared clicked on the link to read the details.
It claimed that after Carlos' accident, the CEO went to the ER. Debbie ignored him and cheated on him with another man. She even filed for divorce. Later when she found out that she was pregnant, she went to the hospital and had an abortion.
As proof, the article had pics, which stunned Debbie.
One of them was taken when she was in bed. She was sleeping in a stranger's arms, with bare shoulders. The last one was taken when the doctors walked out of the ward where she had been forced to sign the divorce agreement.
Those doctors had told the press that Debbie had come to the hospital willingly to have an abortion.