Take My Breath Away

'Fallen in love? Seriously? You just met Niles, ' Debbie thought, massaging her aching temples. She murmured to Irene, "Don't fall for someone so easily. Let me tell you this—in a relationship, whoever falls in love first, suffers more."

Irene hadn't dated anyone yet, so she didn't have much experience in love. But she said confidently, "Debbie, you know me. I always get what I want."

Debbie shook her head helplessly and patted Irene's hand. "Focus on your career now, okay? You haven't held a proper concert yet. I know that you are not worried about money, but at least do it to feed your passion."

"Debbie, when will my brother wake up?" Irene quickly changed the topic.

"Hopefully by tonight..." Debbie said with a sigh.

And just as she had predicted, Ivan woke up around seven that night. Irene was playing on her phone and Debbie was sitting in a chair, texting Decker. "Decker Lu, what the hell have you been doing these days? Are you alive or not?" she wrote.

"Debbie..." Ivan called out weakly.

Debbie swiftly looked up to find Ivan awake. She smiled and walked over to his bed. "Ivan, you're finally awake."

Irene put her phone away in a hurry and walked to his bedside too. "Ivan, how are you feeling now? I'll call the doctor."

She pressed the nurse-call button and told the doctor that her brother had woken up. Soon, a doctor and a nurse came in to give Ivan a full check-up. "He's okay now. Just need some good rest to recover."

"Thank you," Debbie said, relieved.

After seeing the doctor and nurse off, she grabbed a cotton bud, dipped it in a glass of water and rubbed it on Ivan's lips to moisten them, just as the doctor had advised.

Seeing how carefully Debbie was looking after her brother, Irene couldn't help but marvel at them, "Deb, you're so good at this. My brother is really lucky to have you as his wife!"

The fake couple exchanged glances with each other, and then burst into a fit of laughter.

Of course, they weren't happily laughing because they were glad to have each other in their life. They just found Irene cute and pure. The girl had no idea that their marriage was a lie.

Misunderstanding their laughter, Irene giggled innocently. She was still thinking how lucky Ivan was.

She even pictured how wonderful it would be if Debbie gave birth to a baby as cute as Piggy.

The next day, when Mason and Mia found out that Ivan had woken up from his coma, they took Kasie along with them to visit him.

When they arrived at the hospital, Debbie grabbed the chance to go back to Champs Bay Apartments. She wanted to take a shower and change into new clothes.

The Zheng family was with Ivan in the ward. "Mr. Wen, thank you so much for saving my daughter. You took a bullet for her. We're forever indebted to you," Mason said as he gripped Ivan's hand tightly in his, tears threatening to come out of his eyes. Kasie was their only child. She had just managed to overcome her grief over Emmett's death.

Laughter had finally returned to their family. If it weren't for Ivan, they might have lost their daughter completely this time. He felt cold just thinking about it.

Ivan curled his pale lips into a thin smile. "Mr. Zheng, you don't have to thank me. I should be apologizing to you. Kasie was kidnapped because of me."

"The kidnappers have been locked up in jail now. And you shouldn't have to apologize for their criminal activities. You shielded my daughter with your body. That is something we will never forget in our lives." Mason turned to Kasie and pulled her closer to the bed. "Kasie, thank Mr. Wen."

Kasie glanced at Ivan. She tugged at the hem of her clothes nervously. "Mr. Wen, thank you for saving me..."

Ivan was amused by her nervous tone. 'Do I look scary or something? Why is she so nervous around me?' he wondered. He shook his head. "No. Please don't be so courteous. I'm responsible for the kidnapping. If I were any better now, I would have visited your house and apologized."

Mia was impressed by how modest and polite Ivan was. She smiled and stole a glance at her daughter. Kasie was an extrovert, but she was acting shy in front of him. That was unusual. "Mr. Wen, I cooked this soup for you early this morning. Kasie, come here. Pour some soup for him. It's good for his health," she deliberately ordered her daughter.

Kasie didn't put much thought into it and nodded, "Okay." She opened the thermos container.

Ivan accepted their kind offer without hesitating. "Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Zheng. Sorry for the trouble, Kasie."

Kasie smiled without replying. She clumsily poured the soup into a bowl.

As the only daughter of the Zheng family, Kasie had led an affluent life and had never done much housework. Even filling a bowl of soup was difficult work for her. Finally, she managed to fill the bowl without spilling any of the soup.

Mason had laid the table for Ivan. Kasie cautiously walked towards the table with the hot bowl in her hands. At that moment, Ivan tried to move his body to find a more comfortable position to sit in, and his shoulder accidentally hit Kasie's.

"Aargh!" The hot soup spilled onto her hand and in response to the burn, she reflexively dropped the bowl onto the table. The soup poured out and began flowing onto the quilt and the floor. It was a mess.

Mason was talking something to Mia on the other side of the bed, so they didn't see what had actually happened. They thought Kasie had been too clumsy and careless. So Mason scolded her, "Kasie, how could you be so careless?" He turned to Mia and said in a hurry, "Get a tissue!"

"Yes! Kasie, move. I'll clean it." Mia hastily pulled out a few tissues from the stand, and tried to stop more soup from dripping onto the bedding.

Ivan lifted the bowl from the table and Mia began cleaning it. Meanwhile, he looked at Mason who was frowning at his daughter. Ivan explained immediately, "It's not Kasie's fault, Mr. Zheng. My arm hit hers as she was bringing the soup. I'm sorry, Kasie. Did you hurt your hand?"

Kasie touched her scalded right hand, tears welling up in her eyes. The soup was very hot since it was kept in a thermos container. Her hand was swollen red already.

When he noticed that Kasie had scalded herself, Mason gasped. He grabbed her hand to check it. "Are you okay? Are you hurt, Kasie?

Kasie nodded, biting her lower lip to suppress her cry. Then she walked to the bathroom and placed her hand under the cold water to relieve her pain. After that, Mason took her to the nurse station to apply some ointment on it.

By the time they came back, a cleaner had already changed the quilt for Ivan. He was eating the soup which Mia had poured for him. Seeing Kasie and Mason at the door, he asked with concern, "Kasie, how's your hand now?"

"Nothing serious. Thank you." Kasie forced an embarrassing smile and sat down on the sofa.

As he drank the soup, Ivan talked to Mason about business. Mia would chip in occasionally and say something about the Zheng family. Kasie was sitting on the sofa, silently texting Debbie. "When will you come back to the hospital?"

But Debbie didn't reply.

Ivan finished the soup, but Debbie still hadn't shown up. Mason checked the time on his watch and looked at his daughter. "Kasie, stop playing with your phone. Your mom and I need to head home now. Since Debbie isn't here yet, you stay and take care of Mr. Wen until she comes."

"Okay," she nodded.

After the old couple left, Kasie and Ivan were left alone in the ward. Awkward silence filled the air. Kasie smoothed her hair and tried to diffuse the tension. "Mr. Wen, do you need to get some sleep?"