Take My Breath Away

"Why are the windows broken?" Debbie asked curiously.

Carlos played with a cigar in his hand and raised an eyebrow answering, "It'll be more exciting."

'What does he mean by that?' She was even more confused.

The bodyguards forced James to sit in the driver's seat and started the engine for him. Then they said something, which made his face pale.

At that moment, an animal howled in the distance and Debbie shivered when she heard it. She recognized that sound from when she had taken Evelyn to the zoo. It was a wolf! She held Carlos' arm tightly and cried, "Carlos, there's a wolf!"

Carlos, on the other hand, wasn't afraid at all. He patted her hand reassuringly and said in a soft voice, "Relax. You'll be safe here."

"How can you be so sure?" When Debbie saw the cynical smile on his face, she realized something. "You arranged this!"

Carlos nodded his head.

Soon, a man came into view with a few Russian wolves behind him.

'James. A car without windows. Wolves.'

Debbie was perplexed. 'What is Carlos trying to do?'

When the wolves pounced at the car, she instantly realized what was going on.

"Aaargh!" James was frightened to death by the wolves approaching and stepped hard on the accelerator. The car sped off like a bat out of hell.

The car raced along the mountain road at maximum speed while the wolves ran after it. Whenever James slowed down a bit, the wolves would catch up to him.

Even though James was quite a distance away from them, they could still hear his agonizing screams in pain echoing through the mountains.

When the car was almost out of sight, a bodyguard came to them and handed Carlos two pairs of binoculars.

Carlos gave Debbie one and said, "Go on enjoying the show."

Debbie looked at James' car through the binoculars and asked, "What if someone on the road gets hit by the car or gets attacked by the wolves?"

"That's impossible. The place has been cleared ahead of time," Carlos assured her.

"So you've been planning this for a while?" she asked.

"Mmm hmm."

"Why did you give James the car?" she asked curiously.

"Well, if I didn't, then he would've been ripped apart by the wolves by now. The car gives him a sense of hope that he can escape, and it's much more exciting to watch," Carlos said with a cunning smile.

"The car windows are broken so the wolves can jump in and bite him?"

"Yes."

Debbie moved her binoculars aside and looked at Carlos. "Is there something wrong with the car brakes?"

Carlos curled his lips. "Bingo! The brakes don't work. It's quite a show, isn't it?"

'You evil man!' she cursed inwardly.

"What if he hits the mountain or falls off the cliff?"

Carlos lowered his binoculars too and looked her in the eye. "I don't think he'd be that stupid to hit the mountain or fall off the cliff. He would only drive forward. The end of the road is the ocean. He'll eventually drive into the ocean. Then it's time for Niles to play his part."

Debbie was rendered speechless. She didn't know whether she should describe him as a genius or a monster.

It was just as Carlos had predicted. While screaming at the top of his lungs, James drove the car into the ocean.

Then several bodyguards jumped into the water and began to search for him.

Carlos took Debbie's hand and led her to a car. They got in, and a bodyguard drove the car to the beach.

When they arrived, James had already been pulled out. His motionless, bloodied body lay on the beach.

Niles then stepped in and began to carry out first-aid on him.

'Why do I always have to take care of Carlos' mess?' he cursed inside. After he performed CPR for a while, James finally spat out the seawater he had swallowed.

When James showed signs of life and started to cough and splutter, Debbie heaved a sigh of relief. She was worried that James was going to die. Fortunately, he didn't.

It wasn't because she cared about James. On the contrary, she didn't give a damn about that wicked man. She was worried that Carlos would have blood on his hands.

Carlos kicked the old man and asked, "James Huo, how do you feel now?"

James struggled to raise his hand to point at him. "Carlos Huo... You son of a bitch! I've raised you for thirty years, and this is how you repay me?"

"Seriously? Who's been supporting the Huo family for the past decade?" Carlos sneered.

Since Carlos was a little boy, he had known that James was short-tempered. He blew his fuse almost every single day. He had never been a caring father to Carlos.

James began to cough violently. Niles immediately gave him an injection to calm him down. "I've taken care of you since you were a kid. Is it not right for me to use my son's money?" he asked in a weary voice.

"Of course it's right." With his hands in his pockets, Carlos looked down at James with resentment. "But it wasn't you who had taken care of me, but Grandma."

Perhaps it was because Carlos wasn't his biological son that he seldom took care of him. When Carlos grew up and began to earn money, all that James did was take advantage of him and take money from him.

James felt uneasy now. "Carlos Huo, you'll pay for what you did," he cursed angrily.

"Now you're paying for what you did," Carlos said indifferently.

Unable to stay calm any longer, James began to plead, "Carlos, let me go. After all, we've been father and son for so many years."

"Father and son?" Carlos repeated the words sarcastically. "Then what about Lewis?"

At the very mention of Lewis, James' eyes widened in terror. "No! You can't hurt him! You've already sent him abroad. He has nothing to do with this. Please leave him out of this!" James had a son and a daughter. His daughter had gone insane because of Carlos. James couldn't afford to see Lewis get hurt as well.

"Let him go? Okay, but what about my wife? After all that you've put my wife through, I must get back at you today." Carlos grabbed Debbie's hand and led her to stand before James, who was still lying on the ground.

"I've already apologized to her. Isn't that enough? What do you want?" James spat.

"Huh?" Carlos sneered. "Before we came here, we ran into several assassins. Don't tell me it has nothing to do with you."

James clenched his teeth and cursed inwardly, 'A bunch of idiots! I spent so much money, yet Carlos hasn't gotten a single scratch on him.' "Is there any way that you would let me go?"

"Let you go? Will you do as I say?" Carlos asked, his face deadpan.

"Yes, I will!" James nodded without hesitation. 'Where there is life, there is hope, ' he thought.

Too lazy to expose his true thoughts, Carlos said with a raised eyebrow, "Kneel and apologize to her!"

"What?" James instantly flared up, his face as red as a tomato. Even his eyes were red as if he was going to explode.

"If you're not willing to, fine, then—"

"I'll do it!" James sat up and swore in his mind, 'How dare Carlos force me to kneel before that trollop! I swear one day I'll chop his legs off!'

Debbie stared coldly as James knelt before her.

Then he opened his mouth to say, "Debbie Nian..."