Chapter 81: Step Barefoot On A Porcupine  "I agree to your first two conditions. As for the third, keep it to yourself. Now it's my turn. This is my first condition," said Carlos as he kicked open the door of the lounge, entered the room with Debbie in his arms and locked the door behind them. He passed all the other furniture in the room adroitly. They zipped past tables, chairs, and a standing liquor cabinet before Carlos stopped at the bed. The richly-appointed bed was inspired by eighteenth-century designs, and featured round ball top bed posts. It was colored a beautiful black walnut, and ornate duvets covered the sheets.

"What condition is that?" Debbie asked. Looking at the king-sized bed adorned with grey sheets, Debbie had a bad feeling all of a sudden. She was not sure what was going on, but the bed put an image in her head, and she was going to try and forestall that as long as she could.

"I'll have to show you for how many minutes you should forbid me from being alone with Megan."

As he said this, he threw Debbie onto the bed.

In an instant, he was on top of her. Her heart rate skyrocketed. Before she could respond, the man moved her arms up, and held her hands above her head with his own hand.

She struggled, but was unable to move. "Wait, wait! I'm trying to discuss something with you. I'm not here for this!" she yelled, panicked.

"We can discuss it while we do this." He pulled the zipper of her jacket down, peeled it off and threw it onto the floor. It lay there, silent witness to the actions Carlos was taking.

'What's going on?' she mused, growing more panicky. And that was the thing. She was hoping he'd say something to ease her anxiety. Instead, his actions just scared her even more.

Suddenly, he stopped, leaned forward and looked into her eyes. He said in a serious voice, "Deb, I've already given you plenty of time. We've been married for three years, and I never laid a finger on you. I don't care about the past, but from now on, I want you to be my woman, physically and mentally. Understand?"

She didn't think Carlos had it in him. He never so many words at a time. This was the most he'd said to her in awhile. Debbie, however, was focused on the sentence—"I want you to be my woman, physically and mentally."

'He's going to have sex with me?! What should I do? Should I turn him down?'

With a red face, she stammered, "I-I understand."

To be honest, she had already mentally prepared for this when they were in J City. After all, Carlos was her husband, and it was normal for couples to have sex. They would have done it there if it weren't for their argument—they couldn't agree on what position to use. But now, she wasn't so sure. She wanted to talk to him, not do the horizontal mambo.

And so far, Carlos had been nice to her. The only thing he did that really ticked her off was maintain a relationship with Megan. And even that could be forgiven, as long as none of them crossed the line. Problem was, she wasn't sure that they hadn't crossed that fabled line. He'd generally treated her well—he made sure she was well-taken care of financially, and sent Phillip and Julie to ensure she was okay. 'All right. Fine. I can do this. He's my husband, ' Debbie consoled herself internally.

But what Carlos said next sent chills down her spine.

"Don't be so nervous. This isn't your first time. I don't care whether you were top or bottom. But me, I have to be—" SMACK!

Carlos failed to finish his sentence. The sound of a slap echoed through the lounge. After that, time seemed to stop. There were no other sounds in the room. None at all. And she lay there, watching his expression turn, and the moments seemed like millennia. She waited, nanosecond by agonizing nanosecond, as the full impact of what she'd done sank in.

Carlos' face soured as he watched the girl turn from shy to angry. He hadn't bargained for this. Not at all. She was his wife, damn it! She was his woman, and she had no right to turn him down. Not now. Not like this. Not after all he'd done for her. And now, she dared to lay her hand on him. 'She slapped me! Again?!' He couldn't hold back his anger anymore. It rose in him, threatening to explode. He balled a fist, ready to repay her actions with interest.

When Debbie heard him say "This isn't your first time," she finally got it. And that was not all. She now knew why he said "I don't care about the past." He didn't think she was a virgin.

That was when she remembered... Before he knew she was his wife, he had always believed she was a slut who dated countless boys.

'Hahaha! God, was I stupid?!' She laughed, but tears streamed down her cheeks. These were not tears of joy.

A rush of adrenaline overtook her as she pushed the man away from her, jumped out of bed and shouted, "You asshole!" That word hung in the air between them longer than either of them would like to admit. Each person believed they had been wronged, and that might change things between them.

After that, she grabbed her jacket and stormed out of his office, crying.

She opened the office door and was about to leave when suddenly she saw Tristan standing there. He had his hand raised, poised to knock. Seeing Debbie in tears, he was stunned and blurted out, "Mrs. Huo."

Debbie was in no mood to talk to anyone. She bit her lips and ran towards the lift without saying a word. She couldn't. She just couldn't right now.

Staring at her retreating figure, Tristan wondered, 'Why the tears? Did she have a fight with Mr. Huo?'

He turned his head, his gaze shifting to the office, only to see his boss come out of the lounge with a stony face.

Carlos cast a cold glance at Tristan before he sat on the couch and lit a cigarette.

Now that Carlos had already seen him, Tristan couldn't just shut the door and leave. He swallowed hard and entered the office. He presented a file folder to Carlos and said, "Boss, I got this from our branch office, and there's an urgent—"

Before he could finish his sentence, Carlos interrupted him impatiently. "I asked you to investigate my wife. Do you know anything about her previous relationships? Who was she with? And for how long?"

"No," Tristan answered briefly, his head lowered. He knew he'd failed Carlos, and was ready to accept punishment if necessary. Carlos hadn't asked him to investigate Debbie's relationships with other boys; he didn't dare to do it without authorization. And this was what he was waiting for.

"Leave the file here and do what I told you to do," he demanded coldly.

"Yes, Mr. Huo."

"Pay special attention to her relationship with Hayden Gu."

"Yes, Mr. Huo." Tristan raised his head and was on the point of leaving when he saw Carlos' face. A red mark? After a closer look, Tristan confirmed that Carlos did have a red mark on his cheek. About hand-sized. His mouth widened in shock.

'Did Mrs. Huo slap him?'

"Out!" Carlos thundered.

Frightened, Tristan ran out of Carlos' office and went back to his seat. He took a moment to slow his breathing, and patted his chest to calm himself down.

'Oh my gosh! This is the first time Mr. Huo has been this angry. Last time he blew his top when we lost an order worth one hundred million, but he was not this angry. But now... Women will humble the mightiest of heroes, ' he mused.

Now he finally understood why Carlos had exiled Emmett to the construction site. Emmett probably sided with Debbie. Even so, Tristan considered it a smart move for Emmett to build a close relationship with Debbie, in light of how much she could influence Carlos, so he decided to do the same.

Leaving the ZL Group, Debbie hailed a taxi and proceeded to the university. But she changed her mind halfway and told the driver, "On second thought, take me to Shining International Plaza."

Then she took out her phone, opened the WeChat app and mentioned Kasie and Kristina in their group chat. "I'll be waiting at our old haunt. You guys coming?"

"Playing hookey again, Tomboy?" Dixon asked curiously.

"Yeah.

I'm not in the mood. I need to blow off steam."

While waiting for Kasie's and Kristina's replies, Debbie posted and update in Moments. "I want..." She couldn't finish it. She was too mad. So she just left it that way. She couldn't wait to get together with her friends.

Instantly, someone going by the handle "C" commented, "What so you want?"

Initially, Debbie didn't play to reply, for she didn't know who this person was. But she was really frustrated right now and wanted to vent her anger. So she replied, "I want Carlos Huo to step barefoot on a porcupine."

She didn't think it was a big deal to mention Carlos Huo in Moments. Only her close friends knew she was married to him. As for the rest of her WeChat friends, they all thought that she was cracking a joke.

C replied, "What did he do to you?"

Debbie paused. She wasn't stupid enough to tell a stranger the whole story between her and Carlos. She jus said, "He didn't do anything to me. He thought his girlfriend has slept with her ex. I just can't believe he said that."

Debbie update her Moments a couple of times, but C stopped posting.

'Maybe he's busy right now, ' she thought. She really wanted to find out who this person with no profile photo was. Having no profile pic was rare, but not impossible. All he needed to do was upload a blank PNG file and it wouldn't show up on WeChat.

She clicked his dialog box and sent a message, "May I ask who you are?"

C replied very quickly, "You don't need to know who I am."

The reply rendered Debbie speechless.

Shaking it off, she decided to ignore him. 'Probably just some rando on the internet, ' she thought. However, within two minutes, C changed the profile photo.

The new one seemed somewhat familiar, but it was a bit small to see on the phone. Debbie tapped on it to see in full-screen mode. That person used her photo as profile pic!

She and Kasie had vacationed in Paris together and Kasie took a picture of her standing beneath the Eiffel Tower. She posted that picture in Moments.

Debbie tapped the photo to make it normal-sized again, and sent a message to C. "Why did you use my pic as your profile photo? Who the heck are you? You know me?"

C's response floored her. "You know how people put beautiful singers and actresses in their profile pics? You look hot in that pic, so I used it. I like you, and I'm going to make you mine."