Daisy stumbled and missed her footing in her state of inebriation when Mark held her and propped her up. All Kevin could do was wear a cold look and frown inwardly. He wanted to be the one standing next to her, the one to hold her steady when she was unstable. Alas, he couldn't. After all, they were in the military now, where a person's demeanor and maintaining the decorum mattered a lot. He didn't care much for his reputation, but he could never risk hers.
Kevin cast a sharp and disdainful glance at the crowd at the table before gracefully standing Up. As he quietly walked out, his cold look was quite perplexing.
Daisy kept stumbling along the family building on their way back, but Mark held her steady and helped her onto the sofa. All the while, deep down he still felt indignant. 'Why didn't colonel get promoted?' He brewed some tea for her hangover, lest she wake up with a terrible headache the next morning.
"Mark, where is my phone?" She was too busy following Kevin along and had forgotten about her phone. With that question, Daisy began groping around for her phone. She nearly fell on the floor from being too drunk. This startled Mark and he stopped brewing the tea and came over to put her on the bed.
"Colonel, you stay there. I will help you find the phone." Mark found her phone on the table and went back to brew his tea.
When the phone rang, Edward was dealing with the files in his study room. Without looking at the caller ID, he answered the phone, because that was his personal phone and only few relatives knew this number.
"Hi. Justin, are you awake? Justin?" A dazed and slurring voice came when the call got through. Edward checked the caller ID in confusion. Surprisingly, it turned out to be Daisy.
"Justin is asleep. It's Edward." Edward was a bit angry. Daisy had called him, but asked for their son. He didn't know that Daisy was so drunk that she had dialed Edward's number by accident.
"He is sleeping? Hmmm... Even I should sleep now." Delirious as she was, she dozed off on the couch, without even hanging up the phone.
Edward looked at the phone in bewilderment and found that the call was still on. He said a few words but there was no response. Just when he thought that she must have been exhausted and fallen asleep, he heard a man's voice come through.
"Colonel, drink the sober-up tea before you sleep." By the time Mark had finished brewing the tea, Daisy was already fast asleep. He put the cup aside helplessly. "Oh, forget it. She would be the one that wakes up with a headache tomorrow anyway." He took her phone to put it on the table, but he heard a man's voice from the phone. Curiously, he put the phone to his ear.
"Daisy Ouyang, you better explain what's going on now," growled an angry voice. Edward was losing his temper. He knew now that Daisy was drunk. But he couldn't believe that she had fallen asleep soundly in the presence of another man. He was quite agitated that she didn't know how to take care of herself. However, he hardly noticed his care and love for her.
"Hello. Our colonel is the worse for drink. So, now is not a convenient time for her to answer the phone. Can you call back tomorrow?" Mark said, coldly. Soon after his offhanded remark, he felt responsible to clear things up with whoever was on the other side of the phone. After all, the call must have been made by Colonel herself.
"Where are you now? I am coming over." Edward just spat the words out without thinking much. He was never the kind that bothered to think if what he was saying was appropriate.
"We are at the military base in the suburb of S City. Who are you, may I ask?" Mark replied and finally figured out what was going on. When did his colonel make a male friend that could come over at any time? he wondered.
"I am her husband, Edward. Give me the address. I am coming over right now." That reply was characteristic of Edward's nature. He never realized that he had dropped a bombshell, leaving others rather perplexed, but, he was calm as usual.
"What? What did you just say? Can you repeat that?" Mark stood paralyzed with the phone in his hand. The news was so jaw-dropping that he forgot to organize his words more politely. After all, he had never heard much about the Colonel's mysterious husband. Her husband never appeared. Now, when he showed up, his entrance was both dramatic and unexpected.
"Are my words are so difficult to fathom?" Edward was enraged. His voice became quite aggressive because he thought Mark was that handsome man he saw in Justin's phone when he heard his voice on the phone.
"Em... No, I understand. Let me give you the address." Mark gave Edward the address to their place, but his look remained befuddled. Soon after though, he regretted having given the address out so easily. 'Is the man really the Colonel's husband? If he is, how come he didn't know the colonel's address?'
Such questions kept troubling Mark as he grew remorseful with every minute. He was very stupid today. He hoped that this man was indeed Daisy's husband, or he might have made a big mistake.
Without changing his gym clothes, Edward took the car key and rushed downstairs. On second thought, he ran upstairs again, grabbed something and then went out. Luke followed his car all the way. He didn't know where Edward was going, but following him, Luke thought, was the best way to keep him safe.
Edward drove hastily. The car shuttled amid the heavy traffic. He bit his luscious lips tightly in anxiety and swerved the steering wheel effortlessly yet skillfully.
Finally, the fancy Maybach left the bustling city behind, entering a quiet lane leading to the suburb. Luke trailed him perplexedly. He wondered why Edward had come to the suburb.
At full speed, the car soon arrived at the dorm in the base. But Edward was stopped by a soldier on duty. That was when Edward realized the abnormality of his action. He hadn't even noticed that the address was in the military base. He scratched his head in despondency, upset with his strange and unreasonable behavior. However, since he was already here, he did not want to go back without his doubts clarified. So, he took out the phone and dialed Daisy's number.
"I can't get in. Come and get me, I'm downstairs," he said. Mark had just answered the call when he heard Edward ordering him right away. His voice was even colder than the Colonel's.
Edward hung up without waiting for Mark's answer. Actually, he hung up so quickly because he was afraid of being refused.
Mark rolled his eyes at the phone angrily. This man was bossy. He wondered what would he look like.
Daisy had awoken and thrown up. Mark let her drink the tea to help her sober-up.
She didn't seem to be able to sleep well. Mark looked at her worriedly, then slowly went downstairs. His delay was purposeful. After all her husband hadn't appeared for ages. He meant to play rough to this man. He meant to keep him waiting anxiously downstairs to teach him a lesson. Besides., he was not certain that this man was indeed the Colonels husband.