"It's you again," Lee said angrily when he recognized Debbie. "First you ruin my favorite song, and now you make my dog sick."
Debbie's stomach still hurt. She couldn't even open her eyes. She had no idea what had happened and Lee's words just confused her.
Janice and Rita also had no idea what was going on. They didn't know that Melissa had given the water to Debbie.
At that moment, the ambulance arrived, flashing red and blue lights. It stopped outside the auditorium and two paramedics lifted a stretcher out of the back.
"We need to get Debbie to the hospital. We can sort this out later," Janice said as she and Rita went to help Debbie onto the stretcher.
"Stop," Lee shouted. "Did I say you could leave?"
They all froze.
Lee's gaze landed on Melissa. "Give the water to the doctor and get them to check if it contains poison."
"Yes sir." Melissa picked up the bottle of mineral water and handed it to the paramedic. The paramedic knew who Lee was, so he agreed straight away. He used the equipment in the ambulance to do a quick check on the contents of the bottle.
While this was happening, Angelina had asked the other paramedic to treat her beloved dog. He immediately injected Duke with analgesics and anti-inflammatories to stabilize his condition.
The first paramedic finished his tests and ran out of the ambulance. He said to Lee, "Mr. Dempsey, the test has shown that there has been poison added to this water. Drinking this water would cause severe abdominal pain."
Hearing this, the crowd was in an uproar. Lee glared angrily at Debbie, who opened her eyes in shock. She looked at Melissa, and only then did she realize what had happened.
Debbie slowly raised her arm and pointed at Melissa, saying, "It's her, Mr. Dempsey. This bottle of water— She gave it to me—"
"Bullshit," Melissa said in a fluster. She looked at Lee, afraid that he would believe what Debbie said. She continued, "Mr. Dempsey, she's trying to frame me because she thinks that I reported her to Miss Campbell."
Debbie looked at Melissa furiously and said, "Nonsense. It was you—"
"Obviously, you drank it yourself to cover up the truth. Don't bother trying to frame me. If you admit the truth to Mr. Dempsey, I'm sure he'll understand and take pity on you." Melissa panicked, but she wasn't afraid. Today, she wanted Debbie to repay the debt that she felt she owed her. And with interest.
Lee looked coldly at Debbie. "You must hate me for criticizing your singing, right?" he said. "So, you decided to take it out on my dog? You have to understand that I sponsored this competition. I can only have the best singers on stage. Go on, admit what you did."
Debbie looked at Lee and shook her head. It wasn't like that. She had no bad feelings toward him. She now knew that Melissa had orchestrated everything.
"You destroyed my favorite song and then poisoned my dog. Are you tired of living or something?" Lee's tone became increasingly sinister as he continued. "Stupid girl. If anything happens to my dog, you'd better stay well away from me."
At that moment, Angelina walked straight over to Debbie and, without saying anything, she slapped her face twice. Neither Janice nor Rita tried to stop her.
"You bitch, how dare you poison my dog? Duke's life is worth a hundred times yours. Who do you think you are?" she said fiercely to Debbie.
Then, she calmly walked back to Lee's side.
"How is Duke now?" Lee asked Angelina.
"I asked the paramedic to give him painkillers. He's in less pain now than he was before." As Angelina was talking to Lee, the paramedic walked over with Duke and said, "Mr. Dempsey, your dog isn't in pain for the time being, but you need to find a professional veterinarian to have a look at him."
"Thank you. We'll see the vet later." Lee bent down and stroked Duke's head. His gaze turned toward Debbie, and he whispered sinisterly to the dog, "Duke, do you know why you were in so much pain earlier? It was because of her. Do you want to take revenge?"
Duke seemed to understand Lee's words and bared his teeth at Debbie.
"Mr. Dempsey, what are you doing?" Janice and Rita were both terrified. Debbie also opened her eyes wide and looked at Duke.
But Lee ignored them. He patted Duke's head and unhooked the leash. Duke ran toward Debbie while growling and baring his teeth.
Janice and Rita were terrified and moved away from Debbie's side.
Debbie forgot all about the pain in her abdomen. Looking at Duke charging toward her, she got up quickly and tried to run.
With every step she took, pain shot through her stomach.
She ran full steam into the artificial lake, but Duke rushed in after her. He reached her quickly, baring his teeth and trying to bite her.
In order to avoid the attack, Debbie punched the dog's head with all her might, but she was no match for Duke. A piece of her clothing was bitten off by the ferocious dog.
**
While Debbie was being mauled by a crazed dog in Chicago, Alex was getting drunk with his friends in New York. With a flushed face, he raised his glass and clinked it with Joe. "Drink, my friend. You really have found yourself a wonderful wife."
**
Debbie fell into the lake with a splash. She choked as she swallowed a mouthful of water and desperately tried to stand up. Duke bit her arm and she started bleeding.
**
Meanwhile, Alex clinked glasses with his friends. The liquor splashed out and they laughed loudly. Alex felt happy. He couldn't remember feeling as content as he did that night.
**
In the artificial lake, the girl and the dog were splashing manically. Duke had a lot of energy, but Debbie was already on the verge of exhaustion. Her clothes were torn, her body was bitten, and she was starting to lose a lot of blood.
Duke was looking for an opportunity to bite her neck and finish her off.
Janice and Rita pleaded with Lee to save Debbie, but it was useless. If Duke killed Debbie, Lee would tell everyone that it was an accident. His reputation wouldn't be affected at all.
At that moment, a strident voice came from behind the crowd. "He s meant to be a talent show? Why is there no one on the stage, and why are all of you standing out here?"
Four female performers walked out with a young man. The girls were all elegantly dressed and stunningly attractive; any one of them could be a supermodel. In contrast, the young man was wearing shades, a baggy T-shirt, and surfer shorts showing off his extremely hairy legs. He looked like he was wearing a pair of woolen pants.
Trying to get on Lee's good side, an audience member pointed at the approaching young man and said rudely, "Hey, who are you? How did you get here? Don't you know Mr. Dempsey is here?"
The youth glanced at the young man and then told the girls beside him to wait a moment. He casually walked over to him and asked softly, "Were you talking to me?"
The young man tried to act tough, but he was a little nervous. He spluttered, "Yes. Mr. Dempsey is still here, who do you think you are—" But before he could finish, the youth had already reached over and had hit him ten times in the mouth.
The poor young man's lips were swollen and bleeding. His handsome face was battered and bruised, and he was on the verge of tears.
"Mr. Dempsey, he hit me—" he complained to Lee in a whine.
"Shut up." Not only did Lee not help him, but he actually punched him as well.
The poor man was now bleeding from his nose. He was in complete misery. If he had known what was going to happen, he would never have gotten involved.
No one could understand what Lee was doing. Why wasn't he kicking out this arrogant newcomer?
To their surprise, Lee walked over to him with a fawning smile and said, "Mr. Ambrose, when did you arrive in Chicago? Why didn't you get someone to notify me when you arrived? I would have arranged for someone to pick you up."
The audience was dumbfounded. They wondered, who is this Mr. Ambrose that Lee Dempsey is so afraid of?
One man muttered to his friend, "Mr. Dempsey is such an important and powerful businessman, and yet he bowed to this slob?"
"This Mr. Ambrose must be even more important than Lee Dempsey," agreed his friend.
The first man looked at his phone and confirmed, "Yeah, he is. The internet says that this Mr. Ambrose is involved with half of the female celebrities in the entertainment industry. He's worth a fortune."
From Lee's reaction to the youth, the onlookers had guessed his identity.
The young man was Alex's half-brother, Justin. Since he had never been interested in the family business, no one recognized him.
Although Justin was a member of the Ambrose family, his part of the family was far less rich and powerful than Alex's, and his wealth was far inferior. However, he was still one of the richest men in America.
Lee knew this and had to treat him with respect.
"Stop trying to suck up to me. I'm here to watch a talent show," Justin said rudely to Lee, "Why has it stopped? What's going on and what's happening in the lake?"
Lee replied, "We were in the middle of the talent show when this woman poisoned my dog. I'm letting my dog bite her, then we'll see if she dares to do something like that again." Lee pointed at Debbie, who was still struggling in the water.
Justin hugged the four girls beside him, and looked over at the artificial lake. Amidst the splashes, he could make out a dog crazily attacking a woman. It was impossible to see the woman's face.
He nodded in approval and said, "I have an African lion at home. If anyone tried to poison my lion, I would let him eat them. These kinds of people deserve to die." Just then, the dog in the water jumped toward the woman's neck and Justin got a clear view of her face. He was shocked. He recognized her as the same woman he had met on Harmony Island. It was his half-brother's girlfriend, Debbie.
"Stop him. Stop. I know her. Stop your crazy dog now!" Justin ran full pelt into the artificial lake.