After a peaceful night's sleep, Ivy woke to find herself on Ray's bed. She sat up and saw the neatly folded blanket and pillow opposite her on the sofa bed. Feeling a little bad that she had caused Ray a bad night's sleep, Ivy walked out of his room while scratching her head and yawning. Midway, Sandra opened her room's door wanting to head over to Andrew's room only to be greeted by a drowsy Ivy who had just woken up.
"Morning!" Sandra chirped as Ivy looked up and smiled before giving her a hug sleepily. "Morning!"
"Where did you come from? I thought your room was here..." Sandra pointed to the room in front of them as Ivy sighed. "I think I fell asleep in Ray's room while having a little chat with him till late at night. Have you seen him?" Ivy asked as she yawned again.
Sandra shook her head. "Not yet... In fact, I was just about to head over to Andrew's room to wake him..." At the sound of Andrew's name, Sandra remembered about the concert tonight and quickly turned around to her room. "Give me a minute Ivy. Wait here." Sandra said on the way into her room as Ivy stood curiously waiting for Sandra to return with a concert ticket.
"Here... for you! Let's head to our first concert in Lansfield together!" Sandra cheered as Ivy took a look at the ticket which was identical to the one Jason gave her. She took a deep breath thinking could it be fated that she was meant to attend the concert after all before nodding and walking towards her room.
Sandra noticed Ivy's unexcited face as she turned her around before questioning her. "What's wrong, Ivy? You're not interested in going?" Ivy chuckled and shook her head.
"No, silly. Just that I already got a ticket invite from someone else before you did. This one perhaps one of my brothers could have it." Ivy said nonchalantly as she continued to walk towards her room while Sandra trailed her.
"Someone else? Who is it? Oh, oh is it Jason?" Sandra squealed as Ivy rolled her eyes and nodded before Sandra closed the door and began to rummage over Ivy's wardrobe to fix an outfit for her night's date.
The brothers and Peter who were downstairs at the dining table could hear Sandra's squeal as they ate quietly till Peter cleared his throat wanting to ask the brothers about the situation. "So, what's the situation like between your sister and Mr. Rahi?" Peter asked while taking a mouth of his bowl of porridge. The brothers noticed Peter had not used Jason but instead Mr. Rahi which meant he hoped the brothers had managed to get Ivy to stick with professional relationships only.
"She is determined to clear all doubts and keep it professional. There's no need to worry." Ray said solemnly as Peter nodded to the answer he wanted to hear while the rest of them continued to eat quietly. Although Peter still has his doubts, he hoped Ivy would stick to her words.
Jason on the other hand had been anxious the entire night that he had not gotten enough sleep.
"Yo bro, your eye bags are horrendous! You're sure you can pull a good look for tonight's date?" Marcel teased in the midst of stretching after waking up next to Jason's single bed as Jason couldn't help but chuckled.
"I have been thinking about it the whole night... What if things just go wrong? I mean I am pretty confident that she has feelings for me but I really couldn't tell if she was trying to play expensive or was she really worried about something?" Jason explained as he sat by the side of his bed facing Marcel who was still covered in his blanket. "Why are you always so pessimistic about things when it comes to Ivy?" Marcel mumbled as Jason raised an eyebrow. "You know how she is, don't you? She..." Jason sighed at how far things had come and most of the time it was best to stay prudent and be prepared for the worse. Marcel nodded as he stretched again.
"Hmm... Perhaps, you're really wanting this relationship to work but you're afraid that it would turn out bad don't you?" Marcel asked as Jason stared at the ground for a while. Marcel knew it was exactly Jason's thought.
"Perhaps, this should have something to do with Nancy as after all, she tried to attack Ivy while stalking both of you, and mind you it was a fake relationship. Can you imagine if Nancy finds out about all this? What will happen to Ivy? Don't you think she doesn't feel the security she needed yet? I mean, all girls need the sense of security before they could be committed." Marcel sat up as he explained, leaving Jason pondering for a second.
He never truly thought of this before but perhaps it might be the reason. It added more reasons for him to be more determined to talk things through with her tonight. Looking at Jason's face being less tense, Marcel knew Jason must have figured it out.
"Good luck, bro for tonight! I will see you next week in Manes. Send me some updates after you get the contract signed with Mr. Jing tomorrow." Marcel said before heading to the washroom to get ready to pack up to catch his flight at noon while Jason fell back on his back and stared up at the ceiling, trying to catch some sleep.
Meanwhile back in Manes, in a heavy downpour, Daisy was driving Jason's grandma carefully home from her weekly coffee and tea session with her friends in their old neighborhood. The old lady watched the heavy rain outside the window panel sadly as she began to miss Jason and Ivy after their visit a week ago. She was reminded of the small conversation they had shared and the promise Jason made to accompany her someday to meet with her friends. So, she decided to ask Daisy to get Jason to visit her again with Ivy.
"Daisy, where is my grandson? He should come back and see this old lady more often with that sweet girlfriend of his..." Jason's grandma complained as Daisy chuckled. "Mum, that's not his girlfriend yet..." Daisy explained as Jason's grandma scoffed. "Then, he must quickly make her into one! She is so much better than the previous girl..."
Daisy could only chuckle at her mother-in-law's whine at missing his grandson. "Alright, mum. He is at Landsfield on business. I will arrange for them to head back and see you soon once he flies back home, alright..." Daisy held her mother-in-law's hand to comfort her as she grumpily settled for Daisy's arrangements.
Moments later, Daisy felt strange when she tried to step on the brakes as they were nearing the traffic lights when she realised the brakes were malfunctioning as she gasped and tried to sound her horn to alert cars to avoid her.
"What's wrong with the car, Daisy?" Jason's grandma asked as Daisy panicked.
"The breaks won't work mum! Mum, sit back! Hold tight!" Daisy was trying to brave the crossing traffic from her left as she tried to speed up her driving away from the crossroads but immediately after that, in front of her was a long trailer that was too blurred to notice earlier due to the heavy rain.
Jason's grandma being quick-witted tried to swerve Daisy's steering wheel to the left to let the car knock on the curb on their right which send the car spinning around as both ladies held on tight to the car's handle for their life. After a few spinning, all Daisy could faintly see was her mother-in-law lying next to her as both of them were injured and bleeding in a pool of blood when the car came to a halt in the rain.
Daisy prayed earnestly as she lay half motionless by her mother-in-law's side and hope very much for her to survive before Daisy finally succumbed to being unconscious.
Marcel who had just landed at the airport from Manes, immediately was spammed with messages and phone calls from Rahi's household informing him of news of the accident as he rushed over to the given hospital to scout on the situation before informing Jason.
"Mr. Rahi..." Marcel greeted Jason's father who was standing in front of the operation theatre.
"Where is Jason?" Mr. Rahi questioned as Marcel bow his head down thinking about Jason's schedule.
"He is on business away in Landsfield, sir," Marcel answered honestly as Mr. Rahi scoffed the moment Daisy was pushed out from the operating theatre. It has been four hours since the operation started.
"Honey... Are you alright?" Mr. Rahi went over to her bedside as Daisy weakly nodded before trying to talk to him.
"Ja... Jason... mo...ther..." Daisy said weakly as Mr. Rahi nodded and stopped her from continuing to explain herself that their mother wanted to see Jason and he must get Jason back as soon as possible.
"Don't worry. You rest. I will wait for mother..." Mr. Rahi who had been in a long feud with his youngest son had ignored Daisy's intention of bringing up Jason's name and only focused on assuring her that he will look after his mother's matters. Daisy had no choice but to surrender to her weak self who couldn't explain further as the nurses then pushed Daisy's bed away to send her to the ward. Instead, Mr. Rahi was surprised to see the doctor standing in front of him.
"Doctor, how's my mother?" Mr. Rahi asked as the doctor shook their heads solemnly.
"I'm sorry, but the patient had passed away due to excessive bleeding." Mr. Rahi who was nonchalantly asking thinking his mother will be alright was shocked by the news delivered by the doctor as he kept shaking his head in disbelief. He stood momentarily staring into the space as the doctors left them. Marcel helped him to take a seat by the side while Mr. Rahi's secretary had gone to process the admittance processes instead.
In the midst of his hazy mind, Mr. Rahi finally understood the reason Daisy brought up Jason's name as he muttered. "Get Jason back quickly..." Marcel caught on to his words as he nodded.
"Yes, sir," Marcel replied as he walked away and tried to call Jason's mobile but it kept going into voicemail instead. As he checked the time, it was nearly seven in the evening and he knew Jason must have gone to the concert to meet Ivy.
Indeed, Jason was already in the concert and had already spotted Ivy standing next to Sandra and Andrew in a corner far off the stage. He found himself lucky to have found her right before his phone's battery died on him. As he was about to walk over to her, the band on stage was covering the winning song Jason composed for the Burning Ember band which brought back lots of memories for himself as well as Ivy who stood staring at the stage full of emotions.
Ivy wondered if she should be selfish for once and try out a brief real relationship with Jason but the thought of Nancy harming herself or anyone else was enough to send chills down her spine as she shuddered momentarily. Jason on the other hand wondered if it was destiny siding with them as he turned to look at Ivy who was staring intently at the stage.
When the song went on to its haunting melodic chorus, Ivy blinked to push away the overwhelming feelings she was fighting with as she turned to her left and saw Jason staring back at her. At that moment, she wanted so much to just forget everything and run into his arms as she stared back at him intently with her twinkling eyes.
However, the urge settled down the moment the song began to tone down till the end. The vibration from her mobile phone pulled her attention away from Jason as she quickly checked the message arriving from Marcel. Andrew and Sandra who stood by her side had noticed the situation between her and Jason as Sandra nudged Ivy who was staring blankly at her mobile phone to walk over to Jason.
However, instead, Ivy's facial reaction changed nearly 180 degrees after she read Marcel's message which she was showing to Andrew and Sandra. Tears were welling up in Ivy's eyes as she tried to blink them dry.
"Are you with Jason? I couldn't reach him. Could you also tell him that his grandmother had passed away and his mother is recuperating from the accident they had today? There is a meeting he had to attend with Mr. Jing tomorrow. Could you make arrangements to go on his behalf?" The text message read leaving the three of them stunned. Ivy was looking back sadly at Jason whose eyes had not been moving away from her ever since he found her in the crowd. Jason, unfortunately, didn't manage to catch her sad expression as he was too indulged in his thoughts about the possibilities of outcomes when he clarify things with Ivy later as he waited for her to walk over.
Ivy was trying to stop herself from being overwhelmed by the sadness as she tried to think of ways to convey the message to Jason. The thought of him having a meeting the next day, made her instantly make arrangements in mind to attend on his behalf but she knew she first must learn the details from him. She quickly pulled herself to stay composed and brief Andrew and Sandra on her plans while Jason was still patiently standing at his end waiting for her to come over as he watched Ivy busy telling Andrew and Sandra something which he couldn't quite tell but assumed she must be bidding her farewell for the night.
"Alright. I will run through the details with him tonight first and I will find ways to convey this to him. I will get him out on the first flight tomorrow. Is that alright?" Ivy texted Marcel in the vicinity of Sandra and Andrew. Marcel instantly replied with his concurrence as he knew it would be too tiring for Jason to fly tonight.
"I will get one of my brothers to fetch the both of you. I will need to run through the details with him and try to tell him tonight. I will get him on the first flight out tomorrow morning, alright?" Ivy reiterated her plans to the both of them again. They nodded in unison before Ivy quickly text Ray to explain her situation while walking over to Jason who was smiling eagerly at the sight of her heading towards him finally although she wasn't paying attention to him. Eventually, when Ivy was in front of him, she immediately pulled him out of the crowd and headed for her car which left him a little taken aback.
"Hey... Where are we heading to?" Jason asked gently midway as Ivy tried hard to not cry in front of him thinking about the sad news earlier.
"There is a meeting tomorrow with Mr. Jing, right? Could you run through the details with me tonight? I want to tag along tomorrow." Ivy said as she quickly opened the car door to sit in the driver's seat while Jason who was a little stunned at the strange turnout of events, obediently obliged her request and headed to the passenger side to board the car. Ivy quickly wipe away her tears discreetly when Jason wasn't seeing.
Back in Manes, Jeremy who finally received the news of the accident and his grandmother had passed away was about to start heading to the hospital to visit when another batch of his underlings came to report to him.
"Sir, we have already carried out the duty as you have instructed." One of the muscular men reported to Jeremy. Jeremy instantly got angry as he smashed his cup of whiskey across the room while the glass shattered among his underlings who stood still enduring the cuts.
"I have only ordered to scare them! Now, you have caused one of them to lose their life!" Jeremy wailed in anger but later chuckled crazily to himself.
"But that's alright... Luckily it was the right person to die. Now, all the inheritance shall be mine!" Jeremy laughed hysterically as he walked out of the room and headed for the hospital in an act of being all sad about his grandmother's passing when in actual fact, the malfunction of the brakes was his plan in order to secure a position in his father's company. He wanted to make an excuse to replace his mother's position in the company while she recuperate from the accident. Looks like the plan he had worked out well with an accidental bonus. His purpose was simple; to gain power and claim his rights as the eldest son in the family which in actual fact, his father had given up on his uselessness and greediness. Mr. Rahi had underestimated Jeremy's abilities this time, no doubt.
That night, Ivy was trying to focus hard to absorb all the details of the meeting from Jason as she knew she needed to explain them herself the next day to Mr. Jing. Although it wasn't tough, she struggled at the distraction of Jason's grandmother's passing news.
"Sweetie, you're alright?" Jason asked gently at Ivy who was staring in space while trying to register what Jason had just explained on the logistic arrangements of the event only to be distracted by wondering how's Daisy coping with the news. Ivy was so indulged that she only realised Jason was talking to her when he touched her cheeks and held her face in his palm as she tried to look away.
"You don't seem right tonight... Why would you want to come with me tomorrow, huh? You should have your beauty sleep or is something bothering you? Is it because you think I will be clarifying things tonight that you're so nervous?" Jason asked as Ivy shut her eyes tightly trying to push away the rush of her emotions when she recalled she was supposed to be telling him about her rejection earlier.
As she tried to stand, she accidentally let out a whimper. It broke Jason's heart to watch her struggle that way as he stopped her from moving away from him. He knew he had to get to the point.
"Ivy, listen. Are you afraid of Nancy and what will happen if she finds out about us that you're hesitating to listen to me clarify or clarify things about the confession that night in the jungle with me?" Jason prompted as Ivy tried hard to suppress her sob but her tears betrayed her.
Jason couldn't bear looking at her sad face as he pulled her in for a hug instead. She instantly sobbed heavily in his arms as he comforted her by patting her shoulders gently but soon it turned out to become wails as he carried her up to bed to snuggle her into a more comfortable position for her to cry.
She wasn't sure if it was because Jason had found out the truth about her fears of Nancy or was she succumbing to the sad news of his grandmother's passing. As she continued sobbing in his arms, she didn't realised he had lifted her to bed and continued to comfort her as he coax her to sleep.
When Ivy woke the next moment, she found herself standing in front of a chamber where an old lady was waiting for her from afar while Phoenix in his human form who was standing not too far behind her was urging Ivy to walk over to the old lady. Ivy slowly made her way thinking it was her grandma but when she realised, it was Jason's grandma instead as she speed up her pace and ran like how she used to run up to her own grandma and settled for a bone-crushing hug.
"Grandma! Oh, grandma! You should not have left!" Ivy wailed in the middle of her cries as Jason's grandma gently patted her head.
"My dear child, you will need this when the time comes. Keep it safe for now and between us only please." Jason's grandma said discreetly as she slipped a piece of red ember pendant into her hand in the midst of her wails while Jason's grandma smiled and caressed Ivy's wet face to comfort her.
Ivy quickly kept the pendant in her pocket safely in the midst of her sobs. "I'm not going anywhere. I will always be here..." Jason's grandma held out her palm onto Ivy's heart before Ivy could say another word as Ivy felt a force pushing her back towards Phoenix but in actual fact back into reality.
As she woke up near dawn, wrapped in Jason's arms, she tried to control her emotions to not wake Jason who was restlessly asleep by her side. She lay still by his side silently sobbing about her dream while admiring his frowns in sleep for once. She couldn't bring herself to sleep anymore as she knew the time she dreaded the most for her to tell Jason about what was going on was inevitable as she reached out to touch his frowns and straightened them, hoping not to wake him.