Sandra decided to give Ivy a call around four in the evening on Friday asking her if she was ready for the party only to be disappointed by a voicemail box. She initially wanted Ivy to help her pick out a dress but ended up choosing one herself.

Knowing Jason would be back over the weekend, Ivy was busy trying to finalise the monthly accounts to be ready for his review that she had forgotten time. Only when Marcel walked up to her after most of the staff had left, that she realised she was already late for the party.

“Oh dear! I’m almost done actually. I just needed to generate the reports and email them to Jason for review. I will leave in a while. I have something going on tonight…” Ivy notified Marcel who was chasing her to leave.

“Alright, don’t stay too late… After all, it's the weekend, time to rejuvenate…” Marcel said as Ivy nodded.

“You too! Don’t work too hard… Your boss will be home soon to take over from you…” Ivy chuckled along with Marcel as she quickly wrapped up and drove to Jason’s house to feed Lucky before she got herself changed and drove over to the party.

“What’s with that worry look?” Andrew asked Sandra who was staring out at the street while they waited for Ivy to arrive.

“I tried calling Ivy earlier but she didn’t pick up at all… Do you think she will come tonight?” Sandra asked. Andrew pulled her into his embrace and gently patted her back as she snuggled into his arms.

“Don’t worry… She always forgets time and focuses too much when she is serious. I’m sure Marcel would take good care of her at work. Besides, he called me earlier asking about tonight's location. Your best friend is always so lucky that so many people are looking out for her…” Andrew comforted as Sandra felt much better after hearing him.

“I’m glad to know that… Shall we go in first?” Sandra asked as Andrew nodded.

The person Andrew thought would appear tonight turned out to be Jason instead of Marcel. Due to a slight delay, Jason arrived late and rushed to meet Marcel. On the way to the party’s location, he dropped Marcel home as he sped off to meet Ivy at the address Marcel gave him.

As he parked his car at one corner of a crowded house, he stood outside his car and watched from afar. “What a revealing dress tonight, Ivy?” He thought to himself as he watched Ivy, who just arrived, entering the main door.

Ivy went into the crowded house and found Andrew and Sandra instantly by one corner.

Andrew whistled as Ivy approached them. "Looking hot, Ivy!" Ivy winked as she flared her skimpy deep “V” collar dress.

"Ivy!" Sandra greeted her with a hug. "Where’s the boyfie? Just you?" Andrew teased.

"Was about to ask the same. Just the both of you?" Ivy asked in return trying to avoid the topic Andrew just brought up.

"Ivy…" Sandra snarled in agitation as she rolled her eyes knowing Ivy was talking about her trio of friends who were standing far away screening the room.

"Do you really think Lance, Belinda and Laura would really come over to hang out with us huh? Without you, it’s impossible alright…” Sandra complained as she finished up her soda in her cup.

"Chill my dear… You look cute in this dress…” Ivy winked at Sandra as she placed an arm over her shoulders.

“A little break wouldn't kill really..." Ivy mumbled to herself while Sandra drank her beer. They both were watching an unfamiliar guy coming up to their direction.

“Careful girls…He is Melissa, our hostess’ boyfriend and isn't a good guy.” Andrew whispered to both of them as he instantly pulled both girls behind him.

It was Melissa, the hostess’s boyfriend, Kyle. He was known to be a member of one of the underground mobsters and a notorious playboy. Andrew always wondered why of all guys, Melissa would choose him as her own criteria wasn’t that bad after all. She was the “every guy’s dream girl” in college.

Kyle got interested in Ivy the moment he laid eyes on her, knowing she must be easy as he went over to give her a drink and tried to ease his way out of Andrew’s blockage.

"Hello folks! Here, have a drink!" Kyle called out as he passed Ivy a drink and sneakily slipped his arm by her waist after swiftly bypassing Andrew’s arms. Ivy was taken aback as she quickly slid away closer to Sandra instead.

"Welcome, welcome! So I heard you're all from Melissa's school?" Kyle noticed Ivy’s quick reaction as he continued to put on his welcoming act. Andrew was on high alert protecting Ivy and Sandra as he continued to stand in front of them firmly.

Sandra caught his arm and stopped him from going closer to Kyle as she knew Kyle was already getting on Andrew’s nerves.

"Easy Andrew..." She whispered to Andrew’s left ear before holding tightly onto his left arm.

Ivy on the other hand, was energised to protect herself and her friends that she knew such a guy like Kyle wasn’t any good company. The earlier they ward him off the better it was and one way was to fulfill his request as reasonably as they could. She had seen enough in her grandma’s spicy noodles shop to learn all these tactics.

"Why, thank you for being a warm hostess. Guess you should return to Melissa quickly as she tends to have the tendency of drowning too much of herself in the crowd.” Ivy greeted trying not to be rude but threw hints of warning to him instead.

"Oh, yes... But before that, a toast to welcome you, shall we?" Kyle insisted on watching Ivy drink the beer he forcefully placed in her right hand as he held up his cup. By instinct, Ivy knew the drink might be spiked but she had no choice but to drink it as a toast to please him and ensure he left them for the night.

"Enjoy!" Kyle cheered satisfyingly as he walked away knowing Ivy had fallen into his trap with the spiked drink.

"Ivy, you didn't check the drink and you finished it?" Sandra scolded her as she immediately dragged her to a brighter corner with Andrew.

Ivy smiled and checked her consciousness. "I am fine. It's worth it to ward him off. Besides, I literally need that boost to ease my raging flames deep inside."

Ivy tried to cover up her suspicions and told herself she had to leave soon as her gut feeling was telling her something was wrong with the drink.

"Hey easy there... What happened? Had a fight with Jason?" Andrew teased which reminded Ivy that he wasn't around as she sighed.

“Even when he isn't around, he is so bothersome…” She grabbed the half drank glass of beer from Sandra's hand and downed it.

"Ivy! Easy there!" Sandra scolded as Andrew pulled the empty cup from her hand.

"Hey! We're here to de-stress. We shouldn't meddle with these issues till then shall we?" Ivy cheered as Andrew and Sandra looked at her skeptically. Andrew caught a glimpse of Kyle watching them from afar as he quickly turned on his protective mode again.

"Looking at how he is watching over us now, you better stay close to me." Andrew warned Ivy as he brought everyone's attention to Kyle watching from a distance.

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Sandra and Ivy nodded as Ivy made an okay sign with her finger. Ivy began to feel a little tipsy. She knew it was the effect of the spiked drink as she alerted herself to find an excuse to leave quickly.

Through the transparent windows, Jason could see every action in the house. He noticed Ivy was drinking a lot while talking to Andrew and Sandra the entire night.

“They are having a great time...” He thought to himself and felt a little disappointed with her for not missing him like he did as he continued standing by his car watching her from outside.

"And so, I told her off today that I was going to sit for a major exam and if she wanna fight with me, she will need to wait till after October." Andrew explained his squabbles with his younger sister, Ally as Ivy and Sandra laughed.

"Could you please grow up? She is just thirteen." Sandra said as she giggled.

After a while, Ivy started to feel the dizziness which was getting uncomfortable. She knew something was wrong because her alcohol tolerance level was not this bad. She thought she might not have enough rest due to late night studies but she was more suspicious of the drink earlier.

"I need to head to the ladies for a bit, okay?" Ivy said as an excuse but in fact she wanted to head to her car and rest a while. Sandra and Andrew nodded without suspecting anything and went on discussing about his sister.

As Ivy exited the house’s side door, Kyle who had been sneaking from behind grabbed her into the dark alley by the house. A jolt of shock made her know she was in danger and had fallen into Kyle's trap the moment she turned around to see his face with his hand covering her mouth muffling her screams. It was a tight grab which hurt her wrist while being dragged outside into a dark corner. No doubt the fresh air had worked miracles to make her feel better and much more sober but her visions were getting blurry.

"Let go of me..." Ivy was trying to fight him off but he was too strong for her especially when she was very dizzy.

"Chill girl…. It’s me Kyle…” Ivy couldn't keep her head straight as she forced herself to think of ways to escape while she bent down to catch her breath.

“Hey, you're alright? I'm Kyle." He reintroduced himself while he pinned her to the wall. The sudden lifting made Ivy too dizzy to get a good look at him in the dark. She could sense she was in a very bad, dangerous situation. She was hoping Andrew or Sandra would notice her disappearance.

"Move away... Let me go!" She tried pushing him away as she prayed for Andrew or Sandra or anyone to come to her rescue while she squatted to attend to her dizzy head. She desperately wished Jason was around but knew it was only her wishful thinking as he was so far away in another city.

"Aww... Come on. I gave you a drink not to be pushed away just like that. Let's have some fun, shall we?" Kyle said as he started to pin her down to the wall again while she resisted with all her might. She could feel his lips all over her as she kept pushing him away.

Jason, who had been watching by his car, was thinking to himself, she was after all a teenager and it was a normal thing for her to experience dating guys of her age. He couldn't help but to feel angry and disappointed but he told himself after what he did behind her back, who was he to ask Ivy to trust her future with him.

While he wanted to turn away, he caught a glimpse of Ivy fighting to get loose. He saw Kyle, who had lost his patience, begin to use violence on her as he slapped her, sending her laying on the ground.

Ivy was trying her best to push Kyle away but the drug was making her head spinning so much that it became a struggle to lift herself up from the ground. Kyle got impatient as he wanted to tear her dress while she managed to pull all her remaining energy to slap him. He was furious that he slapped her back again and was literally pinning her to the ground as she kept wiggling out, fighting him.

"Nooooo, stop! Stop! Help!" Ivy kept screaming as she pushed him away with all her might as tears began to fall from her eyes in fear.

Instinct made Jason run towards them as he flipped the guy over and gave him a punch flying him off into the air. He was furious at how Kyle treated Ivy with violence as he continuously gave Kyle several punches.

Andrew was anxious about Ivy being too long in the loo. As they waited they heard a commotion outside which made Sandra and him both run outside to find Ivy lying on the ground while unexpectedly found Jason punching Kyle back to back.

Ivy was struggling to get up while enduring the dizziness and pain.

"You bloody son of a… !" Jason kept giving back to back punches till Kyle's men came by and surrounded Ivy and Jason.

Ivy knew she must stop Jason otherwise he would get severely injured as she forcefully pulled herself up from the ground and managed to catch hold of Jason’s hand while he stopped punching Kyle.

"Jason… Jason… Stop, stop…." She mumbled in a weak voice loud enough for Jason who was supporting her wobbly self to hear. However, the sight of Kyle and the gang made his adrenaline rush even faster as he wanted to continue to fight only to be pulled back by Ivy’s weak gestures.

"Hey, that's enough… Let's leave…" Ivy said with her eyes closed, enduring the dizziness.

Ivy held on tight to Jason from behind as she pulled him to the car but he stopped midway to turn back and look at them as he could feel the mob was slowly creeping up on them.

"Jason, please..." Ivy was praying hard that Jason would leave quickly as her heavy head began to spiral even more and she was worried they would injure Jason. He could feel her trembling body hugging on tight to him as he reluctantly walked her to the car but turned back to check on the mobsters who were close but halted their pace when Jason was watching them.

"Jason, leave... Let's go..." Ivy whispered in her shaking voice as she couldn't stand straight while she stumbled to stand before Jason caught her in time.

"Get the authority to deal with them. Beating up adolescents could end up in jail." Ivy said as she closed her eyes, enduring her dizziness. She continued to pull him to the car while he was so overwhelmed by rage.

Andrew knew the guys wouldn't let go of them knowing how close they were trailing Ivy and Jason. He decided to blast the police siren from his phone and screamed. "Police! RUN!"

He went into the house to alert the rest of the fake news as he watched Jason being pulled to the car by Ivy hastily.

Jason stormed into the car as she entered the passenger side. She instantly tilted her head down as her dizziness overwhelmed her.

"You're alright?" He then realised Ivy was looking very unwell as he asked. She was cupping her face into her palm while her tears leaked out from her fingers. She was overwhelmed by fear but yet uncomfortable with her spiraling dizzy head.

He pulled her in for a hug to comfort her.

"It's alright. You're safe. I will drive you home." He started to pat her back.

She instantly grabbed his hand as he moved away while holding her pounding head with another hand. "Can we not head to my home? I don't wanna be alone. Just not tonight."

He sighed as he flipped her head up. "Who said we are going to your home..." He wanted to comfort her but he was shocked to find her red face as she kept holding on to her head.

"Ivy, you're alright?"

"I'm feeling really dizzy. I think, my drink..." Her words trailed off as she fainted while holding out for his hand.

"Damn that kid!" Jason cursed as he drove as fast as he could to reach the hospital.

He carried her and rushed all the way to the emergency room.

"Help! Help! Emergency!" He yelled as a few nurses rushed towards him with a bed.

He laid her down in bed and called up Marcel to get the police to deal with the kids at the party. He also reminded Marcel to ensure Andrew and Sandra’s safety.

“Ivy will be alright… Don’t worry Phoenix… It was her first time trying out her magic skills and it lasted very long. It was a good start…” Grandma comforted Phoenix as Ivy could catch a glimpse of their blurry look.

“Grandma… I want to take Ivy back to the kingdom… I want to bring her into the tower of reflection…” Phoenix echoed as grandma looked worried.

“Phoenix, you know the consequences of entering there… There is a high possibility of memory loss and if the both of you enter…” Grandma’s voice broke as she explained to Phoenix.

“I know grandma… I was thrown in there before they sent me here… I recalled the past memories I saw. I want to give Ivy a chance to live for once. I no longer want her to be my protector. I no longer want her to make the sacrifice… I want to be all that for her at least once… Even if I lose my memory again…” Phoenix’s turn for his voice to break at the thought of the gruesome sacrifice Ivy made for him all the while.

“Grandma understands… not forgetting, it might trigger another side of her…” Grandma's last sentence was muffled by Phoenix’s cries as she hoped the worse scenario would never happen.

Ivy could hear Phoenix’s cries and it was her first time hearing him cry as she drowsily tried to cope with the exhaustion she felt all over her body. She felt helpless and weak at the situation as she struggled to recuperate quicker only to find herself spiraling down a never-ending abyss.

Ivy finally gained consciousness the next day as she jolted up in bed trying to push the sight of the never ending spiraling abyss away. She felt like she was hit by a truck as she looked around, knowing it was a hospital room.

Her mind slowly recalled last night’s event. She beamed, smiling knowing Jason was home only to be quickly frightened and furious about Kyle.

Jason walked right when she was still absorbing it all. At the sight of him, Ivy didn’t hesitate from hugging him.

The frightening event from the night before was playing over and over in her mind as she gripped tighter to him with her trembling body as she controlled her turbulence of emotions with wailing tears in her eyes.

“It’s alright… It’s all alright now, Ivy… Did you wake from a nightmare?” Jason comforted as he tightened his hug. She shook her head forgetting the spiraling abyss as she absorbed the warmness of safety in his arms.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you." She whispered as she snuggled deeper into his chest.

He let her go to see her face. "I have taken things to the authorities. Those guys from your college?"

"Not Kyle and his boys… They are from the mobsters… That’s why I was so worried they would severely injure you… Why didn’t you just leave quickly?" She nagged at him as a few tears slipped from her eyes.

He wiped them away as she noticed he looked very haggard and there were plasters all over his hand and face. She knew he must have jet lagged.

"You should have let the law take care of it." She said sadly as he smiled. He hugged her again.

"Number one rule in a party, you should not simply grab a drink from a stranger. Be careful of your drink. I trust you should know this don’t you since you're such a good drinker…. Number two, scream for help loudly as though it's the end of the world...." Jason started to nag as she hugged him tighter before sobbing.

He wanted to continue nagging but he could feel her fears on her trembling body as he comforted her and knew the trauma had not ended for her.

"You will be discharged today since you have regained consciousness as the doctor said... Stay over at my place alright and skip the exams?" He let go of her, as he suddenly felt he was pushing her too much to absorb, considering she had just regained consciousness and was so frail and pale.

"No. Don't. I am going to take the exams… I have prepared a lot for it..." Ivy explained as more tears trickled down when she released their hug and faced him.

Jason nodded as he led her to sit on the bed and wiped away her tears. "Alright. Alright. We will get you discharged first then we talk. Wait here alright while I run the procedure at the counter."

She nodded as she looked sad when he walked off, trying to control her emotions from breaking her. She thought about Andrew and Sandra to distract herself instead. She wondered if they were alright from last night while checking her phone only to find messages from them reporting that they were safe and they knew she was also with Jason.

She let herself breathe a sigh of relief as she counted her blessings for having Jason by her side. She also counted the days remaining where she would then have to leave him.

“Reality was always this harsh… Isn't it normal to endure what else is coming?” Ivy asked herself as she looked out at the gloomy skies by the window with a sad face.