Jason on the other hand was about to be discharged from the hospital. His mother and grandmother were busy packing up for him. He had been staring at Ivy’s caller ID for a long while when Daisy noticed her son was zoning out. Jason was contemplating on finding her tonight before Peter’s arrival the next day after he read the message from him. He felt like it was his last chance to be her friend but he couldn’t bring himself to press the call button as he didn't want to lose her at all but he needed to save his career which got him back to being frustrated than ever.

Daisy had noticed the caller ID’s name and had a plan in mind as she helped him hit the call button and took the phone away from him. Before he could react, Ivy picked up.

“Hello?” Ivy put Jason on loudspeaker in the car as she typed away. “Hi, is this Ivy? I’m Daisy, Jason’s mum…” Daisy spoke as Jason panicked and stood up but he realised it was too late as his mother had spoken to Ivy.

“Ye..Yes…Hi… Aun…Auntie…W…What is it th…that I…I can help you out w…with?” Ivy stopped typing abruptly as she stuttered and looked at Marcel who was raising an eyebrow at her while he drove.

“Oh.. It’s like that… Jason has been busy packing and couldn’t find time to convey this invitation to you. So, Auntie is telling you now that we are having a simple dinner tonight. Auntie was wondering if you could come and join us? I will send you the address in a while from Jason’s mobile alright. See you, bye!” Daisy said without waiting for her reply as she quickly hung up and wanted to text her the address when Jason snatched his phone away. “Mommmm!” Jason whined as his grandma chuckled.

Daisy showed a very upset face at Jason. “Send her the address or I will pick her up personally tonight…”

“But mum, why is there dinner tonight? Even if there is, shouldn't it be just family members?” Jason whined as his grandmother stepped in to help out Daisy.

“Who said there isn't any dinner tonight? My grandson is discharged from the hospital and your useless younger brother said he was going to bring his so-called fiancee to see us tonight… You might as well bring your girlfriend too. You know how upset we will be whenever your younger brother is around…” His grandmother played along as Jason rolled his eyes and sighed before sending Ivy the address.

“Happy now?” He showed the message screen to both ladies who were smiling back at him.

“Hmmm… maybe that would be the best way to bid this farewell then…” He thought to himself. “Farewell…” He suddenly thought to himself as his eyes were stinging with tears before he quickly turned around to wipe them away when his mother and grandmother didn’t notice.

Ivy on the other hand was shocked as Marcel laughed after a while. “You can’t actually reject it right since it’s from his mother? I’m sure his grandmother was there too… It’s not a good idea to do so either… Well, finish up the proposal and bring it over to him instead to review personally?” Marcel winked to tease her as she sat back on the passenger seat trying to absorb everything that had happened.

She thanked her lucky stars for dressing appropriately today since she came from an exam and a meeting with a client. Hence, her formal dress with flats was decent for a first visit. However, Jason was nervous as though he was introducing his girlfriend to his family when in actual fact, it was a farewell only he knew. He was trying hard to keep himself composed the whole afternoon as he sat by the garden at his house and pace around nervously.

His mother knew Ivy’s identity all the while and who her grandma was. Daisy was very fond of Ivy’s grandma’s noodles before this. The idea of having Jason to settle down with Ivy lingered in Daisy’s mind for a long time but she knew Ivy was very young and she had to be more patient for that wishful thinking to happen as she smiled watching her restless son pacing in his grandmother’s garden.

Ivy managed to finish her proposal before six and Marcel had already urged her to quickly drive over to Jason’s house as it wouldn't be nice to make the elders wait although she was a guest. At the lobby of the office, she remembered to quickly pack two bouquets of carnations as she recalled Marcel telling her that his grandmother could be around during their phone call and perhaps it would be safer to pack two instead of one bouquet as a last minute door gift before rushing off to the car park.

It took her about twenty minutes to reach Jason’s grandmother’s house as the maid directed her to the garden where Jason was. She walked down the stairs quietly as she stood behind him and tapped on his shoulder with the bouquets and laptop bag in hand.

He turned around to look at her. He was mesmerised at her grown up, professional look as it was her first time wearing a coat over her dress.

"Hello…” She greeted shyly as he kept staring at her. “Is this appropriate?" Ivy asked politely as she tilted her head a little.

Jason smiled. "Yes. Absolutely." Ivy smiled in return as Jason stared a little longer.

“I didn’t have much time earlier to change as I was rushing Mr. Jing’s proposal. Marcel and I met him earlier. I might need to go over the proposal later as it’s sort of urgent…” Ivy briefly explained as he frowned at the name of the client. He knew the person who decides the fate of the case was the person standing in front of him and he recalled she was supposed to be having exams this few days.

“Aren’t you supposed to be having exams today and tomorrow? Why were you at work?” Jason nagged with a frown.

“It was an emergency… Don’t worry, I have brought my laptop to discuss with you on the proposal and tomorrow’s papers, you have already taught me. Whereas for Science, I have already revised with the lovebirds yesterday… Will do a little revision later tonight too…Don’t worry alright?” She comforted gently as she watched his frown start to let loose a little.

"Shall we have a discussion tonight?" She asked to confirm their discussion as he nodded.

He was reminded of the main purpose he was staring at her caller ID and caused his mother to call her instead as he struggled to keep himself composed when he looked away momentarily. Ivy couldn’t really tell why he was upset but she dismissed it as maybe because Mr. Jing was a tough case and she was determined to resolve it for him later.

"So, what should I call your grandmother?" She asked as she started walking towards his house while he trailed behind.

"Grandma." He said as he led her to the main door.

"Yes, grandma. What should I call her?" She asked again thinking he was clarifying.

"Grandma." He repeated. She stopped midway thinking he was fooling her as she snarled at him.

"What I meant is we both call her grandma." He chuckled as she rolled her eyes and smiled at his accidental tease.

"Thinking too much?" He teased while she kept smiling as they walked to the hallway.

She waited for Jason to walk in and was visible by everyone but instead Daisy's sharp eyes caught her insight instantly.

"Ivy!" Daisy called out from half of the hallway where everyone's attention directed to the couple who just entered. His grandma was delighted as she started to move towards them with Daisy. Jason tried reaching for Ivy but noticed she wasn't by his side as he turned behind him and saw her standing shyly behind him.

Jason walked towards her and persuaded her to come up closer to the living room as she hesitated a few times. Jason reached out to her left arm and pulled her in as he slipped his right arm at her waist.

"Oh no! Jason..." Ivy gasped as he held on to her hand and led her to meet his grandma.

"Easy there. Don't worry, I'm with you." He whispered in return as he tightened his grip at her waist.

"You must be Ivy!" Grandma gave a chuckle of satisfaction. “Grandma…” Ivy smiled and nodded as she passed her a bouquet of carnation before handing the other bouquet to Daisy and addressed her. “Auntie…”

"Young lady, we have been waiting for you to join us for a while now." Daisy said as Ivy smiled.

Jason’s younger brother, Jeremy who was also a member of the underground mobster, was seated with his fiancee, Mable were eyeing on Ivy, their mysterious guest.

"It's good you finally came." Daisy laughed. "Come visit me more often with my grandson, yes?" Grandma patted her hand as Ivy had no choice but nodded to play along while Daisy laughed and Jason secretly smiled knowing his grandmother was very fond of Ivy.

"Alright let's have dinner... Come, come. I'm all hungry!" Grandma announced as everyone laughed and moved to the dining room.

"Come, honey. We have plenty for food today. Make sure to help finish them up!" Daisy's voice chimed across the hallway as she twirled towards the dining hall.

Ivy was still stiff from the introduction as Jason clung her right arm to his left arm. "You're so stiff, my dear. Chill. It's just dinner." He said aloud as he noticed Jeremy was watching them and hoping to eave drop their conversation.

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Ivy relaxed a little and locked perfectly well into Jason's arm as she stepped closer to him while Jeremy walked past them.

"Why do I get that you're giving them the impression that I am your real girlfriend when it was not what I signed up for?" Ivy whispered as he led her slowly to the dining hall, knowing she had plenty to complain.

"Just follow the flow would you? Do me this favor well and I won't need to be bugged about marriage for good I hope." Jason whispered as he couldn’t help but to smile.

“Where is your dad?” Ivy managed to ask as Jason frowned. “He doesn’t attend a meal when I am around. I am a rebel…”

"Seriously?!" Ivy hissed as they were seated and eyed on the pork liver soup. Jason didn’t bother to reply to her as he saw her instantly grinning at the pork liver soup as it was one of her favorite foods and only her grandmother would cook that for her with lots of ginger back then.

Jason was helping himself to a bowl they shared as he kept helping himself to more and more liver while Ivy struggled to fight with him for more as she stuffed her mouth full; panicking he would finish including the servings on the main bowl. Daisy noticed they both were enjoying the liver soup so she decided to order the maid to serve them more.

"There, there. There's no need to fight. We have plenty. Min, could you please top up for sir and ma'am." Daisy ordered her petite Filipino maid.

"Yes ma'am." Min nodded as she went to the kitchen.

Ivy instantly blushed in embarrassment while Daisy smiled and nodded as she continued to join in Mable’s conversation with grandma.

"Thought you didn't like weird food. Only Mac and cheese?" Jason teased. Min came back with a huge bowl for them both as Jason wiggled in excitement and Ivy eyes widened gleefully.

"There's a lot more to this that you had no idea." Ivy whispered as she was really shy among his family members but still wanted every bite of the pork liver her stomach could fit in. She thought since everyone was focusing on his brother and his fiancee, she could have some peace in enjoying her meal but Jason decided to tease her further.

"What? I couldn't hear you. Could you please speak out louder, dear? Everyone's talking too..." Jason spoke a little louder for Daisy to overhear them while Ivy blushed even more before pinching lightly on Jason's right thigh. Jason grimaced as he threatened to tickle her before she willingly let go while snarling at him for teasing her.

"There's no need to be shy, Ivy. Make yourself at home. So how's the internship going on? Is my son teaching you well?" Daisy asked knowing Jason wanted her to pay attention to Ivy as after all, she was the one who invited her. Ivy cheeks went redder from blushing. Jason was enjoying teasing her while distracting her from enjoying more pork livers so that he could have more.

She cleared her throat a little as she nodded while reaching for her white wine. "Yes, he is. It's not too bad..."

"Good to hear… Take it easy, my dear. Am sure you would make your grandma proud. Are you staying with your parents? How are they?" Ivy was silent for a moment as she put down her glass of wine while Daisy continued on having some mango salad.

"No, I don’t. I used to live with my grandma. You seem to know who my grandma is?” She asked curiously.

“Yes, oh yes! I loved her noodles very much, especially the spicy one. Auntie Soh learned well from her but not as well.” Daisy complimented as it eased Ivy’s dampened mood a little.

“So, you’re staying with Auntie Soh?" Daisy asked as Jason felt her mother was asking too much of her background for his liking. He nudged Ivy and made eye contact with her to eat her meal before she could answer.

She nodded to Daisy without Jason noticing although she felt bad to lie, before she began to scoop a spoon of rice with some stir fried watercress and goji berries instead as she felt she had enough pork livers for the night.

"You must be missing your grandma, don't you?" Daisy asked as Ivy tried to munch her food faster to answer. She tried her best to swallow within five seconds to reply but choke in between as she reached out again for her white wine. Jason couldn't help but chuckle at her.

"Jason..." Daisy called out in an annoyed tone for being mean to Ivy. Ivy was trying to stop coughing as Jason helped her with a glass of water in front of her.

"Does he always bully you, Ivy? Always so naughty and mean. No wonder no one wants you..." Daisy teased.

"There, she wants me. That's why she's here." Jason dared himself to step out of his comfort zone.

Ivy nearly choked but managed to keep herself in control as she maintained a shy smile but was snarling at him in an attempt to pinch him a second time but he held her hand tight before she changed her face’s reaction to answer Daisy's question earlier.

"Yes, I do miss my grandma. But it's fine. I have gotten used to being independent." Ivy smiled although the fact hit her on a moment of realisation that she had not felt this warm feeling of being surrounded by family ever since her grandma left.

The one refuge she held dearly of her grandmother was hoping she could hug her in her dreams every night and not to get caught waking up in a sleep paralysis. She took a sip of the white wine to fight her stinging tears as Jason signaled his mother to change the topic when Ivy wasn't looking.

Jason had felt bad enough to invite her like this for a farewell she didn’t know but yet his mother seemed to be giving Ivy too much hope of accepting her into the family this fast. He didn’t want to strengthen the relationship as he was still unsure how well Ivy could handle tomorrow when her biological family finally will come to visit her.

Daisy nodded and turned her attention to Jeremy instead. Ivy noticed a lot of pork liver was left but she felt like she had enough dinner.

"You know the routine here is to finish everything on your plate. Nothing left on the table too as it's rude." Jason knew it was a good chance to keep her distracted from the questions his mother asked earlier as he teased her in a serious tone while she pondered on how to finish her dinner.

"Are you serious?" Ivy felt very annoyed with him for the night as he continued to play plenty of childish tricks on her. He nodded and had no choice but to try and have some more pork livers.

Grandma was nearly done with dinner as she noticed Ivy was forcing herself to finish what's on her plate. "Ivy, save some space for desserts, darling! You don't want to miss Min's traditional mung bean soup."

“But he said the rule here was to finish everything on the table…” Ivy realised it was a trick by Jason while she explained herself as both Daisy and grandma laughed. “That was when they were younger... It no longer applied… It’s a trick to get children to finish up and ensure they eat enough.”

Daisy explained as she snarled at Jason for tricking Ivy. Ivy was trying to control being upset as Jason couldn’t help but to keep laughing.

After their desserts, Jason’s grandma requested for Jason to come see her in her room with Ivy.

Ivy stepped in and was witted about Jason's baby and toddler pictures. There were plenty of family pictures around. His grandma sat with them over tea and talked about Jason's younger days. She spoke about her friends in the old folks who used to be their neighbors or close acquaintances.

Ivy could tell his grandma missed them all and suggested visiting them together as they made plans for the future. Their enjoyable chat was interrupted when they heard a commotion from downstairs.

Jeremy's ex-girlfriend, Anna came to create chaos saying she was pregnant and demanded him to take this responsibility. Daisy had to be the adult to take charge of mediating the chaos.

Everyone including the maids in the house stood by as Ivy started to fidgets. Aside from her sleep disorders, she also often avoided loud arguments with wails and screams as she could feel the tension affecting her mentally which made her feel suffocated as though she had encountered too many arguments and confrontations before this. It was totally a different feeling from debating.

Jason, on the other hand, was enjoying the show while eating an ice cream he took from the refrigerator but he noticed Ivy sneakily slipped away, looking exasperated. He instantly knew something was wrong as he went to check on her in the garden. He found her with teary eyes while trying to get over her emotions as she tried hard to breathe.

He felt he had put her through a tough emotional roller coaster the night before as he embraced her but it didn’t help her much.

“Hey…It’s alright…” He cooed but she was breathing harder while holding on to his arms. He decided to distract her with music this time as he pulled her to the music room in the house from the back door.

He kept quiet knowing he should let her face her emotions first as she kept wiping her tears away in the quiet room. After a while, he decided he should play a few pieces to keep her mood lighter as he slammed on some fast notes before playing on the classic piece, “Canon” and signaled her to join on a quick tempo.

Fast pieces helped her concentrate and take her mind off things since she played by ear and he envied her for that. Later she switched to a slower rendition of what Lance once taught her to play which she often played when she was down. Jason tried to accompany her melody which made her feel a lot better as she smiled at the last note.

“Aren't arguments and confrontations your forte?” He asked, concerned. “What’s wrong? Why are you reacting this way?” He persuaded her to tell him as he reached out to wipe away her tears earlier.

“If it gets too violent and loud I always have the sensation of feeling suffocated… I don’t know why…” Ivy wiped her wet face with her hands as Jason pulled her into his arms and hugged her.

“I guess that’s why I always preferred solitary and I always thought the air was better than a soul back then… But as I grew older, only then I realised, a soul is better than the air, especially when grandma left and no one was left to be called family…” Ivy explained as Jason listened intently to her with a very heavy heart.

“Air is better than a fake soul too… have you ever thought of finding your parents?” He asked as she nodded. “Who did you want to find the most?” He asked casually.

“My father…” She answered without hesitation. “Why?” He tried to pester further.

“I used to think I was the victim of their divorce but only to come to realise that he was... My mother was reckless and made lots of mistakes but he stood by her till he could no longer tolerate her irresponsible self that he had to leave me with my grandma to make a living. I could understand his point of view better than my mother’s. Perhaps, she was looking for more attention and wasn't ready to grow up to take on the responsibilities. I don’t blame her for that. Everyone has their own timeline. I wanted mine to be fast because I never wanted to be like her. Even then if I have a chance to meet her, I would tell her the best decision she ever made was to listen to her mother to deliver me…” Ivy smiled with teary eyes as Jason gently patted her arm to comfort her.

“Ivy… I want you to know that no matter what happens in the future, I will always be by your side… I have treated you as a genuine friend before…” Ivy sat up and stared at him as she could feel his words had hidden meaning behind them but she was also doubting it.

“…And I still want to be that genuine friend to you always…”Jason added while Ivy tears rolled down her cheeks as she nodded and smiled. In her heart, she knew at least she could count on Jason a little more these days and she would appreciate the days left with him before she had to leave him.

She placed her head on his shoulder trying to enjoy the comfort of his companion. Jason eventually let her ease into his arms with her face buried into his chest as she cried. Jason felt extremely horrible for the entire situation as he held onto Ivy for refuge this time.

“Jason… I will always stand with you…” Ivy thought to herself. “Jason… Thank you…” Ivy whispered as Jason.

“Let me hold you a little while longer… Just a little while more, alright?” Jason pleaded as he let his tears welled up. He could feel Ivy’s hug tightened around him.

“If only… If only, time could stop…” He thought to himself as he sat by the piano, hugging her and not wanting to let her go.