Ray was eager to meet up with Marcel as soon as he made an appointment. With James agreeing to Jin’s plans to get Marcel involved in their secret agenda, Ray had arranged for Marcel to come to visit Cassandra’s boutique. Marcel didn’t think much about it as on hand he had urgent matters the brothers needed to pay attention to.
What he didn't expect was to see James in the meeting and he was surprised at the underground basement discovery but was even more uncomfortable when Peter was not in sight.
“Welcome, Marcel…” James greeted as Marcel nodded in acknowledgment.
“Hello, James… Where is Peter?” Marcel asked as he looked at Ray.
“Come, sit. You must have been startled. Let us explain.” Ryu led him to sit with them at the discussion table.
“Here’s Uncle James’ basement and you may reveal whatever you need to with him. As for dad…” Jin hesitated for a moment as James continued on.
“Peter is put into a very difficult position at the moment. He had Ivy to worry about and he has made it clear that Ivy’s recovery was his priority. Hence, on his business side, am sure you have known they have been struggling a lot and had no choice but to seek my help. Mind you, am also discreetly doing so only because the person we are up to is not an easy target.” James explained as Marcel began to relax and leaned forward in curiosity.
“Alright…” Marcel wanted to question more but was interrupted as Cassandra came serving everyone tea. The sweet tangy smell of fruit tea eased through everyone’s mind for a moment. “Hello, Marcel. Good to see you again.” Cassandra greeted as Marcel smiled. “Hello, Cassandra. Good to see you too.” Marcel said solemnly in return.
“Relax Marcel. We are all going to be an ally.” Cassandra comforted as she walked over to sit next to Jin. “Having said that, my stepfather is inviting you into this team to monitor the management of Ophal’s side.” Cassandra continued as Marcel raised an eyebrow at the word stepfather.
“Yes, James is Cassandra’s stepfather and Ivy had known about this all along. In fact, Ivy had never expected herself to be in this state. She had been prying into Jeremy’s business too obviously that we had set her into the background but we didn't expect Nancy to be another factor.” Ray explained as Marcel drew a deep breath. “We will save the stepfather story for another day,” Cassandra said gently as she gestured for them to continue the entire meeting.
“I am aware of Jeremy’s actions and in fact, before Jason’s passing, he seemed to have looked into them. Hence, the reason, I am urgently required to read his will to Ivy’s guardian.” Marcel said as he pulled out the will and let the brothers and James evaluate while he sipped his tea.
Marcel was thinking to himself that he was definitely led into the family’s secret and that he would be holding on to a huge responsibility after this. Jin was the last to analyse the will which had left Ryan and Ryu in a state of shock.
“Yes, as you have read, Jason had indicated previously that his shares in the company are to be transferred to Ivy and as for his assets, it was initially to be transferred to his mother who is holding the custody of his inheritance from his grandmother. And as of such, he had separately made another request for the transfer of his custody to Ivy.” Marcel explained as James nodded while trying to digest the points.
“I think we should keep this aside and wait for Ivy to be awake as she is now an adult and I am not sure if she would agree to all this. Perhaps, in the meantime, we would park all of these rights to Mrs. Rahi?” Jin suggested as he too was skeptical at Ivy’s willingness to inherit so much.
Marcel nodded in agreement as he had half expected the siblings to suggest as they had. “And as for the management’s lookout? What’s the deal?” Marcel questioned as he was still a little weary.
James chuckled a little. “Perhaps, we should let you see a couple of things before you trust us?”
James suggested as Jin immediately sprung up into action with Ryu and showed Marcel their findings on Jeremy and their Uncle Charles. Marcel was speechless for a moment, especially on the discovery of Jeremy’s involvement in his own grandmother’s death and now colliding with Nancy for her revenge.
“But this doesn’t mean that you could act biasedly with Jeremy or everyone who is involved in their scheme…” Jin warned as Marcel nodded as he raised his hand to stop Jin.
“I know. What are your plans with all this evidence?” Marcel questioned as Jin looked over at James.
“Revenge that’s for sure but in a different way…” Ray said with conviction as James nodded in agreement.
That night, Marcel returned to the hospital to find Peter falling asleep by Ivy’s bedside. Nick was on his way to enter the room when he spotted Marcel. Marcel gestured for them to sit by the garden for a chat. Nick nodded in agreement.
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The soothing breeze of spring blew past them as Marcel finally felt at ease from his shocking discovery. Nick could tell Marcel had been very busy and exhausted from settling many things for Jason. He felt bad for Marcel. He wanted so badly to be able to recover and be of use but on certain days he can’t help but felt overwhelmed by his nightmares or resounding whispers of guilt bothering him.
“Things had been well… You should be at ease…” Marcel said as he noticed Nick’s grimaces.
Nick calmed down a little but the waves of guilt in his heart were still lingering. “Focus on recovery and soon Ivy will recover too…” Marcel comforted as he patted Nick’s shoulder. Nick couldn’t prevent himself from being emotional at his state and it wasn't the first time Marcel sat by his side, quietly accompanying him.
As Ivy quietened down in Jason’s arms in the lobby of her paracosm, they both sat quietly for a moment trying to register the new facts they had learned about each other and the events unfolding in front of them.
“We are twins. We were dead. Our parents remained the same as now. What’s the difference?” Jason drowned himself in his thoughts. In actual fact, the grim reaper meant they were both dead in the life they visited in room 11.
“So, we were twins before this… and we are dead?” Ivy mumbled to herself almost in tears as Jason regain his composure and decided they needed to enter more to find out what exactly were the clues as he led Ivy to the next room.
“Let’s go in more… there is bound to be something we could link back…” Jason said as Ivy raised an eyebrow.
“What exactly is the reason for us to enter the tower of reflection? What past exactly are we looking for?” Ivy questioned feeling a little agitated as Jason tried to ignore her questions. He was doubtful himself as well to be able to give Ivy a satisfactory answer.
“Let’s move on first…” Jason hastily searched for room 34 and turned the knob the enter. This time, Ivy was standing in front of her mini-self as Jason finds himself standing in front of his teenage self. They were by a frozen lake under the skies lit by aurora. It reminded them of both of their family trips.
“That’s me…” They both said in unison as Ivy was caught by surprise. Jason knew this when he was alive that the little girl he met back then was little Ivy but hadn’t gotten the chance to tell Ivy.
It was where they first met in their current life. The entire scene unfolded in front of them just the same as Ivy’s dream. The exact conversation they had back then replayed again as Ivy began to realise she had been dreaming about their first encounter over and over.
What they had never known was the aftermath unseen of ion exchange between their metal bracelet. They both watched the green hues attracted to Jason’s bracelet while the pink hues were attracted to Ivy’s. As they both watched little Ivy skipped away in her stepmother’s direction, the hues on their bracelet were still attracted and connected to each other.
Ivy finally realised they both were destined to meet each other in every life they visit. The promise she made to him to marry him when she was older was the only regret she had as she collapsed to the ground in disappointment.
Jason went over and knelt in front of her. “I’m sorry I didn’t get the chance to tell you about our first encounter.” Jason apologised as Ivy looked at him.
“You knew?” Ivy questioned as Jason nodded.
“The moment I saw your picture under the aurora sky placed in your grandma’s kitchen… I wondered but when I saw the bracelet we had and its color, I knew. When I confirmed your identity and reunite you with your family, I confirmed that I have found the princess who once made a promise to me under the aurora to marry me.” Jason explained as Ivy smiled before throwing a hug at him.
“I’m glad it’s you. I have been dreaming about it often when I grew up.” Ivy said in between her sniffs as Jason let her off his embrace and take a look at her.
“I know. I was in your dreams all along.” Jason smiled as they both brushed their nose gently at each other. Without noticing their surroundings, they both were transported back to the lobby once again.
Jason held her in his arms for a long while to let Ivy slowly process their discoveries. “Will we ever get to see our lives living happily together again?” Ivy questioned as Jason unexpectedly had his eyes reddened.
Jason had already known the ending of their fate in the tower. However, at that moment, all he wanted to do was to say yes to her question because he wanted to see her happy again but he knew he would not be able to fulfill it together with her.
“Yes, if you believe it. We will.” Ivy knew his answer was a lie as she hugged him and buried her face into his chest to hide her tears. For a moment, she regretted drinking the potion and cursed their rotten fate as she slowly thought about what if they could try to alter their destiny instead.
“We are destined to meet each other. There must be a past that figures the link to the bond of our fate. What exactly is it?” Jason continued to question himself while Ivy felt a piercing pain in her head and whimpered.
“Ivy! You’re alright? Ivy sit and stop thinking for a moment!” Jason slowly lowered her down to the ground as she sat. The next thing he knew while Ivy was enduring the piercing pain in her head, was her memory was slowly sipping away bit by bit into thin air.
He couldn't understand why her memories were surrounding him instead before they disappeared as he watched them in a state of panic, he quickly tried to dust them off before Ivy saw them. He didn’t want her to find out so fast as it would only sadden their entire journey considering there were more doors to enter. He sat by her side quietly and continued to hold onto her till the pain subsided while trying to recover from the shock of the various events.
Meanwhile, that night, in the hospital Ivy’s heartbeat rate became irregular for a moment before the doctors came in to inject sedatives in her when Marcel walked in from visiting the washroom. When the doctors finally managed to control Ivy’s condition and left the room, Nick who entered after Peter was escorted home by the brothers for a good night's rest at home continued to watch over her.
“Ivy… Don’t leave me… Please wake up…” Nick pleaded as he sat back down next to her while holding onto her hand.
“You promised…” Nick continued to plead in tears while Marcel looked on from the closed main door with a heavy heart.