As he let them off to school and drove back to pick up Xue Ting to move their stuff from the old house, he realise he was beginning to adapt and get used to being a father figure, especially how well he blended in with Joy. However, he could feel a distance from Matthew as he looked at Xue Ting who was seated next to him in the car.

"Hmm… What is it? Is your gastric still bothering you?" She asked absentmindedly as he shook his head.

"No, it's fine now." He said as Xue Ting smiled. "Still the same as old days. Come home for dinner if you don't mind. I will leave you some dinner if you're late." Xue Ting offered.

"You don't exactly have to worry about that though. I have prepared a housekeeper to drop by daily to do the housework and also cook." Qiu Wen said as Xue Ting sat upright to face him. She wasn't comfortable with that arrangement as the twins had always been picky about their food.

"Hmm… Is it too much to ask of you to let me or my kids prepare our own meals daily? Cause the kids can be rather picky." Xue Ting pleaded, feeling a little embarrassed but Qiu Wen knew he shouldn't push it.

"Alright. Let's just let the housekeeper clean up the house only then." Qiu Wen agreed as Xue Ting relaxed in the seat.

"What should I do to get closer to Matthew?" Qiu Wen asked out of the blue as Xue Ting raised an eyebrow. "Sorry did he do something to offend you? I could apologise…" Xue Ting said while panicking a little as Qiu Wen shook his head.

"I just thought he had been very quiet especially when I am around. I guess he hasn't really adapted to the sudden changes?" Qiu Wen questioned.

"Yes, he had always been a very mature boy. Always looks out for everyone and knows his place very well. I guess he is still weary about the whole situation. Give him some time. He tends to open up slower." Xue Ting explained as Qiu Wen nodded.

"Glad you raise him well to be protective of you." Qiu Wen praised him as they both knew that Matthew's trait was a deep reflection of how Qiu Wen was back then and the result of them both missing out on getting together over the years.

"I… I have a late shift later." Xue Ting said to break the awkward silence.

"Alright, I could drop you at the restaurant later. What time do you go off tonight?" He asked. "Around eleven but don't worry I could get the bus home." Xue Ting said politely.

He seemed to agree to it but in actual fact, he had wanted to pick her up daily. While being busy reading up on the new branch's operation and business module from home, he then decided to get Xue Ting a car instead; knowing the workload now would take up a lot of his time and he wouldn't have such flexibility to cater to his little borrowed family all by himself.

Seeing him at the restaurant's doorstep late at night, Xue Ting was too tired to retaliate so she got in the car and couldn't help but fall asleep halfway through the journey. Though he didn't get the chance to give her the car keys that night, he was delighted and grateful for her finally by his side. He had tried hard to hide or rather suppressed his happiness in case she would change her mind or stay a distance away from him.

The next morning, Qiu Wen found Xue Ting preparing breakfast with raw materials in his fridge before his housekeeper came by. "Hey… Morning…" He greeted her as she smiled.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Morning… Come sit. Breakfast's almost ready." Xue Ting said as he passed her the car key.

"What is this?" She asked. "It's your car now. It would be more convenient for you and the kids since I would start to be busy at work." He said. "Oh, you don't have to really. It's convenient with the bus." She tried rejecting it.

"Please don't reject. Let's just say it's part of the contract. I want you to have it." He insisted as she nodded skeptically.

"Alright then. Thank you." She smiled as he sat on the dining table waiting for his breakfast, feeling extremely happy that she had accepted his gift.

The deadline for the design competition was drawing near. It was in fact on the Friday of that week but the leaflet wrote the following week's Monday. Joy who was rushing her online order only managed to complete the design over the weekend. She was hoping to submit it on Monday since it was the last day.

True enough, when she went to submit the design, she was told the deadline was on last Friday. She gave the leaflet which stated the Monday date but the organiser told her that must have been a prank considering how the date was being canceled out and written manually. Francesca had set up a spy to take pictures of Joy submitting her design at the reception of Qiu Yeh's office and when she saw them she was extremely excited for her revenge.

Joy was extremely upset as she had never missed any competition before this. She pouted all the way home on an hour bus ride and was on the verge of breaking down from disappointment when she finally reached home. Matthew noticed her low mood as he went to comfort her only to have her cry while whining in his arms.

"Xin Xin!! The organiser said the deadline was the last Friday but look here, the leaflet did write it was today! How is this even fair?!"

"Alright, alright. Don't bother about it anymore. It's just a competition and there are many others out there." Matthew tried comforting her. "No!!! It's one of the most prestigious competitions! I even had to take a bus to Wai Tao to submit!" Joy whined as Matthew knew better to shut his mouth and patted her only.

He knew his sister was never going to settle for such failure as she was a tip-top last-minute queen who could still make it on time kind but this time, he wondered what went wrong. As he half comforted her till she fell asleep, he couldn't help but notice the manually written new date was suspicious.

When Xue Ting returned from work, she found the house exceptionally quiet. She went upstairs to Joy's room first to find her asleep with Matthew reading his notes by her side. Matthew then explained to her the whole situation.

"It was manually written and it's a wrong date?" Xue Ting asked to double confirm as he nodded and passed her the leaflet to scrutinise. Xue Ting finally understood what was all the act about that night.

It was indeed a trap from Francesca when she recalled how Francesca deliberately dropped the leaflet in front of her. She was also worried about the after-effects of Francesca's deeds. Matthew could sense her worry as he held her hand while she told him the whole incident.

"You know how complicated his family isn't it? His mother had always wanted him to marry Auntie Francesca which he didn't want to. In fact, not just that. His mother also wanted him to own a business like how his brother, Uncle Xavier did. Even in his studies, his mother always ensured he was tip-top in school. Guess that's why he was a very rebellious boy since young. At times, I wondered how he had endured all that. Back then before I left, I recalled his parents' marriage was on the rocks but I am not too sure what happened in the end. I haven't seen Mr. Tang ever since I met Uncle Ryan again. Now, I am rather worried about what Auntie Francesca and Mrs. Tang would do. Mrs. Tang is a very scary woman." Xue Ting explained as Matthew nodded.

"It must have been very complicated at his end. I understand why you did what you did mummy." Matthew said as Xue Ting smiled knowing Matthew finally was accepting Qiu Wen.

"Boy, it may be temporary but we could do our best to help him out to not create any trouble during this short six months." Xue Ting urged as Matthew nodded.

"I understand. Mummy, you…" Matthew wanted to ask if she had feelings for Qiu Wen but decided not to in case it upset her.

"What is it?" Xue Ting tried to coax but he shook his head.

"Let's not tell Joy about what happened," Matthew said as Xue Ting nodded but it was too late as Joy was already wide awake when the both of them were talking in the beginning. Because of that, Joy was not that upset anymore as she sat up to hug Xue Ting. Instead, she felt bad for Qiu Wen.

"Qiu Qiu, you're alright?" Xue Ting asked embracing Joy who was still a little teary as she nodded.

"I'm sorry mummy. I promise to not be a last-minute Qiu Qiu again and will try to not get upset over this competition." Joy said as Xue Ting kissed her forehead, chuckling with Matthew over her adorable promise.

"Baby, what did you draw this time? Let mummy have a look?" Xue Ting coaxed her to help her feel better. Joy went to grab her drawing book and show Xue Ting a hair clip with a brown-gold dragonfly pattern on it.

"This is so pretty. Well done, Qiu Qiu." Xue Ting praised.

"It's for you mummy. I will make sure I will make it for you one day when I make a lot of money!" Joy giggled as Matthew smiled patting his sister's head.

"Alright, baby. Accompany mummy to draw more too alright?" Xue Ting said as Joy nodded.

"Stay out of anything related to the Tangs too." Matthew reminded as Joy nodded and messed up Matthew's hair while they both had a playful fight.

Xue Ting was definitely delighted and relieved to hear that from her children but she couldn't help but wonder what other tricks were up from Mrs. Tang and Francesca's sleeves now that they had known about the twins.