He was the first who had ever called her by that nickname when they were younger. She never liked being called by that nickname during her younger days. She even made her mother call her Xue Ting at first and acquaintances, Sicily because to her "Ting Ting" in Chinese meant "stop".

Her friends tend to make fun of it and tease her about it till she got fed up one day and taught them a lesson by giving a huge slap to the leader of the teaser while warning them to only call her Xue Ting or Sicily from then on. That eventually escalated to her mother being called up by the school's principal and she was grounded to stay home for a week other than going to school.

To Qiu Wen on the other hand, "Ting Ting" sounded like the bells were ringing whenever he was around her and only she could sound the bell for him. When Qiu Wen told her that her name had a special meaning to him, she began to love that nickname again and allow him to call her by it. She began to use that nickname again with the closest people she held in her heart including Qiu Wen's grandparents. In return, Qiu Wen allowed her to call him "Wen Wen" which meant warmness and only his grandparents called him by it.

While she dated James, there wasn't a need to call each other by name as they tend to address each other by "sweetheart" instead. Hence, the nickname was also something she wanted to be reminded of to keep her distance away from Qiu Wen for the reason she left sixteen years ago unannounced.

In the midst of the chaos, her mind drifted back to the twins and her situation.

"Have you ever considered if I was married? Or am I in a relationship? Or even the state of my life?!" She vented and silently added a last line in her heart.

"Or with kids?!" As hard as she wanted to not say that last line, her mouth betrayed her when she accidentally hissed it out loud while she covered her eyes in her palm.

The last line sent Qiu Wen into a daze. "How bad is the mess we are in?" He wondered as he frowned.

"Sorry, what did you just say? Ting…" Qiu Wen stuttered as Xue Ting let her head drop behind facing up to the sky, realising she had just told him about her twins.

"Yes. I have children." She said firmly as she eyed the floor, fearing she would let the truth out to him about the reason she left unannounced sixteen years ago.

"You're marri…" Before he could finish his question, she quickly interrupted.

"No, I'm not…" She said with a firm tone.

"Is it …" As though she could read his mind trying to ask if it was his, she answered quickly to cover up the truth with a lie. "It's James's but he never knew..."

As if being struck by lightning, Qiu Wen was trying to digest her answers in a daze while Xue Ting was trying hard to find ways to solve their circumstances.

"So tell me now, how are we to solve this?! Don't start standing there like an idiot when you stir this mess!" Xue Ting scolded as she began pacing knowing that if she didn't oblige to the fake marriage where on earth was she to find any compensation to pay? She definitely wouldn't allow herself to sit in jail. Who was to feed her twins?

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Qiu Wen let the agony pierce him as he was trying so hard not to break down from the fact that she was running away because she was pregnant and he couldn't imagine all those years she had suffered all by herself. He let regrets sipped in himself of being so weak cause due to his anxiety issues sixteen years ago, he missed the chance to stop Xue Ting from leaving.

"Ryan!" Xue Ting called out as she tried to pull him back to reality but he hadn't snapped out of his daze.

"Qiu Wen!" Qiu Wen jolted at his Chinese name with an annoyed face but realised it was Xue Ting who called him out of frustration.

He took a deep breath and assessed their situation visually. "How old is your child?"

"They are sixteen… Is there no way to not get married and not go to jail and not pay anything?" Xue Ting started to get anxious as she swept her hair to the back.

"Sixteen?" He blinked in further confusion. "They?" He questioned as he fell back into a daze.

"They?" He jolted as he just realised she was addressing her child in the plural form twice.

"Yes, I had twins; a boy and a girl. Now can you please focus on our situation!" His questions kept her more agitated as she urgently wanted to get out of the situation.

"She had a pair of twins?" His heart ached till it nearly broke for her as he imagined how she got by those years but he quickly realized if he didn't sign the marriage certificate immediately, his mother would be hot on their wheels.

He calmed his thoughts as he walked closer to her and held her hands.

"I'm sorry, Ting Ting." He was sincerely apologising for all that he and James ever did to her sixteenth years ago. He held her gaze again as he could see her eyes were searching for answers from him. "It must have been so tough… " He choked on his words as he blinked his tears away.

Xue Ting sighed at the past she had let go of and was frustrated at the situation they were in.

"There is no way out of this. Don't worry about the payment of compensation as there will never be such a thing but I cannot stop her crazy act from putting us in jail. She would use what I said earlier in defending herself to put us in jail as scheming. You would know how drastic she can be…" Qiu Wen sighed as he tightened the grip holding on her hand.

"So, would you let me be the one to protect you like I always did? This time, I would also want to protect your twins as after all, they are James." It was a long waited apology that calmed Xue Ting for a moment as she let him rest his spinning head lightly on her forehead.

"I'm sorry, Ting Ting for all that happened and the mess I have put you into but could you please help me out this time? As for the twins, let's hide their identities for their safety. Considering they are sixteen, we can keep their identities as your siblings?" He grimaced at the word siblings as it hurt his heart so much to put her in such an ordeal.

He cursed his bad luck for having such a family.

Xue Ting who was contemplating at first, couldn't control her disappointment and anger for being dragged into this mess the moment she heard his last request as she pulled herself away from him in disbelief. Qiu Wen half wanted her to be in this mess and agree to his plan as he once vowed if he ever… ever saw her again, he would never let her go as he desperately finds ways to make her agree. This was a promise he made five years ago to James too.

Then, it struck him.

She probably needed cash and the conversation with Qiu Yeh on preserving each their own wealth elsewhere in case things turned sour with their mother crossed his mind. No one else other than Xue Ting was the most suitable person he could do that with. Besides, he should compensate her for all those years she had suffered alone on James' behalf.

"Ting Ting… What about if I give you a sum of money every month and we sign a contract to seal the deal? After six months, we will divorce?" He remembered about the twins and she must be struggling financially too as her family background wasn't that rich. At least, he could temporarily tie her down till he found a new way to her heart again, he thought.

Her face started to relax as she thought it wasn't a bad deal. She too recalled her plans to buy a house for the twins to live in with her instead of renting which she was close to fulfilling as well as the revenge plans she had thought about all along against the Tang family. It was a good chance to start them all.

"How much?" She blatantly asked.

"Eighteen thousand a month." That was his monthly pay cheque from Qiu Yeh. He told himself he only needed some cash to survive a month. Besides, he will need to find ways to transfer more along the way.

"I will increase it after three months. I promise you are only required on family occasions which I rarely attend in Wai Tao and other than that we are free to date anyone else discreetly. This would be like an open contractual marriage." Though he could recite it without an issue, deep in him, he wished she wouldn't do what he said in his last line.

He was hoping so badly in his heart for her to accept the deal although he still kept his cool look while staring at her indecisive face.

She blinked and pursed her lips as her forehead grew tense with frowns as she couldn't resist that much money which could help her to buy her own place as promised to the twins. She finally held a hand out in defeat for a shake.

"Deal." She nodded as Qiu Wen couldn't help but let his lips curl upwards in a bright smile as he, instead of shaking her hand, took her hand and led her into the council to sign off the marriage certificate only to find they were closed for the day.

"Let's come back tomorrow, first thing in the morning." She urged noting Qiu Wen's disappointed look. At her encouragement, his face brightened up with a wide smile as he nodded, knowing she was still keeping her promise.