As it was late at night, Grandma rested beside Grandpa during his last moments. Xue Ting could not sleep at all. Her mind was restless as she stepped outside for a moment.

She wanted to steal more time for the twins and Qiu Wen to see him or even spend time with him for as long as she could steal. A part of her wanted so badly to turn back time and reveal the truth to the old ones earlier but her selfish self took the best of it to protect the twins from the harm of the people she feared herself.

She was too confused with her emotions as she sat by the bench at the alley. She wanted so much for time to just pause for a moment. While deep in her thoughts, she was jolted by the sudden shook of Joy.

She did not notice how long had she fallen asleep as by the time Joy woke her, she could see the sun rising.

"Mummy..." Joy and Matthew pulled her in for a hug while they sobbed. It broke her heart instantly. She had not expected her twins to be so upset over someone they did not know very well yet.

She could see Qiu Wen hesitating to enter the room behind the twins. She wanted so much to embrace him but the twins were still in her arms. Grandma then slid the door open awakened by the heavy breathing of Grandpa.

She hugged her grandson at the sight of him trying very hard to stay strong. Xue Ting began to wonder how serious was this marriage going to get and at this rate, she could tell it was getting tougher if Mrs. Tang figured it all out.

"It's alright... We will see him with warm smiles like he always gave us. Alright? Promise mummy you both will be strong..." Her voice may have cracked while she controlled her overflowing tears but the twins nodded in unison while wiping their face dry with tissues.

Xue Ting then handed the remainder of the tissues to Qiu Wen as he smiled sadly. He took the tissues from her while gripping her palm tightly for a moment trying to comfort her and himself as she nodded in assurance.

The twins were following Grandma into the room while Qiu Wen could not let go of her hand as he stood in front of the dimly lit room overseeing the dusk of the day. They both were looking at the heartbeat machine as it beep silently to Grandpa's weakening heartbeat. With a heavy heart, Xue Ting led him into the room as they inched slowly. Grandpa was conscious but he was very frail.

So frail but he still managed to give his best smile which was as though was never fading away. He held on to the twins each palm on his left and Grandma's on his right. He then saw Qiu Wen as his eyes glistened with tears.

"Grandpa..." Qiu Wen's voice cracked as he reached out for the twin's palm on his palm while Grandpa kept eyeing Xue Ting.

Qiu Wen reached out for her as she placed her right palm near his wrist, her left still holding on tightly to Qiu Wen. Grandpa slowly closed his eyes while giving a satisfied smile.

The couple heard his heartbeat slowing even more but the twins did not notice. Xue Ting and Qiu Wen could not help but quietly struggle with their tears as Grandma watched her beloved husband slowly pass on tearfully.

When his heartbeat machine went flat, the nurses and doctor rushed in. Xue Ting instantly rushed to Grandma who was sobbing as the doctor announced the time of death and apologised to the family before leaving them to grief.

Life was so fragile yet pretty, but it was only temporary.

Xue Ting pondered so hard why the heavens had to take away the happiness of Grandpa at the moment he knew about his grandchildren. Why did her twins have to endure this? Will they be sadder if they knew it was their biological grandpa?

Stolen novel; please report.

She was so sad that she sneaked to the garden to cry herself out alone while everyone was resting before the wake. However, Qiu Wen was not at ease with her not by his side so he went to look for her after the twins went back to the car to hide from his mother who had arrived dramatically with the rest of the family.

The sight of Xue Ting breaking down all by herself made him wonder if was it always like that for her on the tough days in the past sixteen years raising the twins all by herself.

He went up to her and wrapped his arm around her to comfort her. "Hey… It's alright." He comforted but Xue Ting could not say anything as she let her sadness overwhelm her.

Matthew who was in the car accompanying his sleeping sister, knew it would be a difficult situation if they turned up for the wake or the funeral all the way. It was only right if their grandma came but he knew at this complicated rate it might also be impossible to attend the wake or funeral.

He sighed at the sight of Joy who had cried herself to sleep. It surprised him when he saw Qiu Wen walked back towards the car while carrying his mother who seemed to be asleep in his arms. He got down to open the passenger door for Qiu Wen to put Xue Ting into the car.

"You're alright, Dad?" Matthew asked when Qiu Wen closed the passenger door. He smiled sadly while nodding.

"Drive them home safely. Get some rest. I will see what's there to settle. I promise I will be home tonight." Qiu Wen said as Matthew nodded and went off to drive home leaving Qiu Wen dreading to head back to the family.

To his surprise, Qiu Yeh had been taking charge of all the arrangements while his mother was accompanying Grandma who was down. Mr. Tang stepped in urgently briefly to pay his last respects before leaving the wake premise for other businesses.

Noticing Qiu Wen was restless, Grandma knew he was not comfortable without Xue Ting. Grandma discreetly sends Qiu Wen a text to urge him to head home first and head back only tomorrow for the funeral.

Qiu Wen gazed at Grandma's direction as she nodded comfortingly. Qiu Wen nodded back before leaving the premise. By the time he reached home, it was dead quiet as he went to check on the twins.

Joy was awake but sobbing to herself while Matthew was nowhere to be found.

"Hey, sweetie. Don't cry…" He went to her bedside and pulled her in for a hug.

"Daddy, Grandpa had left…." Joy sobbed even more which attracted Xue Ting's attention to peep into the room. She met Qiu Wen's gaze as he urged her to leave them alone by pointing outside with his chin as Xue Ting nodded.

She went on to check on Matthew who was in his world of composing his music instead. She knew he was down too for having to hide his sorrows with music. She wondered how was Qiu Wen coping as she went to prepare a simple porridge meal for everyone.

"Daddy, Grandpa is in a better place is he?" Joy asked while she snuggled in Qiu Wen's arms.

He hummed in agreement. "Do you think he is happy?" She asked.

"He would be after spending so much time with you and Matthew." Qiu Wen comforted as she smiled. "I want to attend at least his funeral…" She began to cry again as Qiu Wen wiped her tears away with the box of tissues which nearly had gone empty.

"But I know I can't. I shouldn't." She buried her face into Qiu Wen's chest and sobbed.

"We will try to see what we can do alright? Grandpa will not blame you, sweetie." He gently tapped her shoulders to calm her down as he wondered how exactly Xue Ting managed to coax Joy when she was upset.

He was definitely lacking in his parenting skills as he gently rocked Joy back to sleep before sneaking out to check on Matthew but he was so busy drowning himself in composing that he did not want to bother him. Instead, he went to check on his wife in the kitchen. The sight of her was comforting as he pulled her in for a very comforting hug from behind.

"Hey… Are.." Xue Ting wanted to ask if he was fine but he shushed her as he closed his eyes and continued to hug her.

"Stay still for five minutes. Just five minutes." He pleaded as she nodded and stood by the stove.

It took him less than a minute to finally let reality seep in as he began to break down while hugging Xue Ting. Xue Ting turned around and hugged him instead, letting him pour his heart out while she gently rubbed his back to comfort him.

"Thank you for staying so strong for so long. Thank you for comforting our big baby. She is a crybaby so I know how difficult it is. Matthew is much easier but I ought to check on him soon. As for you, you did well for holding out so long. You really did well." Xue Ting whispered as he hugged her tighter while sobbing.

"Thank you…" He managed to say it when he was much calmer.

"There's no need to. I will always be here for you." She comforted as he kissed her forehead lovingly.

"Grandma told me not to stay. So we will only head to the funeral. I will make arrangements for the twins to head over to the funeral?" He suggested as she nodded.

"That's fine. Let's have something to eat first." She urged as he went to wash up while Xue Ting looked upstairs and sighed, thinking about how to coax the kids to eat.