Matthew woke to Xue Ting's urge to eat but he felt so demotivated to wake coupled with his weak state.

"I don't have the appetite, mummy…" Matthew said groggily.

"Check your phone..." She coaxed as he frowned but obediently did so.

Are you well now? Don't worry I will share my notes with you but don't let Qiu Qiu know alright?

He read the text from Diane and felt butterflies in his stomach instantly as he smiled.

"So do you have the appetite now?" Xue Ting teased him and to her surprise, he got up and quickly went to the washroom to clean up instead.

Xue Ting grinned proudly knowing her son had grown up as she left him to his endeavours. Matthew quickly got dressed and texted Diane to meet at the park near her house.

Diane was worried about him who was still recovering, making his way to meet her so she quickly packed her notes for him and went to the park to find he had already arrived.

"Matt! You didn't have to come… I could have gone to see you with these notes…" Diane said with worried eyes while Matthew smiled, feeling touched knowing she cared.

"I was a fool for being so blind…" He said weakly as Diane wanted to reach out to his forehead suspecting he must have had a fever but he held her hand midway.

"I'm sorry I accepted the prom invitation. Diane, I didn't …" Matthew did not have the chance to continue when Diane who was taken aback quickly shoved her notes to him and ran off. He was left flabbergasted for a moment but began to chase her before squatting midway feeling very weak.

Diane turned around wanting to check if he followed as she figured she was terrified to listen to his rejection she thought but when she saw he was squatting in difficulty of breathing, she had forgotten all her worries as she rushed back to him.

"Matt… are you alright?!" Diane inspected him from head to toe.

"Are you able to stand? Come let me accompany you home. You shouldn't have come. Your body is still weak…" Diane tried helping him to stand but instead, he pulled her in for a hug.

"I like you, Diane…" He confessed which stunned Diane unexpectedly as she slowly swallowed her saliva while he let go to meet her reddening gaze.

"I wanted to tell you I like you, Diane… I always did all along but I didn't want to hurt Qiu Qiu. I don't blame her for worrying about how we would end. We might not last and we might not be friends again but after what my mother said last night, I want to try out. At least I wouldn't regret it rather than losing you whom I cherished so much this way. I don't want ever to hurt you, Diane." Matthew clarified which brought Diane to tears as she nodded and smiled.

"I like you too but I don't want to hurt Qiu Qiu too… I didn't know what to do…" Diane was glad they shared the same understanding as she broke down in Matthew's hug while he gently patted her back to comfort her.

"I promise I will do my best for us to stick together till the end alright? That way we would not hurt her and she still has Keith to care for her while we date…" He whispered into her ear as she began giggling with him. He wiped her tears away while she gazed at him.

"Let's go to the prom and make it official together, babe?" He teased as she bit her lips while blushing and nodded before burying her face into his chest.

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As though feeling all energised from his confession, after walking his girlfriend home, Matthew decided to drop by the bar on a non-performing day. He felt like he needed a boost but as usual the bar owner, Mr. Sunny, under stern warning from Qiu Wen the first time they met would always swap Matthew's beer order into non-alcoholic ciders instead.

Matthew frowned at the first sip of the fizzy cider. "Really, Mr. Sunny? Of all days I really need a boost today. Please?" He tried bargaining with Mr. Sunny.

"Nope, sorry boy. You know the rules. Your old one will kill my business without you on Wednesdays! There, why are you here on a Tuesday? Why don't you strum some strings since you're here? I will pay!" Mr. Sunny tempted him as he flipped a coin to tease him.

"You're lucky I'm in a good mood today! Alright, some cheerful songs coming right up!" Matthew said before heading to the stage to tune the guitar and introduce the songs he would be playing to the crowd.

Coincidently, Qiu Wen decided to have a cold beer before heading home to kill his fatigue. He was surprised to see Matthew on stage. He raised an eyebrow at Mr. Sunny. who just shrugged and laughed it off. After several songs, Matthew got back to the bar and was surprised to find Qiu Wen having his beer.

"Daddy…" Matthew called guiltily.

"What are you doing here, boy? Aren't you just recovering and having ciders already? Do you want to worry your mother even more?" Qiu Wen unexpectedly found himself nagging at Matthew though he just wanted to tease him. Judging from his choices of songs, Qiu Wen knew this young boy was in love.

"I'm sorry… I just…" Matthew was lost for words as he frowned when Qiu Wen chuckled and patted his back.

"Let's go home…" He urged while leading his son out of the bar.

"So, you got the girl?" Qiu Wen casually asked as Matthew smiled shyly before nodding.

"That's my boy! Good job!" Qiu Wen praised loudly which attracted the attention of some nasty men smoking by the dark alley who recognised him as Xue Ting's husband. Out of boredom, they decided to create trouble and approached Matthew and Qiu Wen.

"Aiyai, where is the pretty wife of yours?" The tall and lean man asked while another three surrounded the father and son. The duo shared a glance knowing they needed to fight as Matthew nodded in assurance to Qiu Wen who was discreetly setting his phone to record the conversation.

"Who are you to care?" Qiu Wen retorted.

"Oh come on, she had been single all this while. And his sister is so pretty till you came…" The same man commented on purpose to provoke anger.

"Why don't you stay further away from my sister and rot in hell?" Matthew vented in disgust which caused the man to scoff and signaled his buddies to start hitting the duo.

That was exactly what Qiu Wen wanted. For them to fight first and the duo hit back in defense instead of being the ones who initiated the fight. The moment the gang fought them, he knew he had already won.

Xue Ting was taking a break after a long day in the restaurant when her phone rang from an unknown number. She was so shocked that it was a call from the police asking for a guardian for Matthew who was caught in a fight. Before the police could explain further and tell her about Qiu Wen's involvement in the fight, she had already made her way after telling the police she would rush down immediately and hang up.

However, to her surprise when she arrived at the police station, she saw Qiu Wen among the ones being reprimanded. She was even more shocked to find the other four people had more severe injuries than Matthew or Qiu Wen.

Despite struggling to control her worry and anger, she forced herself to pay attention to the police explaining that the four people were claiming Matthew started the assault first. That was when Qiu Wen played the recording on his phone.

When the recording finished, Qiu Wen stood and raised his eyebrow at the four people. "They provoke my brother-in-law and verbally harass him first! They even threaten to harass my wife so we are only acting in defense." Qiu Wen emphasised the last sentence to the police officer.

That made the four people stand, ready to have another fight as they pushed Qiu Wen and Matthew who stood defending Xue Ting.

"Enough! So, what is the decision to make here now?" Xue Ting questioned the police officer.

"It's either they settle outside the court or get a lawyer. This recording will be a piece of evidence and it will take some time to analyse it." The police officer explained.

She glanced at the four persons who were still throwing insults at Matthew and Qiu Wen while some were looking at her with sly smiles which pissed her off.

"Shut up would you all! The four of you should be ashamed for being unwanted and yet harassing a minor! Be prepared to be charged by my lawyer!" Xue Ting threatened as she dialed Joy's number and hoped desperately for her to pick up.

She knew she had to put on an act as she did not want to bring the matter to court. It would be tremendously tedious and a waste of time.

"Hello, mummy?" Joy picked up fortunately as Xue Ting began her act.

"Hello, Mr. Archipelo. My husband and brother have caught into a small difficulty and wondering if you could come to help…" Xue Ting stopped midway when Qiu Wen stood to hold her behind him before the four people could reach out to her to stop her call.

"Mummy? What are you talking about? Is everything alright? Is there something wrong with Daddy and Xin Xin?" Joy questioned in confusion but Xue Ting was not listening.

Instead, Xue Ting walked in front of Qiu Wen and dared the four people to lay their hands on her. "Come, you dare to lay your hands on me in front of the officers and CCTV, then the case is gone. I don't even need my lawyer anymore." She threatened as the four men sat back down and finally agreed to settle out of court before she hung up on Joy. Joy who understood roughly the situation kept calling the trio's phone but no one picked up.

The police officer then allowed Matthew and Qiu Wen to leave with Xue Ting.

Xue Ting was furious as she stormed to the main entrance of the station. Her deepest fear came true and that was for Matthew to be injured and it must have been that he was still doing his part-time job at the bar. She blamed herself for being not attentive enough to Matthew when she suddenly felt a warm embrace from behind.

It was Matthew's gentle way of apologising. Matthew could feel her tense body relax a little before he began to apologise.

"I'm sorry, Mummy." His apology instantly melted her heart but she knew she had to teach them both a lesson.

"What are you both waiting here for now?! Your lawyer or meet those people for another fight?!" She snapped as they hurriedly scurried with her to the car.