Violet brought the bowl over to Sebastian, who was sitting by the corner of the steps of the side entrance. He had been thinking of ways to try and appease Violet, cause he knew during the show he would easily get a stand-in, but that would only disappoint Violet.
"Here… Try…" She instructed gently as he sceptically accepted it and took a sip.
"How's it?" She asked as he blinked, trying not to show his honest reaction at the best effort she had put in to save the flavour.
"Exactly the same taste as my mother! Except it's a little too bland…" He added the last line through a mumble, noticing Violet's growing smile turning into a frown. She didn't buy his act at all as she snarled at him.
"I'm sorry… I now know the salt needs to be added according to taste." He explained as Violet sighed.
"It's not, isn't it?" Violet concluded.
"What?" He asked in return, confused.
"Your comfort food..." She was direct as he looked away, trying to avoid the topic if possible.
"Come on, you don't even like celery or coriander. You made a fuss about the smell. Then why choose this dish?" She nagged at him. He wanted to explain, but because he was caught off guard, he directed his dissatisfaction with his agency at her.
"Why would you care?" That verse alone from him stunned Violet for a moment as she began to doubt their promise to each other.
Though she knew he was angry and upset at himself for having to be at the mercy of his agency, she couldn't help but feel hurt by it. After a moment, he sighed, holding her hand, trying to apologise. "'Cause the company said so, and they set it up. It's fine, really."
He was trying hard to convince her that he was fine, though he was faking it. She could tell, but she couldn't find ways in the nick of time to comfort him or even improve his situation. Instead, she forced a smile as he shrugged.
"Honestly, this bowl was not bad. The coriander was indeed cooked till the flavor was gone. I can handle it." He smiled and was honest. Violet couldn't tell as she stood silently watching him trying to escape.
"Alright, I'm gonna take my well-deserved nap now!" He declared as he went back to their room.
Sebby, I know it's tough, but there are always ways to solve this. Violet thought to herself when an unexpected text message from Jade came.
Jade: Vivi, what's your current house address in Qi Tai? I have an urgent document to courier to Sam.
Without thinking much, Violet sent it to her before cleaning up the kitchen and letting Sebastian's situation bothering her mind the whole day.
Meanwhile, as Wayne was busy studying his script, Penny decided to write to Pei Li instead that night.
Pei Li, if you read this, could you tell me the reason you don't want to live? Didn't you know who saved us from that man? With him away, why do you still want to leave?
Can't you stay? Wayne needs you. He loves you very much. How could you just leave him to die? Death is not the end, Pei Li.
I didn't know you had a crush on such a great guy. Given the chance, I would have helped you stop him from leaving that night.
Pei Li, there's so much more in this world waiting for you. The world is so wide and there's so much to learn. Why don't you take the chance and use those raw art talents of yours to help Wayne with his career?
So, here, get yourself to this doctor. She will help you out like she did with me. She is safe, and you can be at ease with her. Don't forget to take your medicines.
Penny closed the book with Dr. Herli's name card. She saw it was 4 pm. It was the time Pei Li usually sleeps for her to wake. Penny wondered if she tried sleeping, would she be able to speak with Pei Li and coax her? As she closed her eyes and tried to drift off to sleep, she found herself wide awake, noticing her growing insomnia.
Pei Li, why are you resisting me? Why are you refusing to live your life?! Penny was frustrated that she swept the books on the table to the floor, alarming Wayne to come in and check on her. She was taking a penknife from Pei Li's pencil box, on the verge of slashing her wrist, only for Wayne to stop her.
"Penny! Stop! Don't!" Wayne held right at the blade of the pen knife as Penny's tears flowed down her cheeks when blood bled from his wound.
"Why?! Why is she refusing to wake up? Why is she resisting me? I'm not supposed to be here when there's no danger! Have you been harming her?!" Penny vented as Wayne held her tightly around his arm.
"No, I didn't, Penny. How could I? I care for both of you very much. Especially you..." He put down the pen knife she had let go before gripping a thick pile of tissue to stop his bleeding temporarily.
"Don't do this, Penny. Don't leave me too… I need you to still be by my side. Please..." Wayne pleaded as Penny met with his gaze before noticing his bleeding palm.
She began to regain her composure and ran to take the first aid kit box and helped him fix his wound.
"I'm sorry…" She apologised while helping to bandage his palm.
"It's fine…" Wayne mumbled in a little disappointment that he failed to give both Pei Li and Penny the security they needed.
"This will scar… It's bad…" Penny pouted as he gently patted his head.
"It will be fine. Don't do this again." He said sternly as she gazed into his dark eyes and nodded solemnly.
"I'm sorry…" She mumbled as he hugged her.
"I know it's tough, but you matter to me, too, Penny. Why don't we live in the present Pei Li has given us while she figures things out?" He pulled her away and met her gaze.
Her eyes were twinkling as he inched closer to try and kiss her, but she was fidgeting a little.
Instead, he kissed her forehead and slowly lowered his lips to her nose. Their noses rubbed momentarily, which helped her calm even further, before his lips brushed hers. By instinct, she slowly kept her lips apart as they tangled in a slow, gentle, lucid kiss for the first time. The next level Wayne had just upgraded them to was comforting their hurt souls, reminding them of how they both had been relying on each other from the very start at that rooftop.
As for Jade that afternoon, upon receiving the address from Violet didn't think twice to pack her bags and instantly took the next flight out to Qi Tai. By the time she arrived, it was a little past dinner time. Never in her wildest dreams that the next time she returned to Qi Tai, it would be to give up on her career and pursue the one thing she held preciously: Sam.
Jade had sought many ways to convince herself and thought she could handle filming with Carlson, who was clearly well protected by the agency for being their cash cow. However, upon reading the script the day before, she was already bothered by his inappropriate behaviour during their dinner gathering thereafter. She couldn't imagine how worse would it be when filming began. Though he claimed he was drunk but Jade felt he was crossing the line by wanting to force a kiss on her in front of everyone. Feeling infuriated, she slapped him before being reprimanded by his manager. She noticed her new manager didn't even dare to stand up for her as she left the reception.
Feeling lost, her heart yearned for one person. As she rang the doorbell at his house, she was nervous about his reaction. Sam had just finished showering when he heard the doorbell. He felt strange as he wasn't expecting anyone, as he sceptically made his way to open the door.
"Jade… How did you find me…" He was surprised to see her. He noticed her tired and upset look, and he knew something was wrong.
"I asked Violet…" She was trying to force a smile, but the sight of him made her tears fall freely as she pulled him in for a hug.
"Jade, what's wrong? Are you alright?" He tried to coax her to tell, only to find her weeping her heart out as he quickly closed the door behind him.
It felt surreal to be holding her again in his arms as he stood leaning against the main door while gently patting her back to soothe her.
As for Jade, she had not known how much she had held in her heart all this while. Just his simple gesture of quietly coaxing her to calm down was sufficient for her to tell that nothing had changed between them. At that moment, she finally understood how much he had done for her and how much they both had denied each other. As she sniffed and slowly met his worried gaze, he wiped away her tears.
"Feeling better?" He asked gently as she leaned on his chest. "What happened? Why are you here?" He asked worriedly as she met his gaze again. She stared deep into his hazel eyes, wanting to remember the feeling of security she had missed from him.
"Aren't you supposed to be filming?" He asked absentmindedly before putting a loose fringe behind her ears. Her eyes twinkled, realising he had always kept track of her.
"I, er…" Realising he had given himself away, he tried to cover himself up to no avail.
"I miss you, Sam. I need you..." Jade's bold admission left him dumbfounded.
"Don't deny me… I don't want to leave you. All I could think of was you. I tried forgetting you, Sam… But…" She started tearing up as Sam was holding back the urge to kiss her there and then, when all the memories of nursing Violet during her miscarriage crossed his mind. It reminded him of his guilt for leaving her alone to endure her abortion.
"I thought you were busy at work? You have a new drama… That's your future, Jade." Sam questioned, trying to distract himself.
"I don't need it anymore. Without you, I don't want to live. I don't…" Jade couldn't bring herself to say she didn't want to return cause she knew she had to tell him the reason. She drew a deep breath before looking directly into his gaze.
"Let's get married…" Her proposal once again kept him speechless.
He wanted to say yes for the longest time, but he knew better not to. However, his body was fighting him when he pulled her in for the long-awaited kiss. The passionate kiss alone was enough for both of them to know the strength of their love for each other was as it escalated to a passionate night in bed.