Hoy looked at the window and was surprised to it was almost dawn. It was the third day of January which meant they had just one more night before they returned to their different lives.

He had been busy making some calls and exchanging mails throughout the night and hadn't realised when it was dawn.

He rubbed his heavy eyes as a sigh escaped his lips. He couldn't count the number of times he had stayed up like this during this trip. If his mother knew he was losing sleep, she was going to nag him nonstop.

First, he felt stuffy with all the clothes he was wearing and wanted to shower so he stood up and first pulled the coat he had worn the entire night. He was about to pull off his tshirt when he abruptly stopped and looked at the couch where Mr Ping had stirred awake. He had totally forgotten he was in the same room with him!

Mr Ping sat up and looked at Hoy groggily.

"Good morning." He greeted. "You didn't get any sleep last night?"

"I did." Hoy answered as he let go of his shirt.

"You didn't. I'll tell your mother." Mr Ping said while yawning.

As expected of him. Hoy thought. He wondered if this young man was his spy instead of his secretary.

"What did you find out yesterday?" Hoy asked the still sleepy young man.

"Oh! I saw that girl who gave me a teacup—"

"I wasn't asking about that. What did you find out about the person that sent Jo those stuffs? I was asking last night when you came in but you already dozed off."

"Oh!" He sat up and the sleep left his eyes when he remembered how rough last night had been.

"It was really crazy!" He said before looking around the couch for his phone but he found it inside his trouser pocket. Apparently, Hoy wasn't the only one who was still fully clothed.

He unlocked it and after opening his gallery, he stood up to show Hoy the picture Cixi had sent him.

It was a photo of the gift box, the contents inside it and another of the note.

When Hoy read the note, he frowned deeply.

He was both pissed and annoyed. How come no one told him about this? He had wanted to ask Joreen last night but he noticed how tensed and uncomfortable she looked with everything so he let it slide hoping Quincheng give him the full gist.

"Aunt Cixi said she left it back under the Christmas tree to bait whoever had left it there but whoever it was didn't fall for it. At least, they took a photo first before keeping it back. But I'm sure whoever it was was simply playing a stupid prank since they haven't done anything else since then."

Why can't they leave her alone? Was she the only girl here? Hoy wondered in frustration. She was already HIS for crying out loud!

"What are you thinking about? Are you jealous because a lot of men are showing interest in her?"

"Wei Young or Kim Kyle." Hoy interrupted Mr Pings's teasing.

"What?" He asked in confusion.

"It could be either of the two." Hoy said thinking seriously."

Mr Ping thought about it for a while before he nodded. "Makes sense. But what do we do? We can't just go accuse them without proof."

"I know." Hoy said with a frustrated sigh.

"You really need to rest. We will figure something out. We came for a vacation for goodness sake but it's always one problem or the other!" Mr Ping said exasperatedly.

"What were you saying about the teacup girl?" Hoy asked curiously.

"Oh... about that. I saw her last night before the whole drama. I think she has been deliberately hiding from me. So I intercepted her before she could run away. Well... she apologized and told me she didn't know about the 'gifts exchange' until that day so she couldn't get anything. She promised to get me something nice after this vacation and asked for my number. I was just about to hand my phone over to her when I received a call from your mother asking me to come over." He ended with a sigh.

"You look really disappointed. You have a crush on her too? Since you go about now having a crush on every young woman you see."

"What do you mean by 'every young woman I see' you make it sound like I am old. You are even older than me with five good months!" He said, feeling offended.

"I'll go shower. Get us both two cups of coffee. We have a lot to do today." Hoy said as he walked pass Mr Ping.

"Do I look like your slave? I won't!" He huffed, folding his hands across his chest rebelliously.

Hoy turned to smirk at him. "Maybe you would like a salary slash this new year right? The HR team would send you a message."

Just like always, he expected Mr Ping to run out to go fetch the coffees but he was standing there, looking at him with confusion. Or rather, looking at his neck.

"What... is that?" Ping Quincheng asked in a whisper as he walked closer to him but Hoy quickly remembered and used his hand to cover his neck.

"What?!" He snapped at him.

"I don't believe an insect bit you there. What did you do?" He asked accusingly. "You are already cheating on Joreen when she hasn't even accepted you yet?"

Surprisingly, Mr Ping looked really pissed as he kept trying to see what Hoy was trying to hide.

"Firstly, you are not making sense and secondly, you are supposed to call her Miss Luo." Hoy said, trying to escape. Why was Mr Ping suddenly sounding like he was his father and Joreen's godfather?

"I am! That is an hickey right there!" He reduced his voice when he said the last part. "Who was it? Cause I definitely know it wasn't Joreen and before a hickey would be in your neck, it means you must have had a really hot make out session with whoever the lady is."

Ping Quincheng waited for Hoy to answer. But when he noticed how embarrassed Hoy looked, something struck him and his eyes shone.

"That... was Jo's handiwork?" He gasped!

*******

That evening, Heya was leaving her room to go join the rest of the family in the hall where they were supposed to have a grand family dinner together but when she stepped out of her room, she saw Shen leaving the opposite room. Suyin, who was seeing her brother out locked eyes with Heya. Suyin looked away immediately and went back inside her room, locking the door after she got in.

Her brother looked at the closed door before looking at Heya.

"Sorry." He apologized awkwardly.

Heya shook her head and smiled sheepishly. She would be a terrible person to expect Suyin to forgive her and treat her as a friend after everything.

"How are you doing?" Shen asked as they began to walk. Since they were both leaving through the same direction, they couldn't just walk silently. "I feel like I am partly at fault for all that happened. If only I hadn't approached you on New Year's day. This whole issue wouldn't have blown up by now—"

"Not at all!" Heya interrupted. "It was bound to happen anyway."

"But not in the way it happened. It would have been handled in a more civilized manner than what happened. So I apologize for myself, my sister and also on behalf of my parents."

Heya smiled sadly. "I'm sorry. You are always so nice to me and—"

"We are friends." He interrupted. "Right?" He stopped and looked at her.

She also stopped walking and nodded faintly.

"I like you and I'm sure you know so. But the heart always want what it wants. And we already agreed to be friends so I should still perform my... should I say 'friendly' duties?" He said with a short laugh that also made her laugh.

They resumed walking and Shen was the first to break the silence again,

"The Zhu elders actually met with us last night to apologize for everything. I also heard from my sister that Liang came to speak with her before his parents came to meet ours. So I think you should go ahead and do what makes you happy without any form of guilt. Some people lose while some gain. You shouldn't be sulking when you are the one gaining." He sent a wink to her and got her smiling.

"Thank you." She said sincerely. She couldn't imagine what would have happened had she been dealing with vengeful siblings.

"Any time Li Heya." When he got to where they were both supposed to part, he stood and extended a hand to her.

"Not sure we'll meet again today or even after we land tomorrow, but I want you to know it was a pleasure meeting you Miss Li Heya. I hope we keep in touch and meet again someday."

Heya looked down at his hand before she shook it.

"It was a pleasure meeting you too Mr Yan Shen. I'll make sure to watch all your games from now."

He laughed. "I hope I don't disappoint."

They smiled at each other before they both withdrew their hands.

"Goodbye Li Heya."

"Goodbye." Heya returned sadly.

******

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I HOPE YOU ALL ENJOYED THE STORY? THERE ARE A FEW MORE CHAPTERS BEFORE THIS BOOK ENDS. REMEMBER I MENTIONED THIS IS A SHORT BOOK WITH ONLY A 100+ CHAPTERS AND I DO NOT PLAN TO EXCEED IT.

I MIGHT WRITE ANOTHER SEQUEL WHICH IS GOING TO FOCUS ON LI QUEEN AS THE FL. SHE IS REALLY A TROUBLESOME CHARACTER SO IT IS GOING TO TAKE A LOT. LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK IN THE COMMENT BOX. THANKS!