Pei Li sat on the bed as Wayne poured her a glass of water before squatting, facing her. "Here, drink this." He instructed gently as she took the glass from him.
"Are… are you alright?" Pei Li asked in a little frightened tone, which amused him.
"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" He asked as he put some loose fringe behind her ear. She nodded with a smile, recalling Violet.
"You finally had fun with Violet?" He pointed out as she smiled even brighter.
"You really like her so much, don't you?" She nodded again with her eyes closed.
"More than me?" Wayne teased as Pei Li blushed, recalling he must have heard her conversation with Violet.
"Little Cloud, I will always love you…" Wayne held her hands in his as her gaze grew a little serious.
"I know…" Pei Li looked at him sadly, wondering how true it is.
"Pei Li… Whether it's Penny or Pei Ni back then, you are what matters now to me. Why didn't you tell me all that? It's fine, you know…" Wayne questioned as he gently patted her head.
"I didn't want to worry you. I have given you so much trouble from myself, Penny and even… Pei Ni…" Pei Li admitted as her gaze averted away from him.
"That's why I saved you. I kept you close… Cause you saved me too that night…" Wayne confessed as his eyes watered.
"What do you mean?" Pei Li asked worriedly.
"I wanted to protect you from back then. Did you know how much Pei Ni wanted me to look out for you? I thought I wouldn't see you again. So, I might as well just die… But the moment I saw you by the rooftop sitting alone, though it was Penny, I had a glimmer of hope again. The moment I saw you again the next day as my wife, though it was Penny, I didn't hesitate to agree to the marriage instantly. Cause it's you…" Wayne choked on his words as Pei Li studied his sparkling gaze with her eyes watering.
"Pei Li, I don't know what to say anymore to convince you how much I love you. I could take the blame for Pei Ni's death. I don't care cause all that mattered was you being safe. I know you could defend yourself, but let me. I am your husband now. I want to provide everything. I want…" Wayne was interrupted by an unexpected kiss on his lips as Pei Li quickly drew away.
Though they were startled, they both could feel each other's unspoken rush of love at that moment. Wayne pulled her in for a deep kiss this time, which she reciprocated, slow but matching his rhythm till they both were out of breath.
"Now do you believe me?" Wayne asked when they broke away for a moment.
"I never knew this… Penny never said anything." Pei Li whispered.
"Cause she didn't know. Only you do." Wayne admitted as Pei Li hugged him.
"I love you, Wayne. I never want you to be hurt in any way…" She said as he gently combed her hair.
"Me too…" He assured her while kissing her forehead before a loud thud from next door interrupted them.
"Should we go see? Violet wasn't very well earlier. She looked pale… Can I sleep with Violet tonight?" Pei Li asked worriedly as she tried to get out of bed impatiently when Wayne held her arm.
"Have you forgotten who your husband is?" He teased as she smiled, recalling their brief moment of confession earlier as she boldly stole another kiss from his lips.
"I will make it up to you later…" She said before heading to open the door to the next room. She caught sight of Violet being thrown to bed by Sam.
"What happened?" Pei Li worriedly climbed the bed to check on Violet before Sam could reply as Wayne stepped in.
"Oh no, she really had a fever… She must have caught a cold. She looked pale earlier." Pei Li fussed as Sam met with Wayne's gaze. Sam was surprised by how caring and detail-oriented Pei Li is that even he didn't notice the change in his sister.
"Where's Sebby?" Wayne asked Sam, noticing he was missing.
"He is caught in the other hotel…" Sam said. "What happened?" Wayne panicked as Sam held up his hand.
"His assistant came, and this woman managed to block her earlier…" Sam explained as Wayne frowned.
"Oh no, I think I should head back there too with him… It would be safer that way." Wayne suggested as Sam pondered with his gaze locked on his sick sister.
"Don't worry… I can look after her. We will come over tomorrow morning. You can stay with them." Pei Li assured Sam. Feeling reluctant, but due to circumstances, Sam passed Pei Li a packet of medicine.
"Remember to feed her before letting her sleep. I will come to pick you up later in the morning. Let her sleep in," Sam said as Pei Li nodded before the guys left.
Pei Li then nursed Violet, who began to stir awake. "Pei Li…How… where…" Violet's weak body was so heated that she couldn't think clearly of the events after she sat on the bench at the park earlier.
"Don't move. Your brother brought you here. He's with Sebastian and Wayne. Don't worry. We will head over tomorrow. Before that, you need to help me a little…" Violet opened her eyes a little to look at Pei Li, trying to feed her some medication.
Feeling safe, Violet let her and the next thing she knew, she was awake in the early morning stillness of 3 am.
Hmm… Where am I again? Why is it so dark? Violet moved a little to see the time and realised Pei Li was by her side when she wanted to switch on the side table lamp.
Right… Pei Li. The hotel. The boys… Sebby… How's he doing? Violet lay down, gazing out the window by the side of the bed, when Pei Li stirred awake.
"Violet… Are you feeling better?" Pei Li asked as Violet sat up, giving up sleeping, and switched on the night lamp.
"Yes… Thank you… I'm sorry I had to trouble you." Violet said as Pei Li shook her head while rubbing her eyes with a bright smile.
Her smile melts Violet's heart. She had never had anyone who liked her as much as she did. It felt nice to have a sister for once.
"It's alright… I used to look after my mother like this every time after my father left, from hitting her." Pei Li candidly told Violet, who was shocked for a second.
"Pei Li…" Violet pouted a little.
"It's fine, Vivi… I have Wayne now and all of you…" Pei Li said with the same bright smile which moved Violet to tears at her positivity.
She hugged Pei Li tightly. "Yes, that's right. There's me and everyone… I will always protect you, too. Tell me everything from now on, alright? Pei Pei?" Violet noticed her nickname earlier as she chose one for her, too. They both giggled together like little girls.
"Why don't we catch some drama? Lately, there's a good one about a very smart female lead who helped the male lead to solve the mystery of his past…" Violet, introduced as Pei Li, got excited.
"Oh, yes, please! Let's watch together!" Pei Li sat closer to Violet as they both enjoyed the show till early mornings.
Meanwhile, in the other hotel, while Sam and Wayne were asleep, Sebastian couldn't sleep a wink. Though Sebastian acted harshly earlier, he was worried for Violet. He didn't even notice she was pale, yet he kicked her out of his room.
After learning from Sam that he found her by the bench at the park, almost knocked out, his heart sank. He was half regretting his actions in the morning, but there was nothing he could do about it. It was for the betterment of their circumstances.
Or so…
When the crew began to gather for another scene the next day, where Sebastian's character was meeting with the suspected culprit of the sexual homicide, Violet was either standing around doing nothing but listening to spoiler gossips of the drama she and Pei Li were watching in the early morning or intermittently helping Pei Li.
"Don't you have anything to do?" Pei Li quickly whispered to Violet when they were sorting out the costumes.
Violet shrugged. "Someone assigned everything to his assistant. Now his assistant is rushing like mad…" Violet and Pei Li were both watching Fang Li running around while they giggled to themselves.
"You're also still recovering. Make sure you take your medication!" Pei Li reminded her before running off on errands as Violet stood outside under the sun for a little breather. Sam then walked up to her after finishing a phone call with Maliwei, who was about to finalise his book ready for publication.
"Why do you look so tired even though you slept so much?" Sam checked on her temperature by placing a hand on her forehead as Violet rolled her eyes.
"Stop being so stubborn. Go back to the hotel and sleep." Sam instructed, but she attempted to walk away. Sam held her back.
"Why would you bother after what you did with him? You have no idea what you both had just gotten into…" She said angrily while gritting her teeth.
"Everybody get ready!" The crew leader began to yell as Violet dashed off to a well-hidden spot under the tree to watch the filming this time.
She didn't know if it was the sunrays or cause she didn't see Sebastian for nearly a day, he never failed to capture Violet's heart with his dashing look. She didn't realise she was staring so intensely that when Sebastian spotted her and met her gaze, she absentmindedly smiled.
It took Sebastian by surprise, too, as he quickly looked away, stealing a smile. His heart was finally at ease at the surprised reaction she had, and he was glad she was looking fine from afar.