Chapter 38.2: You’re my only hope

"Nay it's alright..." She mumbled but she noticed the way he looked at her was changing from a happy face to a very upset look.

"Here or home. Now." Jason forced her as she obediently obliged and climbed into bed as he hugged her to sleep. With her in his embrace, he finally stopped pretending to be angry but instead hugged her tightly leaving Ivy a little confused if Jason was joking or serious.

"Thank you… it's so nice to have a huggable bear. Make me miss Lucky too…" He whispered after awhile as he could finally feel his eyelids were getting heavy. 

Before she could retaliate, she noticed he had fallen asleep as she continued to admire his peaceful look and fell asleep along; appreciating the last bits of moments being by his side.

Little did she know her father had made plans to finally see her after so long as Peter sent a message to notify Jason of his visit in two days' time just as Jason had suggested. Peter felt he could finally have a good rest at night after he made the decision and decided to tell his sons the next morning.

"Say what? Where are we going to see Ai Lee?" Ryu asked at his dad's shocking announcement of the location that he dropped his fork on the ground at the breakfast table.

"Hey… chill…" Jin scolded as he bent down under the table and picked up the fork before changing a new one at the kitchen for Ryu.

"Landsfield… Why? Isn't that place familiar to you?" Peter said nonchalantly as he bit into his toast. The boys had grown up independently without maids at home as Peter had never liked the idea of pampering the boys that they had a roaster for every chores in the house and they took turns to do it.

"It is… But I have been there so many times… How could I never bump into her…It is after all, a small town…" Ryu mumbled to himself. 

"Stop mumbling… Finish up and do the dishes. Head to school and come back to pack your bags. We are going to leave early tomorrow morning…Don't forget to apply for absence for the next two days." Peter instructed all the boys as they nodded.

"Ray…" Peter noticed he was quiet all the while and was zoning out. 

"Yes, dad?" Ray shook his daze away as he paid attention to his dad. 

"Don't forget to bring Daisy's kibbles along…" Peter initially wanted to ask him of his thoughts but decided he should let the boys have their own time to sort out themselves so he changed the topic to bring along their golden retriever, Daisy before leaving the breakfast table and heading to work.

"Yes, dad…" Ray replied audibly as Peter was walking away. Ray couldn't help but wondered what the nature of his elder sister would be and embraced the fact that he had another sibling he had to lookout for.

To begin with, he was never the eldest despite being in a mixed heritage family of the heterogeneous seletar people which was his dad's side and a typical Chinese family which was of his mother's side, the influence from the Chinese heritage was intense in their upbringing mostly due to their relatives. The first son regardless of which order he was born is considered the eldest even if there were daughters older than him. Ray never liked being the eldest as he felt the burden of hovering over the younger siblings and owning up to their mistakes. 

Although Peter never made it a point that the younger siblings' mistakes were also his, it seemed the paradigm had big influences on Ray as their relatives would usually compare him to his other cousins and siblings while imposing on him these beliefs. As he sighed in frustration, he didn't want his elder sister to go through the same that he was determined to protect her from the harassment of their relatives after this.

After exams, Ivy quickly rushed over to meet Marcel at the location he had texted her for an urgent meeting with one of their clients who had an impending large event with them. In actual fact, Jason had already delayed the meeting with them to next week in order to give way for Peter to reunite with Ivy and hoped for a favorable outcome on the merger. However, the client had gotten impatient and insecure with the delays so they sent their event manager to meet up with Jason to chase their final proposal only to meet with Marcel who had no choice but to bring along Ivy to the meeting to help him take down notes and come up with the proposal as a temporary backup thereafter.

"Do you think your firm is big enough to conduct such an event? It's a regional event. No doubt I do not question the credibility of your speaker…" The client questioned Marcel sarcastically as the meeting got intense after Marcel tried to explain their situation and stated that there has been not much progress while seeking the client's understanding. 

Marcel was a little taken aback as Ivy watched his confidence break a little. It has always been a concern to Marcel and Jason to expand the company but he has not had much luck with the independent investors as Marcel lamented and hoped Ivy would be understanding when her father came around to speak with her not only about their family bond but also about the investment in Jason's business. 

"Mr. Jing, I'm aware of your concern on the manpower we have... Am sure you're here today because of Mr. Rahi's credibility as a speaker and since the deal we offered comes in a package, we try our best to not disappoint. With that, will you allow us more time to sort out an updated proposal to address your concern? Perhaps, next Monday we will meet again to present to you the proposal." Ivy took over, noticing Marcel was already in a state of daze as she spoke articulately which surprised Marcel. Ivy couldn't read Mr. Jing's reaction well and decided to play safe in an attempt to buy more time.

"Mr. Jing, I hope you understand that we are in the midst of sorting out support for your event and with the unexpected accident Mr. Rahi met…" Mr. Jing raised a finger to silence Ivy from continuing before he stood. 

"You have till next Monday to come up with the updated final proposal…" Mr. Jing said as he walked away. 

"Thank you, Mr. Jing!" They both stood and said in unison. 

"Genius! Way to go! How did you pull that confidence? Anyway, sorry for dragging you out on a non working day." Marcel praised her. 

She sat with a motionless face as she worried and wanted to get started on the proposal. 

"It's alright… I am almost done with exams anyway. Let's go back to the office. I will work on the proposal and hopefully by evening, you can send it to Jason for a quick review." Ivy thought that her preparations for her last two papers were quite sufficient and she wanted to help Marcel, knowing how urgent it was. Marcel doubtfully walked to the carpark with her but he knew he didn't have a choice either as it was urgent.

"But, do you know how his meeting with the investor went? Because this project seriously needs a lot of manpower and funds which I heard the investor had both what was required. Besides, this event is just next month. He requires us to not just provide him with logistics support but also sound systems and security. The cost to hire and rent all these resources would require a large sum of deposit considering it's a four day event which is large-scale. They also invited a few local artists to participate in the performances. The carnival is no doubt raising donations and awareness for mental health for a good cause but if we can't get this investor, then perhaps we should look for man power and other consultancy firms for joint support. No doubt this event definitely makes money with your markup policies but you still need to have funds…" Ivy paused thinking if she should suggest it as Marcel raised an eyebrow waiting for her answer. 

"…a loan perhaps?" Marcel chuckled at her reply as they entered the car. 

"Go ahead and write in the notes to Jason to review then…As for the collaboration, if you're looking at a large corporation other than the investor, forget about it as everyone will avoid…" Marcel said while driving as Ivy started typing away on her laptop. 

"Why?" Ivy asked without stopping her typing. 

"Cause, his father will be the one who controls if he gets the help or not and knowing Jason, he would never beg him for it at all. He wanted to prove himself. This was a chance he had been waiting for all this while. All we could hope is that the investment would flow in smoothly." Marcel explained as Ivy nodded in acknowledgement while continued typing away.

Ivy already expected such an answer after all the stories Jason had shared with her previously. It was no wonder that Jason strived hard to be successful with his own effort instead.

As Marcel drove, he couldn't help but to think to himself while watching Ivy work so hard to rush the proposal. "It all depends on you, Ivy… You're the only solution in this proposal…"