Chapter 61.1: If you had one more chance, what would you do?

Ivy was getting used to her new life in Landsfield over the past few months that the sudden need to return to Manes for exams gave her goosebumps as though the moment she left Landsfield, she would wake up from this sweet dream. Apart from being occupied with managerial coordination work and coping to catch up on her weak subjects for exams, she continued to tag along with Nick on his weekend emcee jobs like how she used to with Jason. 

Standing by the same spot she once did with Jason had Ivy reminisce about the better days shared with Jason as she stood withstanding the agony in her heart. She could never deny Jason still held a special place in her heart despite trying to not think of him. Nick noticed Ivy went missing after the event ended and wondered if she had gone outside. He stepped out of the hall to find Ivy deep in her thoughts as he approached her with a jump scare. 

"BOO!" Nick greeted as Ivy chuckled and smirked at him.

"I could hear your heavy footsteps from miles away…" Ivy teased as Nick chuckled and stood by her side. Nick smiled briefly but could tell Ivy's mind was nowhere else except at Jason like how his thoughts often lingered around Nancy. 

"A penny for your thoughts?" Nick teased as Ivy looked away with a sad smile. "I'm heading back to Manes next week for my finals…"Ivy said solemnly as Nick drew a deep breath and nodded. They both knew the people they wanted to meet were in Manes and all this while staying in Landsfield was using work as an excuse to escape and forget about Nancy and Jason. 

"Have you thought of meeting him just once?" Nick asked as he watched the twinkling skies above him.

Ivy drew in a deep breath before releasing it as a sigh. "Have you thought of meeting her just once too?" Nick chuckled at how unexpectedly Ivy's answers were. "You're unpredictable indeed…" Nick mumbled as Ivy smiled. 

"I did… In fact, I'm heading back next week for my finals. I know I might not be able to avoid him either as Manes is such a small town. I just wonder if he knew I would be back, would he still be excited about it…" Ivy forced a sad smile as she paused momentarily. "Funny how back then when I was by his side, I always thought of the days when I would leave him. Here I am, in the midst of doing so yet am still holding on." Ivy explained as she stood motionless.

"I did too. I constantly have her in my mind but I know I can't appear in front of her else it would only be detrimental to her mental health and worsen the burden on Jason. I long for her to tell Jason to get me by her side. I would anytime and anywhere jump over to replace Jason but… The person whom she longed for was never me…" Nick's explanation made the both of them stand in silence in the peaceful night momentarily. They both tried to come to terms with the fact that the person they loved was never meant to be theirs in the first place. 

"Have fun in Manes. Complete the finals and come back here. I will be waiting for you." Nick comforted as Ivy nodded and smiled. She knew by the time she returned it would be her family's Christmas party and it would be when she had decided to tell Jason the truth.

The next morning, at the airport, while Andrew and Sandra were in the waiting area to board the plane with Ivy, their phones were spammed continuously with messages from Belinda, Lance and Laura. They were trying to get Ivy's attention to join them in their study group. 

Ivy, who was oblivious to what was going on, was reading a crime novel as usual for ideas to write in her exam composition. She had muted her phone now that her family knew where she was and her friends were with her. So, she practically did not need to pay much attention to her phone as Jason has not been finding her at all lately and if Nick finds her, his messages can wait. Despite being indulged in her novel, she couldn't help but wonder why Andrew and Sandra's mobiles were so busy vibrating with messages when they both clearly weren't typing on their mobile. Feeling irritated, she put down her book and raised an eyebrow at the both of them who were staring awkwardly at her. The messages came in non-stop as Ivy furrowed her eyebrow.

"Read your phone to find out who it is…" Andrew said as he rolled his eyes. Ivy was surprised at their reaction as she quickly check her mobile and saw Laura was spamming "hello" in the group chat. As she scrolled up to the first message, Lance invited all of them into the chat room for a science subject discussion. Ivy held her head in her palm as she closed her eyes and thought about her impending decision of breaking away from the trio. 

"We definitely do not want to get involved with them. So we are leaving the group chat. It's up to you if you want to…" Sandra said in an upset tone, half wishing Ivy could get back to her senses and make wise decisions. 

Ivy thought it was too last minute and they should stick to their tight schedule although she was appreciative of Lance's effort. Ivy raised a finger at the both of them to indicate giving her a minute.

Ivy decided to give a call to Lance instead. She knew Laura and Belinda would have gathered with him as she put them on loudspeaker. 

"Hello!" Lance greeted cheerfully. Ivy was about to greet him in return but quickly got interrupted.

"Took you all long enough to reply. This is a crucial time so stop wasting our time. Just a yes or no, we will know what to decide on." Belinda bitched over the speaker.

"Belinda stop! Talk properly!" Lance scolded. Ivy haven't got the chance to talk yet but Belinda had already successfully agitated every single one of them other than Laura. 

"No!" Andrew bellowed back as the entire room of passengers was looking at Ivy, Andrew and Sandra. 

"There. You had your freaking answer, numbskull good for nothing princess! Do you know who is asking for the favor now for you to cut by an opening line like that?" Andrew retaliated furiously as the three of them stood in unison the moment Andrew stood.

Sandra and Ivy both held on to Andrew from going overboard but they knew it was already too late as they both tried to not create a scene. 

"Andrew, chill it!" Sandra whispered embarrassingly. 

"After all this time, all of you were pretenders taking advantage of Ivy for money and looking down on both Sandra and myself. That's fine with me honestly but harassing us and trying to mess around with our future, screw it, Belinda! Ivy doesn't need a friend like you!" Andrew pressed the hung-up button.

"Andrew!" Both Sandra and Ivy called out in unison.

He was furious but Sandra noticed he had finally said all he wanted to vent all along. 

"You need to calm your wits down, Andrew." Sandra teased as she passed him a bottle of water.

Ivy sighed as she took a seat in front of them both. A beep of notification sounded in unison from three of their phones. They had a look and saw that Belinda, Laura and Lance had left the group chat. Ivy sighed a breath of relief as she mumbled. "Good riddance." She instantly deleted the whole chat room which indicated that was the end of their fake friendships. 

"Well, it's fine. What's done is done. We need to stay focused for next week and it's the three of us till the end. Happy now?" Ivy smiled as the three of them broke into laughter when they realised Ivy wasn't upset and giving in to those friends anymore. 

"I know. I know you all have been waiting for this for the longest time. I'm sorry I was actually pondering on ways to end the friendship amicably for way too long and this happen I suppose it's a good thing. I involved both of you with friends from my past whom I chose to keep just for the company even if I had to let them take advantage of me because I had always believed a soul is better than the air. But I was wrong. You both proved me wrong." Ivy smiled as Andrew and Sandra went over to her seat and gave her a hug.

"Thank you and I'm sorry, I should have done this long ago." Ivy stood back and bow in apology as Andrew and Sandra stood to mess up her hair.

"Hey! That's enough!" Ivy couldn't fight them both as she let them continue messing with her hair while laughing. "What about Jane? Have you approved her?" Sandra asked remembering Ivy was also pondering about it a few days ago. 

"Oh speaking of that, why not just approve her now since it's a good day," Ivy said as she accepted Jane's friend request instantly without hesitation. "Losing some friends but gaining a genuine friend isn't that bad at all," Ivy told herself.

Ivy was upset that she had to end the friendship that way with the trio but knew she has to accept the fact that she cannot fulfill every request and happiness. Genuine friendships were something she learned to embrace as a new learning curve. A few genuine ones were better than a dozen of fake ones with intention. She knew eventually when Belinda, Lance and Laura were much older, someday they would look back and realize the same things as she did. She wouldn't blame them but only hope for the best for them.

"Boarding time! Let's go!" Andrew cheered as the trio happily skipped their way into the plane as they head back to Manes for their finals. 

Meanwhile back in Landsfield, James was notified by his underlings on Jeremy and Charles matters. It came unexpected to James that Peter had decided to assign Charles' construction company to participate in the refurbishment of Manes's old town project. He wondered what had Charles done to convince his wise brother to make such a rash decision.

He has been suspicious as he told his underlings to keep an eye while he decided to have some tea with Peter. "Brother, what brings you here today? You must be too busy enjoying life that I thought, you would have forgotten all about your brother." Peter greeted James' unexpected visit as James maintained a straight face and quickly took a seat. Peter knew it must be something urgent as he sat on the opposite side facing James. 

"Peter, I have heard the refurbishment of Manes' old town is in progress. Have you gotten people to pay close attention to the works being done there considering you're still here in Landsfield?" James pestered as Peter chuckled and sipped his tea. 

"You must be concerned about the construction company…" Before Peter could continue, James interrupted. 

"Brother, how could you even let Charles into this project? You're always so wise that I never expect you to meddle with Charles' business." James vented as Peter raised his hand to calm James down.

"Remember that fella Charles brought along once, Jeremy? He is the brother of my business partner, Jason. I am testing the water. I have my safeguards ready. I know what to do later." Peter reassured James but James still felt something wasn't right as Charles seemed to have been making bold investments alongside Jeremy. However, James knew it was pointless to tell his brother and instead thought about finding Ivy since the Rahis were introduced by her. 

"Where have your kids been lately? I haven't seen them around much…" James prompted as he took a sip of tea. "They are all busy with their finals preparation. Ivy had returned to Manes for a week. Speaking of which, don't forget to drop by for the annual Christmas party in two weeks' time." Peter reminded him as James felt he needed to head to Manes to speak with Ivy as he continued to get his underlings to monitor the project. The following week was tough for Ivy as she easily tensed up with her science subject. Considering the brothers were also taking their finals in Landsfield, Ivy took over Ray's task in Manes. Every single morning she looked forward to meetings online with Marcel and also her brothers as it helped to take off her mind from her studies. However, when work was done, she felt miserable especially when they tried to study Science. She tried to hide her frustration away from Andrew and Sandra during the day and would hide in her grandma's glasshouse at night attempting to remember her science notes which happened to be her last paper. 

Jason was always updated by Marcel daily on the company's matters although most operational jobs were done by Marcel and assisted by Ray while talks were by Nick. Marcel eventually updated about Ivy taking over Nick's job temporarily as they were all sitting for their finals and Ivy is back in Manes. 

The piece of news was the happiest in Jason's heart. He instantly arranged to leave the hospital briefly and drove to Ivy's grandma's place. On the way, he reminded himself to pack her favorite mung bean cake. Even though he wanted to see Ivy so badly, a glimpse of her presence was enough for him as he couldn't leave the hospital too long else Nancy would be paranoid. 

He walked around and saw the house light was switched on but there weren't any slippers at the main door. He peeped inside the glass house too but it was too dark to spot Ivy who had fallen asleep. He decided to leave the mung bean cake at the main door knob instead and left with a little disappointment but he told himself he would be back more often, perhaps every night she was here. 

Ivy noticed someone was outside as she pretended to fall asleep but as usual, she didn't bother who it was. She wanted her usual solitary after such a long time always being surrounded by her brothers or friends. Besides, if it was Andrew or Sandra, they would have noticed she was in the glasshouse if they couldn't find her in the house. Somehow, she tried to recall the lessons taught by Andrew and Sandra but it just upset her more as her mind went blank. Instead, she slowly drifted asleep.