Chapter 66.1: To change your destiny

Warning: This chapter contains content that may not be suitable for some readers 

On Ivy's birthday after dinner with Cassandra, Andrew, Sandra, and her family, she decided to go on a drive alone, up to the hilltop where she once was taught how to waltz by Jason. Just for one night, she felt she needed to relive the memories as her heart yearned for Jason despite acting all tough with her dad's company crisis. 

It was her first birthday filled with so much love and people around her but yet the one who had given her all that, was not by her side. She stood by the fences watching the beautiful lighted Landsfield town and wished the gentle breeze blew by could ease all of her troubles away as she imagined herself waltzing with Jason again on the hilltop.

With everyone by her side wanting to keep her safe and protected, none of them knew Jeremy and Nancy had made an agreement behind their back. Nancy's hired investigator had been tailing Ivy's car that night to the top of the hill. None of them expected the least harmful person to be the one who initiated Jeremy's first step to get closer to Ivy. 

Even Jin who had been in intense discussions with Uncle James every time they met had not paid close attention to Jeremy's movement lately. The three brothers had gone to meet with James at Cassandra's disguised boutique leaving Peter by himself after dinner again that night. 

After receiving updates from the brothers about Ivy's mediocre birthday dinner and her trip to the hilltop, Nick became even more restless. His bad gut feeling the entire night made him couldn't concentrate on finishing up some work on his last night in Manes for the week. Nick's birthday message to Ivy was acknowledged with a simple thank you earlier that day. He knew Ivy wasn't herself today as she would usually continue with small talk with him throughout the day but today she was reticent. He decided he should pay a visit to Nancy that night since he was in Manes as he informed Jason who was in Landsfield of Ivy's destination. 

Jason had been idling in his hotel room as he nervously waited for news from Nick. When he received the text message, he excitedly drove his way to the hilltop. The memories of teaching Ivy waltz there crossed his mind and was glad that it was the one thing he had never regretted doing. 

When Jason arrived at the hilltop, Ivy who was drowning in her imagination, turnaround at the sound of a roaring car's engine to find herself in disbelief. She wondered if she had fallen into her paracosm as she pinched herself and felt the piercing pain. She rubbed her eyes many times watching Jason run over to pull her in a hug. 

Only when she felt the warmth of his hug, did she realise it was really Jason in front of her. Jason sighed in relief at being able to hug her again as they both stood in silence momentarily, letting go of every inch of sadness and longing. There was so much they both wanted to say to each other but with just one hug, they both understood the messages they both had longed to tell each other.

"Happy birthday…" Jason mumbled as he let go of his embrace to have a good look at her. Her chin was sharper than before and her body was getting slimmer but toner with all the martial training from Ray as he wiped away her tears. 

"You shouldn't be here. How did you find me?" Ivy asked furiously in disguise of being worried. 

"I know your deal with Nancy and why you're staying away from me. Listen, sweetie, it's not your call this time. Jeremy can get ruthless although he has no brain. Let me be the one to protect you this time. I will ensure I fix the problem your dad is facing but I need to keep you by my side. Only then will I be at peace to fight with my brother. He has gotten used to want to have everything I owned and with this, it meant you will be in danger too…" Ivy couldn't control her tears from falling freely on their own as Jason clarify. Jason struggled to wipe her overflowing tears away. 

"I will never give up on us till I give it a try. I will do my best to keep you safe and turn things back to how it was supposed to be for your family. Even if… I have to take the downfall." Jason explained as Ivy hugged him and wept even more. 

She realised she had been holding on for too long; the longing for Jason or enduring her lost way in trying to save her family business or taking the blame for being too useless to protect her family and ending up putting herself in a dangerous position. The thought of Jeremy being the culprit in Jason's grandma's death made her feel even guiltier. 

"I'm so useless… I don't know what I should do, Jason… Daddy must have made sacrifices and …." Ivy tried to tell him about the truth of his grandma's death but she couldn't bring herself to do it as Jason held her while she wept.

"You have me now… You always do. So, please don't push me away anymore. I want to be by your side. You do not only have me in this case. There's also Marcel and Nick. We adults will ensure you and your brothers are well taken care of. Whatever Jeremy is planning, I promise I will turn the tables around." Jason said with conviction. Ivy could finally feel herself being at ease as she held on tightly to Jason and let go of all that she had been holding on to. 

It wasn't a moment she had expected as she didn't realise she had been shouldering all the responsibilities of her family and she hadn't had anyone as understanding as Jason to speak about her issues. She always told herself to stay strong as she was the eldest and should not be showing her weak side. However, she was after all still an inexperienced young teenager who needed support. 

Jason took out the infinity pendant necklace he had kept for a long time and finally put it on her. She held on to the pendant and knew it was the one she saw during her college camping trip. 

"I have kept this long enough. It's finally with its' owner." Jason said as Ivy smiled widely in the midst of her teary eyes before he kissed her forehead. The gentle breeze earlier was getting stronger as it brought drizzles to them. The couple ran over to his car's back seat before the heavy downpour came. Recalling the same previous scene, Ivy chuckled in the car watching the rain.

"What's so funny, sweetie?" Jason asked playfully as he wiped her dry with some tissues. 

"This isn't exactly the first time we sat here together under the rain," Ivy said as Jason smiled and gently nudged her nose. He noticed her shimmering pink bracelet was not on her wrist this time and got worried knowing it was meant to keep her from her nightmares. 

"Where's your shimmering pink bracelet?" Jason asked while he showed her his shimmering green bracelet.

"I took it off…" Ivy said as she fidgetted to look for it in her bag. 

"Why? It was to keep you from having nightmares…" Jason asked worriedly. 

"Have you been constantly having sleep paralysis lately? Do you sleep well? How are you adapting to your new home?" Jason questioned worriedly as her eyes twinkled at the sight of him worrying about her and felt butterflies in her stomach.

Ivy giggled at the imaginary tickling feeling she felt trying to hold back her tears. "Don't keep giggling… I'm serious…" Jason scolded as Ivy instantly hugged him with her eyes reddened. 

She had been longing to tell him about Uncle James and her brother's mission as well as the truth about his grandma's death but she just couldn't bring herself to do it that night knowing just how worried he would be as he fussed with her over a bracelet. 

"I'm fine… the bracelet wasn't a good match to my formal attire so I took it off but I do bring it along with me." Ivy lied. 

"Wear it when you're going to bed. Else I will make sure to sleep by your side every night." Jason scolded playfully as he took it from her hand and helped her wear it back on her wrist while she continued to giggle. 

"I'm not going home tonight…" Ivy said as she wrapped her arms around his waist while he put away some fringe covering her forehead. 

"No one is… Not in this rain…" Jason said gently as he kissed her forehead and she beamed blissfully in his arms before falling asleep by his side.

When Ivy opened her eyes again, the next thing she knew she was standing on floating clouds with Phoenix holding out his hand to her. She spun around to see the room door was numbered 22. 

Phoenix's voice echoed. "May I have this dance?" Ivy was touched as she took his hand with her hand holding on to the bouquet of marigolds he plucked earlier. They both waltzed around the floating clouds while Phoenix led her on the mythical dance thereafter. Ivy didn't know the steps but could feel her body naturally fall into place with the dance steps as she twirled around the floating clouds with Phoenix. 

Ivy noticed in one corner, there was a cotton cloud castle. It was a spectacular view with the clear blue sky illuminating the lovely floating clouds. Ivy felt free for once as though she had left a huge burden behind. 

Though Phoenix's face was shielded with a mask, he tried to control his emotions from being overwhelming as in his mind, he was taking Ivy on their one last dance. He knew it would get tougher as they both crossed more doors. With each door they enter, a little of Ivy's memories will dissipate away and he hoped by the time they get to the last three doors, Ivy would have lost all of their memories together. That way, it would be less painful for her to carry on with life and be the one who lost all her sanity. It was the only fair ending Phoenix could think of for all her sacrifices for him in their past lives. 

"Ivy, remember this moment. I will always love you." Phoenix echoed although he knew she couldn't. Ivy beamed delightfully in front of him as they continued to waltz, forgetting the fact that she had fallen into his trap to drink the potion which would make her lose her memories. 

For the first time, Ivy woke by Jason's side peacefully with a blissful smile as she traced his chin and eyebrows. He woke up to the tickling feeling moments later and saw the rain had stopped. It was early dawn as he checked the time. 

"Had a great dream?" Jason teased as Ivy nodded with a yawn.