While boarding the flight back to Lagopool, Sam noticed Violet's right upper arm was bruised as he gently lifted and accidentally pressed the bruise.
"Ouch!" Violet yelped in pain as Sam gently rubbed her bruise. "How did you get this?" He asked while panicking.
"Ah… must be when I slipped off the railings of the boat yesterday…" Violet sat on the middle seat next to Sam's aisle seat before he pressed on her bruise gently to reduce the blood clot as she cringed in pain. Violet stopped his hand after enduring for awhile as he let her rest on his shoulder.
"Can we not head back?" She pouted as he frowned at her question for the umpteenth time since she woke this morning.
"Vi… It's going to be a quick one. We will head to Qi Tai thereafter. I will source more jobs for you to take up. Turn your alternate ID into a platform where people can look for you to work on events." Sam tried distracting her as she quickly obliged and updated her ID.
At the sight of the pictures she posted, they reminded her of the photographer, Sebastian. She began to miss him and the good times they shared. She smiled, feeling grateful to have a memory safely kept away from this trip.
"What's this?" Sam asked, noticing her clover tattoo. "A tattoo…" Violet proudly told him.
"No, you didn't Vi! How could you when you're afraid of needles?" Sam studied her tattoo and admired the craftsman.
"Well, she ain't that little anymore, and it was Sebby's brother-in-law who did it for me." Violette continued to admire her tattoo while Sam realised she was right.
She was no longer that quiet and obedient sister anymore. She was beginning to lean into her wild and energetic side, which their mother wanted to nurture back then before she left, only to be suppressed by their father soon after. He could only hope for her to be stronger moving forward, as handling their father would be an arduous journey.
Violet dreaded the entire trip back to her father's apartment as Sam held tightly to her hand and led her into the house, leaving her no way out. Their father was enjoying his cup of coffee while listening to the radio and reading the newspaper by his sun chair when he began to fume at the sight of Violet.
"Dad…" Both siblings called him in unison.
He stood, throwing the newspaper at her.
"How dare you come back here again?! You really didn't want to live, did you? How could you simply announce your divorce at New Year's Eve dinner?! Do you know how unlucky that is to both families?! Disgraceful!" Violet endures the scoldings from her father while gripping tightly to her palm.
"This is not how I have taught you, Chu Chi Fei!" He scolded her till he was coughing a little badly that Sam rushed to the kitchen and returned with a cup of warm water.
"This isn't a marriage he wanted... What do you expect me to do?" Sam did not expect Violet to retaliate in her growing louder mumbles.
"It's your responsibility as the wife to ensure the household is well taken care of, like your mother did!" Her father continued with the scolding. The moment she heard him dragging her mother, she became furious.
"Like she did? She is dead now! So, you expect me too, to die like your wife?" Violet vented as Sam held her arm.
"Vi… stop." Sam stopped her from going further. Their father was on the verge of slapping her, only to be reprimanded by Sam.
"Drink some… Calm down…" Sam said gently to their father, who then took a sip.
"Don't ever forget how she sacrificed to take care of me and him, while what did you do?! Leave this house and work till her funeral, you never attend! You call yourself a good husband?! Shame on you!" Violet vented with her gritted teeth.
"Now you have wings to fly, don't you? Good. Leave! Get lost! Don't ever return to this house again!" Her father began to chase her out of the house that even Sam could not appease him.
"Dad… stop… Dad, don't be so harsh…" Sam tried to appease him, only to be locked outside of the house together with Violet.
Violet had been realising she was being over sensitive lately that even Sam found her tearing up too often. He knew she was probably holding on for too long and it was where she had let go of everything all at once.
He could only gently pat her back to comfort her as she cried when he led her back to his car. The only place he could think of to head to was his condominium with Jade. He texted Jade to trouble her for abit while Violet was still sobbing quietly at the passenger seat. Jade instantly agreed since she too wanted to see Violet since it was still Chinese New Year.
When they arrived at Sam's condominium, they had to discreetly use the back door to enter and avoid paparazzi. When Jade heard the door lock's pin being keyed in, she leapt off the couch to open the door.
"Violet!" Jade greeted her with a huge hug as Violet let her pull her into the house while Sam got his room ready.
"Happy New Year…" Jade said excitedly as she helped to dab Violet's eyes dry. "Happy New Year…" Violet mumbled.
"Uncle was harsh?" Jade questioned as Violet did not want to worry her so she shook her head.
"Stay strong, alright?" Jade hugged her, knowing it was a lie.
Violet nodded while Sam returned to the living room.
"Sorry to trouble you, Jade…" Sam began as Jade smiled and shook her head, releasing Violet.
"Stay as long as you need. I will start working from tomorrow and will be so busy with so many events since it's the festive season. Just remember to stay in disguise…" Jade's reminder was directed at Sam as he nodded.
"We will be leaving for Qi Tai probably beginning of next week cause there's an event end of next week." Sam updated while seated next to Violet and helped to comfort her.
"Oh, you got a job so soon?" Jade asked, sounding a little upset but trying to hide it.
"Not really. It's just her helping out with our comic artist friend's event as his emcee." Sam updated as Jade smiled happily.
"Aww, you're finally pursuing your dream job!" Jade cheered as Violet smiled a little.
"Thank you… Sorry for troubling you." Violet finally managed to say something as Jade smiled and hugged her.
"Anything for you. After all, your brother has helped me out a lot. This gesture is nothing compared to him." Jade's words somewhat made Violet feel there were hidden meanings only both of them understood, but she had enough on her plate to bother much with them.
Instead, she asked if she could take a walk down to the park to sort out her thoughts. Sam and Jade reluctantly let her go, knowing she indeed needed space alone after all that she had denied during the past few days.
"She will be fine… I will get ready to follow her…" Sam comforted Jade, who was staring at the closed main door worriedly for a long while. She wanted to chase after her, but she knew the paparazzi were hot on their heels.
"The papers were filed and…" The word finalised was hard for Jade to tell him suddenly as she swallowed a huge lump in her throat.
"Hmm… Good that it's finalised. No one will figure us out since I might be based in Qi Tai from now on…" Sam could not bring himself to say the word divorce to Jade either. The departure announcement made Jade's eyes twinkle with disappointment.
"You found a job?" She quickly asked.
"Potential one… Still in discussion…" He updated casually, trying to suppress his guilt.
"Will… What…" Jade could not figure out what she wanted to know as she struggled with their awkwardness.
"Don't worry. If you have any issues, my number will still be the same. Make sure you take good care of yourself." Sam concluded before heading into his room to put back on his wig to chase after his sister.
Before he could open the main door, he stayed by Jade's door and could hear her suppressed cries. He swallowed away his guilt and left the house quickly as Jade's cries turned into wails when she heard the main door open and close as though he was already leaving the house permanently.
While walking, Violet scrolled her channel and was glad there was more traffic. She decided to do a live podcast. Practically she knows no one was listening but she just wanted to vent somewhere.
"Hello! Hello, my fans! It's been a while since I, Vi's V, activated this channel. Been travelling lately and thought I should drop a word or two to keep this channel alive." Violet began her live podcast.
"So, today we are just gonna talk about a random topic with some invited guests." She introduced and noticed there was still no one listening.
Sebastian who was on the way back to Qi Tai after finalising his business ideas saw an update from Violet's site. He tuned in right away.