After sorting out her thoughts, Xu Mey came out of her room in good spirits. She looked like spending time on her own allowed her to understand somethings better. She looked determined and rejuvenated.

  But when she noticed the hubbub in the living room downstairs, she was startled for a moment. She wondered if there was a gathering planned today? How come she didn't know anything about that? Maybe it was impromptu? She shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly, for now, her focus was to get to her family.

  But as soon as she came down, she was hugged by her mother-in-law who cried out sadly, "My poor Mey!" Xu Mey was taken aback. What happened? But unbeknownst to her reaction, He Susu continued, "It isn't your fault then why did you lock yourself up? Why stop eating? It should be Jie feeling guilty for making you cry. But don't worry, I already went to him in the morning. I'll go again in the evening and drag him here to apologize to you."

  Xu Mey's expressions finally changed, "Mom, what did you say to Ah-Jie in the morning?"

  "Of course, I reprimanded her for arguing with you." She spoke rightly and Xu Mey suddenly realized something. No wonder Jie sounded so strange during their call.

  "Why did you go?" she questioned exasperatedly.

  "How could I not? He can't just treat you like this that you have to leave your own home in the middle of the night."

  "Mom, who said I left home because of him? And how do you know how he treated me? We had no argument!"

  "Xu Mey, you don't have to lie to us for his sake. If nothing would have happened you wouldn't have come here last night," Li Qiao's mother Li Man also chimed in.

  "But I'm not lying! Why would I lie?" She took a deep breath and added, "I left home because I momentarily lost my mind. It has nothing to do with Ah-Jie. Stop dragging him into this unnecessarily." She looked at Li Qiao and said, "Bro, say something to your mother."

  Li Qiao showed a resigned look, "Xiao Mey, I've been constantly telling her that she shouldn't get involved in this. Even if something happened between you and Ah-Jie, you both should solve it yourself. But she thinks as elders it's their right to discipline their kids and help them solve such matter."

  "When did I need anyone to solve my matters? I can perfectly do it myself!" She heard someone snort and looked over at her birth mother Xin Qian who had been sitting with Azalea. Xu Mey didn't want to pay her attention and she couldn't say anything about her presence either. Just because she wasn't in her life, didn't mean that she wasn't involved in Xiamu and Azalea's life. She couldn't possibly change that and neither did she want to.

  Xu Mey turned back to everyone and continued, "If you all gathered here because of this, then please, there is no need. I'm perfectly fine."

  "Stop acting tough all the time," said Yu Kim. "If you're upset, tell us. Let us help you. Why are you being stubborn?"

  Xu Mey again looked at Li Qiao, "Bro, even your wife is……" she groaned. "Kim, I've always been stubborn. Did you just figure it out? And if I'm upset, I won't hide it. As for help, I already said it, I don't need anyone's help."

  "Then why did you lock yourself in your room? Someone even heard you crying," spoke Lin Shen who had been silent all this while. "You're not the kind of person to hide in the corner of your room to cry. You'd rather make the whole world cry than doing that. So, it's obvious something big happened for you to react this way."

  "What's wrong with crying in my room? I think everybody feels like crying once in a while even without a reason. And I heard it's a good way to relax as well. You should try it as well. After crying, you'll feel lighthearted." She took a pause briefly, "Oh, the reason why I locked my room was simple, I wanted to think somethings through. See? I'm out now that I've sorted out my thoughts."

  "Then how come when I called Jie, he wasn't even willing to talk to me about you?" questioned He Jian. "In fact, he didn't want to talk to me at all. But as soon as I mentioned you, he hung up. It obviously means he was angry. Something big definitely happened between you two."

  "I always thought you're the most rational one here," said Xu Mey.

  "I'm being rational that's why I called Jie to inquire what was going on. Because you had your phone off. I could only reach out to him to understand the situation."

  "You guys are really not helping it," was Xu Mey's response. "Nothing big happened but I feel like your reaction definitely made something very big. Till last night, Jie was still calm but when mom went to interrogate him early in the morning, his anger flared up. Then you even called him to question him. I don't even know who else called him. Why did you guys make it so difficult for me?"

  "We are trying to help you," said He Susu. "We are obviously doing it for you. We are trying to be there for you just like how you're always there for us."

  "Sorry for my interruption but……" Everyone's eyes moved to Xin Qian who stood up and said, "Mrs. Zhu, if you're trying to be here for your daughter-in-law, who is there for your son? Your husband? But I believe he is out of town right now. So, enlighten me, if your son feels the need to lean his head on someone, who is with him?"

  Her words started He Susu and it reminded her of how in the morning, Jie had said something very similar to him. He also asked her, since she was his mother why wasn't she standing with him?

  You all asked, how come Xu Mey needed Jie to remind her before she realized what was she doing wrong.

  Isn't it obvious? She had been the devilish beauty who tread her own path and never listened to others. Even if she was wrong, no one around here ever told her that.

  Let me jog up your memory, back when Ru tried to tell her that revenge won't get her anywhere, even Jie stopped her from doing so. Even he stood by Mey.

  So, the girl who was always allowed to do what she wanted. And the girl who never realized that some of her actions might have been excessive, how do you expect her to realize her mistake unless someone reminds her?