The End

The weather that day was said to be cloudy with little rain but the two people walking outside were basking in the sun. This is a great reprieve for the cold weather during the nights.

Cheng Yan accompanied Anna to the nearest bus stop. They continued talking while walking. The events today made Cheng Yan happy even though he was still feeling flustered. They exchanged numbers, in case one of them were late again in a meet up, and discussed about their fake relationship until they have to part ways.

After sending off Anna, Cheng Yan started to walk back to the restaurant. He thought of how he can possibly make their relationship real. Since he was not experienced in this field, he considered asking for some advice from his childhood friend.

It was nearing the end of lunch hour, therefore, a few customers had already left and some were asking for their bills, ready to leave for their next venture. The cleared tables were being cleaned by the waiters while the owners were staying in the counter entertaining some customers.

The usual chimes rang when Cheng Yan entered and Auntie Irene looked at the door. She excused herself from the customers and frowned at Cheng Yan when she saw that Anna was not with him. "Cheng Yan, come here. Where's Anna?"

"She already left, auntie. We didn't want to disturb you a while ago so she just said to give you her thanks."

The old lady continued frowning, "I want to give her some dessert. Can you deliver these to her? We got her address from a previous delivery. Let me look into that." After getting the address from her husband, she gave the take-out bag to Cheng Yan. He was reluctant but still accepted the errand to avoid another scolding from the old lady.

Not many people were outside at this time and the path he was walking was clear of other people. From a little farther away, he saw a familiar figure who looked like she was calmly talking to an angry bearded guy. As he got nearer, he heard the familiar voice of his sister.

He scowled and walked faster. Once he was near, the guy with his sister forcibly held her arm so Cheng Yan called out, "Isabella!"

The two people turned because of the noise and both frowned when they recognized Cheng Yan. One was uneasy because she didn't want her brother to be included in their fight and the other became madder.

The man spoke first, "What are you doing here? Did your sister call you too? You think you can bully me of my money?"

"What do you mean 'your money'? That was supposed to be for Zero's studies." Isabella interrupted, still composed, before Cheng Yan could answer.

This made the guy turn to his sister again so Cheng Yan tried to get in between them. That was when he noticed there was a small kid hiding behind his sister.

The kid was frowning while looking at her parents. She was used to them fighting but it was still frightening for her, then she saw the stranger who just came, looking at her. She got more upset, so she let go of her hold in her mother's blouse and ran to the other side of the road.

"Zero!" the three of them were instantly alarmed.

It was a good thing that there were no cars around. Cheng Yan managed to catch the child first. They were still on the road and Zero was struggling out of Cheng Yan's arms so he wasn't able to hold her properly.

"It was me. Uncle Yan, Zero." Cheng Yan tried to calm his niece down when her parents finally caught up to them.

That was when a fast car swerved near the road they were standing at. Reflexibly, Cheng Yan pushed the kid to his sister. He was looking dazedly at the slightly familiar car still hurtling towards him until it hit him and his vision went black.

___

Meanwhile, Anna was going back to the restaurant to get some food for later. On the way, she saw a disturbance on the road. There was an ambulance and many onlookers were lurking.

As she was walking by, she recognized the old couple with two other people and a kid talking to a police officer. Feeling grim, Anna changed course and went to inquire about what happened.

She heard the young lady explaining to the police, "We didn't see the driver. We were standing on the road but it was near the sidewalk so he could have turned a little to miss hitting my brother. After the accident, the car drove off."

Seeing that the ambulance was ready to go to the hospital, the woman asked, "Can we do this in the hospital? I want to follow the ambulance."

The police agreed and they offered to drive the family to the hospital. That was when Anna called to the old couple. When they saw her, they looked like they were about to cry. "Can we also have that young girl with us? She's also family." Auntie Irene informed the police officer.

The sky was cloudy when they got in the car. Later, the sound of the ambulance was dinned by the heavy rain.