note: here's the other update for this weekend! I'm going to try to write the next chapter within the next two weeks. I got some time off this week to write (and also to binge a kdrama) hence the updates. It's back to reality now *cries* 

I hope you enjoy this chapter! Please don't hesitate to drop your thoughts in the comment section and give this a vote if you liked the chapter <3 

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Andrew Cai was completely done with Talia Lancaster and her unreasonable drama.

"Seriously, what is your problem?" he questioned once he'd managed to drag her into his kitchen. "You already came by earlier this week to check the house and make sure I didn't booby trap it to kill our daughter. What are you doing here now?"

"Booby trap?" Talia asked, raising an eyebrow as her eyes roamed the kitchen. The state of the kitchen was a mess and if he'd had even an inkling of an idea that Talia would be stopping by for tea he would have certainly made the kitchen look presentable.

Andrew and Aurora had cooked lunch. They found an easy noodle recipe, with instant noodles of course, but Andrew could barely cook and Aurora wasn't exactly clean and organised. Combined together, the kitchen ended in a disaster, though lunch was definitely good. It didn't taste bad at all and he felt quite proud of putting something up that was edible and had actual taste to it.

He'd been thinking of inviting London over sometime for dinner. They could cook together. Maybe he'd pick up a few tricks from her and finally be able to cook. They could even make those special dumplings she made as one of the dishes that day of their first date.

"Talia," Andrew sighed. He wasn't tired before but one glance at his ex-wife and all the exhaustion poured into his body. "What are you doing here?"

"What?" she asked innocently. That woman was far from innocent. "Can I not come to see my own daughter."

"No, you cannot," Andrew finished, his gaze on her now angry.

"Excuse me?" Raising those stupid eyebrows of hers again, she asked, "Wasn't it on this condition that I let you have her for the weekend."

"I let you have her for the weekend," Andrew echoed with a laugh. This was unbelievable. "Your child is not an object to hand around and must I remind you that we have joint custody."

"I know that!"

Rubbing his temples with his both his middle fingers, he leaned back on the kitchen counter. "Why are you making this so hard?"

"I'm not making anything hard," she argued but it was a feeble argument, one that lacked conviction and strength. She knew she was making it hard for him and he knew that she knew she was making it hard for him so why did they keep going in circles?

"This is why I didn't want to get divorced," he sighed, closing his eyes and rolling his head back. Snapping his gaze back to her, he continued his reasoning. "I know that we don't work anymore. I know that we can't make it work no matter how much we try. We don't make each other happy. We haven't for a very long time now. But why did you think I was willing to overlook you cheating on me?"

"Your morals," Talia shrugged, and though Andrew barely got along with the woman that stood in front of him now, he knew of her habits and her behaviour. He knew that, as she stood there, that this conversation was the last thing she wanted to discuss.

"My morals?" Andrew echoed unbelievingly.

"Yeah," she nodded. "You don't like disappointing your mother and we both know how much Meiling Cai cares about appearances. Divorce is looked down upon, I get that, but your mother cares so much about appearances that divorce is not even a word that should exist in their dictionary."

"Talia," he growled, a low warning tone to his voice.

"And you care about what your mother thinks. She doesn't want you to get divorced, even if she hated me in the first place. Divorcing a white woman is worse than marrying one."

He stared at her like she'd grown two heads, the shock in his system slowly subsiding and giving way to the anger that itched to claw out of his chest.

"Let me get this straight," Andrew scoffed, no trace of his lovely smile on his face. "You think I didn't want to divorce you because my mother didn't want me to divorce you?"

"What other reason could there be?"

"That's rubbish!" he exploded, his face gathering heat. "The fact that I went against my mother's wishes and eloped with you before she even suggested we get married, a real wedding, because Aurora was coming along should tell you that I don't do everything my mother wants me to do. Yes, I do care what she thinks of me. How can I not? But that doesn't stop me from being me. I do not compromise my values — but I was willing to when I found out about Simon."

Talia looked away. Andrew's eyes were burning, hot with anger. "I couldn't lose her," he whispered, his voice leaking with desperation.

"You didn't." Two words held so much remorse, so much hatred that it stunned Andrew. Speechless, he just looked at her. Her eyes eventually drifted back to his and with a deep breath, she said, "Yes, I know that you thought divorce meant you losing Aurora but you could never lose her. The love and dedication she has to keep her relationship with you alive is fierce and for a eight-year-old, she amazes me with that passion."

Andrew was tired of this. It was like they kept going in circles. Never had they had a civil conversation, unless you counted the first few years of their relationship and the one conversation they shared right after signing the papers. All that seemed like a lifetime ago.

"Are you jealous?"

"I'm her mother!" Talia screeched. "What the fuck do I have to be jealous of? It's not like you have the physical custody over her."

Andrew laughed though he felt his eyes prickle at the back. Now was not the time to cry. Andrew was never shy of his emotions but cracking down now was not going to help anyone. He was just so frustrated, so done with this situation but he couldn't give up. Not when he still risked losing Aurora.

"I knew it was a mistake signing those papers," Andrew scoffed. "I thought it was a good thing I was leaving her in your care. I wanted to keep her obviously, but I wasn't so sure I could handle it alone. I agreed to joint custody. Now, I'm honestly thinking the opposite—"

"Don't say it, Andy." 

Custody battle. The idea of it didn't scare her only. It scared him too. 

"I'm not doing anything bad as a father, Talia, so tell me why you want me out of our daughter's life? Why won't you let me just have one peaceful weekend with her? You get to see her all the time. Me? Barely. And I'm trying here. I'm actually putting all my effort but for some reason, you don't want this to work."

"We're not the perfect family anymore!" Talia exploded.

Andrew, hot with anger, didn't miss a beat. "Why are you looking at me like I'm the one to blame? Did I fuck my husband's friend? You did."

"This isn't my fault."

"Why can't you see that it's both of our faults?" Andrew burst, brimming with so much frustration he could punch a hole through a wall. "Why can't you see that, really, none of us has to be at fault. Which family is perfect anyway?"

"Ours was before we screwed it up," Talia fired back. "I want that back."

"Are you trying to find that with Simon. Cut me off, replace me?"

"Andy, you have to understand that—"

"No, Talia, I cannot understand. Not when it's so hard for you to understand where I'm coming from and it's not..." The rest of his argument died in his mouth when he caught a glimpse of two familiar heads.

London stood at the entrance of his kitchen, eyes puffy and red but the expression on her face showed that she felt uneasy having walked into this mess. Next to her was Aurora, whose expression completely shattered Andrew.

Talia, confused by his sudden silence, turned around to look at what caught his attention, her face paling at what greeted her eyes. "Aurora, baby, I thought you were watching tv."

"I was but then Ba's friend knocked and she was really nice—"

"You shouldn't be letting strangers into the house," scolded Talia at once, not letting her daughter finish her sentence before she whirled around to face Andrew, hissing under her breath, "This wouldn't happen if she was under my roof today."

Andrew, unable to gather the strength to reply to his ex-wife, turned to the pair at the entrance of the kitchen. "London," he started, nervous and anxious suddenly. This was certainly not a welcoming sight and the frightful expression on her face made him fear that this was enough to scare her off. She'd had her reservations about starting a relationship with him. He managed to end it before it even truly started, he thought, but then she smiled back albeit tentatively and spoke.

"Andrew," she said, and by her tone he knew that she was going to start rambling. "If I'd known you were busy I'd have called or come another time. No wait — I did know you were busy. You told me that your daughter was staying with you this weekend. I completely forgot. Silly me. I should not have come. I just had something on my mind. Something happened — it's not important. This, whatever is happening in this kitchen, is important. Well, for you and your... ex-wife, so I'll just, er, take Aurora back to watching the telly and I'll let myself out."

She was a blubbering mess as she took Aurora's shoulders in her hands and directed them away from the kitchen.

"Who the hell is that?" Talia asked, looking at him, her tone much softer. She probably worried that Aurora would overhear.

"That's London Liang," he replied, completely helpless to the smile that overtook his lips. "I met her a few weeks ago in the weirdest of ways. I bumped into her first at a cemetery."

"That should immediately tell you that this is bound to end terribly or with a death," Talia sniped. "I sure hope it's you."

Usually, this would ignite Andrew's anger and he'd throw her a look, followed by insults but having just seen London had lifted his spirits. He could not explain it. Of course, he wished for the circumstance to be different. Aurora could be here, her presence didn't change anything. Talia could be elsewhere, perhaps faraway on the other side of the world with Simon Allerton. London looked troubled as well and he itched to follow her and his daughter into the living room to discover what it was that bothered her, what it was that made her cry. The red puffiness of her eyes did not go unnoticed by him.

"Are you dating her?"

Talia's question was direct, her tongue sharp.

"I am," he disclosed, his lips still pulled up into a smile. "And don't bother trying to tell me it's too soon when I've been out of love for years now."

"Are you saying you're in love now?"

"Don't twist my words, Talia. All I'm saying is that I like London, I feel something towards her. And it's something I'd like to take my time discovering. No rush—"

"No mistakes."

His smile grew tighter. "I want to enjoy myself. I think I've had enough of suffering."

Talia scoffed. "Please, you were the one that was hard to deal with. Is that woman outside really your girlfriend?" she added, before Andrew could throw in a retort to her statement.

"I don't know," he replied, "We haven't really discussed labels."

"Well, you better. You might think that you two are exclusive while she goes whoring around with other men or women—"

"Talia, you don't know the first thing about her so for the love of God, shut up," Andrew bit out. He could no longer take the remarks. "Now, if you excuse me, I have a guest to attend to and my daughter to get back to."

"Oh honey, no," Talia shook her head, the smile that played on her lips made Andrew's heart drop immediately. "You'll only be doing one of those things this evening."

"Talia, please," he begged as she turned on her heel and exited the kitchen. He followed after her, begging. "This is sudden and unfair. I had so much planned for the weekend. Please do reconsider. What harm would it do to Aurora to stay here?"

They entered the living room to see their daughter holding London's hand, both of them smiling and laughing at something London had said. They stopped, their heads lifting when Talia and Andrew entered the living room. The room went from lively and energetic to dead silent in a split second.

"I thought you said you were leaving?" Talia asked, her smile sickly sweet.

"I was," London laughed nervously, getting onto her feet as she let go of Aurora's hand. It did not pass Andrew's eye that Talia had noticed that small action. "Aurora wanted me to stay while you two sorted everything out. I should get going. Sorry for the inconvenience."

"Don't apologise," Talia said, the smile on her lips made the dread inside his stomach to twist even more uncomfortably.

"I'll get out of your hair then," London said politely, about to make her way to the front door when Talia stopped her.

"Don't be silly," his ex-wife grinned. "There's no need for that. We'll get out of your hair."

"Talia," Andrew pleaded, stepping forward but it was too late. Talia had already gripped Aurora's little hand within hers and yanked her off the couch.

"Ow, Mum," Aurora whined, stumbling to get her footing. "What's going on?"

"We're leaving baby," Talia said, dragging Aurora with her.

"Talia, please," Andrew called out, raising his voice.

Aurora tore her hand from her mother's fierce grip. "I don't want to go," she defied, a frown on her lips. Andrew wanted to ease the creases from her forehead, wanted to say something to make her laugh again but he knew better than that. Talia would only use it somehow to make her shield stronger.

"I haven't seen Ba in a long time, Mum. One more day," Aurora pouted, jumping on her feet. "Please, Mummy."

"Aurora, we have to go."

The woman would not budge and Andrew didn't want to make a scene. He didn't want Aurora to hate her mother or to resent her for stripping her away from her father, shortening the promised time, so he strode over to her, his shoulder lightly brushing London's in the process before he sat down on the couch and jerked on Aurora's arm, pulling his daughter towards him.

"It's all right," Andrew reassured, taking her small soft hands into his. Giving them a tight squeeze, he told her what she needed to hear. "It was fun this weekend, wasn't it?"

She nodded, her lips quivering and her eyes glassy.

Andrew grinned, making a funny face. "I'm the best dad in the world."

She giggled, sniffing. "I don't want to go, Ba. We were supposed to play with my dolls and you were going to help me with my homework."

His ex-wife felt the need to butt in. "We can do it at home," she grumbled.

Aurora didn't even give her mother a glance. Andrew's eyes met Talia's momentarily and he saw that she was seething, that she was furious. He didn't want her to explode, not in front of their daughter. What would Aurora think? She didn't need more reason to feel uncomfortable around her mother so Andrew sighed and did the only thing he could do.

"You can do it at home with Mummy," he said, his lips lifting up once again into an encouraging smile. "Mummy is so smart. She'll help."

"I wanted to do it with you," Aurora complained, no trace of happiness on her face.

"Maybe next weekend," he said, looking into her eyes.

"You promise?"

He looked up then, finding Talia, his eyebrows raised expectantly. She rolled her eyes and gave a stiff nod. It wasn't the kindest of responses but he couldn't complain. He'd take what little he got.

"It's a deal," he vowed.

She grinned, the sadness dissipating into the air around them as she lunged for him, wrapping her arms around his neck. He laughed, falling back on the couch.

"Oof, you're so heavy," he joked.

She pulled back and stuck out her tongue. "Not as heavy as you."

"I'll call you tomorrow," he said as Talia took Aurora's hand once again.

"Bye Ba," she waved at the door and Andrew followed them out, waving with a big grin on his face as he watched his daughter, the reason why his heart kept beating, and his ex-wife, hand in hand, enter the elevator. He watched as the elevator doors pinged shut.

Frustration surged through him and he turned around, slamming his door close before letting out a scream of defeat, forgetting that London was still there. The back of his head hit the back of the door and he grunted. A lump rose to his throat as anger, frustration and pain swirled almost violently within him. There was an intense heat at the back of his eyes but giving into that one tear seemed like he was giving in — giving up.

He wasn't ready to give up.

He never would be. Not when Aurora was his whole world.

A warm hand brushed his arm and his eyes fluttered open. Dark eyes met his but as he registered her presence he made no move to smile.

"It's hurting my heart, London," he confessed, his words a whisper, "I just want her to stop trying to take my daughter away from me."

Her gaze was understanding. "I know," she voiced. Her arms wrapped around him, looping around his waist and drawing him near to her warmth. He didn't stop her. He accepted the embrace and buried his head in her shoulder, sniffing and hugging her back.

He let her hug soothe over his aching heart.