A shocked Jia Li was at a loss of words. She hadn't seen this coming. In order to regain her wits, she nodded and made an escape.

"What exactly is going on here? I understand Tang's behaviour under the circ.u.mstances, but what's wrong with Uncle Xie suddenly?" she asked Chu, when they were out of the hospital.

Chu shrugged her shoulders, "if I had to hazard a guess, I would say that dad is simply following the orders of the neurosurgeon. He had specifically asked us to keep brother Tang in good humour and not cause any sort of agitation. Maybe, that's why…"

Jia Li bit her lower lip in worry. The fact that she had to go along with the current set of lies for an entire week was already causing havoc with her brain. There was no way that she would come out of it unscathed. The person whom she had left behind in the hospital right now, was her Xie Tang, the person who had held her hand while she slept, was her Xie Tang, the person who was behaving like a spoilt lover, was her Xie Tang.

Unfortunately, he was also Mei Zhen's Xie Tang!

And Mei Zhen's claim on him and his affection was not only legal but also with his consent. This left her with the biggest question in her head. How was she supposed to behave right now? This wasn't fair to Mei Zhen, it also wasn't fair to her!!

The past few hours in his company had been nothing less than an emotional torture but she had braved through it, thinking that it was only a matter of time. But seven days were long enough for someone to fall in love all over again, despite their best intentions.

No, she couldn't put her poor heart through it again.

"Chu, I am sorry. I can't do this. We have to find a way to convince Tang to go back to Shanghai tomorrow. I…this…we need to stop this game here," she said wildly.

Chu put a hand to on her shoulder, trying to calm her down.

"This is not a game. It may be life's way of giving you and him a peek into what could have been your future in an alternate reality. Its only for a short period of time. Why are you so worried?" she asked.

Jia Li raised her tortured eyes to hers, "hasn't life been cruel enough, that it needed to remind me of what could have been but isn't mine? As for me being worried, you are not so naïve to not see the repercussions of this pretend play. Please, I am begging you to find an alternate to this predicament."

Chu reminded her, "none of us are doing this of our free will, no matter what my feelings in the matter may be. The fact remains that brother Tang needs to stay calm and happy for him to heal well and recover fast. Are you telling me that your issues about his marriage and your past are bigger than his health?"

When Chu had initially agreed to support her brother in this scheme, she had been moved by his emotions, his love for Jia Li. But looking at Jia Li's tortured, conflicted face right now, she felt immensely guilty for being a part of this charade. She knew that her brother's heart was in the right place but the method that he had chosen would leave a lot of people feeling betrayed if the truth comes out.

Jia Li felt contrite upon hearing Chu's words. Her fear of getting hurt again had overpowered the need to see Tang recover.

"I am sorry. I lost control over my senses temporarily. Ex-boyfriends tend to have that affect," she tried to lighten the mood, apologetically.

"Rest a.s.sured. I will handle the situation to the best of my ability. And its only for a week. But I am not sure how would Mei Zhen react when she gets to know about this. Anyone in her place is bound to feel insecure," she mused aloud."

Chu put a comforting hand on her shoulder and said, "you just worry about yourself and concentrate on helping brother Tang. Mei Zhen is not your problem."

Early next morning

"I can't wait to see the inst.i.tute which you have envisioned and helped grow. I have been hearing rave reviews from everyone around about how wonderful has the place been for the community. You have managed to keep the heritage of the place alive and yet modernised it enough for it to become a source of employment for people around and better chances for the kids studying here," Tang told Jia Li when she came to visit him the next morning in the hospital.