"Sunshine! You okay?" Nat gave Aika a good look the second she opened the door of the Robredos' condo.

"I am...is something supposed to be wrong with me?" Aika was confused as to why Nat was at the door at 8am on a Saturday, looking all flustered. Not the mention that Jamie was currently asleep in Nat's arms.

"Doc told me to get here as fast as I can...I thought something had happened to you!" Nat had literally raced here with Jamie upon getting Tricia's text.

"I'm fine, muscles. Sorry for worrying you. Patty's in the kitchen." Aika invited Nat and Jamie in as she called for Tricia.

"That was fast?" Tricia laughed as she spotted Nat in the living room.

"Says the one who told me to get here ASAP? Anyways, what's the urgent matter?" Nat wondered as he gently lay Jamie on the couch.

"I was wondering if you had time today for something important?" Tricia asked as she set her coffee on the dining table.

"I do...but what's the important thing?" Nat was wary. Tricia could be scary at times like this.

"Great! I'm leaving Ate in your hands for today." Tricia grinned.

"I thought you said we were going on a date together?" Aika looked at Tricia in confusion.

"I did say date...but I didn't say it was with me Your date is in front of you, Ate." Tricia pointed at Nat.

"Me?" Nat was processing Tricia's words too.

"You guys haven't been on an undisrupted full-day date with kuya ever since the elections started. So I thought it'd be good for you two to spend the day together!" Tricia thought she'd do Nat and Aika a favour.

"What about Jamie?" Aika pointed to Jamie, who was still fast asleep.

"Jill and I can take care of her for the day. Natalia and Alo are coming over later." Tricia winked. She and Jill had it all planned out.

"All you two have to do is grab your stuff and shoo! No returning before dinner!" Jill passed Aika her wallet and phone before pushing her Ate and Nat out of the house.

"Did we just get chased out of the house?" Aika looked at Nat as the door closed on them.

"Shall we?" Nat held out his hand.

"Can't disappoint the girls, can we?" Aika chuckled as she took Nat's hand.

~

"What do you wanna do today?" Nat handed Aika her coffee at a red light. Aika had offered to drive today.

"School supply shopping? It's been a while since I've been back to school..." Aika suggested. School was starting in a week, at least for the lecturers.

"Your wish is my command, Prof Aika." Nat was okay going anywhere as long as he was with Aika.

"This is bringing back memories of when I brought Jill school supply shopping if mama was busy." Aika was reminiscent.

"I was actually in charge of bringing Karine to get all her stuff before school started. It was our special bonding time before the start of every school term. We've been doing that since she was 7." Their 17 year age gap meant that Nat was already an adult when Karine entered primary school.

"Maybe we should go back during Karine's school holidays..." Aika knew the family missed Nat and Jamie.

"Or how about we get Mum and Karine to convince Dad to come over?" Nat counter-suggested.

"Or we could visit Singapore together...all of us." Aika proposed.

''Family meeting ahead of us, I guess." Nat grinned at the thought of seeing his family and travelling with Aika.

"Ooh, this is cute! Shall we get this for the kids? There's Jamie's name!" Aika was looking at the keychains hanging next to the stationery.

"Ooh, they have your names too! Jessica, Tricia and Jillian!" Nat scanned through the display and picked out the three names.

''There's no Natalia, Alonso or Nathaniel..." Aika pouted after scouring through the names one by one.

''Downsides of having rare names I guess. But it's okay, I'm happy with this!'' Nat held up his car keys where the keychain Aika made for him was hanging safely. He was used to not being able to find his name on generic keychains like these.

''We came in for a notebook, pens and pencils. Look what we came out with? I understand the ones for the kids, but seriously...why is Jessica, Nathaniel, Janine and Jillian in the bag as well? I disappear for 1 minute and this is what happens?'' Aika held up the bag of keychains. She had left Nat to oversee the keychains while she grabbed her stationery.

"If you get a present for one child, you'll have to get it for all of them...thank goodness they had customisable ones! I mean...aren't they cute?" Nat defended his decision to opt for the personalised keychains that were a little pricier.

"Okay, Mr Nathaniel..." Aika couldn't blame Nat for being thoughtful, and cheeky.

~

"Hi po! Would you like to adopt a wish?" A teenager standing in the atrium of the mall caught Nat and Aika's attention.

"Adopt a wish?" Nat and Aika stopped in their tracks.

"Yes, po. We're looking to fulfil wishes for children in the orphanage. Would you be keen on adopting one?" The teenager pointed to a wall of wishes.

"One each?" Aika and Nat suggested concurrently.

"All you need to do is choose one wish, scan the QR code and you'll see the details! Maraming salamat po!" The teenager left Nat and Aika after instructing them.

"She's the same age as Jamie..." Nat's 5 year-old beneficiary had wished for a bicycle.

"Mine's the same age as Natalia..." Aika's 9 year old beneficiary had wished for a new pair of shoes.

"Salamat po! We were worried that her wish would be harder to grant since it was pricier than the rest..." The volunteer in charge of donations smiled at Nat.

"My daughter is the same age as her and it's a blessing to be able to make a child happy." Nat was glad to be of help.

"Would you like to write a card for her?" The volunteer handed Nat a card.

"Sure. Thanks for the help." Nat wrote a quick card and handed it back to the volunteer.

"Oh, Aly's calling..." Nat picked up the call.

"I'll talk to Tricia and get back to you...okay, bye." Nat ended the call.

"What's up?" Aika wondered why Tricia was part of the conversation.

"Aly called to ask if she could come pick Jamie up today. I told her that Jamie was with Tricia and Jill so she said she could go over and pick her up." Nat explained. Aly had something on tomorrow during their usual Sunday dates.

"I'll call Patty and she should be able to liaise with Aly..." Aika offered.

Tricia will be waiting at the bakery with Jamie at 1pm. We'll pick her up from your house at 9pm?

Sure, thanks for accommodating the sudden change of plans :)

No worries. Have fun with Jamie.

~

"Hey Aly, what's up?" Nat got a call from Aly but she wasn't speaking.

"Aly? Aly...you okay?" Nat called out a few times but Aly was silent.

"Maybe she pressed it by accident?" Aika suggested.

"I guess..." Nat shrugged as he ended the call.

"Aly's calling me now..." Aika's phone lit up with Aly's number as the caller ID just 30 seconds later.

"Aly?" Aika received the same silence.

"Aly...can you hear me?" Aika tried again.

"Ate...is Nat with you?" Aly finally spoke.

"I'm here. What's up? You called me earlier but didn't say anything." Nat chimed in.

"Can you guys come over? Something happened to Jamie..." Aly's voice was trembling.

"What happened? Is she injured or something? Can you give her the phone?" Nat felt his heart drop.

"I don't know...can you come quick, please? Just come quick..." Aly's voice was strained, as if someone was pulling her.

"Are you at your house? Or are you outside?" Aika asked calmly as she and Nat were heading to the carpark.

"I'll send you the address..." Aly quivered as she ended the call.

"Something feels off. Why would Aly call you and not say anything but call me 30 seconds later, especially if Jamie is injured? And why would she need to text us an address?" Aika was suspicious.

"Her voice sounded off as well...she would but frantic and anxious but instead, she sounded like she was meek and somewhat...forced. And why didn't she pass the phone to Jamie..." Nat furrowed his eyebrows.

"Shall we call the police? Just in case..." Aika decided it was better safe than sorry.

"What...why would Aly and Jamie be here?" Nat and Aika pulled up at a factory. The surroundings were silent and definitely not a place Aly and Jamie should be at.

"Are you sure they are here? Can you track Jamie's watch?" Nat whipped out his phone and turned on the tracking feature of Jamie's smartwatch.

"It's here. They're inside." The huge red dot indicated that Jamie was nearby.

"But how are we getting in?" Aika looked at the chains around the doors.

"There should be a window I can climb through..." Nat ran towards the side of the factory.

"I'm coming with you." Aika wanted to follow Nat through the window.

"It's dangerous. I can't put you in danger too." Nat refused.

"But..." Aika didn't feel at ease letting Nat go in alone.

"I'll be fine. I promise to come back with Jamie, safe and sound. I love you." Nat pressed a kiss on Aika's forehead before leaping through the broken window.

~

"Jamie! Aly!" Nat called out, his voice echoing throughout the factory. There was no response.

Hernandez Logistics...The logo on one of the machinery gave away where Nat was.

"Marco!" Nat yelled Marco's name with pent up anger.

"Daddy!" Nat turned at the sound of Jamie's voice.

"Princess!" Nat ran towards the sound.

"Nat! Daddy!" Aly and Jamie both cried out as they saw Nat. Both were tied up and separated.

"Well, well...look who's here. Mr Superman is here to save the day!" Marco laughed sarcastically as he appeared from the back.

"What do you want? What will it take for you to release them?" Nat knew Marco wanted something in return.

"Where's your girlfriend? Didn't she come with you?" Marco stretched his neck, trying to see if Aika was around.

"Don't drag Aika into the picture. If it's me you're after, just state your terms." Nat retorted.

"Chill, Nat. Don't need to be all high and mighty. Don't worry, I'm not going to ask for money. Money is nothing to the heir of Lee Holdings, ain't it? Mr Nathaniel Lee, the only son of Kevin Lee, the Chairman of Lee Holdings?" Marco scoffed.

"Then what is it you want?" Nat kept his cool.

"What I can't have, you shouldn't have it either. What makes you think you can live happily after stealing away Aly, Jamie and the company?" Marco was blinded with rage.

"Since when did I steal Aly, Jamie and your company away from you? Aly left you because you didn't treasure her properly, Jamie is my daughter and as for your company, I had no idea what was happening!" Nat didn't understand why Marco was making such incredulous claims.

"If not for you, me, Aly and Jamie could have been a happy family. Jamie would have been ours and Aly would never have left me! And don't pretend that you didn't pressurise Anthony to remove me from the company in order to continue working with you! It's all because of you that I lost everything!" Marco lashed out. Although none of his reasons made sense.

"So what do you want from me?" Nat was exasperated. He couldn't get Aly to go back to Marco and neither could he influence Anthony's decision...because he never said anything in the first place.

"I want you to know what it feels like to have someone you love leave you. An eye for an eye, they say." Marco walked towards Aly.

"Let me go!" Aly screamed as Marco tugged on her hair tightly.

"Please, don't hurt her. We can talk it out..." Nat raised his arms up.

"Nat...save me..." Aly cried as Marco yanked harder.

"Why are you crying out for him! You should be calling for me instead..." Marco was riled up by the fact that Aly was looking at Nat.

"Daddy...Mummy..." Jamie started to wail. The screaming was too loud and the ropes around her hands and legs were hurting her.

"You can choose, who do you want to save...your daughter or your ex, who happens to be madly in love with you." Marco let go of Aly and headed to Jamie.

"No, please...don't touch Jamie..." Nat felt an immense fear building up in his heart as Marco approached Jamie with a menacing smile.

"Daddy..." Jamie cried out for her father.

"If you can't choose, I have an alternative for you." Marco smirked after checking a text on his phone.

"Aika!" Nat's eyes trembled as he saw Aika being dragged in by a man dressed in black.

"How do you like your option C? The mother of your daughter, your daughter and your girlfriend...what a sight to behold, isn't it!" Marco laughed out loud.

"Put her down and move the kid next to Aly." Marco ordered the man in black. With a loud thud, he pushed Aika onto the ground.

"Ninang!" Jamie reached out for Aika to no avail as the man carried her away to Aly.

"Go ahead, choose one." Marco dared Nat. Nat looked at Aika and then Aly and Jamie.

"Please...can we not do this?" Nat pleaded with Marco.

"Do you need some help?" Marco brandished a knife and knelt down next to Aika.

"Please...I'm begging you, don't hurt her..." Nat was almost in tears as Marco held the knife along Aika's neck.

"Oh look at you being such a good boyfriend...Jamie look, your daddy loves your ninang more than he loves you!" Marco turned to Jamie. Seeing the knife and thin cut on Aika's neck only terrified Jamie even further.

"Ninang..." Jamie cried out.

"Ninang's fine, sweetheart. Don't worry..." Aika comforted Jamie.

"Make a choice, quick. Or I'll make the choice for you." Marco was getting impatient.

"Nat...Jamie and Aly...save them..." Aika cried, with the knife still on her neck.

"I can't...I..." Nat shook his head, a tear rolling down his cheek.

"How touching...should I make this easier for you to choose?" Marco chuckled maliciously at the tears. On Marco's orders, the man in black carried Jamie from Aly to Aika.

"Sweetheart...it's okay...ninang's here." Aika assured Jamie with her voice since their arms were bounded.

"The choice is obvious now, ain't it?" Marco looked at Nat.

"Aly...I..." Nat turned to Aly.

"Nat, please..." Aly sobbed. Nat turned to look at Aika again.

Police...5 minutes...Stall for time...Aika mouthed while Marco was distracted with Aly.

"What do you get out of making me choose?" Nat gave Aika an 'ok' sign with his fingers as he tried to stall for time.

"Don't play mind games with me, Nat." Marco retorted.

"Aly, I'm sorry for everything...but..." Nat apologised.

"See Aly? He doesn't love you! He never will!" Marco screamed.

"Even if I don't get back with Nat, I'm never going back to you!" Aly spat.

"You don't get it, Aly...I can't live without you! Why do you insist on staying with him!" Marco was frustrated.

"Aly, ni xiang xin wo ma (do you trust me)?" Nat said something in Chinese. Aly seemed to recognise the phrase and nodded at Nat.

"What was that? Don't try to plan something behind my back." Marco was on his toes.

"Aly...I'm sorry but I can't let anything happen to Aika and Jamie..." Nat moved one step closer to Aly.

"Don't move! Talk from where you are." Marco held the knife to Aly's neck.

"Okay, okay. Don't hurt her, please." Nat retreated.

"Why do you care if she gets hurt anyways? You chose them over her." Marco tightened his grip on Aly. Aly realised that Marco wasn't pressing the knife against her neck like he did for Aika. Aly immediately knew what Nat meant.

"Marco please...I know you're doing this to show me that Nat doesn't love me but it's not worth it..." Aly placed her hand on Marco's.

"What do you mean it's not worth it?" Marco seemed to soften at Aly's touch.

"I loved you. I really did. But we both know that it's over between us already..." Aly tried convincing Marco.

"Why can't you just come back to me? I promise to change for real this time..." Marco was lowering his guard.

"We can still be friends...and perhaps one day, if you've really changed for the better, we could work from there. But the second you hurt anyone here, it's the end for you...and I don't want that to happen to you." Aly cupped Marco's face.

"I love you, Aly...I do..." Marco was disarmed totally. Aly and Nat's plan was working.

"Drop your weapons and raise your arms to where I can see them!" A voice boomed from the surroundings.

"You called the police!" Marco regained his senses and realised what was happening.

"You lied to me! You were just trying to stall for time!" Marco shoved Aly hard and instead grabbed Aika.

"Don't move or we'll shoot! Drop the knife, Mr Hernandez!" The officer at the front warned Marco.

"Move one more step and I'll slice her neck off." Marco's knife was already scraping the surface of Aika's neck. The police stopped in their tracks.

"Ninang..." Jamie was crying, adding to the mess they were all in.

"If I'm going to perish, I might as well take one of you down with me." Marco pressed the knife closer to Aika's neck. Aika could feel the warm blood pooling around her neck.

"Take me then...take me instead. Please, let Aika go..." Nat begged as he stepped closer to Marco and Aika.

"Aika...only when the sun sets, can the moon rise and darkness take over." Nat looked straight into Aika's eyes, hoping Aika got his hint.

"Now!" Nat screamed as loud as he could. Aika immediately pushed Marco's arm away and ducked as Nat threw a hard punch at Marco's jaw while he was distracted.

"Nat!" Aika turned around in time to see Marco push the knife deep into Nat's sides.

"Daddy!" Jamie and Aly watched as the knife entered Nat and come back out. The police had Marco under control but it was still too late. Nat felt his legs give way as he collapsed onto the ground with blood pooling around his lower left abdomen.

"Nat! Nat!" Aika scrambled to Nat's side. Aika didn't know what to do other than put pressure on the wound like Tricia had taught her.

"Sunshine...are you okay?" Nat reached out for Aika's face.

"I'm fine..." Aika was fighting back tears while continuing to put pressure on Nat's wound.

"Jamie...Aly...are they okay?" Nat asked with whatever energy he had left.

"They're all fine. Shhh...don't talk anymore please..." Aika couldn't control her tears anymore.

"Mahal na mahal kita, sunshine...Tell Jamie that Daddy loves her so much...So much..." Nat felt himself losing consciousness.

"You tell that to Jamie yourself..." Aika shook her head, not wanting to hear such things from Nat.

"I'm sorry, sunshine...I couldn't keep my promise to you and Jamie..." Nat couldn't fight the numbing feeling and drowsiness anymore.

"Nat! Nat...stay with me!" Aika cried as Nat closed his eyes slowly.