Dinner was a strained event.  From the moment they stepped into the restaurant Charmaine could feel the raw anger radiating from Ben.  She didn't understand why.  He had overheard her exchange with Raymond and had even complimented her on it afterwards.  Yet she sensed he wasn't really or fully satisfied with the outcome.  She knew the sight of Raymond always seem to bring out the worse in Ben.  Out under the public eye he wouldn't do anything to her.  It was when they were home she feared.  They ate quickly, and in companionable silence.  Ben's earlier jovial mood at going out to dinner with his two love ones has gone.  Even Kenneth sensed the shift in his mood.  During dinner, he would steal glances at Charmaine and catching her eye, he tried to assure her that everything would be alright.  Charmaine didn't believe that.  Nothing would ever be alright for her.

The drive back to Ben’s house escalated Charmaine’s fears.  Instead of assisting her into his car as he normally does, Ben simply left Charmaine to her own devices.  Charmaine sat rigidly in the back seat for the duration of the ride, her fingers twisting in knots on her lap.  Seeing the house up ahead, her fears intensified.

Ben stepped into the house and nodded at the maid.  "You could rest for the night," he told her curtly and waited until she was out of view before turning to Charmaine.

Charmaine saw the hard set of Ben's face and took a panicky step back, bumping into Kenneth who was following closely behind.

Catching her arms, Kenneth steadied her and asked, "You okay?"

Charmaine didn't respond.  Her gaze was fixed on Ben whose face seemed darker and more frightening than earlier.  "I-Is everything alright?" she asked shakily, knowing full well it wasn't.

Ben's eyes flared at her question and all of a sudden he brought his arm back and slapped her.

Charmaine fell back against Kenneth.  With tears in her eyes, she looked frantically at Ben and whimpered, "W-Why did you hit me?"

"You think I'm blind?" Ben snarled as he roughly grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him.  "You were flirting with Raymond Lam right in front of me!"

Charmaine shook her head wildly, her face a picture of confusion.  "I did not!"

"You did!" Ben shouted as he stared coldly down at her tears soaked face.

Kenneth grabbed Ben's wrist and tried to tug his hand off Charmaine.  When Ben's grip remained iron hard, Kenneth pleaded urgently, "Ben, what’s gotten into you?  Let her go."

Ben turned his wrath on Kenneth and hissed, "This is between me and my wife.  Stay out of it!"

Kenneth looked helplessly at Charmaine who was now crying uncontrollably, her entire body racking wither her sobs.  He had to help her.  He can't let Ben continue to abuse her this way.  Finding courage he tugged hard on Ben's wrist until it fell off of Charmaine's arm.  Quickly stepping protectively in front of her he faced Ben and said calmly, "I think you should let her get some rest.  You can discuss this tomorrow morning when you're more like yourself rather than some unknown over jealous maniac!"

Stunned by Kenneth's defense of her, Ben asked quietly, "Are you going against me now little brother?"

"Of course not!" Kenneth replied instantly.  "I just feel that it’s late now and we should wait until tomorrow morning to discuss anything."

Ben snickered and seconds later he stretched his arm out around Kenneth and grasped Charmaine's arm again.  This time he held on tightly and began to drag her towards the stairs with Charmaine fighting all the way.

"Stop!" Kenneth ran to the foot of the stairs, barring their path.

"Get out of my way!" Ben warned, his grip tightening painfully around Charmaine.

Kenneth looked over at Charmaine.  She was shivering with fear, her eyes begging for him to save her.  "No."

Ben smiled.  An evil, cunning smile just before he delivered a harsh blow to Kenneth's stomache.  As Kenneth bowled over with pain, Ben quickly and effectively dragged Charmaine up the stairs and into his bedroom.

Kenneth layed on the ground clutching his stomach as he struggled to catch his breath.  That blow knocked the wind out of his lung.  As his breathing regulated his gaze shot to the top landing of the stairs.  He could hear Charmaine’s pitiful cries and it gave him adrenaline to pick himself up and race up the stairs.  He stopped in front of Ben’s room and slammed his fist on the door.  “Open up Ben!”  From within he could still hear Charmaine’s cries.  Picking up his foot, he shoved it against the door.  The door rattled but nothing further happened.  After a couple of more tries, Kenneth succeeded in kicking the door open.  His gaze went directly to the bed where Ben had Charmaine pinned beneath.  With a low growl, he ran over.  Using all his strength, he ripped Ben off Charmaine and literally threw him across the room.  Without wasting a second, he grabbed Charmaine’s hand and ran with her out of the house.  As they passed the front door, he could hear Ben’s footsteps thundering down the stairs.  Letting go of Charmaine’s hand he ordered urgently, “Jump into my car!  Quick!”

Charmaine didn’t need to be told twice.  She knew which car was Kenneth’s and quickly jumped in locking the door.  Kenneth joined her seconds later and the car came to life just as Ben came into view.  “Hurry!” she cried hysterically.

Kenneth swerved the car out of the drive as Ben ran towards the hood of the car.  Kenneth pressed the gas and missed hitting Ben by a mere few inches.  It was only when they were going up the ramp of the highway did he risk a glance at Charmaine.  “You okay?”

Charmaine cowered in her seat, her arms drawn tightly around herself.  She shook her head as a fresh wave of tears washed through her.  “No,” she whispered then covered her face.

Kenneth droved aimlessly on the highway as he thought of what to do.  Most importantly, the right thing to do.  “I’m taking you to Raymond’s.  It’s time he knew the truth.”

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Ben stalked up the stairs to his home study and went directly to his phone.  As he waited for Moses to answer, he picked up a picture of Charmaine on his desk and threw it against the wall in a fit of rage.

“Yes?” Moses greeted on the other end.

“The time has come.  You know what to do.”  After speaking those two sentences into the phone, Ben slowly hung up.

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Gigi brought out three bowls of coconut tapioca on a tray and set it down on the dining table where Raymond and Mandy were seated.  “Here we go.  Homemade and I guarantee it’s better than the ones from the restaurant.”

“I know it is,” Raymond said with a cheesy grin on his face as he passed a bowl to Mandy.

Gigi took a few bites and asked, “I have a question to ask the two of you.”

Raymond finished his tong sui and re-set the bowl onto the tray before asking, “What is it?”

“After the two of you marry, do you plan on staying here?  I know a lot of newlyweds prefer to have their own place and all.”

Raymond and Mandy exchanged soft smiles.  Before Raymond could utter a word, Mandy spoke up, “If you don’t mind having an extra person around Auntie, I was hoping that I could live here.”

Gigi beamed with pleasure.  Reaching across the table to take Mandy’s hand, she said, “I would love that very much.  You’ve always been like a daughter to me and if you don’t mind having a bossy mother-in-law getting into your business then I think it would make me very very happy.”

Raymond nudged Mandy’s arm and joked, “Are you sure you really want to marry me?  I come with my mother and she can be insufferable at times.”

Gigi shot Raymond an annoyed look, “Mandy, don’t listen to him.  He’s….”  Her sentence got cut off by the sudden ringing of the doorbell.  “Who could it be?”

“I’ll get it.”  Raymond stood up and walked towards the door.  He threw the door open and found Kenneth on the other side with a grim expression.  What stunned him was that Charmaine was there as well.