Little Brisbane's birthday party was highly anticipated by many individuals not only because it was a celebration but also a mini vacation experience for the twins to have extra quality time with Qiu Wen. They were a little upset that Xue Ting could not make it, but they knew that since their Uncle Xavier and Auntie May had given them many opportunities on board, they got there earlier to explore for inspiration. Little did Pam know, Alshton was also on board and had been tailing them all the time.
Brisbane saw Qiu Wen with the twins trailing behind, carrying her present. She instantly jumped with excitement. Thrilled as ever, she ran to hug the twins. Joy was proud to see her painting on the cruise, and Matthew was enjoying his first curated sample of music from the lobby to the dining area.
"Brisbane! Happy birthday! " QIu Wen wished as he caught her in his arms and swung her around.
"Thank you!" She shrieked happily.
"Here's your present, come get it!" Joy cheered as she giggled when Qiu Wen put her down.
"Hello! So glad you all made it to the party! The ship is departing soon! " Dan greeted the twins while Pam nodded to them both. She passed the trio each a room key. "I want to stay with Matt Matt Mum!" Brisbane said while hugging him tightly as Pam smiled knowing she could not refuse her request.
Dan beat her to the concurrent. "Alright, only if you listen to them and be obedient." Brisbane clapped happily in Matthew's arms as he chuckled with her.
Everyone took their own room keys when Joy decided to cheekily break the news to Brisbane. "Did you know you need to ask permission from my best friend now if you want to borrow Matthew?" Joy teased as Matthew smacked her lightly.
"Qiu Qiu! It's her birthday!" Matthew scolded.
"What do you mean, Joy?" Brisbane began to gain more attention on the matter.
"Matthew has a girlfriend and she is my best friend!" Joy laughed as Matthew snarled at Joy while worrying about Brisbane's reaction.
To their surprise, Brisbane leaped into Joy's arms.
"Alright, if Joy says yes I will agree too." Brisbane was forcing herself to agree with a little pout as Matthew smiled a sad one before gently patting her head.
"Are you… serious?" Matthew asked half stunned as Joy laughed and kissed her forehead to distract Brisbane before she could change her mind.
"Yay! I can kidnap you now. You're all mine!!!" Joy squealed as she took Brisbane who was half excited into her room leaving Matthew entering his own next to them gratefully but also knew he would miss Brisbane being around him more often which he had gotten used to.
Meanwhile, Alston who had sneaked into the cruise was tailgating the adults and noticed Pam had been too busy with the party arrangement with May to be able to notice him. As for the three men, he was very aware of Qiu Yeh who was more observant whereas Qiu Wen and Dan had completely put their guard down. He waited to see his daughter arriving with the twins as he began to unfold his plans to help "celebrate" her birthday as well.
He knew there would be a clown prepared as Brisbane loves them. So he was imposed as one of the staff and began to get dressed to replace the person in charge. That way he managed to stay in the party for a while which only fueled his hatred and jealousy of the harmonious relationship between Dan and Pam with Brisbane.
Qiu Yeh had already felt restless for a while as May nudged him and his frown was gone. "Not used to clowns?" May teased as his frown returned. "Something is strange about this one." Qiu Yeh pointed out.
"What do you mean?" She asked as she began to observe the clown interacting with Brisbane as though they were very close and it created a suspicion among them both. They both shared a knowing look to stay alert.
However, Alshton was full of tricks. He managed to lure Brisbane to a quiet corner when no one was watching as he squatted to have a good look at her.
"Happy birthday, my daughter…" He said which made Brisbane's eyes grow larger in fear as she recognised his voice and knew it was Alshton. She began to run away and scream but the area was secluded that not many could hear as it was close to the anchor room.
Qiu Yeh who already had his suspicions earlier was alerted when Matthew began to realise the birthday girl was not around. Everyone panicked as they frantically called out to her name. May being quickwitted sped to the control room and checked the footage with Qiu Yeh who then alerted Qiu Wen and Dan to head towards the secluded area where the rubbish collection was.
Brisbane was crying in fear while trying to fight the clown who had revealed his looks. May ensure to not allow Pam in as it would only traumatise her anxious self more. Hence, she stepped out to try and keep Pam calm while Qiu Yeh continued to monitor the surveillance. He then noticed Joy was braving herself to tailgate her brother. Matthew has no idea Joy was following him as he tailgated Qiu Wen and Dan who were quietly approaching the scene with a team of security.
However, Alshton was alert as ever and quick-witted to guard Brisbane with a knife pointing towards her neck the moment he saw Qiu Wen and Dan.
"Hold it, Alshton! Hold it!" Dan warned with his hands raised in the air as Qiu Wen was surveying the area discreetly to find a place for him to do a flying kick at Alston while Dan negotiated.
"You have no right to speak to me that way!" Alshton bellowed which made Brisbane cry even more. Upon hearing her deafening cries which ached Dan's heart, Matthew went to the other corner and it made Qiu Wen panicked instead as he saw Joy close behind Matthew.
"Put the knife down… You don't want to hurt her. She is your daughter." Dan reminded as Alshton bellowed at him. "Shut up!"
Matthew instantly kicked Alshton's left leg while Qiu Wen quickly grabbed Alshton's right arm which was holding on to the knife. The duo had a tacit understanding as it was not their first time in a fight. Matthew knew Qiu Wen was distracting Alshton's fights to give him a chance to carry Brisbane away but the moment he saw Joy, he threw Brisbane over to her as he did not want Joy to watch the fight which he was about to head back and help.
"Find Auntie Pam and Auntie May!" Matthew said before chasing after his father who was chasing Alshton with the rest who eventually broke away into two routes.
Matthew then chose the left side as he remembered it was a secluded area where his songs were aired earlier. Qiu Wen chased Alshton all the way down to the anchor room. Since the cruise was moving, the anchor was in the chain locker room. Alshton knew he had no way to hide except to hide in there as no matter the outcome of this chase, he would rather die than rot in jail. However, Qiu Wen did not want to give him that chance as he forcefully pulled Alshton out only to be slashed by him. In a state of panic, he left Qiu Wen in the room before he fled but the guards were close by. So, he went into hiding near the anchor room.
It took Matthew a while to figure out his chase was to the anchor room. That was when he noticed the dark blood trails. He quickly checked inside the ajar door of the anchor room to find Qiu Wen had fainted.
"Dad!!" He screamed frantically knowing how the anchor room had no oxygen if one was trapped in it. He fought his tears as he tried to pull Qiu Wen who was unconscious out of the room. When he ensured Qiu Wen was in a temporary safe position, he rushed to get help only to find Alshton in his hiding. Matthew gave him a fight before Qiu Yeh spotted them on surveillance as Matthew purposely lured Alshton out to the place where the cameras could capture them.
Just when Alshton tried to flee after injuring Matthew in his abdomen with the knife, the team of security caught up to them and forced Alshton to surrender. Right then, an emergency announcement was made for everyone to disembark at the nearest next stop.
Joy returned to the scene after leaving Brisbane with Pam who was gratefully trying to comfort her baby but to no avail. The moment Joy saw Qiu Wen unconscious while Matthew was being attended by a medic due to his injury, she was overwhelmed by her trauma at Dan's beach house on that fateful night. She knew she had to stay calm as she was the only one around to handle things with both her father and brother down but she was struggling to even keep her breathing steady.
She thought she was strong enough to withstand the circumstances after the traumatic event previously only to find herself missing her mother even more. She fell to the ground and broke down as she cried for Xue Ting. Qiu Yeh rushed over to her once he caught sight of her unstable self only to find May beating him to comfort Joy. They both shared a knowing look that they knew they had no choice but to get Xue Ting back.
Qiu Yeh and Dan quickly rushed to handle the situation while May had to stay behind to deal with the cruise operations. It was Dan who ended up making the call to Xue Ting as Qiu Yeh had to facilitate the procedure for admission to the hospital for both Qiu Wen and Matthew.