Lina did not have to think for long because Reuben let go of her hand when they reached the table.

He pulled the chair for her like the gentleman that he was and sat opposite to her.

After she sat down, Lina's head was lowered and she was lost in her thoughts, therefore she did not realize the uncomfortable atmosphere around her.

The others felt like they were unwanted guests because Reuben never even looked at them twice.

'Nana, stop acting like this is the first time you've held a guy's hand!' She shook her head and looked up.

"So, what shall we eat?" She went back to her normal cheerful state and asked everyone.

A waiter came and took their orders and once again there was awkward silence enveloping the entire room.

Lina looked at Benji, expecting him to say something that would ease the tension.

'You want my help now? Should have thought of that when you left me alone with Kirk!' He sneered and ignored her.

Having left with no other option, Lina decided to speak to Mathew.

"How's your wife now? Did she like the products that I recommended?" She asked about the only thing that they had talked about.

"Yes! She loved it. In fact, why don't you come home on the weekend, we can have brunch together and you can meet her yourself." He suggested with a cheerful smile on his face.

'Hmph! Attention hog!' Reuben sneered at him but did not interfere.

He was still surprised at how bold he was when he held Lina's hand and strode inside.

'Her palm was so small and soft.' He reminisced how it felt in his hand.

He had subconsciously held onto her hand and letting it go midway would have just been extremely embarrassing for both of them. Hence he kept holding her hand until they reached their seats.

When Lina heard Mathew's invitation, she hesitated for a while.

'That's when we have Stacy's going away party. I can't miss that.' She was thinking of how to refuse him without disrespecting his kind gesture.

"Thank you, Matt but I don't think I will be free this week. Can we change it to the week after that?" She asked with a pleading smile.

Reuben let out a chuckle when he heard her rejecting Mathew's offer.

He waved his hand and showed that he was sorry when he saw Lina glaring at him.

"Hello, President Ming. I am glad that I could meet you today so unexpectedly." Stuart Bai spoke after he practiced the same sentence a couple of dozen times in his head.

"Don't embarrass me, Director Bai. It is a pleasure that I could meet you. I have great respect for your work ethics and ideas." He responded respectfully.

"I would have poached you to join my company if Wade wasn't my friend." He dropped Wade's name to show that he knew who their VP was.

He glanced at Lina's face from the corner of his eye and saw the surprised expression on her face.

'Of course, he would know that Wade is the VP of Obsidia. They are best friends after all. Why am I even shocked?' Lina laughed at her own forgetfulness.

"You praise me too much, President Ming." Stuart replied with a happy smile.

"But I am confused about how you know this brat here?" He made a sour face and pointed at Lina who was sitting beside him.

"Um… Rude!" Lina scowled at him to which Stuart just shrugged his shoulders with a devil may care attitude.

"Oh, It's okay. I already know that Lina is L-" Reuben was answering Stuart's query when he saw Lina turn towards him with her eyes popping out.

'What are you going to say, you doofus!' She panicked and kicked him hard in the shin with all the strength that she could muster.

"Motherfu-" He exclaimed loudly when he felt her shoe connecting with his tender shin.

'What the fuck is her problem!? Always kicking me around!' He glared at her furiously.

But when he saw the panicked look in her eyes, he understood that he was just about to expose her secret identity as LY.

He had thought that since Stuart Bai was a senior member of Obsidia, he must have been aware of her identity. However, it appeared as though he had thought wrong.

"Are you alright, Boss?" Mathew asked when he saw Reuben's lips pulled in a deep frown.

"It's nothing." He waved his hand and dismissed their worries.

When his eyes met with Lina's, he saw her say 'sorry' silently to which he just nodded.

Though his leg was hurting, he couldn't blame her entirely because he was the one who had assumed that Stuart knew about her.

"I know Lina through Wade." He made up a lie to curb Stuart's curiosity.

What he actually wanted to say was this.

'I met her on the flight back to the country on which she insulted me.'

'The next time I saw her was when she was at this very same mall but she did not see me.'

'Then I met her at a club and saved her life from human traffickers.'

'I even saw her when I met Junior Gu at a restaurant after that I along with Stacy and the boys spied on her to see if she was cheating with Stacy's girlfriend.'

'Then I saw her at her auction and saved her once again.'

'We then spent the night together at the hotel and even the next night at Benji's apartment.'

'Finally, now I came to meet her here where all of you are disturbing my chance of talking to her peacefully!'

But there was no way he could tell them all that, so he just used Wade's name as a shield because he knew that she was Wade's partner at the auction.

"Oh yes. How could I have forgotten that?" Stuart rubbed his chin and nodded.

'President Ming is close to VP Luo and CEO Luo and this brat is their cousin. Of course, they must have met through her brothers.' Stuart had blissfully misunderstood Reuben's answer.

Soon the food arrived and Lina and Mathew were all ready to fill their empty stomachs.

From time to time, Benji would place healthy food on Lina's plate whenever he saw that she was just eating fried food.

"Thanks, Mommy Douglas." She stuck her tongue out to him.

Mathew saw the good relationship that they had and he glanced at the block of ice who was busy eating by himself.

'Oh, how I wish I had a sweet and friendly boss like Lina! Not this man who just glares at me all the time!' He sneered.

Right at that moment, Reuben looked at him and saw the weird face that he was making.

'Looks like I've been too lenient with him! Just you wait till we get back to the office.' He smiled at his assistant who immediately stared at his plate and acted as though he was eating.

Their lunch together ended with just small talk about business matters.

As they made their way out of the restaurant, Lina remembered something that she had heard from Wade.

She looked at Reuben with sparkling eyes and cleared her throat to get his attention.

Thanks to the difference in their heights, Reuben had to bend his head and look down to meet her eyes.

"Hmm? Have something you want to say, kitten?" He asked and saw her bob her head like a chicken pecking grains.

He halted in his steps and waited for her to say whatever she wanted.

"Um… You own this place right?" She nervously asked.

"Yes. So?" He raised his brows in amusement when he saw her playing with her fingers and struggling to utter the next words.

'This is so awkward!' Lina felt like pulling her hair when she felt everyone's eyes on her.

Right now, she and Reuben were a few steps ahead of them. So Benji and the other two men had a clear view of what was going on in front of them.

"So… Can I see your Phoenix card?" She finally blurted out what she wanted from him.

"Huh?" Reuben was not expecting her to answer in this way.

'Shouldn't she be asking me to take her shopping using my card?' He wondered because he had heard that this was what every single one of Wayne's girlfriends had demanded from him.

What he had not considered were a few important aspects.

First, Lina was not his girlfriend to make such demands and last, she had Wade's card so if she wanted to buy something then she could do it with her own money.

Seeing Reuben's stunned face, Lina thought that he was reluctant to show her the card.

"I just wanted to see the legendary black card with the golden phoenix. It's fine if you don't want to show it." She waved her hand to hide her embarrassment and turned to walk away.

'Stupid Lina! Why did you have to ask him that!?' She chastised herself.

She was so used to getting all her wishes granted from the men in her life that she thought that Reuben would do the same.

'He's not my father or one of my brothers to just do whatever I want.' She started walking away from him.

Reuben woke up from his daze when he felt the scalding looks that the three men were giving him. Only then did he realize that Lina was already a few steps away from him.

He quickly closed the distance between them and pulled her hand to turn her around.

Lina's body swirled around and he caught her in case she lost her step.

"That was all you wanted to ask of me? To see the card?" He questioned when their eyes met.

Lina took a step away from him and nodded.

Reuben shook his head and took his wallet out and searched for the card among the multiple other cards that were inside.

"You know I can get you the same type of card with your name on it, that is if you want me to." He smirked as he passed the card to her.

Mathew Kim was busy clicking their pictures in secret when he heard his boss's proposal.

'The only people who can have that card are immediate family members! Does that mean the Emperor wants to…?' His mind exploded when he thought of this possibility.

'Don't accept his offer Lina, he's a scammer!' Benji was yelling out in his mind.

"No thanks. I just wanted to see what the rare card looked like." She smiled and handed the card back to its rightful owner.

Mathew and Benji heaved a sigh of relief when they heard her blunt rejection. Stuart on the other hand was confused when he saw that these two assistants were so worried.

Reuben laughed loudly when he heard her answer and rubbed her head once again.

"You really are one of a kind, my kitten." He gently poked her forehead and started walking away.