When the car reached the doors of the Ming ancestral house, Reuben could hear loud voices coming from inside.

'I wonder what might have happened now?' He shook his head and stepped inside.

He was calming down his nerves for the most probable outburst that he might face from mother dearest.

"Calm down, dear. I'm sure that he'll be here in no time."

Reuben heard a much older and scruffier voice as he walked inside the house.

'Father!?'

Reuben blankly stared at the man who was hugging his mother, Renee, as he tried to cajole her.

He looked very much like an older version of Reuben but he had light brown hair and his age reflected in his wise eyes and wrinkled smile.

"Speak of the devil and there he is!" Felix Ming, Reuben's father announced when he saw his son standing frozen at the entrance.

"Hmph!" Renee turned her head away and ignored her son.

Reuben smiled at his father and then gestured towards her with his eyes.

'What's wrong with her?' He looked at his mom.

'Don't ask me! It's all your fault!' Felix accused him with his eyes.

"If you are done with your secret eye contact games, can we focus on why you were called here?" Renee declared when she saw their little actions.

The men chuckled awkwardly and then placed all their attention on her.

"Do you acknowledge your mistakes?" Renee crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Reuben.

Reuben just tilted his head towards one side and looked at her in confusion.

'He looks like dad's golden retriever!' Felix was amused while looking at his son.

"Don't give me that dumb look! I know that you did it on purpose!" She pointed her finger at him.

"But what did I do… ? Or not do?" Reuben thought of her words on their phone call.

"Heh!" She scoffed and gently handed an envelope over to him.

Reuben accepted it and when he opened it, there was a golden invitation card inside the black envelope that was addressed to Mrs. Renee Ming.

'I would have thrown it at his face but what if some accident happened? That card is too precious for me, to even think about flinging it on his face!' Renee watched as he read the card.

*****

Obsidia Designs would be honored by your presence at

OUR FIRST EVER AUCTION

Saturday, August xx, 2020

8 pm onwards

La Lumiere Hotel

Opal Hall

City M

Please RSVP by August xx, 2020

***

Renee was giddy with excitement while he read those words out loud.

"So? What about it?" Reuben gazed at her with a deadpan expression.

'He might be my only son but right now, I just want to smash his face!' Renee raged on the inside.

Feeling her wrath growing, Felix held her in his embrace and gestured to Reuben to shut the hell up.

She snatched the invite away from her insensitive son and looked at her husband with grievances in her eyes.

"Do you see how he acts? Like he doesn't even know what his mother likes! The woman who gave birth to him!" She buried her face in Felix's chest and sobbed.

'There she goes again! I know that she isn't crying!' Reuben shook his head and waited for her to calm down.

Which happened fairly quickly because she looked up at him with a glare when she was done.

"This invite reached the Ming household yesterday and you did not bother to let me know! If it wasn't for Housekeeper Mao, I wouldn't have known about this until everything was over! You nasty brat!" She yelled at him.

Housekeeper Mao was the old lady who took care of the house in their absence.

'She had called me last night but I was at work and then I was busy trying to get in touch with Wayne. I must have forgotten to call her back.' Reuben hit his forehead when he suspected what must've happened.

Because she couldn't contact the young master, Housekeeper Mao had called Madam Ming this morning, to inform her about the important-looking envelope that was delivered the previous day.

When Renee heard about the envelope which had an 'OD' stamped on its seal, she asked the maid to keep it safe until she arrived.

Seeing her in such a rush, Felix had offered to accompany her back to the city.

That was how they had come to this point.

"Not only did you not get me the designs before they were auctioned but also you did not inform me about the invite being sent out. Even Mathew did not tell me anything about this!" She huffed when she thought of her little spy in Reuben's office.

"Because you couldn't keep up your end of the deal, you now have to choose any one of these three lovely socialites and take that woman as your date for the auction." Renee smirked when she saw the crestfallen look on his face.

"Be a man and take the punishment!" She sneered when she saw his narrowed eyes.

'I gave him enough time to make his move on that girl we saw at Phoenix mall, but he did nothing at all!' She remembered the sweet child she saw at Talia's store.

'I can't wait forever for him to make up his mind. I want him to get married before the year ends and give me a cute little grandchild within a year after the marriage!' Renee dreamily giggled when she thought of playing with a chubby baby.

'I have a bad feeling about that expression on her face!' Reuben panicked and turned to his dad for help.

But Felix just shook his head indicating that his hands were tied about this matter.

'What a wife slave!' He mocked his dad and thought of ways to reject his mother.

Reuben looked at the three portfolios that were already placed on the table and grimaced.

He glanced over at the names and could only recognize one of them.

'No way will I ask her to be my date! I learned my lesson the last time I met her!' Reuben scowled as he looked at the name written in block letters on the file.

Seeing his apprehension, Renee offered him another choice.

"If you don't like any of these, then you can always invite that friend of yours who was recently in the tabloids with you." Both Renee and Felix chuckled at this.

They had heard about this incident from Mathew and couldn't stop laughing for the entire duration of their video call.

'Mathew Kim! You see what I do to you!' Reuben gritted his teeth and decided to teach that little snitch a good lesson.

But before that, he needed to think of the perfect plan to distract his parents and change this annoying topic.

"Mom! Have you checked the other side of the invite?" He questioned her and saw her doubtful face.

"Why?" Renee hurriedly moved forward to look at it.

"I told you about a friend being the VP of Obsidia, remember?" He asked and received a nod from her.

"He told me that the rules of this auction are slightly different." He continued.

Feeling her curious gaze on him, Reuben explained all the rules of the auction.

"Still want me to take some girl to the auction?" He raised his brows at his mother.

"What's the connection between those two things?" Renee was lost.

"Oh, mom! You can be so dumb sometimes." Reuben chuckled and immediately his mother snarled at him.

"Reuben, watch it!" Felix warned him sternly.

So he raised his hands in defeat and asked for her forgiveness.

"Just think about it. If I take some woman to the auction and bid for a piece, then she might think that I am buying it for her." He explained and saw her eyes widen in shock.

"So be ready to say goodbye to your precious jewelry." He nonchalantly shrugged his shoulder.

"No… There's no need to take anyone along as your date. Just take Mathew!" She commanded in a hurry.

'She's easy to manipulate sometimes.' Reuben snickered and nodded when she looked at him.

'This imp!' Felix, who was watching the show from the sidelines, shook his head at their antics.

"But that does not mean that you cannot meet some nice ladies there and mingle with them."

Just when Reuben thought that he had escaped, his mom threw him back in the deep waters.

"You think you can fool me that easily? You are too young for that!" She patted him on his face and got up from her seat.

Felix followed after his wife and they headed towards their room.

But she stopped midway and looked back at her dumbfounded son who was frozen like a statue.

"Also, don't try to trick me on that day, because we will be watching you from afar." She cackled as she held Felix's hand and disappeared from his sight.

"Meet you at lunch, son!" Reuben could hear his father's fading voice.

"Why, God? Why….?" Being left all alone in the grand hall, Reuben pulled his thick black hair.

"Haah… At least one good thing happened today." He sighed and touched his laptop bag.

He was excited when he thought of the new project's designs that he would review in detail after he took a long relaxing bubble bath.

He slowly dragged his body to his room while thinking of ways to hide from his mother at the auction.

'Should I just not go on that day?' He quickly rejected that idea because Renee would skin him alive if he did that.

"I'll just ask Wayne and Wade about it then." He picked up his phone and sent them a text asking for their advice.