"Yes, Young Master." Benji's respectful voice woke Reuben up from his daze.

He then focused on the voice that was heard through Lina's phone.

"One last thing, don't forget to keep those pesky flies away from my Nana." Wind viciously smirked at Benji who couldn't see it because his face wasn't visible.

Wind's final order to Benji was a jab at the man hidden behind the kitchen counter which both he and Reuben understood.

Lina was the only clueless one over there.

'Thousands of miles away but they are still so protective.' She rolled her eyes.

"Understood, Master!" Benji saluted.

"I need to leave now. But baby, take care of yourself and don't forget to say hi to uncles and to Wa-" His words were cut off when Lina spoke over him.

"I will say hi to everyone! I hope to see you soon. I love you, bye!" She then hung up after she was done.

She did not want Reuben to hear Wind calling out Wayne and Wade's name because then he would know who she really was.

'He already knows my secret identity as LY, I don't want him to know more about me!' She firmly resolved.

She was still pissed at him and his mother and decided that staying away from them was the best thing to do.

Only after she hung up did she realize what she had just done.

'I'm so dead! I disconnected his call so abruptly!' She grimaced as she looked at her phone.

Her brother and mother had the same vengeful personality and this thoughtless action of hers would definitely come back to haunt her some other time.

"Are you okay?" She asked Benji who was holding his hand over his chest.

Benji previously worked for her brother and he still had immense respect for him but at the same time, he greatly feared him.

He nodded his head and pointed to the kitchen where Reuben stood, watching how Benji was reacting.

"Why are you still here?" Lina scowled at him when her attention shifted towards him.

'I want to kick his ass whenever I look at his face!' She glared as he slowly walked towards them.

His mother's mean words were still resonating in her ears.

----

Thousands of miles away, in a remote location.

"Done talking to your baby sister?" A man wiggled his brows at the other man who sat with his eyes closed.

Hearing no answer from him, the first man rolled his eyes but continued his teasing.

"When I just entered the room, I'm sure I heard her call my name before all that commotion took place. I did not know that she still misses me. I miss her too~!" He whined in a childish voice.

This was the last string for the other man and he opened his eyes slowly and glared at his friend.

"Don't even think about it, Tristan!" He hissed and his golden eyes flickered menacingly.

The man named Tristan raised his hands in defeat and shook his head.

'My poor Nana, what will happen to your love life with this obsessive punk always watching your every move?' He mourned for his best friend's geeky little sister.

"But did you notice that there was another person in the room with them?" Tristan stroked his chin and pondered.

"Hmm…" Was all he got from Wind.

"When can we leave this place?" Wind asked in a frustrated voice.

'This mission was not supposed to take this long!' He was pissed that he couldn't contact his family for such a long time.

Even when he did contact them, he couldn't talk for long.

"Can't say for sure. We still need to complete the mission without leaving any open ends." Tristan shrugged and patted his shoulder before leaving the room.

"Wait for big brother to come back, Nana." He sighed and closed his eyes once again.

According to the world, he was just another rich heir who spent his parents' money.

But he was so much more than that and this was also the reason why he couldn't spend much time with his family.

---

"Lina, I am so sorry for the way my mother behaved. I think she might have been manipulated by Talia because there is no way that she would be so hostile for no reason." Reuben stood before her with his head lowered and apologized.

His eyes expressed how sorry he felt and that he really did not know why such a thing even happened.

'Dammit! Why do I melt when hot guys show such sad faces!' She cursed her own vanity but that did not mean that she would forgive him so easily.

"This is all your fault! If you hadn't introduced me to Talia as your girlfriend then all this wouldn't have happened!" She scoffed at him.

"Do you want me to kick his ass on your behalf?" Benji butted in and rubbed his wrists indicating that he was ready to go.

Reuben gave him a disapproving glance and ignored him.

'Was the punch he gave me earlier not enough for him?' He rubbed his sore jaw.

When his mom had called back, Reuben was busy dodging Benji's attacks. The moment he hung up, he was punched straight in his face.

Lina observed Reuben's subconscious action and looked at Benji's wrist.

"How many times have I told you not to get aggressive!? You'll just hurt your hand." She walked to the refrigerator and handed him an ice pack for his wrist.

"I was hurt too, you know!" Reuben voiced out his thoughts.

"You deserved it!" Benji glowered at him.

The reason why Benji had gotten into a brawl with him was that he had heard the explanation that Reuben had given to his parents about the entire drug situation.

Lina just tossed him another ice pack and ignored him.

'I know I deserved it but this differentiation in treatments is horrible.' He pressed it on his jaw and followed them to the couch.

The man who was always sought after and pleased was now ignored and not taken seriously.

She instantly scooted away from him when he sat next to her and moved closer to Benji.

She switched on the Tv and put on the local news channel that was more famous for gossip than actual news.

The two men sat on either side of her with an ice pack soothing their aching wrist and jaw.

"Now we bring to you the hottest news in town! Obsidia's auction that took place last night!" The newsreader was a woman wearing a bright red bodycon dress.

Lina's ears perked up and she folded her legs on the couch as she watched the footage of different socialites entering the hotel to attend the auction.

'I always love watching people talk about my designs!' She focused on the screen.

"Hey, that's you!" Lina turned to her right and repeatedly hit Reuben on his shoulders to get his attention.

"Ouch!" He held the petite hand that was inflicting too much damage and brought it away from his shoulder.

Looking up, he watched his face on the screen as the reporters tried to gain his attention.

"That suit really does look good on him." Lina's silent whisper echoed in the room but she was unaware because now her sole focus was how her uncles and Wayne were surrounded by reporters.

Lina laughed when she saw Wayne even smile and wave at the cameras, causing a few female reporters to swoon giddily.

Reuben froze when he heard her compliment and his cheeks burned when he realized that he was still holding her hand from earlier.

Benji felt like he was the third wheel during a high schooler's date when he saw how innocent Reuben's expression was.

"All the legendary leaders of the business world attended LY's auction." The woman on TV spoke again.

"The Luo family, Ming family, Huo family and the Yang family. What shocked everyone was the late yet completely unexpected arrival of the Zheng family."

"Seeing so many popular faces present makes us curious about who the mysterious LY is and why he never shows himself to his fans?" She speculated.

Each of their faces appeared on the screen one by one.

Watching Reuben's face appear once again made Lina think that he must be from either one of the big families and her guess would soon be proven right.

"Yes? Why don't you just show yourself to the public?" Reuben questioned when he heard the news.

"Because there are certain things I want to achieve on my own. Without my parents' help." She answered him truthfully.

He nodded and did not ask any further.

"Among so many eligible bachelors that attended last night, what our viewers want to know desperately is who was the hottest among them? So here are the nominees!"

Wayne, Ivan, her uncles and even Reuben's face appeared on the screen with a few other unfamiliar faces.

Benji scoffed seeing Reuben's face, Reuben himself rolled his eyes at this pointless debate while Lina observed all their faces and rated them in her mind.

'I need to get Wade on that list as well. How dare they ignore him!?' She vowed to make his beauty to be known among the people.

"We have the results of our online poll and let us see who our viewers have chosen?" The screen panned to the online tally.

Reuben's image had the largest amount of upvotes and he beat Wayne by a landslide.

"The winner as always is our very own EMPEROR MING!" The newsreader announced and different images of Reuben were displayed, showing his beauty and regal demeanor.

"Ming!?" Benji turned and looked at him suspiciously.

"Emperor?" Lina guffawed loudly when she heard the weird name he was called.