"Such a coincidence to see you here." Reuben smiled at her.

Mathew Kim was talking to Benji about his schedule when he heard his boss making this seemingly innocent statement.

His head whiplashed towards Reuben and his eyes widened because his boss was lying through his teeth with such a straight face.

----

A while back, when Reuben and Mathew had just exited the conference hall where they had been since early this morning, the first thing Reuben did was check his notifications.

His expressionless face formed a subtle smile when he saw that there was a post from Lina on her moments.

It was a picture of colorful macarons neatly arranged on a plate.

He shook his head when he read the lame caption that she had added to it.

'Where is this?' As he walked back to his room, he checked the geotag on the image and realized that she was at Phoenix mall.

"Assistant Kim, when was the last time we went to Phoenix for our routine inspection?" He questioned and waited as Mathew checked his calendar.

"About two weeks ago, Boss. We can check up on them again after two more weeks." Mathew replied and glanced at his watch.

'There's still time for lunch. I thought that I would have to skip my lunch today as well.' He was relieved because being the President's assistant was a strenuous job and he often had to sit through meetings several hours at a stretch.

"Let's do a surprise visit today. I don't want to get too predictable with my inspections." Reuben nodded, pleased with the reason he had come up with.

"But-" Mathew shut up when he saw the glare that was directed at him.

'There goes my peaceful lunch!' He mourned for his empty stomach that was already beginning to grumble.

"Yes, Boss. I will call the driver immediately." He bowed and left the office room.

Within two minutes, the car was ready and they set off on their trip to Phoenix Mall.

On the way, Reuben reminded the driver to speed up on multiple occasions. Thus the forty-minute drive was shortened to a mere twenty-five minutes.

Mathew was confused when he saw that his boss wasn't making his way to the manager's office but he went to the second floor instead.

He quietly observed as Reuben glanced around as though he was trying to find something.

This made Mathew to also scan for whatever it is that his boss was trying to find.

While Mathew was still glancing around, he noticed that the man beside him had disappeared and was now swiftly walking in a certain direction.

Mathew ran after him and finally realized why the Emperor was in a hurry to reach Phoenix today.

'So she is the reason why Boss was so hell-bent on coming here?' He waved at Lina as he walked towards Benji.

'Stalker!' He rolled his eyes but they soon widened when he heard his boss' innocent words.

---

"It really is a coincidence! We were here to check up on Obsidia's stores today." Lina cheerfully told him why she was here.

"What about you?" She questioned him and wiggled her brows.

"Though I am pretty sure I know why you are here." She smirked at him and noticed how his face was laced with confusion.

'Does she know that I came here because I saw her post?' He was thinking of some valid reason to explain his presence here.

"Because you wanted to check up on your business just like us right?" She answered when he did not respond to her but then saw him frowning after she spoke.

'Oh damn! Did he want to keep that a secret?' Lina was troubled because she thought she had just exposed his secret.

But Reuben heaved a sigh of relief when he heard her.

"Yes. That is correct but how did you know that?" He asked in return.

'To my knowledge, Lina did not even know about my identity so how does she suddenly know that I own this place?' He looked at her suspiciously.

Lina saw the skeptical look he gave her and crossed her arms over her chest and stared right back at him.

"What? You think my Benji is all brawn and no brains?" She pointed to her awesome assistant who stood at the side watching their interaction.

"Oh… I didn't mean to offend you. Just curious." He shrugged his shoulders.

'My Benji? Does she call every guy hers?' He thought about how she had just addressed him.

He then thought back to how she had called him 'My Ruby'.

This made him feel annoyed since he had thought that he was a special existence for her.

"Then we won't keep you here. You can go and take care of your work." Lina waved at him and then turned away.

'I'm hungry after shopping for so long. Let's have lunch here before we get back.' She decided and was about to call on Stuart and Benji to follow her.

'Wait! Why is she in such a hurry to leave? I came here to hang out with her and she's practically fleeing from me.' Reuben was frustrated twice in a row.

"But I've completed my work here already so you are not hindering me in any way." He called out to her.

'LIAR!' Mathew Kim was screaming in his mind.

'When did I say that I was hindering him?' Lina turned around with an amused look on her face.

"Oh, rea-" Her words were cut off by a loud noise.

*Grrrrr…..*

Everyone turned in the direction of that noise and found Mathew Kim holding his stomach and his face reddening with embarrassment.

"Sorry. I'm just very hungry." He scratched his nose and looked away from all the gazing eyes.

"Pfffttt…." Lina let out a chortle but swiftly placed a hand over her mouth when she saw Mathew's angry face.

"Tsk tsk, Ruby, is this how you treat your assistant? Making him work until he's starving?" She turned to Reuben and admonished him to appease Mathew's anger.

"Yes, Lina! I've missed so many lunches because of Boss's prolonged meetings!" He poured out his grievances when he saw her chastising the Emperor.

'I finally have someone who can stand up to him fearlessly!' He was cheering her on in his heart.

Reuben snorted when he heard the accusations placed on him and then turned to face his assistant who was bashing him so courageously.

Mathew was about to complain more when he saw that Reuben stood right behind Lina and spoke something.

"Paternity Leave"

Reuben had a smug smile as he mouthed those words and Mathew's entire body language changed.

'No Boss! Don't do anything to my paternity leave! How will my Olli-bear and my baby manage without me?' He shook his head continuously.

"Now that I think about it, I must have left my lunch box at home so maybe that was why I missed my lunch." He took the entire blame on himself.

"No no… Since my assistant is so hungry it is my duty to feed him properly." Reuben spoke out and smiled at him.

'This useless guy gave me a nice idea!' He smirked.

Mathew felt a chill run down his spine when he saw that smile but all he could do now was smile back at him.

"Lina? Why don't you join us? It'll be fun." Reuben turned towards Lina and offered generously.

"Sure. We were just about to go eat. Two extra people are no problem." She accepted without any trouble and asked Benji and Stuart if they were okay with it.

Stuart Bai had been silently watching how Lina was so recklessly talking to this man and he too was not showing any negative emotions towards her.

'That fearless part of her is just like her father's.' He nodded when Lina asked him if he was okay with it.

'A chance to eat with this legendary figure? Only an idiot would reject this once in a lifetime chance!' He followed after them.

Reuben led them to the restaurant on the top floor that only allowed Phoenix Mall's black cardholders to enter.

"May I see your card please?" The concierge asked for their card when he saw a group of four men and one woman entering the restaurant.

Lina was about to show him the card that Wade had given to her but luckily Reuben extended his card before she could.

This entire place belonged to him, he did not have to show his card if he wanted to.

But he liked the fact that the employee did not blindly let anyone enter without checking their card details first.

'It's a good thing that I did not take my card out or else Ruby would know that Wade had given his card to me.' She sighed and patted her chest because she had almost messed up.

The black card that Wade had given her was only given to the friends and family of the investor, aka Reuben.

Showing that she had a black card with Wade's name etched on it would prove that they knew each other and were close enough to share the card.

She did not want that to happen because she was still not ready to let him know who she really was.

"Come" Reuben extended his hand and led her to the room that was meant for them.

Looking at the big and warm hand that was holding onto hers, Lina's face flushed.

Her face was heating up and there were goosebumps all over her body.

Everyone was so busy admiring the restaurant that they did not notice how red Lina's face had become.

'I will get a nosebleed if this continues any longer!' She remembered the anime girls whose noses would bleed when their faces got heated up.

Lina was now panicking and thinking of ways to pull her hand away without making it seem so obvious.