"Heh? What did I do?" Lina was confused when she heard his weird compliment.

'That was a compliment, right?' She wondered and turned around when she felt a pat on her shoulder.

"Let's go!" Stuart Bai urged her to keep walking ahead.

Now Reuben was walking in the front while Lina and the others followed after him as though they were his posse.

It was a good thing that the mall had minimum customers today or else they would have witnessed the strange incidents of the Emperor of the Ming family smiling and flirting with an unknown woman.

Their situation would have been just like the manager who was on the verge of losing consciousness when he saw the CCTV footage of Reuben having physical contact with someone from the opposite gender.

When Reuben reached the parking lot, he leaned on his car and waited for the others to slowly amble in his direction.

'I practically asked her to marry me and she says 'No, thank you'? Others would have dragged me to the civil court to get married by now.' He sneered while waiting for them.

'I know I said that as a joke but my feelings were still hurt!' He kicked his feet to the floor.

"Where to next, Boss?" Mathew Kim asked as he saluted.

Following behind were the group of three who were talking happily as they strode in his direction.

Lina and Benji had come in Stuart's car which was parked just a few spots away from Reuben's car.

'The pesky fly that Master Wind had warned me about just doesn't leave!' Benji glared at the man who had not yet left the place.

"We need to leave now if we want to reach before lunch ends." Benji reminded Stuart of the time that he had promised to bring Lina back safely.

"It was nice meeting you, President Ming. We will be leaving now." Stuart bid him goodbye and walked to his car.

Benji just nodded at them and followed Stuart.

"So, Lina… It was nice meeting you again. I hope we have more such coincidental meetings." Reuben joked and got a chuckle from her.

Mathew quietly sat in the car and tried not to scoff at his boss who was once again lying flawlessly.

"This was nice. I hope that the next time we meet, you can let me pay for our lunch." She proposed to which, Reuben readily agreed

After waving at him, she moved towards Stuart's car and got inside.

Reuben watched as the car slowly drove away and only then did he get inside his car.

"Boss, office, or sudden inspection somewhere else?" Mathew mocked his boss.

Reuben scowled at his assistant and then looked out the window as his car drove in Ming Enterprises' direction.

----

While Lina was making her way back to the office, she was blissfully ignorant about the huge press meet that Patrick had called for in the Yang Group's headquarters.

They reached Obsidia slower than usual because Benji kept reminding Stuart to slow down whenever he picked up speed.

He did not want others to know about Lina's weakness so he kept saying that he wanted to take a proper look at the streets and so the slow speed would be helpful.

At first, Stuart obliged and slowed down but after a while, he rushed to reach the office before lunch break could end.

"Go for a scenic drive on your own time. I don't want to get yelled at for getting this brat late!" He scowled at Benji and did not comply with his wishes anymore.

Lina's face was a little pale by the time they exited the car but she forced herself to walk steadily.

When they reached her room on the 22nd floor, she collapsed even before Benji could close the door.

Instead of locking the door, Benji rushed to catch her before she fell.

Lina was unconscious in his arms as he panicked while carrying her to the couch.

This was the scene that Leon had walked in on.

"What are you doing?" He locked the door and yelled at Benji who was taking off Lina's jacket and unbuttoning her shirt.

"Step away from her, you pervert!" He strode towards her and pulled Benji's hands away from her chest.

"Shut up! Let me do what I have to!" Benji was in no mood to play around with this manchild.

"No! Learn to control your desires. She's your boss and you cannot do that to her. Especially when she is unconscious!" Leon pointed to the pale and bloodless face that Lina had right now.

"Exactly! She's unconscious and it's hard for her to breathe!" Benji felt like punching this guy who was hindering him.

Leon froze and then looked at Lina's chest which was heaving as though she couldn't catch her breath.

Realizing that he had probably misunderstood something here, he did not interfere when Benji went back and opened her top two buttons.

"Get me some water!" He commanded and Leon rushed to the fridge. Benji then sprinkled water on her in hopes of waking her.

The beads of sweat would not stop forming on her forehead and Benji was now panicking when even the water couldn't wake her up.

He hurriedly dialed a number and paced around the room, waiting for it to be answered.

"Do you know what time it is, Benjamin Douglas!" A roar loud enough came from the other side that even Leon could hear it.

"Doc, she fainted. It's been a few minutes and she hasn't woken up." Benji told the man of Lina's situation.

"What's the problem with that? Give her a few hours and she'll be fine. Is she trying to push her limit? What was the car's speed this time?" The doctor sneered.

"That is the problem, doc! The car wasn't speeding much and not for too long either." Benji recalled the speedometer readings that he was keeping an eye on.

There was silence from the other side and after a few seconds, her doctor spoke.

"Do you have the medication that I prescribed?" He spoke in a solemn voice, the playfulness in him had now vanished.

"But doc… You warned us… " Benji did not continue his words.

Leon was keeping an eye on Lina but his ears were focused on Benji's conversation.

He turned towards him and saw the darkening face that scared him.

"I know what I said. Give it to her now. Make sure to get her checked at a hospital and send me the reports." He instructed Benji and then hung up.

Seeing the blank screen, Benji clenched his fists and quickly moved to his briefcase.

"What is wrong with her?" Leon asked when he saw Benji opening a transparent container that had red pills in it.

"Nothing that you need to know about." Benji was not polite because all he needed now was to see Lina regaining her consciousness.

He put the pill in her mouth and lifted her head up to pour water inside.

He waited for the pill to take effect and in the meantime, he sent a message to his brother, Kirk.

In the eerie silence of the room, only Lina's harsh breathing could be heard.

Within minutes, there were impatient knocks on the door and Leon went to open the locked door.

"VP Luo, I don't think this is a good time to…" He was pushed aside before his words were finished.

"What happened to her?" Wade screamed at Benji who stood with his head lowered.

Kirk wanted to defend his brother but he knew that Benji had failed at keeping Lina safe.

Wade knelt before the sleeping girl and wiped the sweat on her face. There was pain and tenderness on his face as he looked at her furrowed brows.

'What exactly happened to make you react in this way? Why won't you tell us about it?' He gritted his teeth because he felt like his sister did not trust him enough to tell him what had happened in the past.

After hearing everything that had happened during their ride back and the doctor's call, Wade understood something.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you. This is neither your fault nor Stuart's. I think her sickness is acting up." He announced the conclusion that he had come upon.

"What do we do now?" Kirk asked.

"Benji, take her to the hospital. I'll call the others and we will meet you there." Wade gave his orders and Benji respectfully nodded.

He accepted the car keys and the address from Kirk and swiftly carried her outside.

'Why do I feel like the relationship between these four people goes deeper than just an employee/ employer situation?' Leon wondered as he watched VP Luo making calls impatiently.

"Assistant Jiu."

Leon turned towards Kirk when he heard his name.

"I hope that you can keep this matter to yourself." He requested Leon but the tone of his words was nothing like a request.

Leon nodded his head to assure that he would not discuss this with anyone else.

"But what about all the people who must have seen Benji carrying her out the building?" He placed the doubt that was in everyone's mind who must have seen them.

"I'm sure that Assistant Jiu can think of a logical yet vague answer to that question. Right?" Wade asked with a smile on his face.

Seeing the infamous devil's smile, Leon stuttered an acquiescence and watched the two men walking away.

"I hope you are okay, Lina." He prayed and looked at all the shopping bags and the laptops that Benji and Lina had left behind.

Shaking his head, he picked up the keys and securely locked the door before he went back to his desk.

The moment he arrived at his place, he was swarmed by curious bystanders who had witnessed the VP and his assistant rushing to Lina's room.

"Assistant Jiu, what happened inside?"

"Why was our fairy in that giant's arms?"

"Even the VP came down for her!"

'Logical yet vague, huh?' Leon recalled VP Luo's words and thought of what excuse to make for them.