'We need to have a long chat the moment we reach home!' Renee glared at Felix Ming and successfully silenced him.

She was not in the mood to argue with her husband at someone else's party, so she just dragged him along to the other side of the hall to get his mind off this topic.

Lina and Reuben stood glancing at each other's faces trying to understand what the other person wanted from them.

"What was so funny about that, Kitten?" He finally asked when he realized that she did not have any plans of initiating the conversation.

Lina rolled her eyes and shook her head to avoid his question.

'Everything about that was funny! He was called a Sad old virgin by his own mother!' She looked away to stop her laughter.

Reuben sighed when he saw her refusal to speak and accepted a glass of champagne that was being served by the servers.

Lina once again rolled her eyes as she observed his unsuspecting actions.

"You still are so naive, Ruby!" She clicked her tongue and gave him a disapproving glance.

The glass which was at his lips stopped and he withdrew it after which he silently waited for her to continue.

"Hello? Did you forget what happened the last time you ignorantly drank at my auction?" She questioned while wiggling her brows.

Reuben instantly remembered how he was drugged by the Zheng sisters without him ever suspecting it.

Seeing his face which cracked for a split second, Lina broke into peals of laughter.

"That wasn't funny, Kitten!" He grumbled at her when he saw how much she was getting a kick out of his misery at that time.

Thinking of that fateful night, his mind wandered to what had happened after he had been drugged.

The memory of pleasuring himself in the hotel's bathtub was still vividly imprinted on his mind.

What was even more vivid were the horror stories she had narrated to him which haunted him to this day.

Shuddering a bit, he discarded those alarming thoughts and tried to think of happy things.

He glanced at the empty dance floor and recalled their first dance at her auction.

'She likes to dance, right?' He recalled watching her dance with all her relatives and how she was smiling cheerfully at them.

"May I have the honor of dancing with you?" Reuben extended his hand and politely asked her for a dance.

Lina had been silently glancing around to see if she could find any good looking men when she heard his question.

*Cough*

She choked on her saliva and coughed for a few seconds which caused Reuben to panic.

He rubbed her back to calm her down and then signaled a server to get them some water.

"Here, drink this." He handed her the glass and watched as she finished it in one go.

"What's the hurry? You'll choke again!" He chided her for gulping everything down in one breath.

'That was because I thought I was caught gawking at other men!' She glared at the man who had been berating her like an angry old lady.

Reuben looked down and stopped his monologue when he saw the fierce look she shot at him.

"Let's g-" Lina's words were cut off when she felt someone standing beside them.

Turning to her side, she stared at the woman with bold pink hair.

'I've seen her before! She's Talia's younger sister!' Lina recognized her easily because of the unique hair color.

"Miss Yang we meet again." Valerie mockingly smiled and glanced at Lina from top to bottom.

Her sarcastic voice made both Reuben and Lina frown but just for a quick second before they reverted to their detached faces.

'You think that you can have both my Louis and Brother Reuben?' She sneered inwardly.

Being a model, she knew how to control her facial expressions so all they saw was a charming smile.

Reuben understood that she must have connected the dots regarding Lina being the masked woman and also the woman who 'slept' with him.

"What do you want, Valerie?" He asked in an indifferent and impatient tone.

Lina could hear the annoyance in his voice and reckoned that there was bad blood between them.

'He must be irritated that her sister had drugged him!' She deduced but was way off the mark.

Not only did Valerie know about that incident, but she was also the main perpetrator behind this conspiracy.

Lina would have freaked if she knew that the original target of that scheme was her dear senior brother, Louis Huo.

"Brother Reuben, I have just come to greet the star of tonight's event. There's no need for you to be so hostile." Valerie snickered and then turned to face Lina.

Being the darling younger daughter of Henri Zheng, she had absolutely no restraints because he would indulge her every whim and fancy.

This was why she had so blatantly snubbed Reuben but did not get burned right that instant.

"Watch your mouth, if not I can always have another talk with your father about the fundings that we have injected in his company." Reuben glared at her and smirked when he saw her face pale.

Their family business had been declining in recent years and right now, Ming Enterprise was their saving grace.

'Daddy will kill me if Brother Reuben blames me for taking away the money." She gulped her saliva and gave him a pleading smile.

Lina stood at the side and watched how her expressions changed in a matter of seconds.

"What did Miss Zheng want to talk to me about?" Lina interjected to save the panicking girl.

She placed her palm on Reuben's chest and shook her head.

She then used her eyes and signaled him to look around them.

Reuben paused and glanced around only to find everyone around them staring at him without blinking.

From the moment Reuben's parents had left, the surrounding people were discreetly watching them but when they saw Valerie walk in their direction, more people openly gaped at them.

'Will Valerie ask for justice on her sister's behalf?' They all had similar thoughts in their minds.

This was thanks to the rumors in society that the Ming and Zheng family had been joined together by a secret marriage alliance made by the older generations.

Valerie noticed how Reuben scoffed at her but did not continue with his threats.

'So she has this much control over him already?' Her eyes darted to the hand on his body and quietly looked away.

"Miss Yang seems to be pretty close to Brother Reuben." She chuckled as she made this off-handed comment.

Her words brought the people's attention to the close distance between Lina and Reuben.

"I don't have to tell you about my affairs but since you asked, I'll answer it." Lina was not bothered about the looks she was receiving because standing close to someone was not something she needs to be ashamed of.

"Reuben and I are great friends. Why do you ask?" She shot right back and raised her brows.

Valerie was expecting her to shy away from revealing anything so that she might use it against her but her plan failed.

"Then what about my Louis? You are close friends with him as well? Because I saw how close you were standing to him!" She gritted her teeth as she innocently accused Lina of being close with multiple men.

The crowd frowned because they too had witnessed that scene and here she was now, with another young master.

"Your Louis?" Lina tilted her head and blinked a couple of times to wrap her mind around this new information.

'How much I am aware of him, senior Huo is married to his job. So when did he become hers?' She peeked at Reuben in hopes of getting some answers.

Reuben chuckled when he saw her lost eyes and leaned closer then whispered in her ear.

"She's your senior's crazy fangirl." He gave her the gist of the situation.

"Oh… So like me but minus the crazy part." Lina muttered as she nodded at him and then giggled at her own joke.

Reuben narrowed his eyes when he heard her silent remark but decided to ignore it for the time being.

Lina's eyes deviously twinkled when she thought of getting a little revenge for her disrespectful words earlier.

"My relationship with Louis?" She blushed as she said those words and then sheepishly bit her lips.

Reuben once again glared at her when he heard her drop the formal 'Senior Huo' title and jump to a more casual way of addressing him.

"You will just have to ask him about it. We haven't discussed what to name our relationship yet." Lina giggled, absolutely oblivious to the dangerous situation she was shoving herself into.

Valerie's eyes narrowed and her face turned red with anger when she heard the misleading words that Lina had uttered in response.

But all her anger was for naught.

This was because when she glanced across the room from the corner of her eyes, she found another woman trying to speak to her Louis.

This made her forget all about her plans to sully Lina's image as she glared in that direction.

"Excuse me." She did not care about them anymore and paced in the direction of her childhood crush.

Lina turned and watched how Valerie strode in her senior's direction and let out a soft giggle.

'Senior Huo sure knows how to attract weird and sticky flies.' She shook her head while thinking of their college days.

Not only girls but also numerous boys had tried hard to hit on Louis Huo, only to be rejected without an ounce of compassion.

'That's Senior Huo for you.' She once again chuckled when she saw Valerie being sent back empty-handed after her failed attempt of getting closer to him.

"Eyes on me, Kitten!" Reuben's deep voice sounded in her ears as she felt his hot breath spill on them.

Lina felt a shiver run down her spine, just like the one she felt when they were close earlier. This made her bite her lips in response.

Turning around, she gazed into his eyes and found herself getting lost in them.

Reuben rolled his eyes when he noticed her dazed look.

'She had me yet she's staring at that wretched Huo!' He scoffed out loud which brought her back to her senses.

"You haven't answered my question yet." He spoke in an exasperated tone and sighed when he saw the look of confusion flash in her eyes.

Lina tilted her head and furrowed her brows trying to think of what question he was talking about.

"The dance, my dumb kitten!" He reminded her and dragged her to the empty dance floor before someone else could interrupt them.