When Reuben heard the question that was thrown at him, he froze and turned to look in the direction of his guest room.

He took a sigh of relief when the door closed after the person had just entered it.

'How could she hear such a soft voice?' He wondered and cursed himself for being careless.

He hastily rose from his seat on the couch and strode in the direction of his study.

"Uh… What… What voice, Kitten?" He replied while trying his best to keep his voice from trembling.

'What if she is still not convinced and asks more questions?' He looked around the room in anxiety.

Getting an idea he turned on his laptop and played a random video from the news channel.

He even raised the volume so that she might hear the female newsreader that had appeared on his screen.

"You mean this? I was watching the news." He explained and even went as far as moving the phone closer to the laptop so that she might hear the anchor's voice.

He waited in trepidation as all he could hear was Lina's silence which was a little dreadful for him at this moment.

"Hmm… I'm going out to lunch with my brothers. Take care." Her soft answer was heard and then the call disconnected.

The *doot doot* that he heard after she hung up made him slump onto the table as he took a deep breath which he had not noticed that he had held inside for so long.

He threw the phone on the table and then looked up in the direction of the door.

There were sounds of movement coming from the outside and he knew exactly who it was.

"I'm glad she believed my words and did not question me anymore!" He gratefully prayed since any more interrogation would have made him spill the beans.

'It is hard to keep secrets from the girl whom you want to open your heart to.' He sighed and then swiftly walked outside the study.

He had a lot of things to do before Lina might come back after her day at the office.

He surely felt guilty that he was hiding this from her but this was necessary for what he was planning.

'I hope she doesn't get too mad and forgives me when she finds out the truth of the matter.' He prayed once again and then exited the study.

______

In the car on the way to Wade's restaurant, Lina sat in the backseat with the phone in her hand.

A deep frown sat on her face with her brows scrunched up after the phone call she just had with her boyfriend.

Wayne was not driving so he turned half his body towards his sister to ask for the hot gossip about their conversation.

"What did he say? Is he stuck to the bed and can't move a muscle?" He excitedly asked about the present situation of his friend.

Before Lina could answer him, he smirked and then spoke up without giving her a chance to open her mouth.

"Oh oh! Does he have a sore throat that is making him sound like a dead pig?" He inquired what he wished was the truth.

This best friend of his had always managed to look his best even when he was not supposed to which made Wayne jealous at times.

'I'm not jealous! Just curious!' He chided his brain for even thinking that he was jealous of his friend's good luck in this regard.

However, the answer that he was waiting for was not heard in the car, instead, a soft mutter was heard.

"Hmm?" Wade asked while peeping at her through the rearview mirror.

The brothers glanced at the little girl who sat with her head lowered as she continued staring at the phone in her hand.

Lina looked up with her teeth biting her lower lip so hard that they had turned a dark red.

"There was a woman in his house." She repeated the words she had muttered in her disbelief earlier.

The car swerved for a split second before Wade regained control over the steering wheel once he realized his mistake.

When he had heard her answer, he was startled and had almost lost control of the car.

"What the fuck is wrong with you!?" A loud roar coming from his side scared Wade.

Wayne's hands were clutching the seat belt tight and he glared daggers at his brother who was playing around with their lives.

Remembering that the person who would be most affected by this sudden jump scare was their little sister, they hurried to take a look at her.

Wayne continued gazing at Lina while Wade slowly drove the car to the side and brought it to a halt.

He then turned around and watched her to see if she was showing any signs of the panic attacks that she would get during her episodes.

'She seems fine.' He sighed when he saw that she was not as affected as he had expected her to be.

"Are you alright, Nana? Do you feel uneasy or uncomfortable?" He investigated just to be on the safe side.

The woman who was asked these questions looked up and then turned her head to look out the window.

"We reached the restaurant already?" She queried as she glanced at the man in the driver's seat.

Wade and Wayne were surprised that she had not noticed the mishap that had just occurred a few moments ago.

Lina for once had not realized the fear that would have enveloped her entire body if this was any other time.

But today, no such thing had happened since she was too engrossed in trying to find a proper explanation of why her boyfriend had blatantly lied to her.

Wayne was excited to see that she was not trembling like she usually would while Wade was trying to figure out what it was that had caused this anomaly.

He would have to talk about this incident to her therapist since this might mean that there was an improvement in her medical situation.

"No, we did not. What is it that you said earlier?" He responded to her query and then asked another in return.

Lina alternated her gaze between the two similar-looking faces as they stared at her and then raised the phone that was in her hand.

"There was someone in his apartment… A woman to be exact!" She disclosed what she had heard over the course of their phone call.

A few minutes back, she had wished to experience the incidents that took place in the novels, and here she was, experiencing it.

'I do not like it!' She reprimanded herself for having such a stupid thought.

She had read about the men in the novels who would cheat on the female leads, making her brokenhearted which would eventually lead her into the arms of her destined man.

"What if Ruby is cheating on me and the one that I am supposed to spend the rest of my life with is someone else?" She mumbled with panic and anxiety arising in her heart.

This thought made her grimace and just as she was about to shake it away from her mind, she heard someone speaking.

"It could be a maid, Nana so stop overthinking it!" Wayne tried to calm her when he saw how agitated she had become.

Wade agreed with his brother's words because Reuben did have maids who would come over to cook his food and clean the house.

Lina felt that they might be right in their deduction however she remembered something that he had done in his attempt to cover up.

"Would you lie and say that you are watching the news if it was only a maid?" She sneered at them and smirked when she saw their dumbfounded faces.

Reuben rarely lied and he most certainly would not lie to his friends and family about such a simple thing as a maid in his house.

Wayne's eyes darkened when he heard her and he punched the backrest of his seat in anger.

"That asshole tried to trick you?" He gritted his teeth furiously and then turned to his brother.

"Drive! I want to see who he has hidden in that apartment of his." He commanded and glared at Wade when he did not start the car.

Wade was skeptical about what the reason was for Reuben's lies but he had no other option than turning the car around.

Lina glimpsed at her brothers and then at her feet in fear of what might happen next.

'What if he really has another woman there?' She could not hide the insecurities that were beginning to fill her mind.

The problem with reading too many novels with 'tragedy' as a tag was that one would subconsciously associate everything happening to them in real life with the story they read.

The same could be said for horror movies, you watch too much and you would imagine a faceless figure watching you sleep in the dead of the night even when there was no such thing there.

Lina also was just the same, she was placing herself in the position of a tragic female lead whose boyfriend was suspected to be cheating on her.

She lifted her hand and rubbed the prints that were still fresh on her skin.

The hiss she made was thankfully muffled by the horn of a car that had passed by theirs.

She was aware that she was thinking in an extreme way but what could she do when her boyfriend's actions had just intensified those insecure thoughts of hers.

'What should I do if my suspicions turn into reality?' She groaned when this troubling thought popped up in her mind.