Steph was confused when he heard the question that his Noona had asked.

"Why does that matter, Noona? I swear that I will not smoke again!" He promised while flashing his sweetest smile to coax her.

Lina narrowed her eyes at him as though she was gauging how truthful he was being at this moment.

'Hmm… He seems to be sincere with his words.' She pronounced after leering at him for a couple of seconds.

She was pleased that he maintained eye contact with her and did not attempt to avert his eyes since this would mean that he had something to hide from her.

"Alright then. Throw that box of cigarettes out right this instant and I will trust your words." She announced her condition for placing her trust in him.

Stephen did not hesitate for a single second as he nodded repeatedly and strode towards the window.

Lina's eyes widened when she saw what he was about to do and yelped out loud which made him stop in his tracks.

"What do you think you were going to do!?" She glowered at the puppy who was shooting her a baffled look.

Stephen had just been following her words but the glare he received was proof enough that he had messed things up yet he was not aware of what it was.

'Can he be any more clueless?' Lina shook her head and then walked towards him.

"Why did you open the window?" She inquired while glancing at the hand which had pushed a window open.

Her finger fetish was acting up when she noticed those beautiful sleek fingers of her puppy which made her avert her eyes.

'Stop drooling over other men even if it is this cute little puppy!' She reprimanded her absurd mind which did not know how to control itself.

Feeling his gaze on her, she coughed to alleviate her awkward thoughts and then turned back in her direction.

"Were you about to throw the box outside the window?" She interrogated and received an immediate and eager nod which made her want to facepalm herself real hard.

'Was he always this dumb?' She wondered while tilting her head to the side, waiting for him to explain his actions.

"You asked me to throw it out so…" Stephen answered as he pointed at the window through which a fresh afternoon breeze was entering the room.

Just as what she had thought, Steph was truly about to toss a barely used box of cigarettes out of the window and onto the heavy traffic which moved down on the road below.

"I meant to throw it in the bin!" She sneered while pointing her chin towards the bin that was played on the other side of the room.

Stephen's enlightened face and the 'Ohhh' he uttered in response made her want to chuckle but she managed to curb her urge as she went back to her earlier position.

She nodded when she observed that Steph displayed zero signs of reluctance while tossing the box of cigarettes into the bin.

'So he isn't addicted to it already. This is a good thing!' She rejected and then patted his head when he sat next to her on the large couch.

The young master of the Jin family was overjoyed when he received this gesture of praise and affection from his Noona.

Though his joy was short-lived when he recalled that his Noona was now stuck in the clutches of that evil man.

'I can't believe that I called him Brother when I met him the last time!' He scowled at that wicked man who had taken his side when they had last met.

As he pondered over the words that were spoken before, he realized what Reuben had truly meant when he had said the statement that had won Stephen over.

'So when he said that 'Your brother is my brother' he meant it as 'Your brother is my brother-in-law' kind of way!?' He lamented when his mind comprehended the true meaning hidden in those words.

Now, he regretted that he had taken Reuben Ming's side in order to push his sibling away from his Noona.

'At least I can deal with Noah… How could I possibly compete with the man who is called the 'Emperor' of the business world!?' He cried out his grievances in his heart.

Lina was oblivious to the miserable thoughts in Stephen's head as she was focusing her eyes on the ashtray before her.

'The resemblance is uncanny!' She declared as she scrutinized the ceramic ashtray.

Not satisfied with what she could see, she picked the tray up and twisted it around to get a better look at it.

Watching how she was observing and analyzing the simple ashtray, Steph was puzzled as he wondered what was so special about this bowl that had attracted her attention.

Even after waiting for a few moments, he frowned when Lina did not let go of the ashtray but continued to gaze at it as though she was searching for the meaning of life from it.

"Noona, what's wrong?" He inquired as he could no longer take the silence that pervaded in the room.

Lina snapped out of her detective trance of trying to figure out whether this ashtray was a real or a fake piece.

"Are you alright?" He questioned when he saw that she now had a frown as she placed the tray back on the table.

Lina turned towards him and then looked him straight in the eyes which made him feel nervous for some unknown reason.

The young man straightened his back as he awaited what she might say next.

"Do you know someone named Jackson?" She queried while focusing her stern gaze on his face.

These stern eyes made Steph gulp as he tried to recall whether he knew someone with that name.

However, even after giving it a few seconds, he could not remember being acquainted with anyone who had that name.

"Not that I know of. No Jacksons… No." He declined knowing anyone with that name.

Lina's frown deepened after she heard his refusal as this opened up a new door that needed her attention.

"You haven't answered my earlier question. Where did you get this ashtray from?" She repeated her question and the urgency in her voice made Steph try hard to recall where he had found the star of this afternoon.

Lina waited patiently as he tried to remember the origins of the said ashtray and her eyes narrowed when he fished out his phone from his pocket.

A few taps and then a squeal of excitement was heard from the young man who turned the phone around to show the contents on the screen in Lina's direction.

"I ordered the ashtray from this apothecary store online. They make great stuff and my sister is addicted to their products. You should try them out sometime, Noona." He advised while nodding his head as their stuff was elegant and beautiful.

Upon hearing his words and then scrolling through the list of products that were available for purchase from this online store, Lina found what she was looking for.

The image of the very same ashtray that was placed before her on the table was also visible on the screen.

This made her ponder whether what she had heard was false or there was something else to the matter.

The image and the ashtray before her reminded her of the chance encounter she had with the stranger on the dark road.

The man who had offered to generously drop her at Benji's house when her car had broken down midway through her journey was the one who currently was on her mind.

'Did Jackson lie to me or…?' She wondered as she recalled what had happened during that short drive.

When Jackson was first offered to drive her to Benji's place, she had been immensely apprehensive as this was a complete stranger, and getting into a closed space with him could be dangerous.

However, he had assured her that he wasn't a dangerous person and had also sworn to help her reach her destination safely.

She had threatened him with her knowledge of self-defense which made Jackson have a good laugh.

The more Lina spoke to him, she realized that this man had no evil intentions towards her which made her sit in the car and accepted his offer in order to reach Benji's apartment.

During the car ride was when she had a proper conversation with the man.

'I had yelled at him in the same way for smoking.' She recalled her moment of wisdom which she always shared with people she noticed smoking.

However, his story was different and was also romantic which had made Lina to smile when she had heard it from him.

'He had said that the ashtray was something that his girlfriend had given to him as a gift.' She remembered and then frowned once again.

The source of her frown was the explanation that Jackson had given to her.

'My girlfriend made this ashtray with her own hands so how could I give up smoking and let her hard work go to waste?' Jackson had said in reply to her lecture on trying to quit smoking.

Now however, Lina was made aware of the true origin of the ashtray which made her suspicious of whether the man was spouting lies or whether it was the girlfriend who had lied to him.

Stephen sat in silence while watching the constant changes occurring on her face and his only regret was that he could not click pictures of her face as that would disturb her contemplative state.