Reuben was confused to hear his father's voice instead of his mother's as he was sure that he had dialed Renee's number.

To make sure that he had called the right number, he peeked at the screen and the name on it was 'Mother' which proved that he hadn't called another number by mistake.

"Is mother there?" He inquired but was soon shushed by the man on the other side of the call.

Felix was careful to not make any noises as he sneaked out of his room so that he might converse with his son.

"Why have you called?" He repeated his earlier question once he was out of Renee's earshot.

This rude question made Reuben frown as he rolled his eyes.

'If I do not call they make me out to be an ungrateful child and when I do they treat me as though I have burdened them somehow.' He shook his head at their conflicting attitudes towards him.

"I called mom because I have something to speak to her about." He explained while pressing his temples.

Felix scoffed at him and then peeked at the door from which he could not hear any noises.

"She is sick and asleep." He gave his son a brief report of the situation.

Reuben sat up straight once he was informed about his mother's ill health.

"What's wrong? Is she alright? Should I send the doctor there?" He polled the older man with concern laced in his voice.

Felix smiled when he heard the anxiety in Reuben's words and then shook his head.

"It's a common cold and she will be fine. She met the doctor here and has taken her meds." He reported which made the other man sigh in relief.

Reuben nodded when he heard that his mother was alright.

"So that is why she skipped on attending the tea party?" He muttered to himself but was loud enough that Felix could hear him.

"How do you know about it?" Felix interrogated as he was sure that his son did not care to keep a tab on such trivial matters as tea parties.

Reuben turned his head towards the windows where the sun had already set and the city lights were now lighting up the dark streets.

"Someone tried to harm my girlfriend." He whispered in a stern and menacing voice which made Felix to widen his eyes.

This was the first time that he had heard Reuben mentioning a girlfriend as it had been a long time since they had last spoken.

"Girlfriend!" He yelled out and then grimaced thinking of the woman who was sleeping inside.

Felix then hurried to move towards the other side of the hallway and entered his study room in the villa.

"Who is your girlfriend?" He investigated while whispering to ensure that no one heard his voice.

'I have to tell them someday so why not today.' The young man shrugged as he had no problem in declaring it to the world who his girlfriend was.

Reuben took a deep breath and then cleared his throat as he prepared to make the grand reveal.

"Lina Yang, my girlfriend is Lina Yang." He declared and then frowned when all he heard was silence from the other side.

He had been waiting for some sort of reaction from his father whom he knew was not so pleased when he was getting close to Lina in the past.

Just as he had expected, Felix had a frown when he heard who his son's girlfriend was.

'I thought that he would stop being close to her and get his priorities straight but it looks like he is in too deep if he was willing to announce his relationship with her without any hesitation.' He sighed and then took his seat on the couch.

Since Reuben had been young, he had dreamed of getting the Zhengs and the Mings related through marriage by this younger generation.

Even now, he had been hoping that it was Talia Zheng who had become Reuben's girlfriend but it looked like he was down on his luck.

Thinking of the pretty young lady they had seen at the debutante ball, Felix could not help but sigh all over again.

'I do not have anything against her… I just do not want her to become a member of our family.' He pondered why he was so unwilling to let them get close to each other.

However, now all of his thoughts were for naught as they had already begun dating each other.

"Son…" He began but was interrupted by Reuben before he could speak anything about this matter.

"Dad, I know that you want me to marry Talia because you think that she is the best match for our family but I cannot do it." Reuben refused without waiting for him to say anything against Lina.

Felix frowned when he heard this as he did not like the sound of the words that had left Reuben's mouth.

"I am not going to force you to be with anyone. Let it be Talia or Miss Yang." He sneered at his son who was getting ahead of himself.

'He called that woman by her name but used honorifics for Kitten as though she is a stranger.' Reuben realized which made him roll his eyes.

"All I want is for you to be sure who you want to spend the rest of your life with as you know that we Mings do not have divorces in this family." He reminded his son of the age-old tradition of their family.

Reuben was well aware of this and he hummed in response.

"I think I already know who it will be." He replied vaguely which did not escape the older man's ears.

'Let us see what the future holds.' Felix rolled his eyes as he had yet to give up hope in what might happen later on.

"Did you call to update us about the change in your relationship status?" He questioned in an impatient tone.

Reuben was not fond of being treated as though he was a nuisance and therefore he huffed in anger.

"I wanted to talk to mom and not to you anyway. At least she would be happier to hear this news than you are." He sneered at the man who had also not hidden his impatience while speaking.

Not wanting to argue with him any further, Felix decided that it would be best if he were to change the topic of their conversation.

"What was it about Miss Yang being harmed?" He inquired and waited for Reuben to fill him in on all the details.

The more Felix heard, the closer his brows drew together.

'This is clearly a well thought out scheme to harm her reputation.' He concluded once he had heard the ins and outs of the matter from his son.

"And you think that Talia had something to do with it?" He prodded as this was what Reuben's words had been hinting towards.

Reuben knew of the fondness that his father had for the Zheng family's daughters yet this was concerning his Kitten so he did not shy away from making his thoughts known.

"Yes, I do." He answered with confidence oozing from his words.