Lina choked when she heard his pitiful voice accompanied by the words that he had used.

'Creep…'

This word echoed in her ear and she knew that she was guilty of doing just that.

The first time that they had met on the airplane, Lina had scoffed at him and proceeded to call him a creep soon after.

Though she had apologized to him the next time that they had met, she was still embarrassed that she had done that in the past.

'Haven't I slapped my own face by dating the same guy I called a creep?' She bit her lip to stop her chuckle.

Reuben had been observing her expressions and he was sure that she was thinking about the things of their past.

'So she does have a little conscience let in her heart!' He sneered but did not let her know that he was cognizant of what was on her mind.

He held her hand to get her attention back on him as he continued to converse with the little puppy who was baring his fangs at him.

Stephen on the other hand had frozen after hearing Reuben Ming's complaint to his one and only Noona.

'He tricked me!' He unjustly accused Reuben in his heart and gritted his teeth.

Though he had spoken up in defense of his Noona, the tone and the manner of his speech was one that he did not wish for his Noona to hear.

'She must be thinking that I am rude and vile!' He grimaced at the thought of being tagged as a horrible human being by the one person he liked in the entire company.

"Noona…" He muttered in an aggrieved voice as he now knew that she could hear him.

Lina stopped whatever was going on in her mind and glanced at the phone which was still in Reuben's hand.

"Hmm?" She inquired with a simple hum.

"I haven't finished." Reuben's words cut off whatever it was that he had wished to say.

Lina glanced up and was greeted with a wink before her lips were bestowed a quick kiss.

'I need to show him who's the boss here.' Reuben grinned as he pulled her into his arms.

"Listen here, kid!" He spoke with the phone by his ear.

Lina's back was against his chest and she could hear everything that had been spoken between the two men.

"First, I like your Noona and she likes me. Neither did I trick her nor did I do any voodoo to get her closer to me!" He scowled into the phone.

'Such confidence!' Lina looked up at him with her brows raised.

The smug look on his face because he knew that he was right made her blush as she buried her face into his chest.

'But… I like it!' She giggled in a soft voice so as to not hinder the conversation that was taking place.

Reuben was pleased with the reaction that he received from her and rubbed her fluffy head that was now resting on his chest.

"Second, the only reason I had to interrupt your conversation was thanks to the absurd things you kept spouting." He sneered at the young man who had caused his Kitten to be troubled.

Stephen was now biting his lip after hearing these reprimanding words.

"How are you going to take over your father's company if you cannot even make others understand what you're speaking? A leader needs to be eloquent!" He asserted while teaching him what he had done wrong.

This statement made the young man roll his eyes and snort out loud.

"Like I would ever want to do something so boring!" He sneered right back at this so-called advice that Reuben had given to him.

Lina was silent as she paid attention to their constant back and forth as she had no clue about the situation back at Steph's household.

'Ruby seems to be well aware of his family situation.' She realized as he was speaking with confidence and held no hesitation or doubt in his voice or words.

"Noona, ask your boyfriend to not speak nonsense!" The puppy yelled out to ensure that she heard him.

Reuben had to pull the phone away from his ears when he heard the loud screech coming from the other side.

'This guy!' He growled in his heart and then stopped when he felt the woman in his arms trembling as she tried to suppress the laughter within her.

Wanting to teach them both a proper lesson, he squinted his eyes and then cleared his throat.

"The last thing, since my Kitten is your Noona then I am your rightful brother-in-law." He announced without an ounce of shame as he said those embarrassing words.

Lina and Stephen once again froze when they heard his shameless words.

If he could see Stephen's darkened face at this moment then Reuben would only have one thought in his mind.

'Mission accomplished!'

Reuben smirked upon noticing the expressions on his Kitten's face.

Her flushed cheeks, wide-opened eyes, and the dropped jaw as she blinked at him in astonishment made him feel a sense of achievement that he was sorely in need of.

The embarrassment he faced after their kiss was thus avenged by a few simple lines he spoke, causing him to feel peace and unabiding joy in his heart.

'Why is he not red with shame for saying something like that with a straight face!?' She cried out in her heart as she for sure was red with shame just by listening to those words.

While these two were looking into each other's eyes and gauging the other's reaction, Stephen finally recovered from his stupor.

"Dream on! I have no brother-in-law until my Noona gets married!" He snarled at the man who dared to make such ridiculous statements.

Reuben fell into thought after hearing his condition and then looked down at Lina who was in his arms before nodding in all seriousness.

"That will happen sooner or later, Kid. You better be prepared to call me brother-in-law when that time comes." He declared which made Lina blush all over again.

'He does realize that he has to go through a whole army of people before even thinking about marrying me, right!?' She rolled her eyes at the overconfident man who tightened his hold around her waist.

Just the thought of her father and brother who had yet to be informed about her relationship made Lina doubtful of their pleasant future as they would not be as easy to handle as her cousins and uncles.

'I could help Ruby deal with Wade and the others but I doubt that I'll be useful when Dad and the others arrive.' She sighed and shook her head.

Reuben tilted his head and pondered on these series of actions, following which he decided that he should end this call to get more information about what he had just witnessed.

'I mentioned marriage and she sighs and shakes her head? What is that supposed to mean?' He suspected that she had other thoughts that were making him apprehensive and anxious.

Though he had said those words to mess with Stephen's mind, he had all the intentions to turn them into reality sometime in the future.

However, it now appeared to him that what he wanted might not be what his girlfriend wanted and this thought was enough to make him grimace.