Chapter 20 - Cute!!

"Privacy?" Lina looked at him in astonishment.

'Says the guy who once described his wet dream to his teenage sister!' Remembering that memory, she cringed.

"Sure!" She just nodded, trying to shake off the images floating in her head.

'I'll get nightmares tonight for sure!'' They both had the same thought but for different reasons.

They walked into the jewelry store of Obsidia and were stunned looking at the number of customers inside.

"I heard rumors that LY plans to release new pieces from his collection. I've started saving up my allowance for them." Lina heard a lady in her mid thirties speaking to the older woman walking next to her.

Then they walked straight up to the clerk and asked him a question to which he shook his head.

Disappointed, the ladies sighed and walked to sit on the couch and look at the catalog placed on the table.

This store was comparatively smaller than the previous one but had a certain cozy and soothing vibe to it.

The jewelry here were either readymade and can be sold on the spot or the customer can take a look at the catalog and then wait a few days to receive their preferred jewelry.

Lina looked at Wade with her eyebrows raised.

"Rumor about my new collection? I wonder how that came out?"

"You mind explaining what this is all about?" She asked.

"Well, I know that you started working on the new collection. Aunt Diane told me about the research that you were doing. So I thought of creating a little hype about it. Just trying to help!" He waved his arms around.

"What would you do if I hadn't finished the project?"

"I'm sure you've already completed it. Right?" He replied with a smirk.

Lina nodded her head and walked to look at the jewelry being displayed.There were different types of designs which could be worn by different age groups.

Funky designs with vivid colors for the younger girls, minimalistic and sober ones of the working women and elegant and sophisticated ones for the older women.

Many elderly women were seen shopping here with their younger companions. The place had something for every age group.

The more glamorous and grand pieces can be ordered after looking at the catalog which changes every season.

She properly examined the behaviour of the staff and after she was finally happy with them she decided to leave.

Satisfied with her shopping haul, they walked out of the store and headed to the parking.

Lina had just noticed her shoelace had come undone and had bent to tie them up properly to avoid falling and embarrassing herself in front of strangers.

Wade was already seated in the driver's seat and waited for Lina to get in the car.

When she was buckled in safely, he started the car and drove out of Phoenix Mall's parking and headed to Yang Manor.

-----

In the silent car, with only clicks of the keyboard being heard, the loud ringing of the phone was quite harsh to the ears.

"Hello?" Came a deep and magnetic voice.

"Again? Hmm. I'll be there soon. Ask her to wait for me." He hung up and continued typing.

Reuben Ming had just received a call that his mother had maxed out her card once again at the mall and headed there to pay her bills.

His father, Felix Ming had once given his mother a no limit card, but the lady just spent money like running water. So the first thing he did when he became President of Ming Enterprises was to cancel that card and replace it with another that had a weekly limit to it.

She could only spend a few hundreds of millions a week, but that was like making a drug addict quit cold turkey for his mother.

Hence he had to go pay out her bills multiple times in the past and was used to it by now.

' She doesn't get to spend so much when she's in the mountainside with father. So I'll help her out this last time!' He promised himself just like the last time that she had maxed out her card and the time before that.

'I was going to examine the place next week anyway, why not do it today?' He thought of finishing another tedious task with this one.

So the car pulled into the underground parking of the Phoenix Mall. He owned many such malls and this was his best earning cash cow thanks to the genius idea of exclusive membership cards.

He sent Assistant Kim out to find his mother and pay out the bills while he stayed in the Management's office. He had things to discuss with the manager of the mall and asked Assistant Kim to bring his mother here after settling the issue with the bills.

After about 15 minutes, Assistant Kim and Renee Ming entered the office, laughing about something that had happened.

"Those idiots kicked that young lady out because they thought she was poor. Whereas the price of the belt and shoes that she wore could compete with their jewelry!" She laughed at the manager's foolishness when she retold what she had witness to Mathew Kim.

"Oh son, are you done with your work?" Only then she noticed her son sitting on the couch and reading some files.

"Just a minute." Reuben then turned to the manager and gave out a few instructions.

Signalling to his mother and Assistant Kim, he walked out the door.

"Ever the iceberg, isn't he?" Mother Ming said as she whispered to Assistant Kim who then giggled at her comment.

They then made their way to the parking in the elevator filled with gossip and laughter thanks to the two chatter boxes beside him.

The Emperor tried to walk faster to reach the car, as anymore of their nonsense would give him a serious headache.

Rubbing his throbbing temples, he walked to the car. The driver, seeing his boss striding towards him from a distance, started the car and waited for them to get on.

The driver waited but did not hear the car's door being opened. He turned aside and looked at where his boss was walking from.

He noticed his boss standing still and looking in a certain direction. He too turned to see what was so interesting that his boss stopped to stare.

He felt his eyeballs pop out of his socket.

"What the…?" Was his feeling.

He saw his boss staring at a woman who had bent down to tie her shoelace.

'Boss is staring at a woman's ass!!!' This was shocking news to the driver.

Reuben just froze looking at the woman who looked down and then suddenly bent to tie her lace.

'That's her!!! Insolent girl!!!' He was freaking out thinking of what would happen if she turned back and saw him there.

'What are the odds that I'll meet her so soon? My rotten luck! I'm in no mood to be called a creep again.' Just as he was about to turn away, he stopped.

'What's that on her back?' He strained his neck to get a better look at what he saw.

'A tattoo? Insolent girl is piquing my interest again.'

Lina's Tee had ridden up and her tattoo was visible to Reuben.

But before he could get a good look at it, she got up and sat in the car.

Only now had Reuben realised that there was someone else in the car. Someone who looked like a man.

He couldn't make out who it was as the car had already disappeared from the parking.

'Who was that with her? I was concentrating on her that I did not see who the other person was.'

He stood in the same place thinking.

'If it was her driver she would've sat in the backseat. Looks like she's close to that man…

' Before he could continue in his thoughts, he heard someone clear their throat.

Turning back he saw him mom and Assistant Kim trying hard to control their laughter.

----

When Mommy Ming and Mathew Kim came out of the elevator, they continued with the gossip.

They had reached the place where Reuben stood frozen, sometime after he was lost staring at Lina's back.

Shocked would be an understatement for what Renee Ming was feeling.

Lina had already gotten up and entered the car when they were looking at her.

Catching a glimpse of her face for a split second, Mathew Kim understood the Emperor's reaction.

"Madam Ming!! It's her!! The one I told you about!!" He whispered to her excitedly.

"Mathew!! That's the young lady from Talia's!!" Whispered Renee at the same time.

They looked at each other wide eyed as they knew who the other person was talking about.

"They are the same!" They both said at the same time.

Then Renee cleared her throat to calm her excitement, waking Reuben up from his daze.

He just looked at them as if nothing had happened, then walked to the car and sat inside.

"Cute!!" They both exclaimed then they too entered the car.