Chapter 103 - Hungry Hippo!

Lina frowned when she saw the complicated look on Leon's face.

Right now, they were in the cafeteria having their lunch together.

"Noona, this spaghetti tastes great!" Steph complimented after he swallowed the contents that were inside his mouth.

Julia too stared at Leon because the greedy ass hadn't even touched Lina's lunch yet.

"Hello? What's wrong?" She snapped her fingers at him.

Leon jerked when he saw Julia's hand so close to his face and then looked around.

'Right! I forgot that I was at lunch with these guys.' He shook off the thoughts in his mind and looked at Lina's already half-emptied lunch.

'What a greedy bastard!?' He cursed at Steph and got a glare in return.

Though Steph had recognized them as his friends because of his Noona, he wasn't yet entirely comfortable with them.

"Want to share something with the class?" Lina made a snide remark and Leon harrumphed at her.

'I really need to speak to someone about what had happened earlier.' He stared at his half-burnt veggies and played around with his food.

'He must be sad that his sister made him lunch again.' Lina felt bad for him and nudged her plate filled with chicken nuggets over to him.

He looked up when he saw her sweet gesture and smiled before he gobbled them up.

Lina had received a text from Wayne and was replying to it when she heard Steph's angry voice.

"Save some for Noona, you hungry hippo!" Steph snarled at him and Leon almost choked on his nuggets.

"From where do I look like a hippo to you?" He poked his belly and glared at Steph.

"Right here!" In return, Steph pointed straight to his face.

This made the girls laugh out loud and the two men kept bickering.

Soon lunch ended and Steph bid goodbye to Lina and the others.

"Look forward to my work." He whispered in Lina's ear and winked before skipping all the way to the elevator.

The other people on the floor who had seen the 'Little Devil' of Obsidia behave in such a carefree manner felt refreshed.

Lina, Julia and Leon walked back to their seats and they separated ways when Lina reached her office.

She looked back at Leon but he did not notice her glance because his attention was on Anthony's door.

'I hope everything is okay back at his home.' Lina prayed and entered her office. 

Ever since he had returned from that phone call, he had been silent and lost in his thoughts. 

He even ate a few morsels of his sister's home-cooked meal without any fuss which completely shocked Lina and Julia.

--

Inside Anthony Shen's office,

"I think you need to find VP Luo and talk to him about this." He advised the man who sat with his hands covering his eyes.

"Are you sure?" Leon questioned him and got a positive nod in response.

'I better do this fast.' He motivated himself.

"Now or later?" He asked when he stood up from his seat.

"The sooner the better." Anthony gave his opinion and watched as Leon nodded and left the room.

"What is happening here? Why can't we have a day of peace in this office?" Anthony sighed and looked at the files that awaited his attention.

---

When Leon reached the top floor, he saw the row of secretaries working hard because of the auction that would take place in two weeks' time.

In fact, the entire building was bustling with energy as a result of the invites that were sent out yesterday.

"Asst Jiu? Why are you here? Did Manager Shen need something?" Asst Kirk Douglas asked when he saw Leon aimlessly walking towards his desk.

"Umm… Asst Kirk, is the VP free? I have something urgent to discuss with him." Leon spoke seriously and Kirk straightened his back.

'I've never seen Leon look this serious. Did something happen?' Kirk checked Wade's schedule and nodded his head.

"VP Luo does not have any meetings scheduled until 3. Would you like to go in now?" He asked as he got up from his chair.

"If it isn't too much of a problem." Leon smiled and followed after him.

He waited as Kirk entered the office and informed Wade about his arrival.

After a few seconds, Kirk returned and gestured for him to step inside.

Leon closed the door behind him and looked at the man who was busy on his phone.

"VP Luo?" He cautiously called out and Wade looked up at him.

The Hitoshi family had just left a few minutes back, after their lunch together and he was just texting Aya and Nao to be safe on their ride back to the new house.

Reuben had also texted him but before he could check his messages, he heard Asst Jiu. 

So he shoved his phone in his pocket and looked at Leon.

"Yes, Assistant Jiu. What has brought you here?" Wade gave a half-smile and motioned for him to take a seat.

Leon settled in the comfortable chair and cleared his throat.

"I have something to report to you, VP Luo." He spoke in a serious tone.

"Hmm." Wade nodded and concentrated on what he had to say.

"So…."

---

Back inside her office, Lina stared at the emails she received from Benji.

They were all the records of her sales and earnings back in the western half of the world.

Obsidia had three branches by now. The first and main branch in America, then in Europe and finally in Asia.

Her brother Wind was keeping an eye on the European branch for the time being, until they found a capable and trustworthy person that could handle the job.

Though her company had competition everywhere, it was extra tough here in Asia because Obsidia was a newly established company when compared to the ones that had been there for many years.

This whole auction idea was just to create a better image among the customers and to improve its sales and ranks among the other jewelry companies.

She had two main competitors here, Talia's and IVORY.

Though IVORY was a company that had launched alongside Talia's, it did not get its fair share of recognition because Talia's had suppressed it with its money and fame.

If it was up to Lina, she wouldn't even consider Talia's to be a real competition to her because it was mediocre at best. 

But IVORY was a whole different universe when compared to Talia's. 

They might not have an internationally reputed designer like LY or a wealthy socialite like Talia Zheng to carry the company. 

But they had such innovative and brilliant designs that even impressed Lina.

Sadly, they couldn't keep up with Talia's consistent attacks and were now barely getting by.

'I need to meet this Talia woman.' Lina sneered when she thought of the underhanded methods that Talia's had used to try and take over IVORY.

Apparently, this was not the first time that Talia's had swallowed up another designer's brand just to recruit them to work for her company.

"Benji, get me everything you can find on IVORY and Talia's feud." She gave him orders and logged out of her mails.

She rubbed her temples and closed her eyes.

"The auction will be here in no time and I need to see how the people react to this news." She thought of Ivan's plans to have the press release on the day after tomorrow.

---

Soon the day came to an end and she was on her way back to Yang Manor with Derek.

They were awfully silent on the ride back home because Lina was busy thinking of ways to handle the mother-daughter pair back at home and Derek did not wish to disturb his miss.

She was sure that Uncle Pat could deal with them but she wanted to help him out.

'Plus why was she trying to break into mommy's room?' This question plagued her.

The car stopped and Lina slowly got down. After wishing Derek a good night, she walked in.

"Look who finally showed up!" 

The moment Lina stepped foot inside the house, she heard Mandy's mocking voice.

"I could say the same thing to you," Lina smirked and sat opposite the two women.

Lucille just ignored her and Mandy frowned at her words.

"What do you mean?" She tilted her head innocently and asked.

"Oh really? Mind telling me where you were since Saturday? Because Butler Ping told me that you came home last night, drunk off your ass." Lina interrogated her.

She noticed how both of them froze for a second and then looked at her with derision.

"So the Butler knew that she had come home at that time but still he did not bother to open the door for her?" Lucille glared at Lina.

"You can't really blame him. All the servants leave on Saturday and it's his day off as well." Her nonchalant attitude further infuriated Lucille.

"You still haven't answered my question, sister." Lina ignored Lucille's gaze and turned to Mandy.

"So what? Am I supposed to inform you about my whereabouts?" Mandy scoffed at her but when she remembered something she immediately changed her expressions.

"But since you are so bothered about me, I might as well tell you. I was partying with a friend, in City A."  She proudly announced and waited for Lina's envious eyes. 

"How was it? Did you enjoy yourself?" Lina cheerfully asked in return.

Mandy was annoyed that she couldn't make Lina burn with jealousy.

"Of course! The DJ was someone from a different country and we had a blast!" She boasted about the party.

"Do you want to know what works best when I go out to party the entire day?" Lina asked in an excited manner.

"What is it?" Mandy's curiosity was piqued and she looked at Lina intently.

"Tangerine body oil!" She said in a loud voice.

"It keeps the stinky smell of sweat away. But I'm sure that you already know that, don't you? Sister?" Lina tilted her head and asked with an innocent smile on her face.

Mandy's expression froze when she heard the words 'body oil' and Lucille felt like whacking her daughter.

'She was setting a trap for you and you jumped right into it!' She tried to keep a straight face and smiled back at Lina.