Chapter 105 - Reuben's Date

The black envelopes with Obsidia's invite cards soon reached multiple households and businesses.

The invites garnered mixed reactions from those who received it. 

Some were happy and boasting about it when they received the invite whereas some were pissed off.

One such household was the Zheng family, where at present Talia Zheng was just about to rip the invite apart and throw it in the trash can.

"Jie! What are you doing!?" A bubbly young woman with bright pink hair caught hold of Talia's hand and stopped her.

Talia looked at her younger sister, Valerie Zheng and glared at her.

"Val, let go!" Talia then shook her hand and broke free from her sister's grasp.

"How dare they send me an invite for their auction when the entire country knows that we are rivals!?" Talia threw the invite on the floor.

Shaking her head, Valerie bent down and picked it up. She dusted it and read the location and the rules for the auction.

"But Talia Jie, this is a great opportunity for you!" Valerie led her sister to take a seat on the couch and made her a cup of tea.

Her every action was elegant and seamless like she had practiced it a million times.

The two sisters of the Zheng family were the queens of the social circles. Every occasion and every event they attended, they would always be the stars of the show.

"Opportunity for what? For me to lower my standards and attend that stupid event?" She scowled at her foolish sister's words.

"Oh, Jie…! I don't think that you will be the one being humiliated on that day." Valerie smirked in a wicked way.

When she saw that she had her elder sister's attention, Valerie sipped the sweet tea and explained what she meant.

"Just imagine, you attend the auction to show your goodwill to your competitors, but it turns out that the entire event was a disaster because no one bids for anything. Now, won't that be a sight to behold?" She sneered.

Her sister's brand, Talia's was fighting tooth and nail for the best Jewelry brand with that annoying Obsidia from when they had launched their brand two years ago.

Of course, Valerie would be pissed because her fame as Talia's model and spokesperson had greatly diminished since Obsidia became famous.

So the downfall of Obsidia would only mean the rise of Talia's and her fame. 

"That's genius! How did I not think of that?" Talia's eyes glimmered when she heard about this.

"You'll have to thank Isabelle for that. She was the one who gave me this idea." Valerie cheerfully gave the credit to their cousin, Isabelle.

"Remember to give her some benefits when you meet her the next time." Talia graciously instructed Valerie to help out their less fortunate cousin.

"Family takes care of family!" Valerie declared and Talia nodded in agreement.

"But Jie, I haven't said the most important reason why you should attend this auction at all costs!" She leaned forward and whispered something in her sister's ear.

The two then looked into each other's eyes and giggled like high school girls.

"That would definitely be worth the efforts of going there!" Talia high-fived Valerie.

----

While from the Liang household, Jeanette Liang was happily boasting to all her friends about the invite her father's company had received.

The group of 5 socialites was sitting in a private room at a famous restaurant.

"Jeannie, you are so lucky to be invited to the auction!" The blonde bombshell squealed as she held the golden invitation in her hands.

Buying jewelry from Obsidia was a status symbol for these women. They would beg their parents or save up all their pocket money just to buy a single piece of LY's designs.

It had to be LY's designs only, any other designs from the numerous designers at Obsidia was just some commonplace trinket for them.

"Who are you taking as your plus one?" Another asked hopefully.

"I am my daddy's plus one, you dummy." Jeanette shook her head as she chuckled sweetly.

Seeing her sweet and blooming smile, the other women also smiled in return.

"Mandy? Yang Group also must have received one right? Where's yours?" Jeanette turned to her other friend, Mandy Rong who silently sat beside her.

The other socialites were not as accepting as Jeanette was, so they still behaved in a cold manner whenever Mandy was around.

This was another big reason why Mandy was trying so hard to prove that she too was an heiress just like them.

Hearing Jeanette's words, Mandy choked on the juice that she had just taken a sip from.

"I don't know." She shook her head when she felt their prying eyes.

"What do you mean you don't know? The Yang family is one of the top four families, I'm 100% sure that they were invited." The blonde sneered at her.

"Maybe she hasn't spoken to her dad yet. Right, Mandy?" Jeanette quickly helped her friend out.

After catching onto her hint, Mandy hastily nodded her head.

"Yes! Dad has been very busy and he rarely comes back home." She answered truthfully.

The other three just nodded and awkwardly looked at their plates.

Everyone there knew that she had a complicated relationship with her father, whom she had forced to accept her and her mother in a very public and humiliating way.

'I will ask mom to call dad tonight. He must take me along with him for this auction! I can't be disrespected by these women whose families are below mine.' Mandy clenched her fists under the table.

Suddenly, she felt someone lightly squeeze her clenched fist. 

When she looked up, she saw Jeanette smiling at her and this drove away all her anxiety and bitterness.

'I will definitely go and meet Jeanie at that auction!' She smiled back at her.

---

In the Ming Enterprise,

Reuben had just wrapped up an important meeting with a business partner and was walking back to his office room.

'What is that idiot smiling about?' He glanced at Mathew Kim and saw his foolish grin.

Mathew had felt a cold draft on his neck and when he looked up, he found his Emperor staring at him.

"Welcome back, boss!" He jumped from his seat and saluted Reuben.

"Stop staring at online gossip and get back to work!" He commanded when he saw the open tabs on Mathew's desktop.

"But boss, this is just the press meet of Obsidia that was released in the morning." Mathew Kim pointed at the screen.

Reuben turned and looked at the screen once again.

'That's the guy who was with Insolent girl! What was his name again?' He intensely stared at the man speaking to the reporters.

"That's Ivan Zhou, Director of PR at Obsidia. They say that many girls are huge fans of his charisma and beauty. But I don't see it!" Mathew scowled when he saw the shot where Ivan smiled directly at the camera.

Olive Kim, his pregnant wife was also included in Ivan's long list of fans. This had endlessly pissed him off.

Earlier, Mathew Kim had been making funny faces at the man on the screen but that was misunderstood as a smile by his boss.

"I agree. I don't see the charm at all." Reuben glanced at the face on the screen once again before he gave his final verdict.

"Boss and my choices are the same!" Mathew beamed at his boss and hit his head when his eyes fell on his desk.

"I almost forgot, they even sent an invite with the company's name on it." He carefully handed over the card and waited for Reuben to open it.

Since Reuben had already seen the contents of the card, he did not open it. He just took it with him and turned around.

Mathew watched as Reuben wordlessly entered his office so he ran after him.

"Boss? The Ming family must have received another card right?" He timidly asked Reuben as he arranged the files on the table.

"Hmm." Was the answer he received.

Mathew rejoiced when he heard this. He was already aware that Mrs. Ming had received an invitation with her name on it, rather than the Ming family name.

Just now, the invite that Reuben received had Ming Enterprises' name on it. 

This meant that he could beg for the extra invite that Reuben had, which was addressed to the Ming family.

'Olive is anyway considered as a god-daughter by the Ming couple, so we aren't breaking any rules.' Mathew applauded his smart brain.

Understanding what his assistant was about to ask, Reuben looked at him and smiled.

"Did you forget that the Ming family has a side branch? That card belongs to them, so don't even think about it." He instantly crushed Mathew Kim's dreams of taking his wife to the auction.

Mathew grimaced when he remembered the Ming family's side branch.

"Even if that card was available, you wouldn't be able to take her along because you would be accompanying me for the event." He lazily commanded his assistant.

Mathew froze when he heard his boss' new orders.

"Anything else?" Reuben asked when he saw the living statue before him.

He then saw the assistant think of something and then nodded seriously.

"Boss, what color will you be wearing for the auction?" Mathew asked after a few seconds.

"Why do you ask?" Reuben asked doubtfully.

"Since you are taking me as your date for the auction, we definitely have to coordinate our colors." Mathew smiled shyly.

'That smile just gave me the creeps!' Reuben shuddered visibly and glared at the idiot standing before him.

"SCRAM!" He yelled out, to which Mathew responded by running out of the office as fast as he could.