Talia's face distorted in anger when she heard Lina introduce herself as Reuben's girlfriend in such a nonchalant way.
"Shut up! Who asked you to speak!?" Talia bellowed furiously.
The fact that they had worn matching sweatshirts coupled with how Reuben did not reject Lina's touch, drove Talia to a point of insanity which automatically increased the volume of her words.
'Ouch, my ears!' Lina flinched because she had sensitive ears that would hurt when she heard loud noises.
"I just answered her question so why is she yelling at me?" She whined and quickly buried her head in Reuben's strong chest as she hugged him tighter.
He had felt how her shoulders jerked when Talia had shrieked so he knew that even though she was acting now, she was scared initially.
Feeling her trembling hands on his stomach, he patted his back and glared at Talia.
"I've already been tolerating your nonsense for so many years now. Don't do something that will mess up our family's friendship." He warned her once again.
'Such hard abs!' While he was lecturing Talia, Lina was happily exploring his tight and well-defined muscles, completely forgetting that there were other people present.
"I haven't even decided on what your punishment will be for the stunt you pulled yesterday." He sneered at her.
Lina looked back up when she heard those words and when it finally hit her, she glared at that bathrobe-clad woman.
"You were the one who drugged him yesterday?" She snarled at Talia as she let go of Reuben's body.
'I almost lost my virginity because this stupid woman wanted to get some?' She stepped towards Talia but was yanked back into Reuben's arms.
"Calm down, my kitten. Why are you so angry? You took good care of me last night, didn't you?" He playfully teased her.
By taking 'good care', what he meant was that super-strong kick she had to bestow on his precious body part.
Just thinking of the intense pain he felt at that time, made him shiver once again.
While Mathew and Talia were shocked by their PDA, Lina was trying hard not to laugh out loud. So to cover her face, she hid it in his chest and shyly nodded.
"You were with her last night?" Talia pointed her finger at Lina and her tears flowed after she heard the words that came out of his mouth.
Reuben did not bother answering her but Lina stood beside him and smiled timidly.
"Yes. We spent the night together, right? Oppa~?" She tossed his earlier parting words back at him.
'So petty! She did all that just to get back at me.' He shook his head and chuckled.
Talia's palm bled because her long nails had pierced through her skin but that pain was nothing compared to the pain she felt in her heart, watching her man holding another woman in his arms in such an affectionate way.
'He never once smiled at me but for this stranger, he's smiling so sweetly? Why can't the one standing by his side be me?' She questioned herself.
Lina was now bored with this show so she tugged at Reuben's hand.
"Reuben? Aren't you getting late for your meeting? Come, let me accompany you to the lobby." Lina pulled him along and walked towards the elevator.
Mathew followed after them but did not forget to turn back and sneer at Talia.
She on the other hand, helplessly watched as her man was being dragged away by some awful skank.
'A King always belongs with his Queen, not with some slutty witch who tries to attract his attention with her body.' She gave one final glance to the elevator door that had closed and walked back to his room.
'I'm sure he's momentarily attracted to her. He'll come back to me when he sees her true colors.' She sneered and shut the door.
Finding her phone, she dialed someone's number and waited for the call to be answered.
"Mom? Can you arrange for us to have lunch with Aunt Renee today?" She requested and smirked when her mother gladly agreed.
'I'll see how you'll handle Aunt Renee's wrath, you slut!' She glanced at Reuben's clothes neatly placed on the couch.
Taking off her robe, she wore his white shirt and fell back on the bed.
'Brother Reuben, sooner or later you will definitely come back to me. Only I can stand proudly beside you!' She smiled and closed her eyes.
---
Inside the elevator,
As soon as the doors closed, Lina and Reuben separated from each other as if they were struck by lightning.
'Thank God, this drama is finally over!' She sighed because acting as his girlfriend was strenuous.
'Having such a godly face is also a bad thing.' She clicked her tongue at him.
Reuben was perplexed when he saw the look of disdain that she had just given him.
Noticing the confusion on his face, she explained what she was thinking.
"I pity the woman who'll be your girlfriend cause she'll have to deal with such women all the time." Both Mathew and Lina shook their heads in sympathy.
She expressed a moment of silence for the future Mrs. Reuben.
'I don't want a girlfriend in the first place!' He silently rolled his eyes.
When she recalled the main topic that needed attention, she narrowed her eyes at him.
"How did you know?" She did not mention any further but she knew that he had understood what she was talking about.
"Something gave you away." He grinned but did not explain any further.
She became frustrated when he did not speak after that.
"What was it?" She asked impatiently.
"Why should I tell you?" He raised his brow and challenged her.
'Argh!!' Lina felt like pulling her hair out but controlled herself.
"Fine! Then don't! But keep it to yourself because I helped you out with your girl problems just now." She proposed and he scowled but nevertheless, he accepted.
Standing in the corner, Mathew was completely confused when he heard their conversation.
'Know what? Tell what?' He looked at them in hopes of getting some answers but sadly he would just be disappointed with their silence.
*Ding*
The door opened and they got off at the lobby.
Lina's curiosity was killing her and so she stopped him when she saw that he was steadily heading towards the door.
She hurriedly held the sleeve of his sweatshirt and realized that this was just like the scene of a teen romance novel she had once read.
Reuben looked back at her and found that she was in a daze.
'That was the proposal scene where the MC proposes to her childhood best friend only to be friend-zoned.' She instantly shook those thoughts away from her mind.
"But I still want to know how you discovered it. Please?" She pouted and drawled out her words.
'The only people who know are my family and the Hitoshi family. I'm sure that neither of them would let this slip out. So how exactly did he find out?' She tried to think of a valid explanation but found none.
"Curiosity killed the cat, Kitten." He bent down and gently tapped on her nose.
"Heh! That was corny as hell!" She rolled her eyes and sneered.
Reuben stood up straight and glanced around to see if anyone had noticed him but sighed when he saw that the lobby was mostly empty.
"Sorry, just wanted to try it for some reason." He awkwardly confessed.
"But if you really want to know then you'll have to come and find me." He winked and then dramatically walked out.
'Again? Why does he always wink at me before he leaves?' She shook her head and walked towards the spa.
'My pina colada is waiting for me!' She did a little happy dance in her mind.
She chucked all the thoughts regarding this new friend of hers out of her mind and solely concentrated on the massages that she would be getting in a few minutes.
--
*Knock knock*
Talia's eyes opened when she heard someone repeatedly knock on the door.
"Coming!" She walked towards the door and opened it.
A young man with silver hair stood outside the door with a few female attendants by his side.
"Yes?" She questioned confusedly.
"Miss, we are here to ask you to immediately vacate the room." The man spoke and signaled the women who were behind him.
They nudged Talia aside and entered the room. It looked like they were searching for something important by the looks on their worried faces.
"Who are you to ask me to leave? And what exactly are you doing to my room?" She placed her hands on her hips and glowered at the man.
"I'm the manager here and the person who had booked the room has filed a complaint saying that there is a squatter in his room. If you do not leave immediately then I will have no other choice than getting the authorities involved." Manager Walker spoke in a pressing tone.
Talia was dumbfounded when she heard this, she just watched as the maids packed Reuben's stuff into his bag.
One of the maids looked troubled and whispered something into Manager Walker's ears to which he responded with a nod and turned to Talia.
"Miss, please return the shirt you are wearing, it does not belong to you." He pointed at the white shirt that she was wearing right now.
'How can Brother Reuben humiliate me like this?' She gritted her teeth and glared at the manager.
"Please hurry, Miss. You only have five minutes to vacate the hotel premises before the cops get involved." He reminded her.
'I hope Mr. Ming is not upset because this woman is taking so long to leave!' Jordan Walker was nervously peeking at his watch.
'It must be that horrid assistant's work! He never really liked me and now that Reuben has some slut by his side, that Mathew Kim is flying too high!' Though her eyes were burning with fury, she elegantly walked into the bathroom.
She still had her pride and being reminded once again to leave the hotel was a very humiliating thing for her.
Changing into the gown she had worn last night, she exited the bathroom and tossed Reuben's shirt onto a maid's face.
"I will remember the hospitality I received from your hotel. Talia Zheng will never host any party in this place and the credit goes to you." She smirked at him and left the room.
As she walked out, the manager and his staff quickly locked the door and walked in the opposite direction.
"Where do we send the luggage, Manager?" One of the maids inquired.
"There's no need for that. Mr. Ming has asked us to burn the bag along with its contents." Manager Walker replied.
Talia froze when she heard his words. She turned around but they had already disappeared by then.
'I will not forget the humiliation I faced today! I can't believe that Brother Reuben would ask them to do such a thing and this is all because of that woman!' She entered the elevator and stared at her reflection as she reached the lobby.
'Whoever you are, just pray that I never see you again because even Brother Reuben will not be able to save you!' Her jaw clenched and she exited the hotel with her head held high.