While Reuben and his mom were on the way to the restaurant to meet Felix for their lunch together, Lina was looking at the large gift basket that the reception had sent to her office.
"Who has sent it?" Benji asked as Lina was looking through the basket.
"It's from Ruby!" She handed him the little card that was placed inside.
*Hope you feel better.
- Ruby*
When Benji read the card, he rolled his eyes and watched as Lina excitedly checked what was inside.
"Candy, mints, sweatshirt, pain relief strips and a heating pad." She listed the things that he had gathered for her.
It was like some period care package that he had put together for her.
"I did not know that he was so sweet and sensitive. I thought he's just like some evil CEO who's ice cold and thinks he's better than everyone else." She popped a piece of mint in her mouth and sat with her feet up on the table.
'Oh he is exactly that type of CEO, but apparently, he's a very good actor when he wants.' Benji sneered at Lina but did not disillusion her.
While she was typing a thank you text message to Reuben, she received one from Wade which she checked after sending Reuben's message.
*Come upstairs. Need to talk asap.*
'Did something happen?' She wondered why he had summoned her so urgently.
"Benji, let's go." She called him and they left to the top floor after locking her room.
As Lina was on her elevator ride up, the situation in Wade's office was tense.
"Why am I always being targeted?" Stacy grumbled as she looked at her cousins.
Wade and Wayne shared a look and sweetly smiled at her.
"Because she will believe us when we say that it's for you." Wayne explained and gained a nod from Wade.
"Ugh!" She whined but did not argue any further.
'Last time they lied that Aya was cheating on me and now they want to use me for this again!' She cursed at them in her mind.
"Just follow my lead when she gets here." Wayne advised and then they waited for her arrival.
---
When Lina and Benji reached the top floor, the secretaries all turned towards them.
The one who was most excited was none other than Kirk Douglas because he quickly walked up to them.
The secretaries were expecting him to fawn over Lina just like the last time but today they were shocked to see Lina being disregarded completely.
Kirk strode in their direction and immediately threw himself on Benji, who was struggling to push him away.
"Let go, big brother!" Benji tried to move away but Kirk was holding onto him with all his strength.
"I've seen you after years, let me hug you properly!" Kirk commanded and Benji stood still without making any movements.
Lina watched this scene and felt her heart melting at this sweet reunion.
Ever since Wade had moved back to manage Obsidia, Kirk had followed him and the two Douglas brothers had not seen each other ever since.
Lina saw Benji's passive face and glared back at him.
"Hug him back!" She mouthed the words and he followed her instructions reluctantly.
Though it looked like he hated this situation, Benji did not hate his brother at all. He was just bad at expressing his emotions in front of his brother.
Kirk tried hard to keep in touch with him but staying in different countries added to their problems. But now that they were finally together, he had no plans of letting his brother slip away once again.
"You two can catch up. I'll go talk to Wade. Bye!" Lina waved at them and hastily walked away.
There was no need of getting Benji up here, she just wanted them to meet because if she left things up to him then they would not meet even when they were so close to each other.
"Come, Benji, let me show you my work desk." Kirk pulled his baby brother and led him to his desk.
'I'll get back at you for this!' Benji scowled while glaring at Lina's back.
Inside Wade's office, Lina was surprised to see Wayne and Stacy present as well.
"Oh wow, look who finally got time to show up." She mocked Stacy without any restraints.
Ever since Aya's work for the auction was completed these two had spent every waking moment in each others' company.
'I'm sure they were together even in the other moments.' Lina promptly imagined them doing lewd stuff together.
"Hello to you too." Wayne's sarcastic answer brought her back from her ecchi thoughts.
At first, Lina subconsciously avoided their eyes but stopped and forced herself to act in a normal way.
'If they discover that something has happened then they will surely murder Ruby!' She thought of the sweet gesture that he had made and decided to protect him from her brothers.
So she looked them in the eye and smiled innocently as though she did not just spend two consecutive nights with their best friend.
Though nothing really happened in those two nights, just the fact that they were in the same room would be enough for the twins to rain their wrath on poor Reuben.
"Nana, we have some news for you." Wayne uttered in a soft voice and the others too had a dull expression on their faces.
"What happened?" She felt a panic in her heart when she saw their solemn faces.
"Stacy has to leave soon." Wade informed her and this made Lina's jaw drop.
"Why?"
"I mean, I know you have to leave sometime but this is too soon!"
"What about you and Aya?"
"Have you told her about this?"
"Oh, God! She's gonna freak!"
"I'm gonna freak!"
She bombarded Stacy with non-stop questions without giving her a chance to answer them.
"Will you calm down!?" Wayne held his palm over her mouth to stop her from rambling on and on.
"Listen to what I have to say first." He looked at her and released her only when she nodded.
"Stacy needs to leave for some time but she will be back soon. But before she goes, we want to hold a party for her this weekend." He spoke slowly to let her take it all in.
'Phew! They were acting as though she's leaving forever!'
Lina sighed when she heard that it was only a temporary separation.
"Does Aya know?" She questioned her sister but received a sneer in reply.
"Not bothered that I am leaving but bothered that your friend will be sad huh? You traitor!" Stacy scoffed at her.
"You know what I mean!" Lina defended herself and then turned to the twins.
"This is why you called me so urgently? I thought something had happened when I saw your sad faces after I entered!" She yelled at them.
"It's just a farewell party for Stacy, what's so important about that?" She smirked and chuckled when she saw Stacy's darkening face.
"Why you little punk! I'm not important to you!?" Stacy pounced on her and chased her around the room.
Lina hid behind the desk and ran circles around it until her stomach cramped again.
"Ouch!" She held her tummy and panted breathlessly.
"Careful, you two!" Wade chided them and brought them to sit down again.
"Are you sick?" Wayne questioned her when he saw the beads of sweat that formed on her forehead.
"Cramps." Was all she said and they understood what was wrong.
"Is that why she received that gift basket?" Wade mumbled absentmindedly.
But Lina's sharp ears caught his words and she glared at him.
"How did you know that?" She snarled viciously.
"Know what?" Wayne and Stacy were clueless about what they were talking about.
"Wade is spying on me!" She accused him as though he was some pervert.
Wayne clicked his tongue while Stacy had a look of horror on her face as she had misunderstood Lina's words.
"Stop thinking nasty thoughts!" He glared at them and then faced Lina.
"Kirk was downstairs when he saw the package being delivered. So he checked who it was from." He shrugged and avoided Lina's eyes.
"For safety purposes!" He added this point to make his actions more acceptable.
"Who was it from?" Wayne was more bothered about this.
"From some woman named Ruby. It was like some care package and it had a card that said 'Hope you feel better' so I thought she was sick" Wade told them exactly what Kirk had notified him.
'They think Ruby is a woman?' Lina was trying hard to keep a straight face while Wade was explaining things to the others.
"How come I've never heard of this Ruby before? Is she hot?" Wayne rubbed his chin and wiggled his brows.
This was the last straw that broke her. She could no longer hold back her laughter and she let it all out.
Watching her laugh so heartily, they all just assumed that this Ruby woman was not good looking at all.
'How ugly is she that Nana is laughing so hard?' Wayne shuddered imagining Ruby as a big muscular bearded lady.
"Nana… It's not good to laugh at someone's appearance." Stacy admonished her bad behavior.
Lina shook her head and wiped the tears before she clarified the situation.
"No… Ruby is hot. Actually Ruby is very hot. Should I introduce my new friend to you?" She questioned Wayne with an amicable smile.
Lina deliberately did not correct them when they assumed that Ruby was a woman. In fact, she spoke in such a way that she never disclosed Ruby's gender.
"Hehe… No need. I am already dating someone else." He made up an excuse because the bearded lady's image popped up in his mind once again.
If only they had seen the handwritten card then these two brothers would have recognized who 'Ruby' really was.
'This worked out in my favor.' Lina was the only one who was satisfied with this outcome.
"I brought lunch that Butler Mo personally made for you. Let's eat before it gets cold." Stacy pointed to the lunch boxes.
Lina forgot all about Ruby and concentrated on relishing the food that her crush made specifically for her.
"Butler Mo is the best!" She gushed as soon as she took the first bite.
They just shook their heads when they saw how happy she was right now.