"Mother just won't stop calling me! I told her that I would meet her there but she just keeps calling." Reuben glanced at his phone while he was driving.
His mom's name kept flashing but he couldn't answer it since that would be dangerous.
Today's inspection at his gaming arena had taken a lot longer than he had expected.
He had already promised his mother to attend the party organized by the Yangs but he had not yet reached home.
'Kitten will also be there.' He smiled when he thought of the possibility of meeting her tonight.
'She's been avoiding me for the past few days, I can ask her why she did that if I meet her there. So I better hurry up!' He thought as he stepped on the accelerator and within a few minutes, he reached his apartment.
He could have worn the same suit to the party but he did not want to be berated by his mother so he decided to freshen up and then arrive in style.
Half an hour later, Reuben was all dressed and ready to leave for the party.
Looking at his grey suit in the mirror, he tightened the cuff links and then strode out of his house.
Driving at a fast speed yet not recklessly, he reached The Pontiac faster than one usually would.
"Hope I am not too late." He sighed as he entered the building.
His mother had told him that the party was in the huge banquet hall, so he directly made his way there without asking for any help from the staff.
He could hear Patrick Yang's voice as he walked towards the door.
The moment he entered, his eyes fell on the man who was speaking in an excited manner.
'Wayne and Wade told that their uncle does not accept that new girl so why does he look so happy today?' Reuben stopped at the door and slowly took a step forward.
The twins had not told him the real reason for tonight's party so he too was left in the dark just like everyone else.
All the guests had gathered near the stairs so no one had noticed this Emperor's arrival.
Not that it would matter because right now everyone was completely immersed in what Patrick was speaking.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I am overjoyed to introduce to you my lovely niece, Lina Yang!"
Patrick's loud voice made Reuben stop in his tracks.
'Isn't that the name of Wayne and Wade's cousin!' His brows furrowed and his jaw tightly clenched as he thought of a certain someone from his past.
As though the sky had come crashing down on his shoulders, Reuben's eyes widened when he saw the figure that descended down the stairs with his very own best friends on either side of her.
He gazed unblinkingly at the thin figure clad in a well-fitting dark grey off-shoulder ball gown.
Her every step was elegant and her aura demanded attention from anyone who laid their eyes on her.
However, her eyes were on the man who was walking by her side.
Reuben watched in a daze as Lina silently bickered with Wayne and then turned her head towards Patrick.
'Lina Yang'
Patrick's earlier words echoed in his ears.
'But how could that be? That's…' His eyes were glued to the beautiful woman who was now by Patrick's side.
"... Simon Yang's only daughter… Heiress…" The words reached his ears and his brain started processing all this information.
His eyes darkened when he finally realized what was going one.
Every doubt in his mind about who she really was had now been cleared and this caused his emotions to rage.
"Hi… I might not know everyone present here but hopefully, I will by the end of the night." Lina's soft voice echoed in the silent room followed by the cheers.
His lips curved into a smile when he heard her slightly nervous words but it soon turned into a deep frown.
'My kitten… No, Lina is Lina Yang?' His eyes followed the fragile body as she began dancing with her uncle.
Feeling his anger soaring, Reuben decided that leaving this place was the best thing he could do right now.
Taking a step back, he turned around and strode out of the hall with no one noticing him.
'How could this be! Lina is Lina Yang?' His feet stopped when he reached the terrace garden that was next to the banquet hall.
The serene atmosphere there was completely opposite to the raging storm in his mind.
Taking a deep breath of the fresh cold air, he tried to calm himself and think about this rationally.
'I met her at the airport and I noticed her instantly…" He recalled the first time he had seen her in the waiting room.
'Her alias, LY must be short for Lina Yang.' He gasped when he discovered this truth.
'I was so dumb to not notice this all along. The expensive clothes, the elegant aura, the hotheadedness.' He felt like kicking himself.
'No wonder she had all those qualities in her, she is the heiress of the Yang clan after all!'
'Which would explain why she was close to the twins at the auction!' He was slowly putting all the pieces of the puzzle together.
'My kitten… Lina, LY is Lina Yang…?' His brain repeated that statement multiple times.
So many times that his teeth gnashed against each other.
'The person I hated all my life, my mortal enemy who I swore to destroy.' He reminisced about the vow that he had made in the past.
'The reason that made me hate women all my life, making me a laughing stock in front of my friends and family.' The scornful words of his mom echoed in his ears.
'Why did it turn out to be my kitten?' His heart burned in anger because of the betrayal that he was feeling at this moment.
Not knowing how to release all the pent up anger in him, he punched the wall with all his might and hissed because of the pain.
"I knew that you would react this way which was why I hoped that wouldn't come here tonight." A voice was heard from behind.
Rubbing his sore wrist, Reuben turned around to look at the man who had just spoken.
"Come, let's get you something cold for that wrist." The man pointed at Reuben's bruised skin and gestured for him to follow.
However before he could turn around, he was knocked to the ground thanks to the punch that Reuben had bestowed straight to his jaw.
"Why did you not tell me that Lina is your cousin!?" He screamed at the man on the floor.
Wayne looked up at him and there was a clear panic visible in his eyes.
"How do you know her? Have you met her before?" He looked into Reuben's eyes and grimaced when he saw the man nodding his head.
Reuben had calmed down a little after punching Wayne, so he silently reached his hand out and helped him get to his feet.
"You still haven't answered my question! How do you know her!" Wayne asked in a loud voice when Reuben just blankly stared at the night sky.
"We are friends." He mumbled and did not explain any further.
"Or at least we were." He added and then looked at Wayne with fury in his eyes.
"I told you to never let her come before my eyes. So why is she here?" He snarled at Wayne who gulped in fear.
"How dare she stand before me after everything she has done!" He caught Wayne's collar and yelled at his face.
Looking at Reuben's menacing face, Wayne shivered and hurriedly tried to defend Lina.
"Reuben, don't act rashly! She doesn't remember anything about you so please don't go around digging old graves." He pleaded in a sincere tone.
The anger instantly turned into confusion and doubt when he heard Wayne's bizarre words.
"What are you trying to say?" He spat those words out with a scowl on his face.
Wayne carefully removed his now crumpled collar from Reuben's grasp and straightened his jacket.
"It means exactly what I said." He enunciated each word to get it through Reuben's thick head.
Noticing the expression of confusion deepen on his face, Wayne sighed and explained further.
"When we found her that day, she was crying her eyes out. I don't know what you did to her but she seems to have erased that entire incident from her mind." He frowned and shook his head when he remembered Lina's sad face.
'What I did to her? She was the one who did it to me!' He looked at Wayne incredulously.
Reuben's fury which had just been reduced by an insignificant percentage was now back at a new high.
However, Wayne was still thinking of his sister so he had not noticed the changes in Reuben's face.
"So don't go reminding her of something she has no clue about." He patted Reuben's shoulder but his hand was immediately swatted away.
'I spent the last ten years of my life hating her very existence and here she Is, enjoying her life without a clue of what happened?' Reuben glared at the banquet hall from where soft music could be heard.
'How dare she forgets about me!?' His eyes narrowed and his feet moved in the direction of the hall.
Wayne was still nursing his hand that had turned a bright red because of Reuben's smack and when he looked up, he noticed that he was the only person standing there.
He turned around and caught a glimpse of Reuben's back that had just entered through the door.
'I need to stop him before he ruins everything!' He forgot about his pain and ran to catch up to Reuben before he could cause any irreversible damage.