Chapter 283 - What Image?

While Stephen Jin was fretting what his Noona would do to him, Reuben was rubbing his chin in contemplation.

He had heard everything that had taken place in the tea party organized by Talia and her sister, Valerie, and was now mulling over it.

Wayne tapped his fingers on his knee as he sat with his legs crossed over on the couch.

The master of the house ignored this behavior of his as he had more important things to think about.

"So, this was the plan that the Liang woman and that Rong woman had in mind?" He thought out loud while glancing at the fabric of the couch.

"I think so…" The Luo family's heir nodded in agreement however he did not receive any answer from the man sitting opposite him.

As Reuben's mind was going over the endless possibilities of what could have happened and what had happened, Wayne was waiting patiently for his reply.

'Something doesn't add up!' He deduced and then looked at the man with the dirty-blonde hair.

"How sure are you that this plan had nothing to do with the Zhengs?" He inquired with a stern look in his eyes.

Wayne was not too surprised when this question was tossed at him since the tea party had been organized by the Zheng's in the first place.

These two sisters were known to rule the social circles with an iron fist and the fact that such a huge incident had taken place during their party was something that Reuben could not digest.

"She would have done anything to stop her party from being wrecked…" He mentioned a commonly known trait of hers.

Talia always desired that everything should go according to her wishes and any changes would not be tolerated.

This was something that they knew all too well about her as they had known each other for years now.

Both Wayne and Reuben had attended multiple parties organized by their family and hence they were aware of how ruthless Talia could be to people who tried to mess with her plans.

"But she did not move a muscle while Jeanette and Mandy were causing a scene at her tea party today," Wayne recalled that what he had said was true.

Though he had clearly seen emotions of anger and annoyance flashing on the socialite's face, she did not attempt to intervene in the incident between Mrs. Huo and the two young ladies.

"And you do not find this to be weird?" Reuben interrogated with an incredulous look on his face.

He was aware of how much Talia was obsessed with him and he also knew that she had ruined many women who had tried to scheme in order to get closer to him.

However, his Kitten was not one of those women who had played tricks on him to get closer to him.

'In fact, I was the one who played tricks on her to get her to date me as soon as possible.' He reminisced about what he had done and let out a soft chuckle.

Hearing this chuckle of his, Wayne turned towards him and narrowed his eyes.

"My sister might have fallen into a scheme made by that insane woman and you think that this is something to laugh about!?" He scowled at this man who did not know how to behave when!

Reuben rolled his eyes and then smacked the back of Wayne's head to prove that he was wrong with his twisted way of thinking.

"Ouch! The hell was that for, man!?" Wayne's cries in pain echoed in the room where they had been seated.

"That was for doubting that I would laugh at something so serious." He snarled in response as he rolled his eyes.

Wayne sat in silence as he rubbed the spot which had received the brutal smack from this friend of his.

Reuben then placed aside his happy thoughts about Lina and got to the matter that needed his attention.

"Mandy Rong is not influential enough to enter the party using her own credentials." He inferred that woman had only been here for a couple of months.

In that amount of time, she had only been able to enter the inner circle of Jeanette's close friends and nothing more.

"The only other way for her to appear at this party is that she had tagged along with Jeanette." The other man chimed in which gained a nod of approval.

Reuben agreed with this but there was a voice in the corner of his mind which was asking him to look deeper than what appeared on the surface.

He focused his energy on trying to figure out whether these two women had any connection with Talia and her sister but failed to find any.

"How did Talia allow Mandy Rong to enter her party as she often boasts about how exclusive they are." He mulled over this new thought that had popped up in his mind.

Wayne's mind was now yanked into this matter as he tried to think of any possible reason why those two women had appeared here and only found one.

"Maybe Talia had invited Jeanette and Mandy tagged along?" He repeated his earlier words as that was all that he could think of.

Reuben blinked at the man who had only said what had already been said earlier.

"Thank you, genius! The question was… Why did Talia not kick Mandy Rong outside as she does not fit into their standards." He scowled at the man who had answered in such a dumb manner.

Wayne could feel the mocking gaze on him and this made him pout.

"I spent time with that annoying woman for your sake and now you mock me after everything that I have done for you?" He sniffled while pouring out his grievances.

Reuben rolled his eyes at this overly dramatic man and pressed his forehead to relieve some of the tension present there.

"Do you know that she almost made me her boyfriend by declaring our so-called relationship in public today!?" He sneered at that woman who had dared to act so haughtily today.

This made the other man roll his eyes once again as he had already heard this aggrievance during the earlier narration.

"We wouldn't have to spend time trying to figure things out if you had just sucked it up and agreed to become her boyfriend." He snarled at Wayne for not sticking to their plans.

They had decided that Wayne would stay close to Jeanette in order to know what their plans were but before they could get any valuable information from her, Wayne had chickened out today.

"So you want me to be in a public relationship for the sake of gaining some intel!? Have you no pity for my image in the society!?" Wayne roared as he clutched his shirt around his heart.

This action of his coupled with the wounded look on his face would make anyone who witnessed this scene to assume that Reuben had just betrayed this man's trust and broken his heart.

"What image? Everyone knows what kind of a sleazy and shady character you are so it wouldn't change a single thing." Reuben scoffed without bothering to filter his words.

As though he had received the shock of his life, Wayne stared at this man with his eyes wide open.

'Sleazy….? Shady…?' He lamented over the choice of the words used for describing his character.