Chapter 88 - A Friend's Advice

"How about today's lunch?" Dion asked cluelessly, as Devon and Lewis planned to eat together later, and he already had plans to spread his brother's wings. 

Devon only pursed her lips and glanced at his fingers. Her subtle action made him raise his hands, and that pleased her as she nodded.

"You came too early, so I didn't have the time to eat breakfast," Devon explained as she gazed at the people around the table.

"Right…" Dion smacked his lips as he glared at Mike and then studied the people Devon was hanging with. He instantly could tell these were Mike's friends, as he was the friendly type — the complete opposite of Dion's personality.

"Brother Dion," called Bella as she forced herself to recover from her shock. "You… and Miss Lin know each other?" 

"Ah. Yes. She is…" Dion's tongue rolled back as his mind questioned him whether it was alright to tell them about Devon and Lewis' relationship. 

Ghost Lin clicked her tongue continuously as she studied Dion's expression. 

"Of course, it's not alright, you idiot." She sighed. "It's better for you to have a rumor instead of CEO Qin. The Qin Empire can shut any rumors about you, but the big boss in your Qin Family will not leave her off easily if it reaches his radar."

"She's someone special." Dion cleared his throat as he decided to ignore Bella from that point on and shifted his attention to Devon. "Sis, we should go now since we have a movie to catch."

"Right." Devon nodded, recalling Dion booking a seat so they could watch an animated movie. She turned to Mike and sported a faint smile.

"It was nice to be acquainted with you. Sadly, I have to go now." She politely bowed her head a little. 

Dion helped her out and saluted at Mike. "Thanks for looking after her. We'll go now." 

"No problem! Have fun on your today's plans." Mike waved back, but he fixed his pair of forlorn eyes on Devon. "See you again Devon."

"What?" Dion gasped in disbelief as his face distorted. "You're on the first name basis now?"

"We're friends," Devon explained, keeping it short and simple. 

Dion glared daggers at Mike and didn't even conceal it. Mike's expression just slowly faded away as he watched the two walk away, with Dion glaring back at him constantly.

Once Devon and Dion were in the far distance, with Dion acting friendly and too casual to Devon, Bella faced Mike squarely.

"What's the meaning of this? Mike?" Bella interrogated, suppressing the building up anger within her. 

Mike scratched the back of his head as he wondered how he would explain it to her. It was not like he owed her an explanation, but he understood where she was coming from.

"Michael." 

"I didn't know, alright?" Mike let out a deep sigh as he shook his head. "I only knew about it now since I bumped into him on his way to the boss' office."

Bella held her tears back by keeping her strong front. However, she truly felt betrayed about this, as she had been very faithful to Dion, but the latter paid no interest to her. Now, Dion was bringing a woman into the company, which Dion never did as he never publicly dated.

"Bella," Mike cajoled before glancing at Bella's lackeys and then at Avah. As if on cue, the three bowed their heads and excused themselves, using a lame excuse.

When the three of them left, Mike faced Bella. "Bella, you really need to let brother Dion go. You're beautiful, talented, and successful! Many men admired you. Why are you so hung up on him?" 

"Hah…" Bella let out a brief, ridiculing chuckle as she slowly shifted her eyes back to him. "Why am I so hung up on him? Isn't it obvious? That's because all I want is the best."

"Don't you think it's about time that you let go of that unrequited love? I've never seen Dion be this passionate in a relationship, if you really like him, let him go and be happy for him." Mike advised as a genuine friend. He knew it was a little harsh on Bella, but this was now his concerned since Dion dared to show off his 'girlfriend'.

"I only want the best for Brother Dion and his happiness, Mike."

"Then…" Dion trailed off as Bella added;

"But she's not the best."

Mike exhaled heavily as he placed his hand on Bella's shoulder. "Bella, I'm saying this as your friend, but you know the Qin Family. Don't cross the line, never cross the Qin Family — we all know that. They can destroy your career and everything you had worked so hard overnight." 

He studied her repressed expression and shook his head. She might feel betrayed and think it was unfair, but there was never anything between Dion and Bella.

"I wish you will take my advice seriously because even I can't help you if worse comes to worst." Mike squeezed her shoulder lightly before he stood up, knocking on the table's surface. "I will have to work. See you around."

Mike stared at her for a moment and let another shallow breath before walking away. He just really hope Bella would take his advice because it'll be hard for him if Bella did something stupid and cross the Qin Family.

"Even though I really like Devon, if Dion is that passionate, how can I betray him?" he murmured to himself, shaking his head lightly. "Come to think of it, he said 'it's not what I think' and then he said something about today's lunch date…" 

Mike's mind drifted away as he walked, contemplating about Devon and Dion's ambiguous relationship. Soon, he came to a conclusion that made his eyes go wide.

"If my gut feeling is correct, Devon hadn't accepted Dion just yet." He gasped and covered his mouth. "Did he mean by today's lunch, he will finally ask her to make their relationship official?" 

His mind short-circuited momentarily, as he believed that made sense with Devon's aloof and noble personality. Also, it just felt right since Dion seemed he deemed this lunch date a very important event.

"Wah…" Mike shook his head as he took a deep breath and breath it out sharply. "I wish him luck, although it seemed Devon doesn't see him in that light considering how she avoided his touch."

Little did Mike know, Dion's enthusiasm and devotion were about a totally different thing, as the person who had his eyes on Devon was nothing but the man behind the monstrous power of the Qin Family.

*

Meanwhile, Bella, who was left behind sitting alone around the table, clenched her hand into a fist.

"Don't cross the Qin family..." she murmured as her eyes glinted with jealousy and enviousness. ".... but she's not a Qin yet, right?"