Standing Right Next To You - Chapter 369

Reuben held his girlfriend in his arms and continued to watch the news that was now about a newly established company that was doing great.

Lina had calmed down after her little emotional rollercoaster thanks to his warm hands which were rubbing and patting her back.

‘I cannot believe that I spilled all of my emotions before him without any fears.’ She blushed at this advancement in their relationship.

For Lina to open up to him about something so close to her heart was a large step in her eyes and she was glad that their progress was so clear to her.

“I knew that he had the capability to do it.” He muttered to himself, bringing her out of his thoughts.

“Hmm?”

Lina looked up when she heard his words which did not make sense without any context of the situation.

The man realized that he had spoken his thoughts out loud after noticing her questioning glance.

‘Kitten did not hesitate to let me know about her family circumstance so I should follow her lead.’ He decided and smiled at her before pointing at the TV’s screen.

“Look at that company…” He spoke with his eyes on the screen.

Lina turned in the direction that he was looking and found that the anchor was reading the news about a budding company that was gaining fame in recent times.

“Monarch Holdings?” She muttered the name on the screen.

Reuben nodded in admittance and displayed his widest smile before her.

“That’s my brother’s company.” He announced, proud of the man who ran the firm.

To say that Lina was surprised would be an understatement, she was befuddled, thunderstruck, stupefied, and every other synonymous word that could be found in the dictionary.

‘I’m glad that I wasn’t drinking water when he said that!’ She rejoiced as she would have spurted out the entire water in her mouth onto his face.

Coughing to hide the strange thoughts in her head, she looked at the man who had dropped such massive news on her without giving her a heads up.

“You have a brother?” She inquired incredulously as she stared at him with suspicious eyes.

‘Is he playing a prank on me?’ She tried to gauge his reaction as what he had said could not be true at all.

She was sure of this as she had heard about his family from her assistant and he had informed her that Reuben Ming was an only child.

So the question that now arises was where did this brother come from?

Her eyes narrowed as she tried to make sense of this news that she had received from the supposedly only child of the Ming family.

‘Did Mr. Ming do something he should not have….’ She speculated and a gloomy look appeared on her face.

If her assumption was right then Reuben’s father had done something unspeakable which resulted in the birth of a second son to the Ming family.

Her emotions shifted from gloom to wrath and then they transformed into sympathy and admiration for her boyfriend.

‘He is so happy for his step-brother’s success. Why is my Ruby so adorable?’ She applauded his big heart which was happy with the step-brother as well.

Reuben had been observing his Kitten’s expressions changing every few seconds and was enjoying the show in silence.

‘I can feel that she is misunderstanding the situation completely.’ He surmised and was sure that he had gotten the right guess on the first try.

While he was waiting for her to speak what she had understood from his statement, Lina was pitying Mrs. Ming and Reuben for the tragedies in their past.

“Are you okay with this?” She inquired after a long pause.

Lina gazed into his eyes in an attempt to catch any glimpses of hidden sadness but could find none even when she was practically staring at him without blinking.

“My little cousin is doing well so why won’t I be happy for him?” He retorted with an eyebrow raised in question.

‘Aha!’ He scoffed when he saw her jaw-dropping after she heard him speaking.

“C-cousin?” She repeated to ensure that she had heard him right.

Lina felt like smacking her forehead when she saw him nodding in acceptance of her words.

“My little cousin from the side branch. Who did you think it was?” He interrogated with mirth dancing in his eyes as he had now confirmed that she had misunderstood something.

The woman in his arms gulped as she averted her eyes in an attempt to avoid his question.

“Kitten?” He persisted in his inquiry as a playful smile appeared on his face.

“I thought that… He was your… Step… Brother…” She muttered in the softest voice she could use.

“Thought so.” Reuben sighed after hearing her answer.

His calm response was not something she was expecting so she turned to look at him in a slapdash manner only to find him rolling his eyes at her.

“This isn’t the plot of one of those novels you read, my ignorant little Kitten. This is real life and those things don’t happen here.” He lectured her on his guess of what might have been running through her mind.

Lina’s embarrassed and sheepish chuckle proved that he had caught the right thing and that she had indeed thought the situation to be like the dog blood plot of her novels.

“These things do happen in real life!” She added, unwilling to give up so easily.

“Look at my family! Didn’t a long lost daughter come back home to claim her rights at the family’s title?” She sneered at the man who was demeaning the power of her romance novels.

Reuben looked at her in silence, speechless at her words before he flicked her forehead.

“Now now, Kitten, who are you trying to fool? That woman is not related to your family.” He disclosed in a deadpan manner as though that was common knowledge to him.

“You knew?” She exclaimed with wide eyes at this sudden revelation.

“Only a fool would believe that Rong lady has Yang blood in her veins.” He declared with confidence.

Lina was touched by his adamant answer that Mandy could never have Yang blood in her veins.

“However, I do not understand something about this situation.” He continued while rubbing his chin.

His Kitten was all ears as she paid attention to what he had to say.

“If you and everybody else in your house know that she and her mother are nothing but liars who are trying to scam you then why won’t you expose them and kick them out?” He investigated as this was on his mind for quite some time now.

Reuben’s doubt was a valid one as this was what anyone in their position would do.

But the Yangs had instead chosen to give the fake daughter and her mother residence in their house and also let them continue with this charade.

“Ah! We did have that plan earlier…” She answered with a nod.

Reuben understood the hidden message in her words which meant that something had changed along the way which brought about a modification in their plans as well.

“If they could trick the public by using the false DNA test then it made us think what else they could do.” She explained the thought process behind their plan.

Thus, Reuben and Lina had forgotten to talk about the man who was the owner of Monarch Holdings as they had already moved onto a different subject in their conversation.