Standing Right Next To You - Chapter 392

“Your mother-in-law!” Benji’s loud scowl echoed in the silent room.

Immediately after these words were uttered, incessant coughs were heard in the room which prompted the assistant to hand the man a glass of water.

From the other side, Benji clicked his tongue at the nervous man for not being able to handle this simple news.

‘If he is like this now then how will he be able to stand before Master and Elder Master?’ He shook his head in disappointment at Lina’s choice.

The Master and Elder Master he was talking about was none other than Master Wind and his father, Simon Yang.

Benji knew that his boss was serious about dating Reuben so the chances of the two families meeting in the future were high.

Therefore, he had not concealed the person whom he had been talking to until now.

“Disappointing…” He chided the CEO of the Ming Enterprises without restraint.

If Reuben wished to stay with Lina then he would have to do much better than what he was right now.

In his office, Reuben took a while to calm down after hearing what Lina’s assistant had said.

‘All I wanted to know was why he had taken so long to answer my call!’ He grumbled that he was being unjustly judged right now.

Even Trigger who was standing at the side and watching the show in silence could not understand what was so shocking that his boss almost choked to death in just a few seconds.

‘Is he not willing to consider his and Miss Lina’s relationship seriously?’ The new assistant pondered on what might be the cause of his sudden coughing fit.

This thought made the tall assistant look at his boss as though he wasn’t doing the right thing.

Reuben did not know that he was being spurned by Trigger for being so negligent with his relationship as he gulped the glass of water down in one go.

“Ahem…” He cleared his throat and adjusted his tie while regaining his usual cold demeanor.

‘We can talk about that later.’ He decided as he needed to talk to Benji about other stuff right now.

“Would you mind coming over to my office today? We need to talk about a certain matter.” He proposed after a glint of craftiness passed through his eyes.

Reuben’s initial plan was to just get Benji to confess that he was the one who had hacked into the apartment’s security system.

However, after hearing his revelation about talking to Lina’s mother, he decided that it would be better to meet each other face to face.

This would be better as he had multiple matters to discuss with him.

Benji remained silent as suspicion was brimming in his heart as to what the reason for this impromptu rendezvous might be.

“Why?” He interrogated without answering his previous question.

Trigger could hear traces of their conversation and his eyes narrowed at this new man who dared to behave this way while conversing with the Emperor whom many respected.

He also found it surprising how his boss did not mind the other person’s insolence which proved that he was close to them.

‘Who might this be?’ He speculated on the identity of this person.

“I need to discuss something related to Lina.” Reuben spoke up, waking his new assistant from his daydream.

There was silence for a few seconds after which the Emperor heard the man speaking.

“I haven’t slept recently so if you don’t mind, I will meet you for lunch.” Benji accepted the proposal while yawning.

Reuben rolled his eyes as he had no problem with this as well.

‘Staying up late to do what? Hack into my security system?’ He sneered but did not let it on that he knew who was responsible for messing with his cameras.

“Come by the office for lunch then.” He announced and hung up without waiting for the answer from the other side.

Once the call was disconnected, Reuben smirked as now the culprit would be walking into the trap like an ignorant and clueless lamb, ready to be slaughtered.

“Prepare for lunch. The hacker will be here to meet me.” He ordered his assistant who nodded and swiftly walked towards the door to exit the office.

No matter how much he tried to hide his astonishment, Reuben had caught the surprise on his face.

“He’s a friend so be nice.” This was the last statement Trigger heard before he left the room.

With the exit of the assistant, the room went back to its tranquility causing Reuben to fall into his thoughts as he tapped his finger on his desk.

The new information he heard from Benji was now sinking into him right.

‘Kitten’s mom… I wonder what kind of a person she is?’ He thought while trying to visualize how their future might be.

The couple had decided to let their family know about their relationship soon enough which meant that they would have to face the wrath of the Yang family’s main branch.

‘Ace and Pat were miffed when they heard about us so I can already imagine what her parents’ reaction might be.’ He sighed when he came to this realization.

While his family would be ecstatic to hear that he had finally found a companion, the same could not be said for Lina’s side of the family.

His shoulders drooped when he thought of a future scenario where his Kitten might be forbidden from meeting him because her family might be against their relationship.

This thought brought panic and fear which later transformed into determination.

‘No matter what happens! I will not let go of Kitten’s hand in this lifetime!’ He vowed and clenched his fists.

If he had to stand firm with Lina to gain their approval then he was willing to do that as well but he could never give her up.

Having come to this conclusion, Reuben decided to get back to his work with renewed vigor and enthusiasm.

‘Finish the work before Benji gets here.’ He urged himself to get his work done before lunchtime.

___

While Benji was taking his short power nap and Reuben was getting his work done, Lina was sitting with the Manager in the Hall.

The two sat on opposite sides of the couch as they continued their discussion.

“Miss, I do not know who you are or what your relationship with Mr. Ming is…” Manager Lang spoke while making sure to remain respectful.

Lina did not mind his candid way of speech and nodded at him to continue.

“But it is clear for everyone who has seen your interaction that he treats you differently.” He assured her of this fact as he had seen many women try to hit on him right in this hotel only to be given a cold shoulder.

This was nothing new to Lina but the thought of what had happened last night was still causing her to feel disappointed.

‘Well, not what happened but what did NOT happen.’ She corrected herself here.

Manager Lang had sent away the other staff member as he felt the need to talk to her in private about this matter.

Once the excess person had disappeared, the Manager had dropped the pretense of this being advice for someone else.

Though she was shy, Lina also accepted that she had asked the earlier question for herself.

“We’ve been dating for a while now.” She confessed the truth before the Manager.

Some people have the ability to make conversation with just about anyone they meet.

Even a stranger would feel comfortable sharing their feelings with them, such a person was Manager Lang.

He had great people skills which had been his biggest asset in being promoted to the Manager’s position at such a young age.

Therefore, he was not surprised when he heard her disclosing this information to him.

However, what had shocked the living daylights out of him was the news that the most eligible bachelor in the city was in fact, not a bachelor any longer.

“I hope you would keep this a secret until we are ready to reveal it to the public.” She requested with a smile.

Manager Lang was smart enough to know that even without the request, there was no way that he could leak such privileged information outside.

‘I will deal with him if he does~’ Lina displayed her devilish smile but he had failed to notice it as he was lost in his thoughts.

‘The Emperor will slaughter me if I disclose anything about him to the media!’ The man shuddered while thinking of the numerous people who had thought that they could cross this man and get away with it.

Anyone who had dared to pull any schemes against Reuben Ming or his company and family had a pitiful ending and this was a fact everyone in this city knew about.

“I would take this to my grave, Miss!” He clamored to prove his loyalty to the Emperor.

Lina chuckled at his antics and waved her hand at him in dismissal.

“You don’t have to panic. I won’t eat you up.” She rolled her eyes in amusement at his fearful demeanor.

This brought out an awkward chuckle from the manager as he stared at her with understanding.

‘So Miss has been kept in the dark about how Mr. Ming truly is…’ He realized that this was why she was so carefree and ignorant about the man who ruled the business world in this city.

Lina did not know this but at this moment, Manager Lang was praying for the safe future of her relationship with Reuben Ming.

Instead, she felt relieved that she had shared her thoughts with him which made her feel as though a load had been lifted off her shoulders.

‘I should stop worrying and follow his advice.’ She decided and continued her conversation with the manager.