Standing Right Next To You - Chapter 426

When Aya’s eyes collided with Lina’s, she blushed thanks to the wicked grin that her old friend was throwing her way.

She could discern the cause of this grin and somewhere deep down, she felt proud that she had accomplished this despite the things of the past.

Aya’s deep-rooted crush for Lina felt different from what she felt for Stacy.

With Stacy, every moment was refreshing, exhilarating, and she never knew what would happen next.

That girl had whisked her away to a vacation where only the two of them were present and no one else they knew was around to interrupt them.

A week-long trip had come to an end in the blink of an eye and after which, Aya realized what she felt for Stacy was much stronger than what she had assumed she felt for Lina.

With Lina, it was a puppy crush where she was often depressed that the other woman could not identify and reciprocate her feelings.

However, Stacy had noticed those feelings during their first meeting but did not disparage her or treat her as an object of ridicule.

Instead, she eased her way into Aya’s heart so much so that now Aya was unwilling to let her go even after the vacation.

Aya’s yearning to stay together for longer had led the two ladies to return to Luo Residence together after their plane landed in the country.

This was how, right now, Lina had caught sight of the couple sitting and having breakfast with the rest of the family.

“Thank goodness you are here! You just saved me a trip to your house.” Lina exclaimed as she displayed a wide smile to Aya who raised her brow in confusion.

Without clearing the confusion, she smiled at Stacy who winked back at her.

Benji walked along with her and unlike her, he bowed to greet the men present in this room before following after her.

The rest of the family sitting around the table pouted when they noticed that even the assistant had noticed them but Lina’s attention was somewhere else and she had not even bothered to greet them yet.

“Nana? A little hello?” Wayne demanded while pouting when he saw his sister taking a seat on his side of the table but did not bother to spare him a single glance.

Lina choked and glanced at him then everyone else seated at the table only to find them with sulking expressions.

Their Nana had been away for so long and the first thing she does after coming back is to ignore them.

How could they be happy with this outcome?

Therefore, their expressions clearly proved what they were feeling right now.

‘My oh my! I seem to have upset so many big bosses all at once.’ Lina giggled to herself as she brought out her biggest smile for them in order to coax them.

“I missed you all so much!” She declared in a loud voice while making sure to meet everyone’s eye.

Uncle Ace looked cold as ever but the curve of his lips proved that he was already satisfied with her statement.

Uncle Pat’s eyes twinkled as he nodded in approval of her words.

Wayne harrumphed but seemed pleased with her words and Wade only rolled his eyes at her exaggerated behavior.

In fact, Wade’s eyes sparkled after noticing Benji’s arrival with Lina and he appeared to be happier with his presence than with hers.

‘What exactly happened while I was gone?’ Lina wondered after observing this anomaly.

Turning her sly gaze towards Benji who sat next to her, she inquired through her eyes about what had happened but he only shuddered and gulped as though he was recalling a bad memory.

This made Lina turn to her right and narrow her eyes at Wade who in an instant diverted his attention and went back to eating his food.

Butler Mo was quick to bring washbowls and hand towels for Lina and Benji after which he wished to bring them their breakfast.

As they had already eaten with Reuben in the hotel room, Lina refused and asked for a strawberry smoothie for her and a banana smoothie for Benji.

While her requests were being prepared, Lina turned her gaze to her uncles.

“I was asked to come here as soon as I am back?” She inquired, still not revealing where she had been and what she had been doing all these days.

Uncle Ace nodded while Uncle Pat had an enthusiastic look on his face.

“Brother is coming back.” Patrick Yang revealed along with most of his pearly white teeth thanks to his radiant smile at the thought of his elder brother returning to the country that he had grown up in.

“Oh, and that scary Diane is also coming along.” He scoffed as his best friend, Diane was a scary woman who never let a chance to torture him go to waste.

Ace glared at Pat for scoffing at his twin sister who in return pouted his lips that Ace always sided with his sister and never with him.

Wallace Luo rolled his eyes and ignored him, turning to see the reaction of those present here.

Hearing this great news, cheers were heard all around the table and even Butler Mo who had returned with the smoothies had a wide smile on his face.

The Young Miss he had served from a young age, Lina’s mother, returning along with her husband was news worthy of celebration for him.

The twins were also exuberant after hearing this news as the Yang couple had become their second parents after the death of their biological parents during their teens.

They were excessively attached to their aunt, Diane who was a scary yet motherly figure for them later on.

Even after being physically separated for so long, everyone continued to remain in touch.

Therefore, the thought of meeting them soon was exciting to them.

“Aunt Di sounded mysterious the last time I met her…” Wayne recalled the mini-vacation he had taken not too long ago.

At the end of that holiday, he had even met Simon and Diane Yang.

During his stay with them, his aunt had said something vague about meeting soon but he had not connected the dots back then.

Now that he heard his Uncle Pat disclosing this secret, he was sure that she was referring to this meeting all along.

Everybody’s eyes turned towards Lina who should be the most excited one among them all as her parents would be coming to visit her soon.

However, the young lady did not look as surprised as they had been expecting.

Instead, she sat with a simple smile on her face which made them wonder if she had not heard what had just been said.

When Benji noticed their scrutinizing gaze, he stretched his hand and pinched Lina’s calf from under the table.

‘What the heck was that for!?’ She whiplashed towards him and glared in silence but saw his angered face instead.

‘Act surprised!’ He urged and hoped she would understand what he was trying to say.

Benji had already received a phone call from Madame Yang long before Ace had been informed.

The only person he had shared this information with was Reuben Ming in an attempt to scare him and enjoy hearing the panic in his voice when he had disclosed it on their phone call.

However, that had not happened and he had revealed privileged information for no use at all.

After seeing Reuben with Lina at the hotel room this morning, Benji had doubts whether this information had reached Lina yet.

Now, looking at her lack of reaction at the surprising news, he was sure that she was already aware of this.

‘That wicked man must have leaked it to her!’ Benji scowled at Reuben for having such a big mouth.

He had tried to mock Reuben with this information but instead, that wicked man used it against him by revealing everything to Lina before he could.

However, unlike him who knew of Emperor Ming’s presence throughout her seclusion period, the rest of her family had no clue about it.

They were unaware of this truth and would most likely hunt Reuben if they were to hear about the two cohabiting for a while.

In fact, they were clueless about Benji knowing about Madame Yang’s arrival as well.

Therefore, he had pinched Lina to make sure that she would act surprised.