Standing Right Next To You - Chapter 427

‘You want me to act surprised?’ Lina saw the panic in his eyes for a second and understood what he was trying to relay to her.

They had known each other for so long and working alongside each other had its perks.

Therefore, Lina was quick to discern what he was trying to say and altered her expressions accordingly.

‘Ruby told me beforehand but I think he was not supposed to do so.’ She surmised and understood bits and pieces of what was going on.

Benji heard this news from her mother and he used it to mock or scare Ruby; however, Ruby used it against him and revealed everything to her.

‘Good job, Ruby!’ She praised her boyfriend for not keeping it a secret from her.

Once she was done appreciating her lovely boyfriend, Lina narrowed her eyes at Benji but gave him a brief nod nonetheless.

“Oh wow! Mommy and Daddy are gonna arrive soon?” She squealed while making up for the momentary silence that had taken over the table.

Wallace Luo had been watching the wordless interaction between his niece and her assistant all along.

Therefore, after witnessing her attempt to cover up her tracks, he rolled his eyes then glanced at the muscular man who was seated farthest from him.

“She called you, didn’t she?” He inquired and Benji froze for a second but did not dare to lie.

“Yes, Sir.” He answered as Diane Yang had called him in advance to inform him about this matter.

This interaction made the others assume that it was Benji who leaked the news to Lina and now had asked her to act surprised.

While the second part of their assumptions was true, the news had been leaked by Reuben Ming, the insidious boyfriend whom they wished would stay away from their precious Lina.

However, since they did not know about this matter, Benji had no other choice but to take the blame for his actions as well.

“You are a bad actor, Nana.” Uncle Pat teased as her thoughts had been so clear for them to decipher until now.

Wayne nodded along but Wade knew that she could pretend very well if she wanted to.

‘After all, she is pretending as though she is a hard-working employee of Obsidia while conveniently forgetting to fulfill her duties as the CEO.’ He scoffed at the woman who had not helped him out and even went into closed-door cultivation until now.

Thinking about this, he was finally reminded of the designs that she had promised him.

“Stop drooling.” Lina reprimanded her cousin who was staring at her with his lips turned into a greedy smile.

Wade raised his hand to wipe away the drool only to find that she had tricked him and he was not drooling in the least bit.

This reaction made the youngsters snicker at his expense and Lina chuckled while enjoying the annoyed look on his face.

‘Payback for what you did to my assistant while I was gone.’ She harrumphed, though she did not know what had happened, she was sure that Benji had suffered thanks to this lazy man.

Wade narrowed his eyes at her but right now, his curiosity about the completion of her task was more important in his view.

‘We can earn double the amount if Stephen Jin and LY collaborate.’ He was picturing the glorious sight of their company’s bank account getting filled to the brim.

Once again Lina wondered what was wrong with him and soon realized what he was thinking about when she saw the same greedy look in his eyes.

“Ahem…” He cleared his throat as they would have to leave for work soon.

“Did you…” He inquired while remaining secretive which only intrigued the others at the table.

Lina glanced at her cousin then at the rest who were also paying attention to what was going on here.

In response, she nodded her head with a cheeky grin as she had done just as she had promised.

“Did she what?” Wayne was the first to point out his doubt as he wished to be included in whatever these two were talking about.

“LY is going to collaborate with Stephen Jin for Obsidia’s Winter collection,” Wade announced with pride overflowing from his tone before Lina could even react.

“Thank you for that.” She scowled at the man who had stolen her thunder.

Wade let out a sheepish chuckle but he could not help himself just now.

“Is that why you left the Yang Manor?” Patrick Yang inquired as he had felt that she was being mysterious when she called him home to announce that she would leave for a short while.

Lina nodded and explained that she had gone away to concentrate on her project.

“Tsk! Benji, you keep letting her do that.” Aya expressed her dissatisfaction with him but the assistant displayed a helpless look on his face.

“When does she ever listen to what I have to say?” He grumbled which gained him a glare from Lina.

‘You have the guts to say that?’ She scoffed as her every meal was being monitored by him and she could not even enjoy her closed-door period like she usually would.

Only Wade, Aya, and Benji were aware of how she behaved during her closed-door cultivation period and they did not hesitate to give the others a detailed explanation of the way she did things during that period.

“Nana, that seems bad for your health.” Uncle Ace chided her gently as she could develop bad living habits that way.

However, Lina smiled and shook her head as this time she was on her best behavior and even completed her tasks ahead of schedule.

“I was well behaved this time.” She assured him and glowered at Benji who had dared to scoff at her.

‘It’s because of that man.’ He rolled his eyes while thinking of the reason why Lina was so well behaved this time.

Lina did not wish to get into this with him as her Uncle Ace was a smart one and would understand that they were hiding something from him.

Therefore, she hurried to divert the conversation in another direction.

“Aya! I will need your help with the new jewelry.” She looked at the woman who was an apprentice in LY’s group of skilled craftsmen.

Aya nodded and immediately sent a text to her other family members who had come along with her to help Lina with her jewelry.

Her Grandpa, uncle and cousin who were members of the same family group chat received her text and mentioned that they would be ready by 11 AM and meet her at Obsidia’s headquarters.

Lina clapped her hands as everything was going smoothly and all she needed to do now was inform Steph about this as well.

At the breakfast table, while the rest were eating, Lina and Wade were busy making phone calls to inform the necessary personnel to be present for the emergency meeting at 11 AM today.

Wayne smiled at his little sister and blinked his wide blue eyes in an attempt to act cute.

“I will get front row tickets to the fashion show, right Nana?” He reminded her in a sickeningly sweet voice.

While Lina giggled and nodded, Benji and Wade shuddered at how he had changed his voice to curry favor with her just now.

The two uncles smiled at their childish interactions and were happy to see how the house lit up with Lina’s arrival.

Glancing at the time, Ace decided that it was time for them to make a move.

This made Patrick sulk but he did not hinder him and only smiled.

Ace rolled his eyes at his beloved and pecked his lips before getting up.

Before Butler Mo could help him with his coat, as the jealous boyfriend, Patrick rushed ahead and held the coat for Ace to put on.

‘So cute!’ Lina and Stacy squealed in their hearts at this sight which they enjoyed every time they met them.

Wayne rose from his seat as he always accompanied Uncle Ace to their office, Luo Industries’ Headquarters.

With the two men walking out of the door, the rest waved goodbye before returning to what they were doing.

Patrick glanced at Lina and she smiled back at him when she saw the worry in his eyes.

“Will you be staying here or heading back to Yang Manor after work?” He inquired even when he knew what her answer most likely would be.

“Why should I be afraid of returning home because of a few outsiders?” She replied while wiggling her eyebrows mischievously.

‘I have scores to settle with some people after all.’ She smirked and Patrick shuddered for a second before recovering.

‘Sometimes she looks like her scary mother.’ He recalled the demoness named Diane Yang, his best friend who later became his sister-in-law.

This thought made him wonder whether his angelic niece had inherited the scary genes of her mother which might be bad for his heart.

‘One Diane is enough, we don’t need another.’ He gulped as that same demoness would soon be arriving in this country.

While he was lost in his thoughts about how he would defend himself from his frightening best friend who always hounded him about one thing or the other, the rest were busy in their own world.

Lina was thinking of how she would reveal to Steph about the Winter collection.

Benji was preparing the necessary files for her meeting with the rest of the higher management of Obsidia.

Wade was collaborating with Kirk Douglas to ensure that none of the important members missed the meeting later today and finally the Stacy-Aya couple were flirting with each other in the far corner of the table where no one would disturb them.