Chapter 56 - 56

Jake had to eventually leave Ian since his father demanded that he interact with several of the single ladies at the event.

Ian could have tagged along, but Jake's father considered him to be a woman repellent because no one wanted to talk to the son of a disgraced family.

The rest of the night was quite interesting for Ian. He went around mostly unnoticed like always, but this time he actually made an effort to remember all the gossip he heard and note it down.

As the night went by, Ian watched as the members of the Reyes Family interacted with the guests. It made Ian want to laugh when he noticed how different they were in public, from when they were alone.

Gone were the kind and happy smiling faces he had interacted with in the CEO's home office. Now they looked like stern and emotionless business people that could probably send you into poverty if you crossed them.

Ian was about to move to the other end of the room, when he heard his family name being mentioned quite loudly.

". . .what I do not understand is your need to invite the Lims to this event!" A man said in an angry tone towards Ayanna.

He seemed to think that it would be easier to influence the young woman over her other relatives.

Ian had to resist the urge to laugh as he moved a little bit closer to the conversation, trying to hear more.

"Mr. Sison, I don't think I understand what you are trying to get at." Ayanna said in a stern tone as she held her ground.

"It will look bad on your family if you keep inviting people of little relevance like them, Ayanna." The man Ayanna had called Mr. Sison said in a bitter tone.

"And who gave you the right to speak to her so informally?" Ian said as he walked up and out of the crowd.

"I have more right to call her that than you ever will." Mr. Sison said as he spat at Ian.

"Disgusting." Ian said as he wiped the saliva from his face. "No wonder both your wife and mistress left you. All you have to show of your pedigree is your last name." Ian said with a cocky smile.

Normally he didn't like to speak up during events like these, but he couldn't just let his boss' daughter and future boss' sister. Especially when she was in trouble because they had insisted that he attend as a guest.

"What would you know?" Mr. Sison said as he took a step closer to Ian. "You are poor." He said as he emphasized the word poor.

"Financially, yes, my family lost everything, but at least I'm still a decent human being." Ian said with a chilling laugh.

"You should know how to respect your betters!" Mr. Sison said angrily as he raised a hand to slap Ian.

Just as he thought he was going to hit the younger man, Ian caught his wrist and grinned. This man was so weak that he didn't even have the strength to land a slap.

"Is that really all you've got?" Ian asked with a smile.

Mr. Sison tried to pull his hand away from Ian, but Ian gripped it even tighter.

"You should apologize to Miss Reyes." Ian said as he looked the man in the eyes.

"You dare try to embarrass me?" Mr. Sison asked as he glared at Ian.

From the corner of his eyes Ian could see as the rest of the Reyes family had come over to watch the little spectacle he had created.

He couldn't help but wonder how much further Emilio Reyes would let this go. He knew that normally such an insult on the CEO's daughter wouldn't be allowed to go on for so long.

"Mr. Sison, you don't need my help embarrassing yourself." Ian said with a grin as he pushed the man away.

"How dare you lay a hand on me!" Mr. Sison shouted as he ran in an attempt to punch Ian.

Ian couldn't help but laugh as he watched the man run. Obviously he would be able to anticipate the punch since Mr. Sison had his right hand pulled back and fisted into a ball.

He simply took a side step to the right, leaving his foot, making Mr. Sison fall flat on his face.

Ian couldn't help but laugh as the man turned red in embarrassment.

Everyone was now watching them, all eyes were on them as Mr. Sison got back up. No one made a move to help him. All the guests simply watched on.

"Will you really allow this scum to insult me this way Ayanna?" Mr. Sison asked the young lady who just laughed. "Brat." He hissed, not knowing who was already watching.

"You've got quite the nerve Mr. Sison." Ian said with a laugh as he shook his head. "I'm used to people calling me names, I mean, my family did lose everything." Ian said as he walked closer to Mr. Sison.

Mr. Sison simply glared at him, his attention focused on Ian and no one else.

"You really have a lot of nerve." A familiar voice said from behind Mr. Sison.

Ian laughed as he watched the older man stand frozen at the sound of the voice behind him.

"Is this man bothering you guys? Ayanna? Ian?" Raymund Laurence asked as he walked over to their side.

"Not me, those insults, I'm used to those." Ian said with a laugh, not caring that he wasn't exactly friends with Raymund Laurence. "But he did call Ayanna a brat."

"I didn't, swear I didn't." Mr. Sison said in a panicked tone. "That boy is crazy, he's lost it, being poor has made him imagine things. I would never dare disrespect Miss Reyes."

Ian laughed as Mr. Sison desperately tried to defend himself.

"Are you really that stupid?" Raymund Laurence said with a laugh. "Someone imagining things because he is poor? And by the looks of it, I don't think Ian is poor. They still have their home in the old city, how could they be poor?"

Mr. Sison's jaw dropped, clearly he said things in a panic and hadn't thought his words through.

"You do know that you called her a brat in front of her father, mother, and cousins, as well as all of their guests?" Ian said with a laugh.

Mr. Sison froze as he slowly realized that the crowd had gathered around them, and to his right stood the members of the Reyes family.

"In your desire to embarrass Ian, you made yourself look like an even bigger fool, Mr. Sison." Ayanna said with a laugh. "I suggest you study who you are going up against before trying to go after them."

"What do you want done with him?" Raymund Laurence asked Ayanna.

"I think he has suffered enough embarrassment." She said with a grin. "Just send him away." She said as she waved, calling over a few guards.

"Miss?" The large man in black asked as he waited for Ayanna's orders.

"Throw him out of the compound." Ayanna ordered.

The guards quickly jumped to her command and dragged a screaming Mr. Sison out of the room.

"It's your fault Lim! You planned this!" Mr. Sison shouted as he was dragged out. "You are clearly trying to get into Miss Ayanna's pants to get your wealth back! You don't fool me, scum!"

Ian knew that the man's claims were crazy, but no matter how outlandish his accusations were, it wouldn't stop people from gossiping and assuming that there might be some truth in his words.

As the man was dragged away, Ian took the opportunity and sunk back into the crowd, becoming somewhat invisible again.

Choosing to listen to the whispers rather than be at the center of it.