Chapter 57 - 57

"Did you get a good look at him?" Ian heard a young woman whisper to her companion.

"Who?" The woman's male companion asked.

"The Lim kid." She whispered back, catching Ian's attention.

As much as he hated hearing all the gossip about himself and his family, he couldn't help but listen.

Every year the rumors about them got wilder and wilder, and he was sure that the scene Mr. Sison had just caused it wouldn't help their image at all.

Ian made a mental note to tell his father about what happened later tonight. He was sure that the events of tonight would soon reach his father's ears, whether Ian wanted it or not.

"I didn't see him, we were too far in the back and we were behind him." Her friend whispered.

"I only saw Mr. Laurence." The woman said with a sigh.

"Only? Only?" The man said in disbelief. "If your sister were to hear your regret then she would hit you in the head. Do you know how many people want to be in the same room with him. Especially with this level of drama?"

"I know, but that Lim kid seems more interesting." She said with a giggle.

"What? You want to turn him into you boys?" The man she was with asked.

"Well if he is so willing to try to get into Ayanna Reyes' bed, then he will surely accept me." She said, making Ian want to throw up. "I will give him money up front, a car, his own place, and even allowance to buy whatever he wants. Daddy will let me."

"I doubt your father will allow you to be associated with the Lims." Her friend said in a disgusted tone.

Ian couldn't help but wonder if the man she was with was also one of her boys, as he had put it. Probably not, since only those with good backgrounds and images could be brought along.

Not that the Reyeses had a rule about it, but it was because the attendees wouldn't want themselves being associated with the wrong kind of people.

"What do you mean?" The woman whispered.

"Well, they are bad luck, the Lims are simply bad luck." The man warned her.

"I'm sure that's not true." She replied with a laugh. "If Ayanna Reyes is interested in him, then I might be in the market too. She would definitely have good taste in men. Plus I don't see the Reyes family suffering in anyway."

"It's not the Reyes, I heard he is dating one of the Ortegas." The man whispered.

Ian inched a little bit closer as he tried to hear better.

"Which Ortegas?" The woman asked. "No way! But didn't the head of their family just get caught with drugs? And from what I heard they burned a lot of bridges recently."

"I wouldn't be surprised if their association with the Lim kid had anything to do with their sudden decline." The man gossiped.

Ian was shocked at the news he had heard. He didn't know that Jas' family had been suffering recently.

He chose to ignore the gossip and simply walk away, ending up outside on the balcony.

He walked to the furthest end and took out a cigarette.

At first he was all alone in the dark, it seemed no one was interested in enjoying the stars on a chilly night.

Ian took deep breaths as he tried to calm himself. He now had another thing to think about, his girlfriend and her family.

He wondered if there was something he could do to help her. Maybe he could talk to the CEO, Uncle Emilio seemed to be kind and quite understanding. But would it be asking for too much for the Reyes Group to help the Ortega family.

Then there was the matter of Jasmine appreciating his help. Would she see it as him overstepping? Would she be thankful? Or would she be angry?

Ian sighed at the thought, he knew relationships were not supposed to be like this. He shouldn't be afraid of helping her and her taking it the wrong way, but recently Jasmine had changed.

He noticed the change a few months back. She started to be a little bit colder, and a little bit quicker to anger.

Ian had been walking on thin ice since then.

"How the fuck did that kid manage to get here?" Ian heard a man's voice curse as someone walked onto the balcony.

Ian quickly dropped his cigarette to the ground and stepped on it, effectively putting it out. He sunk even deeper into the dark as he stood behind one of the large pillars of the Reyes Mansion.

"Do you think I wanted to mess up?" Another man said as he cursed at the wind. "I thought this would be the perfect event to embarrass them. Imagine, snubbing an invite from the Reyes family, who does that?"

"What happened? I thought you managed to trick the delivery man into handing you the invitation?" The first man asked in an angry tone.

"I did." His companion insisted. "I waited outside of the Lim residence and since they no longer have any staff it was easy to simply tell the delivery man that I lived there and I convinced him to hand me the invitation."

"Then how the fuck did Ian Lim end up at the party tonight?" The first man shouted.

Ian tried his best to see the two men that were speaking, but it was too dark and if he craned his neck any further he risked being discovered himself.

"I don't know." The second man said as he shook his head. "Could Mr. Sison's accusation be true? Do you think Ian Lim could be involved with Ayanna Reyes?"

"Idiot, of course not!" The man reprimanded his companion. "Clearly Mr. Sison has lost his mind. He was in a panic, he had no one to blame so he was throwing all the blame on Ian Lim. The boy is the easiest target, normally people would have believed Mr. Sison above a kid like him."

"I saw him speaking to Jake Laurel earlier." The second man said. "Could he have invited Ian?"

"Of course not." The first man said with a bitter tone. "The Laurels would never let their eldest son be associated with someone like the Lims. It is dangerous to their image and the elders of that family are extremely superstitious."

"It's a good thing then, that we spread the rumor about the Lims being bad luck." The second man said with a laugh.

"It wasn't difficult." the first man said in an unamused tone. "The past decade has been extremely miserable for them. And it wasn't difficult to start a series of unfortunate events for the Ortega family. That girl and her father can't complain, we warned them."

Ian felt his blood boil as heard that these men were responsible for Jas' family problems. He wondered if they were the reason behind her sudden change in attitude.

A part of him wanted to step out of the shadows and beat the men up, he was furious at them. They had harmed the woman he loved and her family. Despite their shortcomings, Jas' father never sent him away or forced his daughter to leave Ian. He even tried to help Ian find a job.

At this point he owed the Ortegas and the Reyeses his second chance at life. Without them he would have no future.

Ian knew that if he acted on his impulses he would lose. He had no proof that these men were working in the shadows to harm the Ortegas, he also had no idea who they were.

He decided that the best way to fight them was to first find out more about them.

There was no urgency at the moment, he had the Reyeses on his side now. He knew that Uncle Emilio would help him if needed.

"Maybe we should apply a little bit more pressure on the Ortegas." The first man said.

"We should also keep an eye on that Ian Lim kid." The second man told his friend cautiously. "Something about him is just off. I feel like we are missing something."

"Let's have some people watch him. Let's go before we are missed." The first man said as Ian saw two figures return back into the room.