Rubick’s masculine scent was so disturbing. That must be the reason why Lahynna never managed to ask him private questions. Not just because of the respect but because being with Rubick was enough for her to forget the world.
“What is it?” Rubick gives her a glance that lasts a little while and puts back his attention to the road. He even managed to provide her with a little smile.
But the effect was actually the opposite. He seems to overflow her heart just by throwing her a handsome smile. Why did he really have that effect on her? It was a good thing that her heart managed it despite its biological dysfunctions.
“Is it true that you declined the offer to manage the DJP here in Bohol?”
Rubick suddenly clenched his teeth. She also noticed that he had tightened his grip on the steering wheel. But after a while, he loosened his grip.
She was puzzled.
“I’m managing my mother’s food business, remember? Mom wasn’t always there.”
I could hear a trace of bitterness from his voice. I could tell he was just trying to hide all of it by himself.
“You already know that I am managing the restaurant even when I am still studying. I tried hard not to lose it.”
She felt heavy while hearing him say that. They almost lost the restaurant because his mother could not manage it well. He was just twenty-four when he decided to take over the business. That time, he was friends with Lanryd already. It was also the time when he decided to go back to college and finished his remaining semester.
She doesn’t know how Rubick managed the restaurant while studying and even joining the DOTA tournament. But she admired his excellent skills in managing his time. He even made time for me back then.
Now, he was solely managing the business for more than two years.
“But you are not hands-on with it now, right? You actually made it as your hang out place.”
“Because the business was running stable right now.”
Rubick turned to her without a trace of emotion. After almost three years, he threw her a cold look again. The first time was when she was in college—their first meeting in the field.
“Why are we having this kind conversation, Lahynna Belle?”
He rarely called her in my full name. Only when he was serious with the conversation. And she doesn’t know why there’s this pricking feeling inside her just because he sounds cold to her.
“Because I am curious, Rubick.” She straightly said. “You were close with my family. My parents treated you like their own child and Lanryd as his own brother. They knew a lot about you, but why didn't I? Aside from your affair with my cousin Eina, I didn’t know anything about you.”
“I never had an affair with Eina, damn it! It was just a one-night stand!” Rubick scowled at her.
Two years ago, there’s this rumor that Eina was pregnant with Rubick’s child. It was barely months when he entered the group, and there came the issue between him and Eina. Rubick was firm in denying it, and she doesn’t know what to feel about him. She felt dismayed about him, but it didn't ruin their friendship.
She understands why Rubick doubted Eina since he was not the only guy in her cousin’s life. And she never gave a fuck about the issue since she was too busy about her own love life with Szade—whom actually her ex-boyfriend now.
Yes, she got herself a boyfriend for the sake of wanting to have a boyfriend already. It was barely the end of her third year in college when Szade and her made it official. Well, it was only because her school friends and Szade's were teasing them together. They just gave in. It was not really a big thing to her at first, but she just found out that her feelings for him had dig deeper as time went by. Szade was a guy who was not hard to fall in love with. He was kind, thoughtful, and sweet. She had fallen so deeply in love with Szade that her world almost revolved only in him. She almost didn’t want to go home in Bohol and just stayed in her dormitory since Szade’s was just a building ahead of hers.
And when she went back home, she found out the rumor about Eina and Rubick. She also knew that Rubick insisted on getting Eina tested. But Eina was firm in declining. She said that she would never insist on someone who didn’t trust her words. If Rubick didn’t believe in her words, she refused the DNA testing.
Pride.
That’s what I thought about Eina. And because of that, her beliefs with Rubick were shaken. But she also doubted Eina. What if she was just using reverse psychology? She knew her cousin very well. Eina will do everything she wants to the cost of ruining someone else's life.
The issue had gone dead when Eina gave birth. Lahynna was already in her fourth year at that time. It was her busy year. Four months after Eina gave birth, her relationship with the group went back. Things flow naturally as if the issue never happened. As for Lahynna, her relationship with Szade was already on the rocks, and she never had a chance to talk with her friends in Bohol.
Months before her graduation, she had a serious attack with her illness. She thought her life would never be normal again. But she was still lucky to guess it wrong.

Rubick sighed desperately. “Believe me. You will never want to meet the old me, Belle.” There was sadness and bitterness in Rubick's voice.
For a moment, she wanted to hug him, and pursued him to give it a shot. She was sure she could accept him no matter who he was. Because for all honesty, she could not see anything wrong with Rubick. It’s been years that they were together, and she doesn’t see anything wrong.
“My family accepts and loves you; why do you doubt me now? Do you think I am part of the judgmental society?” I nagged in resentment. “I’ve been with you almost every time. You've been picking me up and throwing me home even until I finished college. And even until now, I entrusted myself to you. Why can’t you trust me?”