The Fourth Cousin

Lucas's Tuesday morning started off like any usual fun, with Ezekiel assigning him a few sets of tasks.

"We have another meeting with Mr. Ming today," Ezekiel reminded him. "But for now, take care of these tasks, and I'll let you know if there's anything else."

But this was a different Tuesday.

Lucas grumbled to himself, "Well, he could've just warned me that I would be working on the client list! There are two thousand names here and I have to do it from scratch?!"

As he stared at the daunting list, the thought of jumping off the highest floor of the building crossed his mind for a moment.

"If he thought that I could finish these things in the whole week while also handling other things, he must have lost his mind," he muttered.

Whines, screams, flutter of falling papers and thrashing of pens on the walls could be heard inside the small room.

Lia, one of the receptionists on the floor, stared at the office door with concern in her eyes. 

She turned to Ms. Yao, who was just typing away, seemingly unbothered by the chaos happening inside.

"Uh, Ms. Yao, should we check if Lucas is okay?" Lia asked hesitantly.

Ms. Yao paused her typing and turned to Lia with a pensive expression plastered on her youthful face.

Lia quickly shut her mouth off and she smiled sheepishly before going back to her work. The expression from Ms. Yao said it all.

More thrashing sounds echoed in the room before silence finally settled over the office. After a few moments of more silence, the door opened and Lucas emerged with a calm expression, smiling sweetly at the front desk ladies.

"Good morning, ladies. Mr. Lin has asked for my presence in the conference room," Yanxin informed them.

The three simply nodded while their eyes followed him as he disappeared in the direction of the conference room.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Mei asked, concerned.

Lia and Ms. Yao exchanged glances before looking at Mei with a tight-lipped smile.

"Don't worry too much, Mei. I'm pretty sure he will be fine," Ms. Yao reassured her.

Mei still looked at them with some doubt but dropped the subject. Meanwhile, Lucas walked toward the conference room, a storm raging in his mind.

'I should've thought twice before accepting this job,' he grumbled within. 

The thought brought him back to when Rex offered him the position.

At that time, he was pretty sure that the CEO meant it to be a bit easier for him given the differences between Lin Group's industry and his father's.

But looking at it now, he thought that he should've asked more questions about his job under Ezekiel's care.

Lucas sighed deeply as he reached the door of the conference room. Now, it was just him and the handle, the only thing that separated him from irritability within and reality of the situation.

Lucas heaved a deep sigh and gripped his hand on the handle.

'You can do this. Business face,' he reminded himself.

He then pulled out the door and swiftly entered the room without looking at the people inside. As he turned around, he noticed a particular woman looking at him with a curious face.

She had a very distinctive porcelain skin, long auburn hair and thick eyebrows. She was dressed in smart casual attire. Beside her stood a man, almost the same height as Rex.

'They both look like celebrities or models of some big fashion companies.'

The man had light brown hair, a chiseled face, semi-thick brows and blue eyes which were looking directly at Lucas as he bowed down to them.

'He looks like a foreigner.'

Lucas thought as he shifted his eyes towards Rex and Ezekiel and bowed to them as well.

"I have arrived, Mr. Lin. You called for me?"

Lucas swallowed hard, biting the inside of his cheek to prevent himself from using a snarky tone at the two.

"Lucas, welcome. Please have a seat."

Lucas nodded and proceeded to sit on one of the chairs provided and faced all four of them.

An uncomfortable silence dawned inside the conference room as no one seemed to be willing to speak first.

'Talk, please. Just talk.'

The silence made Lucas nervous, wondering what they might ask him to do. Moments of pure silence passed before the light brown-haired man finally cleared his throat.

"Lucas, was it?"

Lucas turned to him and nodded. "Yes, Sir." 'Wait, he has the same voice as the man on the phone.'

The man smiled and nudged the woman beside him. "I would like to introduce Stellar Wang to you."

The man then gently placed his right palm on top of the woman's head as he smiled sweetly at him.

"It's nice to meet you, Ms. Wang," Lucas greeted.

The man responded with a tight-lipped grin and scoffed away.

Ezekiel couldn't help but snicker a laugh, followed by Rex. Lucas wondered why the three men were laughing yet he felt too uneasy to ask.

His eyes, however, were more drawn towards the woman in front of him.

Those dark, brownish almond-shaped eyes seemed to be peering through his soul, making him feel as if he were naked in front of them.

'Holy crap. She looks so pretty. Like those celebrities on big TV screens in the city.'

As he watched, the woman leaned back against her chair and swirled it to the left before standing up from her seat. The three men immediately stopped laughing and their eyes tracing her every move.

'Oh my goodness. Did she catch me staring at her too much?'

Stellar stopped in front of Lucas, leaned forward, and smiled.

"Stellar, Ezekiel's fourth cousin."

Rex noticed how quickly Lucas whipped his head towards Stellar, worried that the latter might experience some whiplash with the sudden movement.

Lucas stared at her, his eyes wide open and mouth agape.

'Ezekiel's what?! OH. MY. GOD!!'

Realizing that he might be in trouble, Lucas tried to look at Rex or Ezekiel, silently pleading for help.

But then, he heard Stellar laugh.

"Oh my god, you should've seen your face. You went pale for a second," she said before walking back to her chair, her tone laced with fits of giggles.

"Stellar, stop teasing him and just tell your purpose for disturbing him," Ezekiel interjected.

Lucas noticed how she rolled her eyes towards Ezekiel before clearing her throat and looking back at him with a warm smile on her face.

"Let me help you get to your goal."

Lucas was stunned and still confused as to what she meant. He tilted his head to the side and looked at her, confusion evident on his face.

"What? I don't think I follow."

Stellar giggled, leaning forward over the table, and looking straight into his eyes.

"Remember your condition to Rex? Apply that to me."

Lucas blinked in surprise. 'Wait, what?'

"Hunter over here will help as well."

Lucas glanced over at the light brown-haired man, Hunter, who waved back at him with a smile on his face.

"Lucas."

Lucas's eyes fluttered back to her direction, drawing him closer, her voice tickling every inch of his body with anticipation.

"Use us."