Rise Of The Disgraced Heir

The dinner Ian had been invited to was a big event to Jas' family, the Ortegas. 

Publicly, they had announced that the party was to celebrate the fact that Jas' sister, Josephine, had finally finished her studies in Paris and was finally home.

But, Ian knew the truth. They were also celebrating the fact that Josephine was now free from Mike's and Armand's clutches. He was yet to hear how she had ended up in that situation since he hadn't spoken to Josephine yet.

Ian wondered if Jas' family knew that Josephine was safe and free because of him.

"Ian." Jas shouted as his car pulled up in front of the entrance of the hotel where they were hosting the event.

"Hey." Ian said with a smile as Jas ran up to him and kissed him passionately on the lips.

He decided not to make an issue out of it and to simply kiss her back. This wasn't the time for him to act all confused and unsure about their relationship. They were in public and the image of their strong relationship was important.

"I missed you." Jas told Ian as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "All you do now is work." She complained.

"I don't exactly have a lot of free time now." Ian told her as he planted an innocent kiss on her forehead.

"Come on, I want to introduce you to some people." Jas said with a smile as she pulled Ian towards the event hall where the party was already in full swing.

In the past Jas didn't introduce Ian to their guests, or if she did she would simply call him her childhood friend.

It was because it would look bad on her if she was dating people while others knew that she had a boyfriend.

Ian didn't know if she would introduce him now as her friend or as his boyfriend, he decided it was best if he didn't expect. After all, Jas' family was still under threat by the people who didn't like the Lims.

Oddly enough, those people knew that Jas and he were dating, so maybe there was a chance that she would actually admit that they were together in front of others.

"I think you'll enjoy tonight." Jas said with a smile as she searched around the room.

When she finally found the people she was looking for, she quickly dragged Ian across the events hall.

"Who is this Jas?" A man Ian recognized as the son of a rich businessman asked as they approached.

Their table was filled with people that Ian recognised to be sons and daughters of businessmen and politicians, all coming from reputable and rich families. 

Unfortunately they were all from new rich families, families that had only made their fortune in the past twenty years at most.

They wouldn't have known about the Lims or about Ian's past.

"This is my boyfriend." Jas boasted as she hugged Ian by the waist, catching him by surprise.

"Boyfriend?" A woman asked as she looked at Ian from head to toe. "He isn't even wearing anything branded." She pointed out.

"Jas, won't your parents be shocked when you introduce him to them?" Another girl asked Jas in a low tone, making sure that none of the guests overheard her. 

"Yeah Jas, don't your parents want you to date some rich heir that can help bring your business to new heights?" One of their male companions asked as he carefully observed Ian. 

"No, no, they know about Ian." Jas said proudly. "We've been friends since we were kids, we live in the same neighborhood." She explained.

"He lives in the old city too?" The first man asked as he looked Ian over again.

Only old rich families had properties in the old city, it was rare for a newer family to purchase property in the area since the land and homes there had been handed down over generations.

And now, with the clamor to protect the historic heart of the city it was getting more and more difficult to purchase property in the area.

As a matter of fact, Jas' family was one of the newer ones. They had been one of the last to snap up property in the area before everything ran out and it became more difficult to sell.

The Ortegas were in no way a new rich family, they had owned their company and the property where the family home was located for at least three generations. They were just younger than the other families that called the area their home. 

"Ian Lim, meet some of my friends from the country club." Jas said as she gestured for Ian to meet them.

Ian simply nodded and smiled at everyone. He knew that this group would not accept him, at least not until they thought they were on the same level.

"Ian!" Josephine greeted as she passed by them. "Is Jas finally introducing you to her friends?" Josephine asked as she gave her sister a suspicious look."

"She is." Ian said with a laugh.

"Please tell Mr. So and Mr. Reyes next time you see them that I owe them so much." Josephine said as tears began to form in her eyes.

Ian knew it was a tough topic for her to talk about so it confused him that she would even mention it.

"I will, Josephine." Ian said in a serious tone as he nodded at Jas' sister.

"Mr. So? Mr. Reyes?" One of Jas' friends asked as he gave Ian a confused look.

"Yes, Ian works at the Reyes Group." Josephine said with a nod.

"Yeah, but why would you ask him to tell such important people that?" The man asked Josephine. "I'm sure that Mr. So and Mr. Reyes have much more important things to do than to speak to an ordinary employee."

"He's not -" Josephine was about to say something when Ian's phone began to ring.

"Sorry." Ian said in an embarrassed tone as he pulled his phone out and checked who was calling. "It's work." He grumbled.

"Mr. So?" Josephine asked, to which Ian nodded in reply.

"If it's really Macro So, you should be able to pick that call up and put it on speaker. We all know what the CEO's assistant sounds like." Jas' friend demanded.

Ian hesitated, he didn't know if that would get him into trouble.. He didn't want to accidentally let company secrets loose just to prove he was important.