Silence… Pin drop silence…


  All that could be heard was the sound of the engine and horns of other cars on the road. Lana dared not speak further lest he would be more angry.

  Andrew had never seen Liam so dismayed and he was afraid of making even breathing sounds. He controlled himself from sneezing or sighing. No, he dared not break the deafening silence inside the car.

  He could feel the tension between the passengers of the back seat. He hated awkward moments like that, but then he reminded himself how he would feel once he got fed with dog food by Liam. And guessed it was more better than the two killing him with possible sweetness overload in the future.

  Lana could feel Liam's disappointment in her. She could not even manage to utter a word to break the ice. But the silence was too much for her to bear.

  She was even ready to accept her mistake, yet he was so angry. She then coughed slightly to clear her throat first before asking very softly, "How was the funeral?"

  "It went well as expected." Liam answered plainly.

  He was still mad at her show-off of bravery. He had never in his dreams thought that she would be exposed to such danger under his wings.

  When he reached the spot where he found them, Liam saw that man reaching his pocket for the knife and he understood his motive.

  He immediately ran towards Lana and caught the wrist of that man and beat him to pulp. The kind of feelings he felt at that moment were so new to him. He was filled with anger and the intent to kill. All he could see was Lana getting injured if he would be late by a few seconds.

  That sight kept on replaying inside his head, and he kept on reminding himself to literally punish Lana for this. He could not let it just slide off that easily. She almost got stabbed and worst got killed if that gangster was to stab her in some critical part of her body.

  'This woman sure needs a lesson for this. Such a braveheart, but so much oblivious to her mother's concern and even my emotions… huh!'

  Lana nodded and added, "How come you're back early. I heard Gracy has no one else in her family now, and you two are like childhood sweethearts. Shouldn't you stay with her a little longer and give her some moral and emotional support?"

  Liam exhaled loudly in distress.

  'How come Gracy's name suddenly popped in? Can't she be a bit more sensitive towards my emotions? I'm here with her, worried sick for her, and she wants to drive me away to go to Gracy? Which other woman on this planet would do that?' Liam irritatingly mused.

  Cursing his bad luck for falling for Lana, who was harder than a stone to crack.

  'And that blabbermouth Jorge, how dare he sell me away to Lana like this? He would be dead meat as soon as I see him. How come he even dared mention the childhood sweetheart thing to Lana?'

  "Why should I need to stay when the funeral is finished Lana? Tell me?" Liam beamed.

  "Well, I thought she would need you to take care of her, so I asked." She replied.

  "Should I need to babysit Gracy at this point? Isn't she a bit older for that?" Liam scorned, which made Lana twitch her face.

  'Grumpy! Sarcastic!' she silently hissed, thinking Liam was still bitter probably since Gracy left him when he proposed to her despite her own feelings for him at that point of time.

  She only wanted to break the silence, but how come the atmosphere became more tense?

  Soon the car stopped at Lana's house.

  'Finally,' she uttered a silent word of relief for arriving home.

  She looked at Liam and said, "I was shocked with what happened at that time Liam, and didn't properly say thanks to you. Liam, thank you for saving me. Again, sorry for making you worried today. It won't happen again."

  Lana hurriedly went out of the car.

  Lana, lost in her thoughts and busy with sighing while she walked towards her door, did not notice that Liam had been following behind her. She paused to open the door with her thumb mark.

  "Is that how you are going to thank me?"

  She was too startled with Liam's voice from behind her that she even tapped her chest as she turned around to face him.

  "Do you want to give me a heart attack?" Lana complained with a furrowed forehead.

  "Is it my fault that you're so out of yourself? Why will you get startled that easily?" Liam mumbled.

  Lana's eyebrows raised. Indeed, when her mind was busy, she lost her instinct to details a bit.

  "What do you want?" Lana mumbled with pouty lips and defeated voice.

  "I will discuss the punishments with you but moreover… As I was saying… Is that how you thank someone who saved you from almost getting killed and stabbed?" Liam responded with arched eyebrows.

  The corner of Lana's eyes crinkled, measuring Liam's expression if he was serious or trying to take advantage of the situation. He looked really upset and was highly unlikely that he would let her off that easily. Lana helplessly released a sigh of defeat.

  So she finally decided to give in to the whims of this spoiled, stubborn and angry lawyer and invited Liam inside her house since she admitted she was at fault for being so stubborn and not following her senior's orders, both Liam and Daryl.

  "Alright, come inside and let me cook dinner to thank you for your greatness today." Lana stated as she walked inside, hoping it would be enough to show her gratitude somehow. She was totally confused with the way Liam was acting. She could not pinpoint it exactly, but she could feel something was not right in their set-up right now, something felt so wrong, yet so right…… but what?!