Evening fell, and soon it was time for dinner. Lana glanced at her mobile phone, wondering why Liam was not back yet since he said he would join them for dinner.

  'Since when did you care?' she silently barked. She busied herself in her thesis work and just finished some unfinished paperwork she would need to submit to the university for her final assessment. She smiled at the thought of graduating and finally having her license as a lawyer.

  She looked at the wall clock and saw that it was almost dinnertime. Lana stood up from her chair and went out of her study room.

  She once again looked at her mobile phone, but there were no calls or text messages there, so she put it on her bedside table before walking towards the door.

  *Ring *Ring *Ring

  Lana almost tripped as she abruptly turned around and walked hurriedly trotted back to grab her mobile phone that kept on ringing on her bedside table.

  "Hello?" Lana answered quickly, seeing it was Liam's name flashing on the screen.

  "I have to take care of something so I might not join you and mom for dinner. Please inform mom. Also, you don't have to wait for me. I will try to come home as early as I can." Liam, with a serious tone, informed.

  Lana knitted her eyebrows and said, "I will tell mom and I'm not waiting for you okay!"

  She heard Liam chuckle at another line.

  "We will take two beers…" Lana heard a woman speak. She must be sitting near Liam since she heard her loud and clear.

  'He's with a woman?' she mused but did not voice out.

  "I have to go now. And I prefer you anticipate my arrival." Liam teased then added, "Bye love, eat well with mom, you need more strength."

  Then he ended the call. Lana's face crumpled. "He's meeting a woman at this hour!" she exclaimed before stomping her feet as she walked out of her room.

  Liam called her love in front of that woman, but it still irritated Lana, wondering who that woman he was with was!

  "Could it be Gracy?" she mumbled on her own as she walked down the stairs. Just imagining Gracy's poker, fake smile made her blood boil.

  'Why not ask him directly about who he is spending time with, so you are not in a dilemma like that?' Her inner self scolded, but then she thought she should not act like a clingy wife since she herself would not want Liam to act the same if he was in her shoes.

  She would want him to trust her and not get jealous over any small matter

  She passed by her mother's room, but she was not inside, so she walked directly to the dining area and saw her seated there already.

  "Oh, you're here. I was about to ask them to call for you. Anyway, where is Liam? Is he not back yet?" her mother asked as Lana sat on her chair. She knitted her eyebrows, noticing how agitated her daughter looked.

  "What's wrong?" she asked.

  Lana forced a smile and said, "What do you mean mom?"

  "See? It seems you are not in a good mood. I asked where your husband is since he said that he will join us for dinner but he is not around yet."

  "Oh, that he called and said he would be late and won't be able to join us for dinner. He has some important matters to attend to." Lana answered, dryly. 'Attending a woman,' she added silently.

  "I see that's why you look annoyed then. I guess you're missing him already." Mrs. Huang commented with a squeal.

  Lana rolled her eyes and defended, "Why would I miss him when he was just here awhile ago mom. That doesn't make sense at all."

  "Love often doesn't make sense at all dear." She heard her mother plainly stated.

  'Sh*t!' Lana, without her knowing, silently chided. Love was the last word in her dictionary, and if possible a word she does not want to consider hearing or feeling at all. Her face paled, but she quickly brushed the unwanted thoughts out of her head.

  She felt that there was something wrong. She could like Liam, and she admitted that she was extremely attracted to him, attracted enough to feel the lust and desire to have him completely, be in his arms and even want more of him but how could it be love? It was pure want, desire and admiration that she was feeling towards him.

  'Calm down, Lana. It's not love. It's not love." She unconsciously chanted several times in her head.

  ******

  Meanwhile, Liam was still grinning on his own as he looked into his mobile phone. He wanted to follow-up his call to Lana with a text message and he wondered what he would text her to tease her and tickle her nerves. What could be good enough to bring a cute blush on her face?

  Luo shook her head, watching Liam grin to himself. The man has changed a lot ever since Lana came into his life. She was not complaining though because recently her job under him loosened because of the positive changes in him.

  "So do we need to wait until Monday?" Luo spoke and drank her beer.

  Liam looked at her and said, "Yeah. We will know if she will leave the company by then… Do you want to buy her shares?"

  "Why not, I have been waiting for that opportunity since long? It honestly surprised me she didn't sell the shares after her father died. Instead, she opted to join the firm. But then as a woman I guess she had her own motives, no?" Luo nonchalantly commented.

  Liam grabbed his beer and ignored her remark and started looking at the files brought to him by Luo, containing the info of the incident during the party.

  "Apparently, one of the waiters was her accomplice. He gave a drink to Lily that acted up on her stomach, making her feel sick. It was a good timing since Lana had gone to the restroom otherwise Gracy had instructed another intern to tell Lana to get Lily from the restroom.

  You see, it was a well-planned scheme, but then I'm just too good at investigating, I guess." Luo boasted as she moved her eyeglass.

  Liam chuckled and mumbled, "I guess you threatened someone again."

  Luo rolled her eyes and defended, "Nooo!. It's a clean threat. I didn't even break any bones. The man Gracy collaborated with is a sex maniac. It's so easy to bury his hotel in the ground, and I'm already working on it. A few more days and you'll hear news of its closing down too…"

  "Good. You're always doing a superb job, Luo. Don't worry, I will secure Gracy's company shares for you." Liam commented and talked more about a few important businesses to tackle before he left Luo, who insisted on staying a little longer in the bar.

  "Love… Love… Love… Such a complicated thing… Making everyone go crazy…" she mumbled as she watched Liam's back. Good thing that for her money and power mattered the most. With it, everything and everyone would crumble under her feet.