Chapter 26: Own Effort And Sweat

Liam always felt that he understood and knew everything that happened in his life. How come he could easily fall in a daze and lose his mind in trivial matters like a dress of a girl? And it was already alarming for him.

He decided to make the interaction with Lana more professional and hence he started talking about a few cases and their proceedings with her while they were inside the car.

Liam then discussed a few important points with Lana about the cases and the interviews of the witnesses they went through. Lana listened carefully and she could now see why Liam became such a successful lawyer, establishing a Law firm from scratch and taking it to such a status by himself.

He was very meticulous and highly calculative in handling his every case. He would not miss out on even a minute detail that she thought was not significant at all. He also showed her how every single minute detail could turn out to be of a brilliant use while putting forth arguments in the court.

Her goblet-like eyes were fixed on him as well as her ears. She was so engrossed that she didn't notice the expressions he had when his eyes fell on her luscious lips, that she unconsciously parted now and then while listening to him. Liam was getting distracted by her actions for some reasons unknown to him. His gaze would fall on her lips now and then, not to mention Lana's closeness with him and her comforting scent assaulting his senses in full force.

A thought flashed across his mind, that maybe it was really Lana's scent, what was drawing him towards her.

*Screech*

The car suddenly came to a halt with force. Lana's body jumped and bumped into Liam.

"What's going on, Andrew?!" Liam hissed. His arms instinctively wrapped in something soft and he unknowingly held that soft thing tightly in his arms.

Lana's whole body jumped with the impact of the brake and she fell with her face on Liam's chest.

"Ouch…" she cried with pain as if she hit some hard surface. She then looked up and saw where she fell! Her face flushed, and she suddenly felt a little weird. She raised her hands to balance herself and put one arm on his shoulders and one on the car seat.

'His chest is like a rock. How much time does he give to his workouts!' Lana unconsciously mused, thinking of Liam's probably toned muscles beneath his suit.

"Sorry Sir… An old woman suddenly appeared." Andrew replied. He too was startled when the old woman suddenly sprung up on the road. He was about to go out, but the old woman's guardian had already appeared and apologized while he guided the old woman to cross the street safely.

Just as Andrew turned to explain further, he was shocked to see the two.

'Ambiguous… so close… how much my bonus from sir Jorge will be when I hand him so many spicy pieces of information today!' Andrew mused.

"Are you alright?" Liam asked.

Lana nodded and whispered, "Yes."

She brushed off her weird feelings that overcame her that instant. She then saw Liam's arm around her shoulders. She gently removed his hand and sat a little away from him.

An air of awkwardness spread between them for a while.

"Where are we?" she asked, breaking the awkward silence between them.

Liam exhaled and said, "Let's continue about the cases tomorrow. We are almost at your house."

Lana looked out of the window. She almost lost track of time and they were actually very close to her place. The car entered her residence and soon stopped at Lana's house.

"Thanks for the ride. See you tomorrow," Lana meekly said and turned also to Andrew and added, "Bye Andrew."

"No problem, Miss Huang," Andrew answered with a smile. Liam was about to open the door for her but Lana stopped him, saying she had her hands to do it.

Liam was sitting in his usual deafening silence as he watched Lana go out of the car.

"Let's go." he instructed Andrew a few minutes after making sure Lana was already inside her house.

Lana shrugged her shoulders and slumped on her couch as soon as she was inside the house. Soon she felt hungry and it would be time to eat dinner, but she was too lazy to cook.

She grabbed her phone and dialled Daryl's number. "I'll walk to your shop later. Cook me dinner please…" Lana sweetly asked her friend. Dayl was a gay, and she loved hanging out with him.

"Thanks dear…" Lana voiced with cheerfulness, when she received affirmation from him, before ending the call.

She got up from the sofa after lazing around for a while. She went inside her room to freshen up and change into home clothes. Her mobile phone beeped, and she quickly grabbed her laptop to check the email she just received.

She frowned when she saw the new promotional ads draft sent to her. Lana's face darkened when she went through the details in the mail and she immediately called her secretary to ask her how things didn't happen as per her instructions.

"Lyn, what's this?! Haven't I told you to cancel the contract of Miss Tang? Why is it I am still reading her freaking name here as our model?" Lana hissed. She rarely meddled with simple things such as this and would only let her mother take those decisions.

But this time, things have come to a different level and unless she took action herself, she could not live in peace. So, she decided, she would, especially when it was about teaching a lesson to that arrogant thick faced woman.

"I'm sorry ma'am Lana. I will confirm the matter from the marketing department. I clearly relayed the message to them." Lyn apologized from the other line.

"Alright make sure you clarify that. I don't want that contract signing to proceed any further. Tell the marketing manager to contact Brione instead. I will anytime prefer her to be our model for this year. Call me back as soon as it's done. Whoever brings Rio's name back this time, tell that person to report and talk to me directly!" Lana firmly stated before ending the call.

She was the newly appointed COO of Zhao group, signed on the post forcefully by her mother. Well, her mother did play tricks on her and asked her to manage the position as a favor for some time, while she looked for a more suitable person for it. Her mother had reassured her it would be temporary only.

Lana sighed… Her mother's a superwoman and she could not ever be compared with her. Initially, her mother wanted her to assist with the company matters, but her heart was simply not inclined for it.

But she helped her mother mostly in decision making and assisting her as much as she could in her spare time. She had her reasons for why she wanted to become a lawyer and pursue that career instead. She always wanted to achieve something with her own effort and sweat.