Finally, the time of the event arrived. By the time Halia stepped into the hall, half the guests were already mingling inside.
Most of the guests had met before or, at least, knew of each other, but when Halia walked in, everyone looked at each other in confusion.
She was stunning in her silver ball gown, a dress that obviously cost a lot, and next to her stood Natalie Shu, the famous secretary of Henry Feng, Chairman of Fengtai Corporation.
"Who is that?"
"I've never seen her before."
"Why is she with Natalie Shu? Where's Chairman Feng?" the guests all whispered amongst themselves as they looked at the beautiful woman. They were all fascinated by her, especially the men. The wives in the hall quickly grabbed onto their husbands.
At that moment, the heir of the construction empire, Meng Corps, approached the two women and handed them each a glass of champagne.
"It's nice to see you again, Secretary Shu. Where's Chairman Feng today?" the man asked as he stole a glance at Halia.
"Chairman Feng couldn't make it today, but he sent Director Feng in his stead," Natalie replied.
"Director Feng?"
People nearby overheard this conversation and word quickly spread around the hall. The woman next to Natalie Shu was Director Feng!
"It's a pleasure to meet you," the man said as he placed a polite kiss on Halia's hand.
So...she was the infamous Director Feng. The mysterious eldest daughter of Henry Feng, Chairman of Fengtai Corporation. Everyone had heard about her, but no one had seen her for almost a decade. There were even rumors that she never appeared in public because she was extremely ugly, but it appeared, those rumors were all wrong.
At that moment, a tall, handsome man approached Halia with interest, "Miss Haili, it's been a long time."
Halia turned and looked at the man with confusion, "Do I know you?"
The man's lips curved slightly into a smile, "We met when we were kids, my father owns the Golden Dream Casino in Macau. Your father and my father are good friends."
"Oh OK, sorry I don't remember you at all. That was a long time ago," Halia replied.
"That's OK, my name is Emerson Wu, it's nice to meet you again."
The man stuck out his hand and Halia quickly shook it. He then turned to the man beside him, "This is my assistant, Thomas Sun."
Natalie immediately eyed the assistant up and down. "Young Master Wu, when did you get a new assistant?" she asked.
Halia heard what Natalie said and looked at the assistant with suspicion. This was exactly the kind of person she was looking for.
"I hired him a couple of weeks ago," Emerson replied as he swirled the glass of red wine in his hand.
Emerson ran a casino and Halia suspected his assistant of being a junket. Was it really such a coincidence?
At this moment, a familiar voice said beside Halia's ear, "Miss, would you like some hors d'oeuvres?"
Halia turned towards the voice and her gaze fell upon a familiar pair of eyes. Sean was dressed in a waiter's uniform holding onto a tray of appetizers. He had arrived an hour before her and had already begun to probe the staff, but he was yet to find anything suspicious. Halia gave him a gentle smile and grabbed one of the fancy little appetizers.
She then stuffed the entire morsel straight into her mouth in a not-so-lady-like way.
Emerson watched with amusement. This woman was a little different to the usual proper socialite ladies and it fascinated him.
But, while Emerson was scanning his eyes across Halia, Sean had his eyes glued on Emerson. He understood the look in the man's eyes and it made him a little uncomfortable. Halia was beautiful today and he couldn't imagine that any man could resist.
However, the thing that annoyed him the most, was the fact that Halia actually engaged in a conversation with the man and seemed genuinely interested.
"I've never been to Macau before," Halia said, deliberately showing that she was interested. "I wonder how a casino is like."
"You've never gambled before?" Emerson asked.
Halia shook her head and Emerson nodded with a smirk, "I think you'll like it," he said.
He wasn't completely surprised that Halia had never gambled before, since gambling was illegal in the mainland, but most rich people had at least visited a casino once in their life, right?