unpredictable

Lian steadily watched his dad's face for any clues on what the old man had cooked up this time but he found nothing.

The word surprise and his dad were synonymous.

You could never know exactly what he was planning on matter how much you thought so Lian decided to save a few of his brain cells from pursuing a fruitless venture.

"Am I going to like this surprise?" Lian eventually asked and his dad shrugged.

"Maybe." The old man replied and turned to walk away, leaving Lian staring at his retreating back in disbelief.

What had he done to get mischievousness for a dad!?

The man was totally unpredictable.

"Go and get ready for dinner. We have guests." His dad called out to him before exiting the green house.

Lian eventually moved and went into his room. He checked his phone and realized that it was past midnight back at home and yet, it was just eight thirty on the island where he was.

Lisa was probably asleep and a brief call to the house keeper proved his thoughts.

He missed her already and he couldn't wait to be done with whatever business his dad had going on.

He wore a classic black tuxedo and headed downstairs for dinner.

The dinner table was set and he sat opposite his dad shortly before the doors swung open and a trio walked in.

It was members of the infamous Huo family and it didn't take long for Lian to figure out why they were having dinner with one of the most powerful families in the country.

His dear old dad had dutifully set him up with the one and only child and heiress to the Huo family assets.

Lian sighed as he tried but failed to hide his disinterest.

It wasn't the first time his dad had made attempts to match him up with some rich heiress and just like all those times, he was not interested at all.

He had already lost his heart to Lisa and he knew too well that there was no coming back from that.

His usually calm grey eyes turned emotionlessly blank as he exchanged greetings with the guest family. It was a good family to have ties with but Lian did not want to give them the impression that he was interested in what they had to offer.

He just wanted to get through dinner without giving his dad a reason to get a real stroke.

Dinner was served and Lian was not at all surprised with the sitting arrangements.

He was seated besides the young heiress who was clearly dressed to draw attention to herself.

Her vibrant red gown was a nice compliment to her light red flame hair and she could have been considered irresistibly attractive by most men but Lian was not swayed.

She was good looking but she was certainly not Lisa.

Her parents sat besides his dad and after the meal was done, his dad sneakily took the grown ups away.

That left him alone with the woman whose name he had heard of but struggled to remember.

She tried to make small talk but he found it frustrating to keep up because he wanted to be somewhere else, not before a woman that was clearly trying to seduce him.

"Excuse me, there is an important call that I need to make." Lian excused himself and walked to the balcony.

He was surely had no plans of returning to that table as he dialed his assistant, Sam.

"Hello, Sam." He greeted and the man on the other end of the call replied.

"Hello, Sir." Sam greeted, his voice coming out hoarse since he was from waking up.

"Did Lisa send you her plan?" Lian asked, curiousity coloring his voice.

"Yes sir, she did." Sam answered.

"And? How was it?" Lian asked, quite eager for the other man to give him more information.

"It was strategic and quite vicious, sir." Sam replied and a small smile adorned Lian's face.

He had expected nothing less from Lisa but then again, he couldn't help but worry for her.

What if she got consumed by getting her revenge that she forgot to care for anything else?

Lian had seen someone go down that path and he didn't want the same for Lisa. He wanted her to remain caring and loving like she had always been, not mad or in a psychiatric hospital.

As he looked up at the clear night sky, Lian decided that he was going to personally help her get her revenge back, at least most of it.

He had no emotional ties with her remaining family and that reduced the chances of him getting absorbed in the vicious cycle of revenge.

Lisa had been betrayed by two of the people that she had known for most of her life. She had loved them at one point but certainly not anymore.

He knew that she was strong and could handle anything that life threw at her but he did not want to risk the possibility of things going sideways.

Lian swore that he could protect her, at all costs.

A hand on his shoulder startled him from his thoughts and he turned swiftly to see who had dared to sneak up on him and touch him.

Lian had never really liked surprises because they were usually nasty. He only tolerated them from the people that he loved and at moment, he glared down at the woman before him.

She was clearly not his dad like he had expected.

"Miss Huo, never touch me without my permission. Are we clear?" He addressed her through gritted teeth and the red haired woman before him shivered slightly as she took at a step back.

"Yes." She replied and without a second glance at her, Lian turned and walked away.

He did not get see the small smirk that adorned the heiress's lips as she watched his retreating back.

She waited a while until she was certain that he was gone before she called out to a maid who was standing behind a pair of curtains.

"Did you take the photos?" She asked in her sinster voice as she snatched the phone the woman was holding.

"Yes." Came the meek reply of the maid.

"Perfect! " The heiress exclaimed as she went through the photos of her and Lian Que, standing so close to each other.

The photos were exactly what she needed for her next move.