'The hotel looked like a palace.

On the walls were various artworks and paintings of prominent artists. The antiques looked like they had been bought for millions of dollars and the interior alone could make one feel like they were in heaven already.'

Those had been her thoughts on her first time here.

As different kind of shoes strode down the hallway into the hall; heels, wedges, oxford shoes etc.

Another shoe appeared in sight: A black sneakers studded with silver metals. It had a zipper by the side that stopped right at the feminine ankle.

The person stood in front of a grand door before stretching out a pass to the doormen.

Slowly, they looked at this person from the sneakers on her feet to the hem of the blue flair gown she was wearing.

It was a short blue long sleeved flair dress with lace bodice, a beaded waist, and a scoop neckline. On her neck was a tiny silver necklace with the letters 'SW'.

On both earlobes that were almost completely covered by her long hair which was flowing down in waves, a pair of silver earrings peeked out.

The two young doormen had to hold their breaths when they saw her face. She was completely stunning. Her make-up was moderate. They could only guess it had been done by a professional.

"Hello" She greeted the doormen with a warm smile.

On the first night she came here about two months back, she had come to meet her friend and boyfriend getting engaged to each other.

But now, she was not just here as a guest alone, she was the hotel owner's girlfriend.

***

When Sara entered, she finally breathed a sigh of relief. They were a couple of other guests who were already present and some stole glances at her.

She went further inside to say hello to the workers she had seen there the previous day and they had been very surprised to see her looking so pretty.

She was actually happy that the members of the decoration team were not around so she didn't have to bump into that annoying lady again.

She was suddenly beginning to shake all over. She knew it was not from cold because the place was warm. The temperature of the hall had been regulated to a comfortable degree.

Not cold, not hot.

So she wasn't feeling cold at all even if the dress she was wearing was more of lace.

She was shaking out of anxiety.

Her eyes scanned the room for Changyu or any familiar face but she found none.

Hoy had already called to inform her that he would be coming with Sun soon. They didn't bother meeting today but he had sent people to get her ready for the party.

She felt a bit odd being the only lady wearing a sneakers but she didn't mind much. She was not going to kill herself by trying to do something she couldn't. Besides, Mr Pessimist had advised her to be herself.

"Hello, would you mind a drink?" A young man asked before snagging two glasses of wine from a passing waiter.

"No thanks." She declined politely with her gaze still fixed on the door as more and more people came in.

She had even gasped loudly when she saw some of the people that had entered. These were people she could have imagined only seeing on the TV but here they were. Right in front of her!

"Hello?....miss?" The young man on a tuxedo called to get her attention when he noticed her absentmindedness but she didn't even spare him a glance or remember that someone had been talking to her.

She gathered her wits and went over to the stage.

'I am confident.' She reminded herself before using the mic.

"Hello everyone"

When she noticed she had gotten their attention, she continued

"I am the MC for this occasion. My name is.... Sara Wang. I specially want to welcome each and everyone of you for coming. And I'd like to inform you that we'll be starting shortly so I hope you get comfortable until we begin." She gave a brief welcome speech and received an applause plus murmurs from the crowd.

Most of them had obviously heard the name before and they recognised it. They wondered what she was doing here as an MC. And in a party organised by the Lis!

Others admired her and her dress sense, and some ladies couldn't help but regret why they hadn't thought about pulling off something like that before.

Finally, her eyes landed on a familiar figure immediately she went outside to wait for Muchen, Heya or Changyu.

She saw Mr Pessimist as he approached her and waved him with a smile.

"Mr Pessimist. You really came."

He looked at her from head to toe and gave her a thumbs up. "You look really pretty" He said with a smile.

"Of course. I mentioned I was pretty." She moved closer to whisper "The thing is... His family isn't here yet. So immediately I see them I'll —"

She suddenly paused when her eyes caught a sight of two people approaching them.

Immediately, she hid behind him. "Please... Do not move. Just let me hide here for a while before I think about what to do" Sara said unsteadily.

He looked at the people she was hiding from and saw that it was actually his wife and daughter Li Heya.

He muffled a laugh and asked. "Are you...hiding from them?"

"Yes.. It's her. She was the one that hit me. I know I was actually prepared to see her today but I'm still scared. Why did they have to come together now. Oh no...what do I do? What if she sees me?"

She was thankful that he was at least tall. If Dana didn't bother to look this way, she would succeed in hiding from her till she was ready to face her inside.

Sara went into panic mode. Ordinarily, she would have began to pace about but this was a totally bad time for that.

"Call me father-in-law and I'll make sure she doesn't see you" He trtried to coerce.

"Are you being serious right now? You never give up do you?" Sara said in displeasure. "Are they close yet? Have they entered inside?"

Since Dana and Heya were both coming from the opposite direction, they could easily go inside the hall without passing her.

"You don't want to call me father-in-law?" He asked again. If she was so scared, why didn't she just run away? He could not understand how this girl reasoned.

When he saw she was still quiet and that his wife and daughter had seen them, he quickly stepped to the side, totally exposing her to the two women.

"Mr Pessimist!" She gasped before using a hand to cover her mouth when she saw Dana and Heya staring at her.

His wife looked at the both of them in confusion. "Sara?" Heya called first in surprise to see her with her father.

"Sara...?" Dana looked questioningly at Heya and then at Sara. What was this girl doing here?

Sara smiled awkwardly before greeting them both.

"Honey, why is she here?" Dana asked her husband in confusion.

'Honey?' Sara looked at Dana in confusion as she wondered who the woman was talking to.

'Wait...why is she looking at Mr Pessimist?'

"Father, you must have met Sara. She is my fitness coach" Heya introduced.

Sara's breath seized as she tried to understand what was going on there.

"Mr Pessi... Sor..ry I mean... Sir... You... You know them?" Sara stammered in shock.

"What do you mean? He is my father" Heya was the one to answer.

Sara gasped louder this time. Her eyes shone and her entire body froze as she processed the information.

Mr Pessimist is Chairman Li!?

Li Fazhan smirked at her. He had been looking forward to this moment.