wjnovel Chapter 262 - 260: You Are Mine
Chapter 262 - 260: You Are Mine
Mia Grant knew that some things were already perfectly clear. But now, hearing those words come from her own mouth felt completely different.
She didn’t even dare to think back on what she had just said.
’When did he show up?’
’Which sentence did he hear first?’
Mia Grant swallowed nervously, her eyes sweeping over the Blackening Value above his head.
Surprisingly, it showed no signs of fluctuating.
The Blackening Value was as placid as his gaze, completely serene.
’System... do you think he heard me?’
’At this distance, it would be hard not to.’
’But he’s not angry,’ Mia Grant said, clinging to a sliver of hope.
The system shattered her fantasy the next second. ’Maybe he’s still letting it brew.’
"..."
The one to break the silence wasn’t her, but Serena Grant from behind.
She seemed to have noticed Kian Keller as well, and she called out his name in a shrill voice.
Kian Keller seemed to snap out of a daze, slowly stepping forward while leaning on his cane.
Mia Grant watched him, her eyes vacant with anxiety and helplessness.
The man stopped in front of her. "What are you doing here?"
"I..."
"The heat isn’t on here. Aren’t you cold?"
Mia Grant froze.
The man took her ice-cold hand. "Let’s go upstairs."
Mia Grant followed him instinctively.
It was as if the noise behind them had been completely blocked out. From start to finish, Kian Keller paid the other woman no mind. He couldn’t even be bothered to lift his gaze, utterly ignoring her existence.
All the while, Mia Grant carefully observed his expression and his Blackening Value.
Mia Grant didn’t let her guard down, not even after they were settled in the car.
’Oh, well. Might as well get it over with.’
"Ahem." She turned slightly to the side and took the initiative. "Did you hear anything?"
At her words, the man lifted his eyes, his calm gaze landing on her face. "What about?"
Mia Grant tried to choose her words, but before she could, he added, "You mean the part where you were teaching her how to seduce me? Or a different part?"
"..."
Mia Grant’s pupils trembled. ’He really did hear everything.’
She wrung her fingers, not daring to meet his eyes as her gaze darted about. "It’s not what it sounded like. I was just trying to get back at her..."
A hand took hold of her tightly clasped ones and gently pried them apart.
He gripped her hands firmly and told her, "I know."
Mia Grant was astonished. "You know?"
"Do I look stupid to you?"
"..." Mia Grant quickly shook her head.
"But I’ll admit, what you said did make me very unhappy at first."
"None of that was real! She was rude to me first, so I just wanted to provoke her." Mia Grant leaned in, using her free hand to hook around his neck and force him to lower his head and meet her gaze. "I really didn’t mean it. How could I possibly let her seduce you?"
"You’re mine."
Her lips jutted out in a slight pout, her expression heartbreakingly lovely. The familiar coquetry again.
Kian Keller’s gaze swept over her features, his eyes darkening.
He pinched her chin, tilting it up as he lowered his head.
The moment their lips were about to touch, he suddenly stopped.
They were so close that Mia Grant couldn’t see his eyes, only feel his heavy breathing.
’He doesn’t seem happy.’
"So this is the expression?"
"Huh?"
Hearing his question, Mia Grant took a moment to process it.
"The look you were just teaching her... the one I supposedly like... is this it?"
Mia Grant’s eyelashes trembled.
’Men,’ she thought. ’They say they aren’t stupid and won’t fall for it, but deep down, they’re bothered by it.’
"You think what I like is this pitiful look on your face?"
"No." Mia Grant blinked. "I was just saying that to mess with her. You’re not that shallow."
"If it was just about an expression or a pretty face, I wouldn’t need to teach anyone anything. There are plenty of people who could seduce you, so where would that leave me?"
They pulled apart, and Kian Keller carefully studied the face that he both loved and hated. "Then what is it that I like?"
Her eyes, so beautiful they seemed to speak, blinked a few times, a blatant cunning sparkling in their depths. "You like me."
There was an air of fearless confidence about her.
Like a spoiled little princess, she hugged his neck and swayed back and forth, her smile dancing before his eyes.
She looked incredibly smug.
With anyone else, a scene like this would undoubtedly have disgusted Kian Keller.
He disliked it when people acted coquettishly toward him, whether they did it consciously or not.
That was why, in his social life, he rarely interacted with the spoiled young ladies of wealthy families.
But he couldn’t bring himself to dislike the Mia Grant before him.
In fact, it was quite the opposite. He found that he actually enjoyed seeing this side of her.
Zelo had told him that loving a person was like tending a flower.
Thinking about it now, he realized it was true.
Compared to her previous cautious and deliberate attempts to please him, this cunning version of her before him was far more captivating.
The pitiful little thing who had groveled before his car on a rainy night; the young girl who had to walk on eggshells just to survive.
After all she had been through, he should be grateful that she could still be this vibrant.
Grateful that in the face of setbacks, she still had the will to live.
And she had truly done it, continuously pushing forward with a tenacious spirit, never once backing down.
A Mia Grant like this truly didn’t deserve to be confined to an elaborate gilded cage.
Whether her intentions were genuine or a trap, she didn’t deserve to be caged.
Otherwise, it would be a disservice to the person she had become after stumbling through such a difficult journey.
Unfortunately, he was only just now realizing this.
If only he had realized it sooner...
Maybe he could have stopped her from jumping into the sea.
Although he was now certain that scene had been a carefully orchestrated act.
But he had to admit, she was also gambling.
Gambling with her own life for a chance at a future.
At first, he hadn’t liked Mia Grant.
She was scheming, and whether intentionally or not, she was trying to seduce him.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t see it.
Over the years in his circle, too many women had thrown themselves at him, their methods endless. In comparison, she was far too green.
In the beginning, he only showed this "fake sister" of Silas Grant’s some courtesy for Silas’s sake.
He had remained unmoved by her first few attempts at flirtation and seduction.
It was only later that he discovered that, beneath her disguise, she was even more battered and fragile than he had realized.
She was afraid of the dark, of the cold, of going hungry. Yet she stayed obediently in his house, just as she’d promised at the beginning, saying all she needed was a little food and a blanket.
She said she could sleep anywhere—the sunroom, a storage closet—anywhere was fine, as long as she could see the sun.
It seemed her initial goal hadn’t been him at all. She just wanted to survive.
Kian Keller couldn’t help but wonder when, exactly, she had captured him.
Was it the time she was hurt, forcing a smile with red-rimmed eyes, refusing to let her tears fall?
Was it when she lay in his bed, so cautious that she only dared to sleep on the very edge, not even daring to breathe easily?
Or was it that time the power went out, and she, with her fear of the dark, suddenly vanished? He’d had his men turn the house upside down, finally finding her in a closet...