I Faked My Death—Now I Have to Tame the Crazy Men I Left Behind

Chapter 113 - 111: Spitting Out a Mouthful of Blood

People can always tap into their hidden potential when faced with danger.

When Kian Keller followed the sound with his eyes, he only saw a blur burst through the human wall of bodyguards and crash straight into his arms.

The man’s body swayed, and he let out a muffled grunt. Fortunately, he steadied himself with his cane just in time to avoid hitting the back of his head on the floor.

Seeing this, the bodyguards nearly let out a sharp cry.

"Sir!"

The men scrambled to pull the "octopus" clinging to Kian Keller off him.

"I’m fine." Kian Keller raised a hand, signaling for them to back away.

Immediately after, the bodyguards watched as their boss, a man normally as ascetic as a true monk, slowly lowered his hand and placed it on the waist of the girl in his arms.

It was a gesture brimming with possessiveness, the lines of his palm fitting perfectly against the curve of her waist.

Kian Keller lowered his head and asked the person in his embrace, "What happened?"

Mia Grant had no chance to speak before the people chasing her caught up.

Seeing the scene at the elevator bank, the group stopped in their tracks, clearly not expecting her to have backup.

Kian Keller raised his gaze and leisurely glanced at the group opposite them. It was only a single, indifferent look, as if his eyes had landed on a piece of trash, and he quickly retracted his gaze.

"Aaron."

He said nothing more, only calling his bodyguard’s name, but the man understood immediately.

Cracking their knuckles, the bodyguards went on the offensive.

"Shouldn’t we get out of here first..." Mia Grant whispered, afraid Kian’s men wouldn’t be able to win.

She was no fighter, and Kian Keller was partially disabled.

’A direct confrontation is a dead end. We should take this chance and slip away.’

"No need."

Kian Keller was perfectly at ease. He placed a hand on the back of her head, pressing her back into his chest.

At the end of the long corridor, the man stood in a black, Mandarin-collared suit. He leaned on a cane with the hand that wore the Buddha Beads, and despite his leg injury, his posture remained ramrod straight.

He remained as still as a mountain amid the chaos of the fight. He just stood there quietly, holding the girl he loved, manipulating the situation with an air of complete indifference.

With a wave of his hand, a thousand soldiers would charge into battle for him. Yet he stood outside the fray, looking on as if all living beings were but blades of grass.

A chorus of pained cries rose and fell behind her. Mia Grant couldn’t tell which side they were coming from, and when she tried to look back, she was held in place.

’It made her both curious and terrified.’

The men Kian Keller had brought were no ordinary bodyguards. Every single one was a military veteran.

The men they were facing were no match for them at all.

They didn’t even need to use weapons, taking everyone down with their bare hands.

"Sir." A bodyguard looked back, signaling that it was all taken care of.

Kian Keller released his grip, and Mia Grant immediately turned her head.

Just then, Mr. Payne came hobbling around the corner with his men. When he saw the scene, he was completely stunned.

One of the bodyguards recognized Mr. Payne. He took a few steps back to Kian Keller’s side and whispered in his ear, "Sir, it’s Yates Donovan’s assistant."

They were all familiar faces. Mr. Payne also recognized them in a single glance.

Both sides were a little confused.

Kian Keller’s bodyguards were mysterious and had impressive backgrounds, never showing their full faces in public. But Kian Keller himself stood out in any crowd, making it impossible for Mr. Payne not to see him.

Kian Keller impassively withdrew his gaze. "Take care of them, too."

"Yes, sir."

"No, no, no!"

"Wait, wait! We’re on the same side! These guys are with me!"

Mia Grant pulled back from Kian Keller’s embrace and looked Mr. Payne up and down from a distance. "Are you okay?"

Mr. Payne’s arm had been cut and was still oozing blood, but the wound wasn’t deep. The real problem was the vicious kick he’d taken to the kidney, which hurt so much he couldn’t even stand up straight.

But he still shook his head.

Glancing at the men on the floor, he said to Mia Grant, "Miss Grant, these men are most likely working for that Mr. Adler. They were here to grab you."

Mia Grant had already guessed as much.

She took a step forward, but then a thought occurred to her, and she turned back, her gaze lingering on the man.

A moment later, the figure that seemed frozen in place finally moved. His cane pressed into the pattern of the navy-blue, handmade carpet as he slowly advanced.

His steps were very slow.

’How long has it been? He’s already on his feet...’

’The last time we met, he still needed a wheelchair to get around.’

But she could tell his leg hadn’t healed. Every step was a struggle.

’But his pride got in the way; he didn’t want others to see him looking so pathetic and helpless in a wheelchair.’

’So he’d rather endure the pain and stand.’

’Even if he was slow, he had to move forward on his own two feet.’

Mia Grant’s brow furrowed slightly. Words of concern rose to her lips, but she forced them back down.

She waited for him as if nothing was wrong. When he reached out his hand to her, she quickly took it.

While seeking his protection, she also hoped she could be like his cane and share some of his pain.

Taking a deep breath, Mia Grant matched Kian Keller’s slow pace and took a few steps forward, stopping by the feet of the men on the ground.

She lowered her gaze, looking down at them. "Care to talk? Who’s going to speak?"

One of them spat out a mouthful of blood, which included a tooth. "I will."

With that, he started to get up.

Kian Keller’s gaze was dismissive of everything. Aaron glanced at him, then stepped forward and kicked the man back down. "Who said you could move?"

The man coughed up another mouthful of blood. After a long moment, he struggled to get back up.

Mia Grant stood as stiff as a soldier at attention, afraid she might get hit, too.

Not until Kian Keller squeezed her fingers did he say, "Go on, talk."

"..."

His voice echoed in the silent corridor, as if the Buddha himself had casually decreed, "Very well. You may die now."

Clearing her throat, Mia Grant steadied herself. "You’re one of Simon Adler’s men?"

The man hesitated for a second. "Yes. We mean no harm. We just wanted to invite Miss Grant to come have a talk with us."

"Invite?" Mia Grant scoffed. What a sick joke.

She pointed at the injured Mr. Payne and his men. "Is this how you invite people? By pulling knives on them the moment you meet?"

Simon Adler’s man sounded incredibly wronged as he practically shouted, "They attacked first! We were defending ourselves!"

"?" Mia Grant was stunned by the outburst. She looked up and exchanged a glance with Mr. Payne.

He looked just as baffled, shrugging innocently. "They didn’t say a word."

"You didn’t give us a chance to speak!"

Mr. Payne looked at the man’s gapped teeth, which made him whistle as he spoke, and fell silent.

Mia Grant frowned. "If you really meant no harm, why were you ambushing me in my room?"

"It wasn’t exactly an ambush... We just wanted to sit down and have a proper chat with you, Miss Grant. We got word that you’d snuck away, and we were afraid you’d run again. That’s why we did what we did."

"But we didn’t expect that your key card wouldn’t open the door. We were getting anxious waiting in the room."

The moment the door opened, they were met with a blow to the head.

Mia Grant was skeptical of their words. "I don’t know your Mr. Adler. And there’s no need for us to meet."

"You can go back now. We’ll let what happened today slide. Just don’t bother me again."

"We can’t do that. The boss said we absolutely have to bring you to him."

"He also said that if you don’t show up, Mr. Grant will die."