novelraw Chapter 128 - 126: A Puppy Wagging Its Tail
Chapter 128 - 126: A Puppy Wagging Its Tail
At the negotiation table, the three men each had their own agenda.
Silas Grant was in a good mood today, which made him find the other two much more agreeable.
He knew, of course, what he needed to do and what he intended to do.
Still, Yates Donovan’s attitude irked him slightly.
As for Yates Donovan, he seemed to be his usual self, taking aim at everyone indiscriminately.
However, he was likely the only one who knew just how off he was feeling.
It felt like a fire was burning inside him.
He couldn’t bring himself to do anything to that little rascal. Even biting her a moment ago had felt wrong. All he could do was get the upper hand verbally.
But it wasn’t enough to pacify him.
Originally, before he came, he’d thought there was no need to burn bridges with Silas Grant. He could just persuade Silas to help him take down the Old Master, and everyone would be happy.
But now... he almost wished Silas Grant would work against him.
Kian Keller sat to the side, his expression as indifferent as his heart, which was utterly still—like a pool of stagnant water.
On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, he had left the Keller family’s banquet in a hurry, before it was even over.
One after the other, they had boarded flights to Portia.
Mia Grant and Yates Donovan landed first.
The corridors of the private jet terminal were spacious.
He’d thought they had already left. He never imagined they were behind him, and they had accidentally missed each other.
’He didn’t care if Silas Grant lived or died.’
’He didn’t know what Mia Grant was thinking. Or maybe he didn’t want to know.’
All he needed to know was that he couldn’t let anything happen to Mia Grant. He had to take her back to the capital.
In fact, Yates Donovan reaching out to him today wasn’t their first contact since Kian had arrived in Portia.
They had met the very night he’d landed.
"I’m taking Mia Grant with me."
Yates Donovan smiled, leaning against the wall and unhurriedly lighting a cigarette.
"Want one?"
Kian watched him coldly. Yates sheepishly drew back his hand, snapped the unlit cigarette in two, and tossed it aside.
"Even though I’ve never been able to stand you, I agree with your point. She shouldn’t be here."
"But you still brought her here."
"Yes, I did," Yates laughed. "I still brought her. And why is that?"
He began to answer his own question. He was acting just as he always did, which gave off a deranged energy.
"If I didn’t bring her, she’d find a way to come here herself."
"Might as well just let her do what she wants."
"I’d hate to be a wet blanket."
"..."
’The implication was painfully obvious.’
"I know, I know. In the face of absolute power, personal will is meaningless."
"Taking her away would be easy, of course. Like picking up a stray cat or dog off the street."
"But she’s human."
Beneath the streetlamp, the man raised a hand, tracing an arc in the air. His tone was a mixture of bewilderment and resignation.
"Why is everyone so insistent on training a living, breathing person like an animal? Caging her body, imprisoning her soul, and erasing her very nature.
You want her to be obedient and docile. You want her to wag her tail at your beck and call, then try her hardest to perform a perfect waltz for you."
"And in the end, she’s supposed to circle you, blinking with anticipation, desperate for the slightest reward—even just an approving glance."
"Meanwhile, when it comes to actual animals, people are just as harsh, expecting them to learn human language, mannerisms, and habits."
"See? Humans are always like this. They’ve got nothing better to do."
A grating, low laugh spilled out from behind the swirling smoke.
After finishing his cigarette, Yates coughed, straightened up, and pointed toward a window.
"She’s upstairs. You can take her away quietly right now. I don’t care, and I won’t stop you."
"Causing a big scene in Portia at a time like this won’t do anyone any good."
"Besides, I won’t be the one playing the villain here."
"If you’ve got the guts, go ahead and cage her for the rest of her life."
A gust of wind scattered the smoke, and Kian finally saw Yates’s expression clearly.
His face was blank, his eyes cold and severe.
The eldest young master of the Donovan family, who had grown up under the Old Master’s thumb and fought his way through the compound’s brutal politics, was showing his true colors for the first time.
Those charming eyes, usually crinkled in a smile, were now devoid of any playfulness. Instead, they held a ruthless glint, like the vertically slit pupils of a viper.
’This must be the real Yates Donovan. On the surface, he acts like he doesn’t care about a thing, but in reality, his forked tongue has already flickered and his fangs are bared, ready to strike a fatal blow at any moment.’
He had been standing for too long. A sharp pain began to throb in his calf.
He couldn’t tell if he was genuinely unable to remain standing, or if Yates’s words had shaken him.
Kian asked Yates, "What does she want to do?"
"Well... we’ll have to see about that tomorrow."
"If you want to know, you can go ask her right now."
Kian gave Yates a long, hard look before turning to leave.
Yates’s voice, laced with surprise, called out from behind him. "Oh? Not coming up for a bit?"
That night, he took a painkiller shot and lay awake until dawn.
The muscles in his leg felt like they were tearing away from the bone, an ache that sank deep.
He sat by the window the entire night. First thing in the morning, he sent someone to tail Yates’s car.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have shown up at the hotel at just the right moment.
’He wasn’t free like Yates, who could accompany her anywhere.’
He didn’t have much time left in Portia.
He had assigned many people to protect her in secret, but it still wasn’t enough.
Especially after discovering that Simon Adler’s men had already set an ambush in her room.
So, without a moment’s hesitation, he had given her the gun, and Aaron with it.
’Yates was wrong.’
’He didn’t treat her like some stray cat or dog.’
’He wasn’t asking for much. He just wanted her to live, and to live well.’
So when Yates called him today and told him what she was planning, Kian had agreed without a second thought.
Even though he was dealing with his arch-nemesis of many years.
Even if Yates wanted to kill his old friend.
None of it mattered to him anymore.
—
In the adjacent room, Mia Grant stepped out of the restroom and her eyes immediately fell on the man sitting on the sofa.
She froze on the spot, thinking she was hallucinating.
Hearing the sound, Hayes Hughes turned to look at her. The moment their eyes met, the corner of his mouth lifted in a small smile.
"Have you had lunch?"
Mia Grant blinked, the confusion in her eyes instantly replaced by delighted surprise.
"Hayes! When did you get here!"
’She’d thought the "male leads" the system mentioned were just Yates Donovan and Kian Keller.’
’She never expected Hayes Hughes to be here too...’
"Just got here," Hayes said, naturally opening his arms to catch her as she rushed toward him.
Mia gave him a quick hug before sitting down beside him. She looked him up and down. "Did Grandpa... do anything to you?"
Hayes gently shook his head. He casually straightened the ruffled collar of her blouse, his fingers brushing over it to hide an alarming red mark.
His gaze calmly shifted away from the mark and back to her face, the smile in his eyes unwavering. "Don’t worry about me. What about you? Sneaking out of the hospital without a word to anyone."
"I..." Mia’s gaze flickered away. She didn’t know how to explain.
’From the very beginning, she had never intended to tell Hayes.’
"I just heard Silas was injured, so I came to see him."
"Mm."
Hayes didn’t seem suspicious.
But Mia had a question. "Why are you here today? Are you here to see Silas, too?"
"No," Hayes said with a smile. "Yates called me over. He said you would need me."
"..."