I Faked My Death—Now I Have to Tame the Crazy Men I Left Behind-Chapter 22 - 20: The Two Male Leads Arrive Together
The implications were terrifying. Mia Grant didn’t dare to dwell on it.
She rubbed her nose awkwardly. "Let’s go. My roommates should be here soon."
Felix Sinclair, however, wasn’t ready to let her off the hook. He switched the umbrella to his other hand and grabbed her wrist.
"Are you not planning to tell Ian Sinclair you’re back?"
Mia Grant looked back at him, her gaze fixed on his face. Her clear eyes were like morning dew meeting the inky blackness in his.
It was like two opposite poles, evenly matched. Neither of their gazes faltered.
Then, a glimmer appeared in her eyes, as if she’d discovered a curious new toy. She suddenly rose onto her tiptoes and leaned closer to him.
Felix Sinclair’s pupils constricted, a murky turbidity stirring in the depths of his eyes.
"Why do you ask?"
"What?" he asked, snapping out of it.
She smiled and threw his own question back at him: "Are *you* not planning to tell Ian that I’m back?"
Only her tone was far lighter than his, like that of a detached spectator watching a show.
"..."
Receiving the same silent response, Mia gave a small shrug and stepped back. "See? You can’t answer it yourself, so why even—"
"That’s right. I’m not planning to tell him."
Mia froze, her backward step halting midway.
He stepped forward, closing the half-step gap. "Why should I tell him?"
His tone was chilling. "It’s best he never finds out."
"Are you satisfied with that answer?"
"..."
He backed her up until she was forced out from under the umbrella.
’Seriously, dude? You can’t take what you dish out?’ she thought, her eyes wide with surprise.
’You’re the one who started this... How did you suddenly get so pissed off and start playing dirty?’
Seeing her retreat, Felix Sinclair tossed the umbrella aside.
The light drizzle landed on him, but he felt no cold. Instead, his blood was boiling.
It was as if something had burst through his blood vessels and surged into his pounding heart.
"Wait, no." Mia realized the situation was getting out of hand and quickly tried to explain. "I didn’t mean anything by it. Please, don’t get upset."
’Shit, I’ve gone too far.’
"I just don’t understand why you would ask that..."
Felix Sinclair interrupted her. "You know."
"..." ’What the hell do I know?’
Not far away, car headlights flashed. The glare made Mia flinch, and she instinctively turned her head.
The grip on her wrist suddenly tightened, her racing pulse now firmly in his grasp.
While she was stunned, Felix gripped the back of her neck and leaned in. "You’ve known all along."
With that, he brought his lips down on hers, hard.
Unlike his rigid demeanor, his kiss was like a caged animal on the verge of breaking free. There was a single moment of restraint before he launched into a clumsy, violent assault.
Their breaths intertwined.
Mia’s breath caught. In that instant, she felt the two opposing poles that had been locked in a standoff just moments before suddenly fuse as one.
「Not far away, in front of the dormitory.」
The driver turned off the headlights and glanced at Kian Keller in the rearview mirror. "Sir, shouldn’t Miss Grant be here by now?"
In the back seat, Kian Keller stared at the red dot on his phone, indicating she was close by. It took him a moment to snap out of his reverie.
"She’s nearby."
The hastily implanted tracker was buggy; it could only show her general vicinity, not her precise location.
"Then could she have gone upstairs already?" The driver glanced at the dormitory opposite them. "It’s still raining out. If she were back, she’d have gone inside right away."
"Let’s wait a bit longer."
Kian Keller put down his phone and leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes to rest.
Silas Grant had been causing trouble for him at every turn these past few days, leaving him too swamped to come see her. That was why he especially treasured this chance to meet her tonight.
He’d stopped Silas from coming to the school to find Mia, and Silas had made him pay for it.
The two had now completely turned on each other, with no regard for their past friendship.
They had even seen each other tonight.
At a business gala.
’If the media hadn’t been there, that old bastard Silas would have probably started a real fight with me.’
Under the cameras’ gaze, Silas had put on a respectable front, clinking glasses with him. "And here I thought Jynsia was your turf," he’d said.
"It certainly isn’t yours," Kian had retorted.
Silas had laughed. "You think I don’t know what you’re up to? Agreeing so readily to a marriage alliance with the Grant Family... you’re doing it for Mia, aren’t you?"
"Go on, try it. See if the Grant and Keller families agree. See if *I* give you the chance."
Before leaving, Silas adjusted his glasses and lowered his voice. "Hayes being attacked abroad... that was you, wasn’t it?"
"..."
Silas had enjoyed the look on his face, the amusement in his eyes deepening. "So you knew our Mia likes Hayes Hughes."
"Just a friendly piece of advice: you should probably go pray for some good luck. Mia is easily frightened... she’d be terrified if she found out what you’ve done."
"..."
—
Kian Keller opened his eyes and took a deep breath.
He had to admit, as a former friend, Silas knew exactly how to hit him where it hurt.
Hayes Hughes.
He was a ticking time bomb.
He hadn’t expected Silas to get the news so quickly.
Now that Silas finally had some leverage on him, he wouldn’t let it go.
Of course, he wasn’t afraid of Silas making this public. He was afraid that Mia wouldn’t be able to accept it.
He still remembered that day at the funeral, when he exposed Silas, and the panicked expression on Mia’s face as she hid in his arms.
’Who would’ve thought... the boomerang would come flying back at him so soon.’
The pads of his fingers pressing on the Buddha Beads turned white from the force. He quickly flicked two beads, his gaze shifting to the curtain of rain outside the window, trying to calm his emotions.
’Since I’m already here, I might as well just take her home and hide her away forever.’
’So Silas will never see her again in his life...’
Outside the car window, tree shadows swayed in the wind. Under a tree, a young man and woman were passionately kissing.
From his angle, he could only see a section of the girl’s wrist, so pale it was almost blinding. The rest of her was hidden behind the young man’s tall frame.
Kian Keller had no penchant for spying on young lovers. In fact, he found the sight repulsive.
He withdrew his gaze, took out his phone, and dialed Mia’s number.
Meanwhile, under a tree not far from the car, Mia was panting for breath as she rested in Felix Sinclair’s arms.
’How is kissing more exhausting than running an 800-meter dash?’
Afraid Felix was about to go in for another round, she waved her hands frantically. "Nope, no more. I’ve seriously blown past my workout limit for the day."
’One more kiss and I’ll really have to skip military training tomorrow!’
"And also, next time, can you... not launch a surprise attack?"
’Why is everyone so into forced kisses? If this happens again, I’m really calling the cops next time!’
An emotion she couldn’t decipher swirled in Felix Sinclair’s eyes. He didn’t answer, instead reaching out to wipe a glistening trace of moisture from the corner of her mouth.
"Oh, are my roommates back?" Catching sight of a car in front of the dorm, Mia wondered how it had even gotten onto campus.
’Taking a closer look—whoa, it’s a Rolls-Royce! Those college dudes are rich enough to drive...?’
’Wait, that Jyn-A license plate with the sequential numbers looks really familiar.’
Hearing her, Felix turned his head. But before he could get a clear look at the license plate, Mia, quick as a flash, rose onto her tiptoes, cupped his face, and twisted it back toward her—
"Let’s kiss again!"
