I Faked My Death—Now I Have to Tame the Crazy Men I Left Behind-Chapter 48 - 46: My Baby Smells So Good

His thoughts exposed, Hayes Hughes was embarrassed for a second. Then, afraid she would misunderstand, he rushed to explain:

"I didn’t mean anything by it, it’s just... I haven’t seen you in a long time, and I wanted to look at you a little longer."

"..."

If Ian Sinclair or someone like him had said something like that, Mia Grant’s first reaction would have been to laugh sarcastically, then coo a sickeningly sweet comeback.

Empty flattery had no effect on her whatsoever.

But Hayes Hughes was different. He was always the exception.

He didn’t know how to use such insincere sweet talk. In his role as her brother, he was also not good at sharing his emotions with her.

So, when he said he wanted to see her, it meant he really, really, *really* wanted to.

The longing must have been overflowing from his heart, so much so that he couldn’t help but say it out loud.

After saying he missed her, he apologized again for his abrupt words.

A corner of the ten-thousand-year-old glacier around Mia Grant’s heart silently crumbled away.

When she was little, her deskmate said she didn’t have a dad, that nobody wanted her. She threw the deskmate’s homework right into the water.

Later, the deskmate cried. After school that day, her brother came to pick her up. He patiently comforted her in the classroom for a long, long time, and even said he’d buy her candy.

From that moment on, she was always envious of people who had older brothers.

Especially a gentle brother like Hayes Hughes.

She remembered it clearly. Serena Grant was learning to ride, and her spooked horse had crashed into Mia’s.

She was thrown from her horse and was nearly trampled.

In an instant, almost everyone rushed over to check on Serena Grant’s injuries. No one cared whether Mia lived or died.

She lay on the ground, trying to get up.

’But it hurt so much.’

’Everywhere hurt.’

She held back her tears.

Until Hayes Hughes walked in from outside and found her in a corner.

Maybe it was because of his profession, but Hayes Hughes seemed to have a fondness for the color white.

That time, he was also wearing a white jacket. He was so clean, like an angel...

’And she was so dirty.’

But he didn’t even seem to notice, simply carrying her into his private lounge to treat her wounds.

Her eyes were red, but she didn’t dare make a sound. She didn’t even dare to look at him.

As the man cleaned her wounds, he reminded her in a gentle voice, "This might hurt a little. I’ll be as gentle as I can. If you feel any discomfort, just tell me, and I’ll stop right away."

She said nothing.

No matter how much it hurt, she gritted her teeth and endured it.

After he finished bandaging her up and put away the first-aid kit, he finally looked up at her.

Their eyes met for a moment before he wiped the dirt from her face. "There’s no one else here. It’s okay to cry if it hurts."

"You don’t have to hold it in. I won’t tell anyone."

She shook her head.

Back then, she had only just transmigrated into the book and wasn’t as delicate as she was now.

He seemed a little surprised, probably thinking she didn’t need to be so hard on herself.

For Hayes Hughes, he had spent most of his time living in Portia and overseas, so he wasn’t particularly familiar with this ’fake’ cousin of his. He had only seen her a few more times than Silas Grant had.

So he respected her wishes and didn’t insist on persuading or comforting her.

He left the room to her, letting her rest there.

As he was leaving, he took a beautifully wrapped piece of fruit candy from his pocket.

"It’s strawberry flavored. I don’t know if you’ll like it."

She stared at the candy for a long time before giving an evasive answer: "My sister likes them."

"I’m sorry." Just those four words from her were enough for Hayes Hughes to accurately perceive her subtle emotions. He withdrew his hand and said, as if explaining, "So Serena likes strawberry. I’m only just finding that out myself."

"What about you, Mia? What flavors do you like?"

"I don’t eat candy," she said.

He didn’t insist.

And just like that, he left.

For a moment, she felt a pang of sadness, but she also thought it was normal.

’She was just a supporting character, after all.’

But before long, he returned. This time, he brought a box of fruit candies with many, many different flavors inside.

He placed it in her hands, gave her a comforting smile, and left without another word.

After he was gone, she poured out all the candies and found that there were all sorts of fruit flavors, but not a single strawberry one...

’They weren’t for Serena Grant. They were just for her.’

’They were all hers.’

’She was now someone who had a brother to buy her candy.’

In that moment, she knew... all those votes she’d cast for him before transmigrating into the book hadn’t been for nothing!

’Hayes Hughes was worth it!’

—

During the meal, Mia Grant couldn’t help but bring up the incident where she’d jumped into the sea.

With the other male leads, she was always on the defensive, explaining herself. Only with Hayes Hughes did she bring it up voluntarily.

Hearing her mention jumping into the sea, the hand Hayes Hughes was using to put food on her plate froze. Fortunately, he quickly recovered and placed the food in her bowl. "Eat more. You’ve gotten so much thinner."

"If you don’t want to eat in the cafeteria in the future, just come find me at the hospital. I can make you food and bring it over."

Coincidentally, the hospital where he worked was located right between his apartment and Jynsia U.

In fact, Jynsia U was even closer to his hospital, just a pedestrian bridge away.

Mia Grant hummed in acknowledgment but still steered the conversation back.

Hayes Hughes didn’t want to interrupt her, but deep down, he didn’t want to talk about it either.

After a moment of silence, he put down his chopsticks, a mournful and repentant look on his face.

"Mia, I never had the chance to tell you I’m sorry."

But Mia Grant laughed. "You’ve already apologized so many times since we met yesterday."

"You’re like some kind of emotionless apology-bot."

Her words didn’t make Hayes Hughes feel any more at ease. He couldn’t bring himself to smile at all.

He hadn’t slept at all after returning home last night.

He was afraid that if he closed his eyes, he would suddenly wake up from this dream.

He was already starting to lose his grip on what was real and what was a dream.

Early in the morning, he went to the university and waited for her downstairs from her dorm.

He didn’t even know why he went. By the time he realized what he was doing, he was already there.

She came out.

His clothes were disheveled, and he’d even forgotten to shave. He could only hide wretchedly in the distance, watching her secretly, following her.

’Like a pervert, a stalker.’

He watched until she entered the academic building.

’I really should be arrested.’

After staying at the school for a while, he went to his friend’s clinic for an appointment. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Having not slept all night, a sharp pain flared in his chest, as if telling him that he was still alive, that Mia Grant was alive, and that this was not a dream.

He stared at the ceiling. "So, people really can come back from the dead."

Seeing how distraught he was, his friend said, "Are you kidding me? You’re a doctor. When someone’s dead, they’re dead. What happened to you? Why would you say something so absurd?"

"Are you just jet-lagged from coming back? Who did you see? You’re probably hallucinating from lack of sleep."

His friend prescribed him some sleeping pills and urged him to go home and get some proper rest.

Worried that it really was a hallucination, he didn’t take the sleeping pills.

He’d said the soup was made by the housekeeper, but he had actually made it himself.

He’d simmered it all morning, and as soon as it was done, he couldn’t wait to bring it to her.

He originally would have made it in time for her lunch.

But as soon as he arrived downstairs from her dorm, he saw another young man appear in the distance.

He had seen him before. He was probably one of the Sinclair family’s boys, though he couldn’t tell if it was the older or younger one.

The moment the young man saw her, he eagerly rushed forward, hugging her from behind and nuzzling her neck affectionately. "Babe, why do you smell so good today?"