I Faked My Death—Now I Have to Tame the Crazy Men I Left Behind-Chapter 83 - 81: She Won’t Be Waking Up Again

’The Hughes family?’

Mia Grant’s hand, holding the phone, stiffened.

"Miss, are you still there?"

"I’m here." Mia Grant paused, then asked, "Is this for a family dinner?"

"You could say so. The Eldest Young Master will be there. The Second Young Master has attended in years past, but this year his work is too demanding for him to get away."

"Miss Serena is going to Southerfell with Mr. Grant and the others for the Mid-Autumn Festival."

"It’s a night for reunions, after all. It wouldn’t be right for you to stay in Jynsia all by yourself."

The implication was clear: the only members of the younger generation at the Hughes family’s Mid-Autumn dinner would be Silas Grant and her.

Mia Grant fell into deep thought.

’It all sounds very nice. At first listen, it even feels a little heartwarming.’

’But—’

Mia Grant’s intuition told her it wasn’t that simple.

She felt it was less of a family dinner and more of a deadly trap.

She had met that old patriarch of the Hughes family before.

After transmigrating into the book, she had accompanied her Grant family parents to Portia to celebrate his birthday.

’How to describe the impression that old man gave off?’

He was always smiling, seemingly amiable and kind. But how could a man who once held sway over both the legal and criminal worlds, the head of a century-old Portia family, possibly be a benevolent figure?

In fact, you could see a shadow of the old man’s youth in Silas Grant.

Silas had been personally groomed by him and was his most satisfactory "creation."

On a normal day, Silas was also accustomed to smiling. No matter what happened, he always wore a proper, gentlemanly smile.

Hayes Hughes was the same.

When dealing with her, one was indulgent, his pity tinged with a hint of helplessness. The other was gentle, almost to the point of doting.

But the old man’s smile, while appearing gentle and calm, held an almost imperceptible undercurrent of scrutiny and indifference if you looked closely.

"Thank you for Grandfather’s kind intentions, but I haven’t been well recently. I’ve been coughing up blood for no reason, and I wanted to use the Mid-Autumn holiday to see a doctor for a check-up. So I won’t be able to make it this time. I wouldn’t want to pass any illness on to Grandfather."

"You could come to Portia, miss. The Hughes family’s hospitals are more reliable."

"The hospital I have an appointment with is a Hughes hospital, just the one in Jynsia. Hayes helped me arrange it, so there’s no need to trouble Grandfather about it."

The butler on the other end of the line was silent for a moment and didn’t press the matter further.

After the call ended, the faint smile Mia Grant had been maintaining vanished completely.

She stared at the number in her call history for a few seconds before dragging it straight to her blocklist.

She wasn’t the least bit surprised that the old man knew she wasn’t dead.

Her Grant family parents didn’t care whether she lived or died. As long as Serena Grant didn’t bring it up, they wouldn’t bother to investigate.

But that didn’t mean the old man wouldn’t look into it. Or perhaps Silas had told him himself.

There were many possibilities, but whichever it was no longer mattered to her now.

’In any case, there’s absolutely no way I can go to this family dinner.’

She wasn’t naive enough to believe the old man would be so kind as to take her in.

He didn’t even care that much about his own biological grandson, Hayes Hughes. Let alone a "fake" granddaughter like her, whom he’d only met a few times.

If she went, she would indeed be celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival this year. But this day next year would be the anniversary of her death.

’Right now, I’m not sure if the old man is after my worthless life.’

’But it’s always better to be cautious.’

To prevent another "invitation" from the Hughes family, she needed to find a relatively safe place to lie low for the holiday...

Silas Grant was always in Portia for traditional holidays like this, and Hayes Hughes was still recovering from his injuries, so they were out.

Felix Sinclair and Ian Sinclair were unreliable, mainly because they didn’t have any bodyguards or anything.

Kian Keller was also not an option.

On a day as important as the Mid-Autumn Festival, there was no way he’d miss his family’s dinner; he would definitely have to return to his family’s old residence.

After considering all her options, it seemed only Yates Donovan was left to try.

「The Donovan family’s old residence.」

Yates Donovan knelt on a prayer cushion, yawning repeatedly.

’This damned floor... It made my back ache so much I barely slept. I’ll have to get the butler to bring a mattress over tomorrow.’

The carved wooden doors were pushed open from both sides, and sunlight poured in, falling on the man’s slumped back.

"Your posture is a disgrace, whether you’re standing or kneeling."

Hearing the voice, Yates Donovan acted as if he hadn’t heard, greeting him in a nonchalant tone, "Good afternoon, Second Uncle." 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Kneel properly! Straighten your back!" Yael Donovan stood beside him, his hands clasped behind his back.

His tone was impatient, stern, and chilling, enough to make one’s heart clench.

But Yates was unfazed. He rubbed his eyes and said, "Can’t do it, Second Uncle. I’ve been kneeling for too long. My whole body aches."

"So you do know what pain feels like!" Yael said. "If you’re in pain, then come with me to the Keller family and apologize!"

"Not happening."

Yates plopped down onto the cushion, speaking with righteous indignation, "I didn’t even do anything wrong. I was helping someone in need, upholding justice. I will never bow down to the forces of evil!"

"..." Yael’s temples throbbed. "Then keep kneeling! Kneel until you’re willing to apologize! No one is to bring him any food!"

Yates just smiled and waved a dismissive hand. "It’s fine, Second Uncle, don’t worry about me. I’ll just consider it a diet. Take care now, Second Uncle. Don’t let me keep you."

Yael gritted his teeth and spat out, "You damn brat."

Once everyone had left, Yates stopped sitting and switched to lying down.

The servants standing guard nearby silently lowered their heads. At times like this, they could only turn a blind eye; they couldn’t afford to offend either party.

In the front hall, Yael asked as he walked, "Have you figured out the full story?"

The secretary replied, "We discovered that shortly before the young master reported Kian Keller, he had filed a police report of his own, claiming his fiancée had been kidnapped by Kian Keller."

"Serena Grant?" Yael stopped in his tracks. "Has Yates been in contact with Serena Grant recently?"

Yael had heard that the Grant and Keller families had been close recently, seemingly with plans for a marriage alliance. But with the engagement between the Donovan and Grant families already in place, it wasn’t a matter for the Grant family to decide on their own.

"No," the secretary said. "The fiancée the young master was referring to is most likely not Miss Serena."

"What do you mean by that? Who else could his fiancée be besides Serena Grant...?" Yael’s voice trailed off as a thought seemed to strike him.

The secretary continued his report, "Initially, we couldn’t find this police report. It seems that Kian Keller’s people erased all traces of it, though we can’t rule out the possibility that the young master did it himself."

"After further investigation, we believe this may have been the catalyst for the entire conflict."

The secretary handed over a file. "We just received this. There’s a signature on it. Judging by the name, it should be Mia Grant."

"The same Miss Grant from the Grant family who was previously reported to be deceased."

"Isn’t she dead?" Yael frowned.

"Based on all available evidence, she is currently active in Jynsia."

"..."

After a brief silence, Yael suddenly let out a laugh. "That boy... he’s quite the devoted one."

"Go, bring her here."

"Mia Grant?" The secretary nodded. "Yes, sir."

After her afternoon class ended, Mia Grant walked off campus as the sun began to set.

She couldn’t get through to Yates Donovan on the phone, and he wasn’t replying to her messages. ’I wonder if he’s still mad at me.’

Her only option now was to go to his place and check.

A ride-share car pulled up. Mia Grant checked the license plate number, got in, and confirmed the last few digits of her phone number with the driver.

Not long after the car started moving, her eyelids grew heavy.

She thought it was just because she hadn’t slept well the night before and shook her head forcefully. Through her blurry vision, she suddenly saw the driver smile at her in the rearview mirror...

In the last second before her consciousness faded, she heard the driver say to her, "Just get some sleep, miss. When you wake up, this will all be over."

"No, that’s not right. You won’t be waking up again."