I Faked My Death—Now I Have to Tame the Crazy Men I Left Behind-Chapter 85 - 83: String Her Up and Beat Her

Yates Donovan hadn’t eaten anything since this morning.

He was just waiting for the butler to bring him food in the evening.

The moment he saw Mia Grant sitting by the window, he thought he was hallucinating from hunger...

’But on second thought, I’ve only gone a day without eating. It can’t be that bad, can it?’ 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

He closed his eyes, then opened them again.

The figure by the window was still there.

Mia Grant had no idea what he was looking at. Seeing him lying motionless on the floor, she frowned. "What are you looking at?"

"Looking at you... You’re pretty." The thought slipped out the moment he opened his mouth.

Both of them froze.

Snapping out of it, Yates Donovan sat up. "What are you doing here?"

"Never mind that for now. Hurry and help me with something. I’m stuck..."

’The butler had brought her a ladder so she could climb up, but getting up was the easy part. How was she supposed to get down?’

Yates Donovan looked her up and down, then let out a snort of laughter.

He grinned, nodding repeatedly as he got to his feet.

He looked around. Other than the ancestral altar, there didn’t seem to be anything else she could use as a step.

"How about this table?" he asked Mia Grant.

Mia Grant was about to nod, but when she saw what was on the table, her expression instantly soured. "You shouldn’t be asking me. Why don’t you go ask your ancestors?"

Yates Donovan gave a shameless grin and walked under the window. "Come on down."

"How am I supposed to..."

Before she could finish, the man below opened his arms wide. "Come on, I’ll catch you."

Mia Grant was taken aback.

She hesitated, not moving.

Meanwhile, the butler hurried her along from outside. "Miss Grant, someone’s coming."

Below, Yates Donovan tilted his head, looking up at her with a wicked tone. "If you don’t come down, a trespasser like you in the Donovan ancestral hall is liable to be strung up and beaten, you know."

"..."

Mia Grant shot him a fierce glare. "Move a little closer. And you’d better catch me! If you don’t, I’ll... take you down with me!"

"Alright, alright." He nodded, giving in easily, a hint of indulgence in his smile.

After confirming his position again, Mia Grant took a deep breath, clenched her jaw, and, channeling the same desperate resolve she’d had when she’d jumped into the ocean, let go of the window frame and leapt.

Falling, falling endlessly.

Just like when she had leaped into the sea.

And then...

She fell into a warm and strong embrace.

His arms wrapped tightly around her waist. Through the fabric of her coat, she could clearly feel the man’s broad palm pressed against her spine.

The butler climbed up to close the window, but he froze when he saw the scene inside. Snapping out of it, he quickly backed away, unable to suppress the smile spreading across his face.

***

"You can let me go now." Mia Grant pushed at his shoulder.

"Hey, so you just use me and toss me aside?"

The words sounded like a complaint, but his expression and tone were more like a spoiled pout.

Ignoring him, Mia Grant stepped out of his embrace, calmly dusted herself off, and asked in a casual tone, "How’d you end up locked in here?"

"Aren’t you supposed to be smart? Take a guess."

"..." Mia Grant looked up at him. Their eyes met for an instant before she swung a fist at him.

Yates Donovan’s expression shifted, and he dodged just in time.

"We were having a nice chat. Why the violence? That’s not cute at all, you know."

Mia Grant rolled her eyes at him and looked past him to survey the surroundings.

The ancestral hall was massive, and it seemed even larger than his bedroom.

But there was only a single door.

And there were three locks on the outside.

His things were scattered all over the floor.

’Pillows, blankets, a fruit platter, and... playing cards?’

"It looks like you’re living it up in here."

On the way over, the butler had been sighing nonstop, saying Yates Donovan had been locked up for nearly three days.

That he was being forced to kneel the whole time, starving.

She’d actually felt sorry for him.

’Looking at it now... what a waste of sympathy.’

Her gaze returned to him, and she asked, "Is this about Kian Keller?"

’Considering the timing, it was almost certainly because he reported Kian Keller.’

Yates Donovan’s smile widened.

She’d guessed correctly.

"How long are you going to be locked in here?"

"Until my grandfather wakes up, or I go apologize."

"But," he said, lying back down on the floor and pillowing his head on his arms to gaze up at her, "the first one might happen. As for the second... forget it."

Mia Grant frowned, grabbing a cushion and sitting beside him. "It’s just an apology. You just have to go through the motions. What can they really do to you?"

"’Just an apology?’" Yates Donovan shot back. "What if I told you to apologize to Serena Grant?"

"...How is that the same situation?"

"Whether it’s the same or not, I just want to know what you’d do."

"I would," she said, nodding without hesitation. "Because I want to stay alive."

"And if your life wasn’t on the line?"

"Then I’d still..."

He shook his head gently. "Sweetheart, there’s no one else here."

Mia Grant fell silent.

His eyes were like a viper that had found interesting prey, poised and eager.

It was as if he would lunge and sink his fangs into her if she dared to lie.

The two stared at each other in silence, the only sound the wind whistling outside the door. Wisps of incense smoke drifted between them, attempting to sever their locked gazes.

After a moment, Mia Grant blinked. "Fine," she said. "Not only would I refuse to apologize, I’d beat her to death."

"Hahahahaha."

Yates Donovan let out a satisfied laugh.

Seeing his smug, infuriating expression, Mia Grant gave up on trying to talk sense into him.

"Forget it. I can’t be bothered to get involved in your family’s drama." ’It’s not like this happened because of me, anyway.’

"Speaking of which, how did I end up at your family’s estate? Did you have someone bring me here?"

At this, Yates Donovan raised an eyebrow. "And here I thought it was because you missed me."

"..."

Taking a deep breath, Mia Grant told him what happened.

The smile in Yates Donovan’s eyes grew as he heard that she’d come looking for him, until he heard her next sentence...

"I hailed a car from a ride-sharing app, but I started getting drowsy as soon as I got in. I’m not sure what they were burning in there, but I lost consciousness."

"Before I passed out, the driver said I’d never wake up again."

"And yet, here I am. I woke up in your family’s house—in your bedroom, to be specific."

Yates Donovan’s eyes narrowed. Ever since they’d parted ways at the police station, he’d had four men protecting her.

He hadn’t assigned a larger detail since she rarely left campus.

’But I never thought... something would actually happen.’

"Okay, so there are a few possibilities here."

Mia began to reason it out loud. "First, someone else tried to kill me, and you saved me."

"But from the looks of it, you weren’t the one who saved me." Yates Donovan was clearly in the dark.

"Second, someone in your family tried to kill me and failed. But that’s not very likely, either. If that were the case, there’d be no reason to bring me here. Unless, of course, your people interfered and ruined their plans."

"And what else?" Yates asked.

"Third, someone else tried to kill me, but a member of your family saved me."

"That’s the most likely possibility. So the question is," Mia said, scrutinizing him, "why would someone from your family just happen to be there?"