"..."
Mrs. Sinclair’s mouth twitched violently. She raised her hand and smacked Ian Sinclair on the back a few tis. "You little brat! What kind of nonsense is that!"
Ian Sinclair winced, twisting away from the blows. "But isn’t that what you ant?"
"Get lost, get lost!" Mrs. Sinclair was exasperated.
But Ian Sinclair didn’t leave. He still hadn’t figured out what was going on, so how could he possibly go?
His mind raced for a mont, and his tightly furrowed brow relaxed slightly. "What exactly did you an by ’in na only’? A fake engagent?"
Mrs. Sinclair shot him a disdainful look and fell silent. She lifted her teacup for a sip, trying to douse her anger.
Seeing his chance, Ian Sinclair hurried over and began massaging his mother’s shoulders with a fawning expression. "Mom~ I was wrong. I was really, really wrong!"
"Co on, just tell ~ If you don’t, I won’t be able to sleep for days!"
It might have sounded like a joke, but only Ian Sinclair himself knew the truth. ’If there’s really no way out of this engagent,’ he thought, ’it won’t just be losing sleep. I’ll probably make sure no one in this entire family gets a mont of peace.’
Mrs. Sinclair, in her pride, kept her lips sealed. Ian Sinclair, in turn, whined and pestered her, refusing to leave. Finally, annoyed beyond asure, she gave in and explained.
"You’re not a child anymore. You need to consider the bigger picture."
After her explanation, Mrs. Sinclair didn’t forget to add so earnest advice for Ian Sinclair. "As for that girlfriend of yours, whether she’s real or not, bring her ho for a visit soday. We can discuss an engagent then. For now, the topic is closed."
"I rember you and Mia were even deskmates for a while in high school. For the sake of old tis, be a dear and don’t make a scene."
"Your brother and Mia’s engagent party cannot go wrong, and it cannot be postponed. Understand?"
"..."
When a long mont passed with no response, Mrs. Sinclair couldn’t help but turn and look back at him.
Ian Sinclair’s gaze was lowered, his long lashes obscuring his bright, dark eyes. His expression was unreadable, and it was impossible to know what he was thinking.
Mrs. Sinclair felt increasingly certain that sothing was not right with him.
She’d had a faint sense of it from the very first ti she ntioned that Felix Sinclair and Mia Grant were getting engaged, and the feeling was only growing stronger now.
His opposition to this was anything but ordinary.
’Logically, this shouldn’t be his reaction,’ she thought.
’Where did things go wrong...?’
Mrs. Sinclair was completely baffled.
"Oh, Ian," she began, softening her tone. "That child, Mia... she hasn’t had it easy. Just think of this as doing a good deed. Mia is a wonderful girl, and I really want to use this opportunity to help her get away from the Grant Family."
"Of course, if you truly disagree, I have to respect your opinion. You’re a mber of this family, after all. If you don’t agree, we’ll just cancel it."
A shrewd glint flashed in Mrs. Sinclair’s eyes as she sighed. "It’s just so hard on poor Mia...唉, I don’t know how much longer she can endure. What if..."
"I never said I disagreed," Ian Sinclair muttered, his brow furrowed. His tone was a mix of sullen resentnt and hurt.
Mrs. Sinclair was openly guilt-tripping him, and it was clearly working.
In truth, Ian Sinclair still had a stomach full of questions, but he couldn’t bring himself to voice them.
He might not be as clever as Felix Sinclair, but he wasn’t a fool.
He could tell his mother was already growing suspicious of him.
’I can’t press her for any more details.’
To dispel his mother’s doubts, Ian Sinclair pursed his lips and put on a haughty act. "Fine, I’ll help. But I’m not recognizing any ’godsister’ or whatever. It sounds weird. If you want another daughter that badly, just have one with Dad instead of pulling this whole adoption stunt."
A vein throbbed on Mrs. Sinclair’s forehead. She chased after him, scolding and swatting at him all the way.
—
Mia Grant chewed on her straw, looking at the figure across from her in puzzlent.
Her expression seed placid and harmless, but her gaze was sharp and scrutinizing.
"Miss? Can I help you?" the young man asked, eting her gaze. He struggled to maintain a smile, forcing himself to look calm.
"Shouldn’t I be asking you that?" Mia Grant said, sizing him up. "You’ve been following all this way. You’d better have a good explanation, or else..."
Mia Grant raised her phone, showing him the ’911’ dialed on the screen.
Her finger hovered over the call button, ready to press it at any mont. The pressure was palpable.
The young man didn’t seem scared. "I think you’re mistaken, Miss. This is a public street. What makes you think I’m following you? Can’t we just be heading in the sa direction? You walk your path, I’ll walk mine. By stopping like this, couldn’t I just as easily suspect you’re the one with ulterior motives?"
Mia Grant stared at him for two seconds before suddenly bursting into laughter.
"I’ve seen you before."
The young man faltered for a second, but before he could speak, he heard Mia Grant add languidly, "In Portia."
"..." The young man still wouldn’t admit it. "You’ve got the wrong person. Is this so new kind of pick-up line?"
Mia Grant tilted her head with a smile. "Let take a guess. You work for Simon Adler."
The young man’s breath caught in his throat.
"Judging by your reaction, I guessed right. Let’s see... the only people around Simon Adler who would have left an impression on , besides his female bodyguard, would be his other assistant—the one who’s always with him."
"You’re Sean Cole, aren’t you?"
Simon chuckled. "As I recall, Miss Grant, we’ve never t."
Mia Grant shrugged and offered a complint. "You’re too handso. It’s hard for soone with a face like yours to go unnoticed. It’s a real sha you’re just an assistant."
"You should be a male model."
Simon gave an awkward, slightly embarrassed laugh. "Actually, my dream is to be a photographer!"
"Oh?" Mia Grant raised an eyebrow. "Can I see your work?"
Simon nodded and took out his phone.
"I don’t want to see old photos from your phone. Let’s look at sothing more recent, shall we?"
Simon was instantly on guard. "For example?"
The girl across from him, holding her coffee, just chuckled and shook her head. With the hand holding the cup, she extended one finger and pointed at his ssenger bag. "For instance... your cara."
Simon let out a forced laugh. "I do own a cara, but I didn’t bring it today. If you want to take so pictures, how about next ti? Perhaps when you visit Portia again, Miss Grant..."
Mia Grant had no patience for his nonsense. "You’ve been taking pictures of on the sly. I have proof."
"What? Don’t be ridiculous, Miss Grant."
"True, perhaps you haven’t taken any today. I was talking about yesterday."
"Want to see my photography skills? We could find a place to sit down and discuss them at length. How does the police station sound?"
"..."
Simon’s mouth twitched. He had to admit, he had completely underestimated the slender girl in front of him.
It was true. He had taken photos of Mia Grant yesterday, and he had co back again today.
But his reasons were different each ti.
Yesterday was on Mr. Adler’s orders.
He wanted to dig up so dirt to spice up Mr. Grant’s dull life.
Today, however, he had co on his own, sneaking around.
Simon Adler had been distracted in his morning eting, and after a business lunch, he’d taken the afternoon off to rest. With nothing else to do, Simon found himself thinking things over. The more he thought, the more sothing felt off. He had a vague suspicion that the problem might lie with Mia Grant, so... he had co back.
He just never expected to be found out after only a few minutes of tailing her.
Mia Grant took a step forward, adopting a calm and assertive negotiating stance. "Two conditions. Agree to them, and I’ll delete the evidence and let you go."
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