He remained silent, and Mia Grant sat across from him, her heart pounding with anxiety, completely at a loss.
Thankfully, his ’blackening value’ remained stable.
He promised her he wouldn’t get angry, and he truly kept his word.
Mia Grant was surprised he was a man of his word, little knowing that an unintentional comnt she’d made just monts ago had done the trick.
After a brief silence, the figure across from her suddenly stood up.
Mia Grant flinched back in fear, thinking he was about to strike her. "We can talk this out!"
"You can argue with , but you can’t get physical!"
"And definitely no kicking!"
"..." Kian Keller frowned at her, his expression a mixture of exasperation and disdain. "I don’t have a tendency for dostic violence."
Just then, a knock sounded at the door. Kian Keller lifted his chin, gesturing toward the dining room. "Go get sothing to eat. We’re leaving for the airport in an hour."
With that said, he turned and walked in the other direction.
Mia Grant’s eyes followed him across the living room. From her angle, she couldn’t see the door, but she could hear soone call out, "Sir." The voice sounded like Aaron’s.
Imdiately after, a hotel employee wheeled a food trolley in.
The door closed, and the employee ca back out, giving a slight nod to the n in the hallway.
"Is she eating?"
"Yes, the young lady inside is currently dining."
"Mm."
Kian Keller withdrew his gaze. Aaron waved his hand, dismissing the employee.
Zelo shot him a disdainful look before grinning and hurrying after the employee to slip them a tip.
Like boss, like subordinate. Aaron and most of the other n had personalities remarkably similar to Kian Keller’s.
Soone like Zelo, who excelled at social graces, was rarer than a giant panda.
Ignoring Zelo’s provocation, Aaron said, "Sir, you should rest in the next room. We’ll have the n stand guard at the door."
Kian Keller’s leg hadn’t fully healed yet, so he couldn’t stand or walk for long periods.
After taking a couple of steps, Kian Keller suddenly rembered sothing and turned back to look at Zelo, who was standing guard outside Mia Grant’s door.
Seeing this, Zero nudged him. "Zelo."
Zelo, who had been drinking water, froze for a second. After receiving the visual cue, he screwed the cap back on his bottle and quickly followed.
Everything that needed to be reported had already been clearly relayed before Mia Grant woke up, so Zelo had no idea why Kian Keller wanted to see him.
He and Aaron ca from similar backgrounds, but their work arrangents under Kian Keller were quite different.
Aaron was more of Kian Keller’s personal bodyguard, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, he operated exclusively in Kian’s imdiate vicinity.
His and Zero’s duties, on the other hand, were much broader, usually involving fieldwork away from the main group.
Zelo ntally reviewed the details of every major event from the past few days up to that morning.
’I really did report everything.’
’Could I have missed sothing?’
Zelo scratched his head.
Kian Keller sat down, his cane tapping lightly against the floor.
Zelo imdiately looked up and stood at attention.
"Aaron said you’re taking marriage leave?"
"Yes, yes, yes." Zelo nodded repeatedly. "I’m getting married in March, so I wanted to give you a heads-up in advance."
The man nodded. "If you need anything, tell Aaron."
"I won’t be shy about it, Sir," Zelo said with a grin. "It’s just a sha my girlfriend wants to have the wedding abroad, so I won’t be able to invite you for a celebratory drink."
Given Kian Keller’s current physical condition, he couldn’t be flying all over the place.
Kian Keller didn’t mind missing the drink. He paused for a mont, then asked, "How long have you two been together?"
Zelo replied, "Eight years and thirty-two days."
Down to the very day.
"Getting married only after so long?" Kian Keller frowned.
"Well, my work has been a bit... unusual for the past few years. I couldn’t even settle down myself, so bringing up marriage would have been irresponsible of ."
"She never brought it up either?"
"No. She’s a few years younger than , and she was focused on her studies back then. So we never discussed getting married so early on."
"But that doesn’t affect our relationship. We were going to get married sooner or later anyway."
Across from them, Aaron frowned, discreetly touched his ring finger, and then shook his head.
Zelo imdiately understood. He cleared his throat and added, "Actually, getting married isn’t all that important. Just being together, happy and content, is a gift from heaven."
"Ti is always moving forward, and so are people."
"A person’s life is so short. Instead of wasting ti tornting each other, it’s better to be together and cherish this precious ti that was so hard to co by."
"No matter what kind of relationship it is, as long as two people like each other, there’s no difference."
"Besides, a relationship is all about communication. So things just have to be said out loud."
Zelo lectured Kian Keller animatedly, vividly explaining to him what love is.
Zelo talked until his mouth was dry. He paused to rest and sneak a look at Kian Keller’s reaction.
After a long mont, he heard Kian Keller finally speak. "She says she likes , but I don’t feel it."
Aaron and Zelo exchanged a look, and for once, a rare, perfect understanding passed between them. In each other’s eyes, they saw the sa thought: ’We’re screwed.’
"Lately, I’ve been thinking about the first ti we t."
"Soone told she planned it."
"That every one of our etings after that was ticulously orchestrated by her."
Zelo froze. He hadn’t been in Jynsia recently, so he had no idea who had been talking to Kian Keller. He could only look at Aaron, but the other man remained silent, simply shaking his head.
Zelo cursed under his breath. ’Useless.’
"Ahem. Sir, let’s first put aside what Miss Grant’s motives might be. For now, it seems the person who told you these things also had less-than-pure intentions."
"I know." How could Kian Keller not understand that?
"Then why are you still agonizing over it? Do you feel like you were deceived? But in the current situation... it’s not realistic to expect you to just let her go."
’Could he really let her go?’
"I am agonizing over it." The man looked up, his eyes devoid of life. "But not over her motives."
"Then you’re..."
"Perhaps I was truly wrong."
"If, from the very beginning, I had been quick to notice her pain, to understand her hints, and to solve those problems for her... and then, if I had let her go, just a little. She would probably be happy to stay by my side now. And I wouldn’t have to be tornted by all the eyesores around her."
Zelo let out a soft "Huh?" This was a turn he hadn’t expected.
"So, you’re saying you don’t hate Miss Grant?"
"Why would I hate her?"
"Because of the way she approached you."
Kian Keller slowly shook his head. He sounded like soone who had finally found the truth after utter exhaustion—a tone of resignation mixed with relief. "She just wanted to live."
"All this ti, I never understood what kind of freedom she wanted."
"I thought giving her freedom ant not restricting or interfering in her private life."
"Only now do I understand that her life should be hers to control. What freedom truly is, what kind of life counts as free—those are things she alone should decide."
"Anything she doesn’t want, anything she is unwilling to do—all of it becos shackles that imprison her."
"The Grant Family was one of them. She fought desperately to escape the Grant Family just so she could have the right to control her own life."
"I tried to strip all of that away from her. So to her, I am also a cage she can never fly out of."
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