His thoughts exposed, Hayes Hughes was embarrassed for a second. Then, afraid she would misunderstand, he rushed to explain:
"I didn’t an anything by it, it’s just... I haven’t seen you in a long ti, and I wanted to look at you a little longer."
"..."
If Ian Sinclair or soone like him had said sothing like that, Mia Grant’s first reaction would have been to laugh sarcastically, then coo a sickeningly sweet coback.
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 ant 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 howork right into the water.
Later, the deskmate cried. After school that day, her brother ca to pick her up. He patiently comforted her in the classroom for a long, long ti, and even said he’d buy her candy.
From that mont on, she was always envious of people who had older brothers.
Especially a gentle brother like Hayes Hughes.
She rembered 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 seed to have a fondness for the color white.
That ti, 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 , 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 t for a mont 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 seed a little surprised, probably thinking she didn’t need to be so hard on herself.
For Hayes Hughes, he had spent most of his ti 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 tis 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 ti 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 mont, 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 ti, 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 soone who had a brother to buy her candy.’
In that mont, 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 al, 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 ntion 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 co find at the hospital. I can make you food and bring it over."
Coincidentally, the hospital where he worked was located right between his apartnt and Jynsia U.
In fact, Jynsia U was even closer to his hospital, just a pedestrian bridge away.
Mia Grant humd in acknowledgnt 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 mont 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 tis since we t yesterday."
"You’re like so 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 ho 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 ti he realized what he was doing, he was already there.
She ca 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 appointnt.
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 co back from the dead."
Seeing how distraught he was, his friend said, "Are you kidding ? You’re a doctor. When soone’s dead, they’re dead. What happened to you? Why would you say sothing 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 so sleeping pills and urged him to go ho and get so 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 simred 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 ti 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 mont the young man saw her, he eagerly rushed forward, hugging her from behind and nuzzling her neck affectionately. "Babe, why do you sll so good today?"
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