Chapter 152 - 150: His Leg Can’t Be Saved
During such a sensitive time, Mia Grant was terrified the old man would pull the same trick again.
Her pace quickened as Mia Grant forced herself to stay calm, pulling out her phone to quickly make a call.
The shadow behind her closed in, and a hand stealthily reached around in front of her...
Mia Grant was on her guard. In one swift motion, she dodged aside and turned to face him. "Stop! Move again and I’m calling the police!"
Their eyes met, and the young man who had been behind her gave an awkward smile.
He wasn’t a complete stranger.
Just like Sean Cole, whom she’d seen not long ago, she felt like she had seen this man somewhere before, too.
But her memories were too jumbled for her to place him right away.
"Madam, you don’t have to be so nervous. I won’t hurt you." The man’s smile was shy, yet held a hint of cautious eagerness to please.
"...Mad...am?" The bizarre form of address struck Mia Grant like a bolt of lightning from a clear sky.
Her gaze swept over him, and Mia Grant frowned at the handkerchief in his hand. If she remembered correctly, this was the hand he had just snaked around in front of her.
If she hadn’t dodged...
This whole scenario felt disturbingly familiar.
Suddenly, an image flashed through her mind.
The corner of her mouth twitched. Her tense nerves relaxed slightly as she stared at him and said in a low voice, "You work for Kian Keller."
It was a statement, not a question.
The man gave a sheepish laugh. "You’re so smart, Madam!"
"..."
Closing her eyes, Mia Grant took a deep breath and lowered her phone. "Is he looking for me? Look, man, can we make a deal? Could you please not use this method to take me away every time?"
The man explained matter-of-factly, "We were afraid you wouldn’t cooperate, that you might run or shout and attract attention. So this was the only way to ’invite’ you to come with us."
"It’s convenient, fast, and worry-free!"
"..." Taking a deep breath, Mia Grant raised her hand again. She really, really wanted to call the police.
"Just go back for now. I’ll call him in a bit to explain. I don’t have time to go see him tonight."
The man hesitated, then took a step forward and whispered, "Madam, actually... I’m here to protect you."
Mia Grant let out a dry laugh. "I’ll be perfectly safe as long as you’re not ’protecting’ me."
The man scratched his head, at a loss. He paused for a moment before saying, "You won’t be able to reach Mr. Keller right now."
He seemed too dense to be malicious. Sensing he meant no real harm, Mia Grant sighed. "Why not? What is this really about? Spit it out, I’m in a hurry."
"Someone from the Keller family estate wants to see you. We were worried something might happen to you while Mr. Keller is away, so just in case, the butler and I took matters into our own hands. We wanted to take you somewhere safe to protect you for the time being."
His words made Mia Grant’s brow furrow as questions popped into her head one after another.
"Why do the people from the estate want to see me? Did your Mr. Keller say something?"
"And where is he?"
After returning from Portia, Kian Keller had left the moment they got off the plane. She hadn’t even had a chance to say a word to him.
They had parted ways at the airport and had no contact since.
There had been too much going on. The shock of the engagement party was significant, and she hadn’t had the headspace to worry about Kian Keller.
"Mr. Keller is on a business trip abroad right now. He won’t be back for a while."
This man was clearly a terrible liar. Everything from his words to his eyes was full of holes.
His expression seemed to say, ’Even though I’m lying to you, you have to believe me.’
"Go back."
"Aren’t you coming with me, Madam? If the people from the estate come for you, I might not be able to get you out."
"You’re hiding something from me, so I can’t trust you." Mia Grant spread her hands in a helpless gesture. "Let’s just leave it at that. It’s not like they can kill me, so whatever."
"..."
Completely cornered, the man looked troubled. Seeing that she was about to leave, he quickly blurted out, "Mr. Keller is at the estate. He’s been confined. We don’t know when he’ll be let out. That’s why he sent us to protect you."
"Because of me?" Mia Grant asked, confused.
"More or less. It’s probably related to what happened on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival. When Mr. Keller heard you were going to Portia, he left the family banquet before it was even over."
Mia Grant fell silent.
She had always thought Kian Keller’s appearance was a coincidence.
She clearly remembered that on that day, Kian Keller’s flight had landed before hers and Yates Donovan’s.
She had assumed he was in Portia on a business trip.
’Back then, she had even marveled at it. He was a sick man, yet he was working overtime on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival. What job could possibly be that important? Was there no one else in the entire company who could do it?’
’It was practically abuse of a person with disabilities.’
’No wonder he got along with Silas Grant. They were both workaholics who’d choose money over their own lives.’
But it turned out he had come looking for her...
After some careful thought, Mia Grant looked up, her tone softening. "I can’t go with you. If it’s convenient, you can protect me from the shadows. If not, that’s fine too."
"But instead of worrying about me, my advice is that you should go figure out a way to get Kian Keller out of there. His health is poor. He needs you more than I do."
"Go find the butler and Aaron. I’ll protect myself. After today, I won’t be leaving the school for a while."
"But Madam..."
"Don’t follow me anymore, or I really will call the police. Your Mr. Keller isn’t in a position to bail you out right now."
"..."
——
When she arrived at Hayes Hughes’s house, Mia Grant went out to the balcony and looked down.
Kian Keller’s man hadn’t left yet; he was still loitering downstairs.
After a moment, he seemed to take a call and finally left, albeit reluctantly.
Seeing this, she breathed a sigh of relief and opened her phone to quickly order some personal self-defense weapons online.
Things like pepper spray, a personal alarm, and a telescopic baton.
「Meanwhile, at a private hospital.」
Hayes Hughes walked out of the operating room, wearily pinching the back of his neck.
"Dr. Hughes, want to have dinner with us tonight? A lot of the young women in our department have a crush on you and are clamoring to have a meal with you."
It was supposedly just dinner, but it was actually a matchmaking mixer. An excellent catch like Hayes Hughes had to be claimed by someone from within the hospital.
Hearing this, Hayes Hughes smiled as he walked. "I’m afraid I can’t today. Someone’s waiting for me at home."
The one trying to set him up was Dr. Murray from the next department, who had graduated from the same university and was therefore friendlier with him.
Dr. Murray immediately caught the implication, both surprised and delighted. "I thought you were single, Dr. Hughes!"
Hayes Hughes’s lip quirked, but for once, he didn’t offer an explanation.
A few of them took the elevator down and ran into Mr. Wallace from Orthopedics, greeting him.
"Aren’t you on leave? Why are you here so late? Did you have a surgery?" Dr. Murray asked.
Mr. Wallace waved his hand, took a sip from his thermos, and said slowly, "An important patient came in."
"Who is it?" This was a private hospital that often treated some of Jynsia’s wealthiest and most prominent families. Dr. Murray looked ready for some gossip.
"The one from the Keller family."
Hearing this, Hayes Hughes, who was standing to the side, felt his gaze flicker. "Kian Keller?"
Mr. Wallace hummed in confirmation. "He nearly lost his leg."