Chapter 162 - 160: The Ascetic’s Fall
The moment he said those three words, "I’ve seen it," Mia’s world went dark.
’Seriously, man? Is that something a human being would say?’
’Seen it? That spot... How could he have seen it?’
Mia’s cheeks flushed crimson, and her voice trembled when she spoke again. "When did this happen? I... I... How do I not know about this?"
"One time, you were swimming in the pool. Your swimsuit came undone, and I accidentally saw it."
Silence.
A difficult swallow.
After doing this a few times, Mia lowered her head and asked, her voice barely a whisper:
"Did you only see... the mole?"
This time, the other end of the line was silent.
’Okay, okay, she knew the answer.’
Taking a deep breath, Mia refused to dwell on it.
An image was already forming in her mind. She tried hard to banish it, attempting to change the subject to let her burning cheeks cool down.
Unexpectedly, Kian Keller gave her no such chance, answering with brutal honesty, "More than that."
"..."
Mia closed her eyes, and the image in her mind grew clearer.
There was a period when she had been living at Kian Keller’s place.
His house had a huge swimming pool. It was the middle of summer, and in order to get closer to him, she had pretended she couldn’t swim and begged him to teach her.
The man was unmoved.
’He was even harder to win over than she had anticipated.’
Left with no choice, she played her trump card. She got into the water herself, then pretended to slip and drown, forcing him to come in and save her.
Fortunately, he was still human enough not to just stand by and watch. But all he did was stand at the edge of the pool, lean over slightly, and extend a hand to her.
That was it.
"Grab it. Get out."
’So cold.’
At first, she had only wanted to borrow his power to live a better life. Later, her desire to conquer took over, and she truly wanted to pluck this flower from its high peak.
His impervious facade was infuriating to watch; she longed to see another side of him.
One that was captivated by her, that would go crazy for her.
’The sight of a stoic man falling from grace—who wouldn’t love that?’
She grabbed his hand and, when he wasn’t paying attention, gave it a hard yank.
SPLASH.
A dark figure fell into the pool.
Before he could react, she latched onto him with all her limbs as if grabbing a lifeline, holding on for dear life.
"Let go." The man’s voice was ice-cold. One hand gripped the back of her neck, ready to toss her aside.
"The water isn’t deep. Stand up straight. You won’t die."
"Mia Grant, let go!"
His tone grew increasingly impatient.
She deliberately ignored him.
In the midst of their struggle, the ties on both sides of her swimsuit came loose.
She noticed it quickly and, with a slightly embarrassed expression, slid off him.
His expression had been awful, his suit completely soaked. After breaking free, he turned and walked toward the shore, not even sparing her a glance.
She was in no mood to continue the act either. She silently turned around and frantically fumbled with the ties of her bikini in the water, trying to tie them in a crazy knot.
’And she thought he hadn’t seen anything...’
Mia slowly crouched down, touching her burning cheeks.
’It’s fine, it’s fine.’
’It’s no big deal.’
’It’s not like he saw everything.’
"Ahem." After reassuring herself, Mia cleared her throat. "Are you still at the hospital? How do you have time to call me?"
"Still at the hospital."
"Thanks to you, the elders in my family are very reassured about me now."
"..." Mia blinked, unable to recall what she could have done. "I haven’t met them. I’ve been at school these past few days, I haven’t gone out at all."
"And no strange people or phone calls have come looking for me."
The other end of the line went quiet, and Mia thought he had hung up.
Just as she was about to pull the phone away from her ear to check, she heard him question her in a low voice, "The engagement. Aren’t you going to explain?"
"..."
"Surprised I know about it?"
"Probably not. You already gave me a heads-up, didn’t you."
He started answering his own questions. He was truly furious, and every word dripped with sourness.
That sarcastic, passive-aggressive tone was incredibly out of character coming from him.
"Never thought I’d one day receive your engagement invitation."
"Thanks to this invitation, everyone in the Keller family is even happier than the Sinclair family. I almost thought it was the Keller family that had something to celebrate."
Just because they heard the news of the union between Felix Sinclair and Mia Grant, the elders were now very reassured about him.
For the past few days, his uncle had people following Mia constantly.
The moment they heard the news, they pulled back everyone who was tailing her.
Mia scratched her cheek guiltily.
"Don’t be angry, don’t be angry. You’ll hurt yourself."
"I can explain this to you slowly. It’s definitely not what the rumors are saying."
"I know."
"You know what?"
"That it’s a fake engagement."
"Huh..." Mia was confused, her voice as soft as a mosquito’s buzz. "Then why are you still mad?"
Her voice softened at the end, almost like she was whining coquettishly.
Kian Keller’s brow twitched. ’This trick again.’
’It really does work every single time.’
’Perhaps she knows for a fact that it works on him.’
"The one engaged to you should be me."
"Even if it’s fake, even if it’s just in name only, it should be me."
"Well... I’m sorry."
"How about... next time?"
Mia rubbed her nose sheepishly. ’She knew he was the most difficult one.’
"Next time, okay? Don’t be in such a rush."
’Everyone gets a chance.’
"Look on the bright side. At least now your family’s elders won’t be monitoring you and me anymore. We’re free."
The person on the other end of the line didn’t say anything.
’He’s probably fuming.’
Mia had no other choice and, deciding to just go for broke, asked, "So, are you coming to the engagement party?"
The person on the other end’s breathing hitched.
"If you had any heart at all, you wouldn’t have asked that, and you wouldn’t have let that invitation get to me."
He was truly angry.
In Kian Keller’s eyes, so what if it was fake?
The man standing beside her, taking the title of her fiancé, was still another man.
And besides, was it really fake?
Over time, the brand would be seared onto her skin, like a label, binding them together completely.
What if she had a change of heart, or her feelings were stirred?
Who could guarantee it would remain fake for a lifetime?
With her tendency to be a savior to all...
’What’s the difference between that and it being real?’
The engagement was probably already settled before she came to see him at the hospital.
But she hadn’t mentioned a single word about it.
She had only given him a "heads-up," perhaps because she was afraid he would make a move against the Sinclair Family.
It had to be said, her "preventative shot" was indeed effective.
When he first heard the news, he thought it was a lie fabricated by his elders to keep him in line.
Until he received the invitation.
It was clear the Sinclair family placed great importance on Mia Grant; the invitation was handwritten by the old master of the Sinclair family himself.
For the first time, he found the name "Mia Grant" so jarring to the eye.
’Then again.’
’What fault was it of hers?’
’But why did she have to invite him personally?’
’What was the difference between this and twisting the knife in the wound?’
Kian Keller’s chest heaved violently.
The weather wasn’t good today, and the bones in his leg throbbed with a dull ache.
It hurt so much that cold sweat had already beaded on his forehead.
But for a moment, he couldn’t tell which was more painful—the wound in his leg, or the ache in his heart.
On the other end of the line, a certain someone, seemingly oblivious to the sourness in his words, said cheerfully, "Well, that’s perfect! You just focus on recovering in the hospital and don’t go running around."