Chapter 163 - 161: My Fiancé
After managing to placate Kian Keller, Mia Grant started discussing the arrangements for the engagement party with Felix Sinclair.
It was a little more complicated than she had imagined.
She had thought all she needed to do was show up with Felix.
She never expected the process to be so elaborate that it even required a rehearsal.
This was the first time Mia Grant had left campus since her last visit to Kian Keller in the hospital.
She didn’t know if it was just her imagination, but it felt like the prying eyes that followed her had genuinely become fewer.
For the past few days, her life had been a straight line between the academic building and her dorm. Forget the library—she hadn’t even been to the cafeteria. She was only surviving because her roommate brought her meals every day.
Even so, every day when she left her dorm for class, she could still feel someone watching her from the shadows, as if she were in a big reality TV show with cameras following her everywhere.
Now, she could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
The engagement party venue was a newly opened luxury hotel in the west of Jynsia, designed to look like an old castle estate—mysterious, grand, and luxuriously understated.
The Sinclair family had spared no expense, booking out the entire hotel a week in advance.
Aside from the Sinclairs, the hotel was not accepting any other guests.
"Mrs. Sinclair." Mrs. Sinclair had already been waiting for them for some time.
The moment she saw Mia, Mrs. Sinclair beamed, taking her hand and pulling her close. "It’s only been a few days, and our Mia has gotten even more beautiful."
Mia blushed at the compliment.
"Come, come, let’s go up and see the venue. If there’s anything you don’t like, we still have time to make adjustments."
"Okay." Mia nodded obediently.
Mrs. Sinclair beckoned, "Felix, keep up."
The ballroom was on the fourth floor. Following them were four managers from the hotel, as well as the venue’s designer.
The large group swept into the elevator.
On the fourth floor, staff waiting by the ballroom entrance immediately smiled at their approach. They bowed slightly in greeting before two of them, one on each side, pulled open the massive, heavy, carved arched doors.
Mia stood at the very front, her hand held by Mrs. Sinclair.
Before she could even see inside, as soon as the doors opened a mere finger’s width, the fragrance of flowers washed over them, a refreshing and heart-lifting scent.
The scent of roses, gardenias, and jasmine.
There seemed to be a few other scents mixed in, but for now, Mia could only identify those three.
As the gap in the doors widened, the light from inside poured out. It was a gentle, warm tone, softly touching their feet like the afterglow of a sunset.
An expanse of orange filled her vision.
It instantly reminded Mia of a scene from a long time ago, back in school.
Every time class ended in the afternoon, on her way to the cafeteria, she would somehow always run into Felix.
Sometimes on the third floor, sometimes on the second, or in the main lobby...
It was as if he had performed a precise calculation; he always managed to appear at the turn of the staircase at just the right moment, then fall into step with her.
He never said anything, preferring to just walk silently beside her.
Just like now, he stood behind her. She was mesmerized by the sight before her, and he was lost in it all, mesmerized by her.
Just like every evening from the past.
She would walk, admiring and marveling at the dusk.
And his gaze, as always, would linger on her.
Mia swallowed hard, rooted to the spot, not daring to move.
Even without having gone inside, she could feel how grand and extravagant it was.
No one would dislike this feeling of being so valued.
Except...
’But... we’re fake.’
"Come on, Mia, let’s go take a look inside."
"Ah... okay." Mia’s feet felt as if they were filled with lead; every step was exceptionally difficult.
A spiral staircase wound its way down into a sea of flowers, with a full flower wall standing to one side. Candlelight flickered, like a lone boat drifting quietly in an evening breeze, casting beautiful shadows on the flower wall.
With just one look, Mia’s breath caught.
Forget an engagement—this level of grandeur would be more than enough for a wedding.
A scene like this... before today, she wouldn’t have even dared to imagine it.
The most extravagant event she had ever seen in this life—no, in both her lives—was Serena Grant’s university acceptance party on a cruise ship.
Perhaps the banquet when Serena Grant returned to the Grant Family was even grander, but she hadn’t attended and hadn’t seen it with her own eyes.
The cruise ship party was an extravagance she had experienced firsthand.
Serena Grant liked pink roses, so the cruise ship was covered in them.
Not even the guest rooms on the cruise ship were spared.
When Mrs. Sinclair wasn’t looking, Mia glanced back at Felix, whose eyes met hers.
They had reached a level of tacit understanding where they knew what the other was thinking without needing to speak.
His gaze held a hint of affirmation, as if he were answering her unspoken question.
Mia found it unbelievable. After a pause, she still asked aloud, "Did you arrange for all these flowers?"
"I did."
’I knew it,’ she thought. He really understood what she wanted.
"How did you know?"
Felix was also a little curious. She hadn’t seen the design plans, so how would she know this part was his handiwork?
She smiled, her eyes softening. "Because I remember telling you that I really wanted to see a sea of flowers."
’That was it.’
Felix had never had the chance to fulfill her wish.
She had said she liked flowers.
He had asked about the type, and she had smiled and said anything was fine; she liked all sorts of colorful flowers.
As long as they were in bloom, she liked them.
Preferably in a vast field, stretching to the horizon.
The first time he wanted to give her flowers was after the college entrance exams ended, but the traffic was terrible that day. By the time he arrived, she had already gone home.
Later, at the graduation party, he bought flowers again. Unfortunately, he didn’t get to give them to her. That night, she left with Ian Sinclair.
And then there was Serena Grant’s university acceptance party.
He didn’t know Serena Grant well. He attended because of the relationship between their two families, and... because Mia was there too.
That day, he had prepared flowers as well.
But he couldn’t bring them onto the ship.
He had it all planned: when the ship docked, he would take her to see a sea of flowers.
And then...
’That would be the perfect chance to confess my feelings,’ he had thought.
So, during their time on the ship, he hadn’t even dared to approach her or meet her gaze. His mind was a wreck. He’d written and rewritten what he wanted to say, going through pages of drafts, but none of them felt right.
He wasn’t eloquent, but he was trying his hardest to express what was in his heart.
But... he missed his chance again.
Again and again, he missed his chance.
So this time, even if it was all an act, he wanted to quietly see this sea of flowers with her.
"This is just part of it. The fresh flowers will wilt, so they’ll be replaced with new ones on the day of the engagement party."
Felix tightened his grip on her hand. "So, you will come that day, right?"
"..."
Mia was stunned.
’He noticed.’
’He’d noticed her impulse to back out.’
’Even if it was just for a fleeting moment, he had caught on.’
Snapping back to reality, Mia gave a relaxed smile. "Of course."
She squeezed his hand back. "Cheer up, my fiancé."