Free Web NovelChapter 332: Chapter 330: He Is Her Dog
The plane landed in Jynsia on Saturday evening.
Back at her dorm, Mia Grant shared some local specialties she had brought back with her roommates, then took her phone out to the balcony.
She moved a small stool into a corner and sat down. While waiting for the call to connect, she pulled her jacket tighter around her.
"Hello? Mia Grant?"
Simon Adler’s voice on the other end made Mia Grant jump. She quickly pressed the phone to her ear. "It’s me."
Simon Adler wasn’t surprised she had called him. To be precise, he had been waiting for Mia Grant’s call ever since his brief phone conversation with Carla Sinclair the night before.
It was why he’d lost sleep the previous night. He’d shown up to an early meeting at the office with dark circles under his eyes, and Silas Grant had even pulled him aside to interrogate him for a bit.
He kept checking his phone all day at work, making it obvious to everyone around him that he was waiting for an important call.
Someone even asked if he was waiting on a major partner.
He thought about it. ’Close enough.’
After all, he was about to establish a long-term partnership with Mia Grant.
That’s right. He didn’t think a pragmatist like Mia Grant would give up on this partnership just because she had rejected his confession.
It would be a considerable loss for her.
It wasn’t that he was being arrogant; it was just that looking at the sorry bunch of guys around her, there was really no one else who could protect her interests.
That was why he knew, with absolute certainty, that Mia Grant would call him.
The only surprise was that he had to wait a whole day for the call.
"Is this a good time? I need to discuss something important with you."
"Carla Sinclair told me about it. Just tell me what you have in mind."
"I don’t really have one," Mia Grant said, giving him the upper hand. "As for the stock dividends, just tell me what your demands are."
"I want to hear your bottom line first."
Mia hesitantly quoted a figure. She didn’t know much about these things, but she had done some research before making the call.
It was a very tempting figure, to be sure.
But this was Simon Adler she was dealing with.
She had no idea if it would be enough to move him.
The man on the other end seemed to fall into a thoughtful silence.
Mia wasn’t in a hurry. "You can take your time to think it over. Just get back to me within a week. Or if you have other ideas, we can negotiate."
"Alright."
"Okay, well, that’s all for now." Mia prepared to hang up. They didn’t know each other well, and aside from business, there was nothing else to discuss.
"Wait." Simon snapped back to reality and quickly stopped her. "When I said ’alright,’ I meant I accept your proposal."
"..." Mia was stunned. "Are you... sure?"
"Positive."
Now it was Mia’s turn to fall silent.
Simon Adler was positive, but she, on the other hand, wasn’t so sure.
The number she’d given wasn’t her actual bottom line; she had left some room to maneuver.
Silas Grant had taught her back at a high school charity sale that you can’t reveal your lowest price from the start. Business is about give-and-take; you have to give the other person a chance to haggle.
If even she understood that principle, there was no way a seasoned veteran like Simon Adler didn’t.
So she had been prepared for him to bargain.
’I never would have thought it would be... over? Just like that?’
"You don’t have to go easy on me for anyone’s sake..."
Before Mia could finish her sentence, he suddenly hit her with a much higher demand. Her eyes widened. "That’s extortion!"
The man’s hearty laughter came through the phone. "See? You’re not willing to give any more than that. So, let’s just go with what you said. I have no objections."
"It’s not about doing anyone a favor. I have my own reasons for this."
Mia stroked her chin, considered it seriously, and said, "Alright then. Just as long as you don’t back out at the last minute."
Now she was worried Simon Adler would suddenly make an exorbitant demand.
"Turn on your call recording. I’ll repeat it."
"..." Mia wanted to say never mind, but ’this is business,’ she thought. ’It’s better to be cautious.’
"Okay, it’s on," she said, not very confidently.
Simon Adler then carefully restated the results of their negotiation.
"Is this recording even useful? If you back out, can I use this recording to sue you?"
"Then what would you prefer? You could fly to Portia right now, and we could sign and put it in writing in person."
"Never mind, never mind. This is fine," Mia said, looking embarrassed.
"So we have a deal. If you back out, you’re a... dog."
Simon laughed.
"This is why I say I like you."
"..." Mia frowned. "Why bring that up all of a sudden?"
"No reason. Just an observation. If I didn’t like you, I would’ve cussed you out for saying something like that."
"..."
Mia hung up the phone.
’That jerk!’
She closed her contacts list and opened her chat with Carla Sinclair. "Good evening. I’ve come to an agreement with Simon Adler. I’ll have to trouble you with the rest."
Carla Sinclair was really busy. She only replied after lights-out in the dorm.
She first replied with a simple, "Okay."
Then she asked, "What are your plans for Julian Vaughn?"
Mia thought for a moment, then typed, "I’ll call him tomorrow."
After a moment’s hesitation, she deleted the message and asked instead, "Is he in Portia these days?"
"He should be back in a couple of days."
"Okay, in that case, I’ll find a chance to talk to him in person."
She actually had other things to discuss with Julian Vaughn anyway.
After thanking Carla Sinclair, Mia put her phone down and prepared to go to sleep.
「Meanwhile, in Portia.」
Carla Sinclair scrolled through their chat history. The most common phrases were things like "Thank you," "Sorry to trouble you," and "My apologies for bothering you."
It seemed their relationship had never become particularly close.
’I should find an opportunity to close the distance between us.’
They had spent several days together during the New Year, and the ice between them had finally started to break. But after they parted ways, Carla had been too busy to stay in touch, and now things were back to square one.
’Mia is like a little squirrel,’ she thought. ’You have to approach her constantly to earn her trust.’
’It will be a long process, but the result should be well worth the effort.’
’Once she gets familiar with you, the little squirrel is actually very affectionate.’
’What does my sister like...’
’She doesn’t really seem to have anything she’s particularly fond of.’
The file on her showed that Mia Grant’s interests were wide-ranging, but she mostly just dabbled in one thing or another.
After some thought, Carla Sinclair took out her phone.
The next morning, the first thing Mia saw when she opened her eyes was a text alert from her bank. It showed that a deposit had been made to her bank card just before midnight—
"Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, hundred thousands, millions..."
Mia’s eyes widened. "What the hell?!"
Ten million.
She shot bolt upright, her mind instantly clear.
No, she wasn’t just clear-headed—she felt utterly refreshed and invigorated.
Her lifelong dream had been to get something for nothing—to be able to lie around doing absolutely nothing while money just flowed into her bank account.
But this joy, like she’d won the lottery, didn’t last long.
She checked the transaction details and, seeing the funds had been transferred from Carla Sinclair, her expression slowly grew puzzled.
She was about to ask about it when she noticed the note on the transaction: "This month’s allowance."
"..." Mia sucked in a sharp breath. ’So this is what it’s like to be part of a wealthy family? Ten million for a monthly allowance?’
She was hesitant to accept it, so she scrolled through her WeChat contacts and finally found Yates Donovan to ask him what she should do.
To her surprise, without a word, Yates Donovan transferred 13,140,000 to her account...
"Is that enough, kid?"
