Free Web NovelChapter 347: Chapter 345: They Are All Seriously Ill
They really did need some reassurance.
Seeing them arrive had eased Mia Grant’s initial tension. But beneath their impeccable facades, they were still deeply unsettled.
She was smiling.
Her complexion was already pale, and the smile made her look all the more like a delicate white flower, resiliently blooming against the wind.
CRUNCH.
Yates Donovan bit down, shattering the chocolate stick he was holding in his mouth. It was a little snack he’d swiped from the nearby breakroom before Mia Grant arrived.
He’d actually wanted a cigarette, but the setting didn’t feel right, so he’d grabbed a chocolate stick to busy himself with instead.
Mia Grant’s gaze shifted back to him at the sound, her expression unchanged.
Still, Yates Donovan understood the question in her eyes.
While they waited for the doctor, Silas Grant stepped into the hallway to take a call.
It must have been a work call. In just five minutes, Mia Grant heard him switch constantly between Cantonese and English, mixed in with a few phrases of... Italian? She couldn’t quite make it out.
It sounded like he was speaking to several different people.
It was an international call.
Mia Grant didn’t focus on the call, letting her attention drift to the man sitting across from her instead.
He had been steeling himself for an "interrogation" ever since her last look.
So he just spread his hands, chuckled, and said, "We honestly didn’t coordinate this. Hell if I know how he found out. I thought you were the one who told him."
"I can swear on my..."
He seemed to struggle for a moment. "I swear on my integrity."
"..." Mia Grant raised an eyebrow. "Next time, try swearing on something you actually possess."
Instead of getting angry, Yates Donovan laughed.
He had to admit, he kind of missed her sharp tongue.
He felt much better now.
He couldn’t help but wonder if he had some masochistic tendencies.
Every time she was passive-aggressive or told him off, he actually felt a little thrill of excitement.
"Anyway, I didn’t tell anyone."
"He was already sitting here when I arrived."
"Sometimes I honestly wonder which city is his home turf, Portia or Jynsia."
"It’s like nothing gets past him."
"He didn’t ask me anything, though. We just sat here in silence until you showed up."
On this point, he wasn’t lying to Mia Grant.
When Yates Donovan had stepped onto the second floor and seen the familiar figure, he too had frozen for a few seconds before offering a casual greeting.
Silas Grant, however, hadn’t seemed surprised to see him.
Aside from a few brief words of greeting at the start, neither of them had spoken again.
It was true that Yates was good at lightening the mood, but Silas Grant had kept his eyes closed the entire time, perfectly still, as if resting.
Uncertain if the other man was actually asleep, and feeling rather preoccupied himself, Yates hadn’t tried to break the heavy silence with small talk.
It wasn’t until Mia Grant pushed open the door downstairs that the chime of the doorbell spiraled up the staircase, reaching both of their ears clearly.
Only then did Silas Grant show any sign of stirring.
Yates noticed the man’s fingers, which were resting on an insulated bag, twitch.
He vaguely realized that Silas Grant wasn’t just taking a nap.
This unusual silence, it seemed, was because of... nervousness.
In the past twenty-plus years, of everyone Yates had ever known, regardless of background or age, Silas Grant was without a doubt the most mentally formidable person he’d ever met.
In all the years they’d known each other, he’d never seen Silas Grant lose his composure, never seen him swayed by emotion—not even by something as common as nervousness or anxiety.
In private, they’d played sports, gambled, and drank together—all activities that tended to reveal a person’s true nature—and Silas Grant was always perfectly composed, sitting back and watching everyone with a faint smile.
He was like a gamer with a god’s-eye view, or a final boss pulling all the strings from behind the scenes, always effortlessly in control.
Yates knew, of course, that Silas Grant’s affability was just a false mask. But he had to admit, beyond that one fact, the man’s facade was flawless.
It was rare to catch a glimpse of the "mortal" in Silas Grant.
’So, Silas Grant is just like me,’ he realized. ’He’s even more scared than I am.’
He had a pretty good idea why Silas was even more nervous than he was.
It was probably the guilt eating at him.
After all, Yates, like Hayes Hughes, had vaguely known for a long time that something wasn’t right with Mia Grant. They were mentally prepared for a day like this.
Silas Grant, on the other hand... while he wasn’t the last to find out, for a man like him, not being the first was the same as being the last.
It was actually becoming clear now that Silas had his own obsessive streak when it came to Mia.
Then again, everyone here was pretty messed up.
Thinking about all the people around Mia, every single one of them was seriously messed up.
Frankly, a psycho of his caliber probably ranked near the bottom of the list.
At 10:28, the doctor pushed the door open. He’d asked the receptionist downstairs, learned that Mia Grant had arrived, and had rushed up with his briefcase.
He paused for a second upon seeing the three of them upstairs, then smiled in greeting.
Yates Donovan hadn’t actually revealed any of Mia Grant’s personal information when he’d made the appointment.
Dr. Quinlan’s eyes instinctively swept over the trio before landing precisely on Mia Grant. "This way, please."
Then, to the two men, he added, "You two can wait here."
Mia Grant clutched the glass of milk in her hand, and after a moment’s thought, she took the half-finished glass in with her.
Just before she went in, a hand gently stroked her hair from behind. "What would you like for lunch?"
Without turning, Mia Grant thought for a moment. "Noodles, I think."
"But I don’t know what kind."
"You can decide on the way there," Silas Grant said.
"Okay."
Mia Grant went inside.
A moment later, the receptionist brought two cups of coffee into the room and lowered the blinds before leaving, blocking the two men’s line of sight.
"How long do you think it will be?" Yates Donovan asked.
The receptionist thought for a moment. "If it’s just a simple consultation, an hour at most."
"If it includes hypnosis, then the time is uncertain."
"It really depends on the patient’s willingness to cooperate."
It was going to be a long haul.
No one knew how long it would take to be over.
* * *
Mia Grant sat down. The chair was comfortable to recline in, providing a sense of security, like being held in a familiar embrace.
She gazed at the light reflecting off the ceiling, lost in thought for a few moments, then asked, "Dr. Quinlan, I feel like I’ve seen you before."
Dr. Quinlan, surprised, sat down in the chair beside her. "Is that so? I can’t say I recall."
"I was just trying to place where I’d seen you, and I finally remembered."
"It was in my second brother’s study."
"One time when he was working, I had nothing to do, so I was just looking around his study. I saw a photo album, and he said I could look through it."
"You and he were in a photo together."
Dr. Quinlan smiled. "If you don’t mind my asking, what is your second brother’s name?"
"His last name is Hughes. He’s a cardiothoracic surgeon named Hayes Hughes." As she spoke, she tilted her head to look at him.
Dr. Quinlan’s eyes lit with recognition. "Ah, we met at a conference. We did take a photo together then."
Then he complimented her, "You have a very good memory. That photo was taken quite a few years ago."
But Mia Grant shook her head, disagreeing. "Quite the opposite. My memory is terrible. Many of my memories are like fragments that I can never piece together."
