Free Web NovelChapter 358: Chapter 356: So She’s the Murderer
The hot soup splashed. Julian Vaughn quickly stood up, grabbed a towel, and pressed it to her hand. "Did you get burned? Go rinse it with cold water in the bathroom..."
Before he could finish, Mia Grant pulled her hand back and smiled. "I didn’t."
She used the towel to wipe the moisture from the back of her hand, then passed the soup to him.
Julian Vaughn looked at the back of her hand; it was a little red.
He looked at her with concern.
Mia Grant shook her hand. "It’s really nothing. I don’t feel any pain."
"It wasn’t that hot. Try it if you don’t believe me." She pointed to the soup by his hand.
Julian Vaughn checked and found it really wasn’t as hot as he’d imagined, so he sat back down, relieved.
After a pause, he asked, "Did that scare you?"
Snapping out of her daze, Mia Grant shook her head. "I just think it’s absurd. Don’t you? Who would actually listen to her and try to kill me?"
Julian Vaughn readily agreed. "I won’t contact her anymore."
Mia Grant stroked the warm soup bowl. It was a long moment before she looked up at him. "Brother, can I ask you for something?"
She had called him "brother" several times tonight, and Julian Vaughn was genuinely flattered.
If the previous times were just to play the so-called "kinship card"...
...this one sounded much more sincere.
"Go ahead. If it’s something I can do, I won’t refuse."
Mia Grant smiled. "You can do it."
"It’s simple. No matter what happens, I hope you won’t suspect or hurt them."
"What’s between me and them isn’t something that can be severed just like that, nor is it completely devoid of affection."
"I’m an adult. I know what I’m doing, and I can handle my own emotional problems properly."
"So..."
"I hope you and they can each go your own way and live in peace."
"You’re my family. I don’t want them to hurt you, and likewise, I don’t want to see you hurt them."
"As for Serena Grant, I also hope you meant what you just said. Don’t contact her again."
"For whatever reason, don’t contact her anymore."
After a long silence, Julian Vaughn nodded solemnly. "Okay."
Seeing this, Mia Grant finally broke into her first genuine smile of the evening.
On the way back, Mia Grant was a bit lost in thought.
She didn’t know why Julian Vaughn would have the same dream she did.
But the one thing she could be sure of was that it wasn’t a dream.
In the original book, the cannon fodder female supporting character had died long ago, so of course, the events from their "dream" weren’t in it.
’If it’s a prophetic dream...’
System: [Host, do not worry. With me here, you will not die.]
Hearing the System’s voice so suddenly, Mia Grant froze for a moment, then couldn’t help but chuckle. "I know."
"But... this has nothing to do with whether I die or not."
She leaned against the car window, her eyes downcast. "Even if I know I won’t die, getting stabbed by someone doesn’t feel very good."
[So, Host, who is that person?]
"Forget it. What’s the use in telling you? You’ve already guaranteed I won’t die."
"So there’s no need to get hung up on it. Who it is doesn’t matter."
The System was silent for a while before reminding her: [To be on the safe side, Host should still maintain a certain distance from that person. The current blackening value has already stabilized. Or... you could try a little harder and firmly capture his heart?]
"No." Mia Grant shook her head. She bit down hard on the tip of her tongue, only releasing it after feeling an unbearable pain. "I don’t want to change anything anymore."
"Actually, I’m quite looking forward to what’s going to happen next."
[Look... forward? What are you looking forward to? Are you looking forward to him making a move on you?]
"Yes."
"I’m just... so curious."
"Curious about why he would do it."
[What if he’s simply betraying you?]
"Then I’ll just kill him. If he’s betrayed me, what’s the point in keeping him around?"
[What if he has reasons he can’t speak of?]
"Hmm... Then I’ll let him have a quick death? I’ll try to solve the problem with a single strike, how about that?"
[...]
[Host, could you really bring yourself to do it?]
"Your question is like asking which is worse: emotional cheating or physical cheating."
"The answer is, they both deserve to die."
"If he can bring himself to harm me, why should I have any qualms?"
"The moment he’s hanging on the wall is when he’ll become a true white moonlight."
"Don’t you think?"
[...]
***
Mia Grant had insomnia again.
It was nearly three in the morning. Having tried counting sheep and even counting dumplings, she still couldn’t sleep, so she got up and took a sleeping pill.
Sleep did not arrive as expected.
Her brain felt like it was on stimulants, abnormally alert.
The moment things got quiet, she would start thinking uncontrollably.
Thinking about things that had happened in the past, and thinking about things that hadn’t happened yet but possibly could.
For instance, she began to review the day’s events.
She replayed everything from what she ate for breakfast all the way to how many times she’d used her body wash in the shower.
’Doesn’t seem like there were any problems.’
Letting out a slow breath, Mia Grant pulled the blanket up higher, took her twenty-third deep breath, and prepared to fall asleep.
A few seconds later, her eyes shot open.
’Something’s wrong!’
’Something isn’t right!’
’Why didn’t the System stop me when I said I was going to kill one of the male leads...’
’Why?’
Mia Grant clutched the blanket.
’Because in the original plot’s ending, one of the male leads did indeed die a violent death—’
’The System had reminded her repeatedly that the plot has an auto-correcting ability, which was beyond the System’s control.’
’The major plot points in the story could not be changed.’
’In other words...’
’The identity of the killer, the time, the place—all of that might change, but the death itself was a foregone conclusion.’
’Following the plot’s progression, if her dream became reality, she would definitely kill in retaliation.’
’And with that, the original book’s ending would be achieved.’
***
After a long time, Mia Grant cautiously let out a breath.
She had thought that by stopping Julian Vaughn, she could change the ending for one of the male leads.
If she hadn’t realized it now, then following the current trajectory, she might not have discovered why a male lead dies at the end until the very last moment!
’So that means...’
’That means, in the original book’s ending, the male lead who died an unnatural death was... was...’
’Hayes Hughes.’
Mia Grant violently threw off the covers and sat up.
Despite having just taken a sleeping pill, she was now terrifyingly agitated.
It took her several tries to unlock her phone. Mia Grant pulled up her call history, found Hayes Hughes’s number, and pressed it—
She tossed her phone onto the bed.
She stared at the illuminated screen and rubbed the bridge of her nose forcefully.
’What would she say if she called?’
’What could she even say?’
’That he was going to die?’
She’d probably end up like Serena Grant, sent off to a sanitarium.
’Besides, even if he believed her, what then?’
’Could he, or she, or anyone, change this ending?’
After a good while, Mia Grant let out a breath.
She had thought that knowing which male lead was fated to die a violent death in the original book would make her feel a little more at ease.
Unfortunately, it didn’t.
Especially knowing that she was very likely to become the killer herself. It was like finishing a dark fairy tale, leaving her chilled to the bone.
’This ending is the absolute worst.’
