Free Web NovelChapter 359: Chapter 357: Biting Down Ruthlessly
It was a sleepless night.
The next day in class, Mia Grant nearly got caught by the professor for dozing off.
After struggling through class, Mia skipped lunch and snuck back to her dorm to catch up on sleep.
But she didn’t get to sleep for very long.
She had another class in the afternoon, so Mia scarfed down a few bites of the food her roommate had brought back for her and headed out.
When class ended again, she ran into Ian Sinclair on her way out of the classroom.
"You were looking for me?"
He handed her the small cake and milk tea he was holding, smoothly taking her textbook from her hands.
They walked out side-by-side. "You didn’t eat lunch?"
"I did. I ate in my dorm."
Mia didn’t think that was technically a lie.
Ian studied her, frowning. "You’re already so thin. Don’t keep trying to lose weight."
"Or do you just not have an appetite?"
"If you don’t like the cafeteria food, I’ll start bringing you meals tomorrow."
"You don’t look like you’ve had a proper meal at all."
The words went in one ear and out the other for Mia. She was, in fact, feeling a bit of low blood sugar, so she poked a straw into the milk tea and took a few sips before asking, "Did you really come all this way just to bring me afternoon tea?"
He’d waited for so long, yet he hadn’t gotten to the point.
"Yup." Ian pressed the elevator button. "I heard you weren’t looking too well, so I came to check on you."
"Who told you that?"
"I added a bunch of your classmates as friends. I gave each of them a gift card and asked them to help look out for you."
"..." Mia nearly choked on a boba pearl.
Seeing her strong reaction, Ian pouted. "Don’t worry, don’t worry. I added them using Felix Sinclair’s name."
"So it’s all perfectly legitimate."
’Some "perfectly legitimate" that is.’
Mia’s mouth twitched. "Mr. Sinclair is certainly generous. I’m just going to class. What is there to look out for?"
"Isn’t today a perfect example?" Ian poked her pale cheek with his index finger. Then, as if he’d discovered something, he frowned and leaned in closer.
Mia froze, her breath catching in her throat. She blinked, staring at him in confusion.
The puppy looked dead serious, as if sniffing his owner for the scent of another dog.
Being stared at so intensely made Mia feel inexplicably guilty, and she subconsciously started reviewing her recent actions.
But before she could figure anything out, she heard him ask in a low voice, "You didn’t sleep in your dorm last night, did you? Or did I remember wrong?"
He remembered the people he had watching the area saying that Mia had come back right after having dinner with Julian Vaughn.
The elevator doors opened, and Mia snapped out of her daze, hurrying out.
The two of them continued their conversation only after they had walked out of the academic building.
"I did. I came back right after dinner with Julian." Because her thoughts were a mess, she hadn’t lingered or wandered around. She’d refused Julian’s offer to drive her and had gotten a private car back to campus herself.
"What wild ideas are you getting now?"
Mia thought he must have misunderstood something.
"I’m not." Ian took a step forward, turning to face her and walking backward. "You have dark circles under your eyes, and they’re bloodshot."
"You clearly didn’t sleep well in your dorm. Did you have a nightmare?"
"Is the medicine from last time not working?"
He didn’t know if she had gotten any better after seeing the therapist, but either way, he was now on edge about everything.
"It’s not that. I was just thinking about some things yesterday, and I lost track of time and went to bed a little late. I almost didn’t make it to my 8 AM class."
"Really?" The puppy looked skeptical.
Mia smiled and nodded. "What do you want for dinner? My treat."
The puppy’s face immediately lit up. "Did the sun rise in the west? It’s rare for you to offer, so I won’t hold back."
Ian really didn’t hold back, choosing a place with an average cost of two thousand per person.
Two thousand...
Even though Mia wasn’t short on money now, she still couldn’t imagine how a meal could cost two thousand per person. ’Are you supposed to eat the restaurant manager?’
Before, they had always paid for their meals, so she never had a chance to pick up the check.
Now that it was her turn to treat, she was finally learning just how well these young masters lived.
But Mia didn’t feel the sting. If she was treating, she would do it generously, ordering all the most expensive items on the menu.
She ordered so much that eventually, even Ian couldn’t help but stop her. "Hey, hey, hey! Are you planning on going broke?"
Ian was well aware of how frugal she usually was.
She was supposedly the young lady of the Grant Family, but aside from her glamorous appearance, her allowance was pitifully small. Her daily life was very tight, not at all like someone from a wealthy household.
At school, she never even bought snacks. No matter how hot it got in gym class, he never saw her buy a single cold drink.
So later on, he started buying them for her often.
At first, she would refuse, but he became insistent, so she had no choice but to accept the items and try to give him the money.
But he never took it, saying, "These were all gifts from other girls. I don’t eat this stuff anyway, so if you don’t want it, just throw it out."
Only then would she accept them without worry.
It was probably because of those snacks that the two of them slowly got to know each other in private.
Back then, he even thought the Grant Family was abusing her.
Later, he found out she was saving money.
Before, he didn’t know what she was saving up so hard for.
Thinking about it now...
He was just glad she had saved a lot of money.
If she hadn’t saved money back then, during that vacation after she jumped into the sea, she probably would have starved out there.
Thankfully, she didn’t have too hard of a time during that period.
This was probably the power of love. No one wanted to see the person they loved suffer.
Ian was no exception.
Back in the dorm, Dixon had once talked about a girlfriend he’d had. She came from a poor family but was very proud and wouldn’t accept any of his help. So, he did nothing and could only pity her in silence.
Tsk.
Ian didn’t approve of that approach.
Putting himself and Mia in that situation, he could never accept Mia being stuck in such a miserable environment.
Even if she refused, just like with the snacks or cold drinks before.
He would use every method possible to force them on her.
He had to get her out of her current situation immediately.
’If she gets mad, she gets mad. I’ll just have to coax her until she’s not.’
’As long as she can live a good life, nothing else matters.’
He just couldn’t stand to see her suffer, not even for a second.
She was a delicate flower, meant to be pampered and never have to lift a finger. Her rightful place was to be cherished and protected.
After returning from off-campus, Mia unexpectedly received a call from Hayes Hughes.
Hearing the ringtone, Ian, who was driving, glanced over. "Why aren’t you answering? A spam call?"
"Ah." Mia snapped back to her senses and silenced the call. "Yeah, probably a telemarketer."
"So dedicated, even this late at night," Ian muttered, but he didn’t suspect anything.
After dropping her off downstairs at her dorm, he held her hand, reluctant to let her go up.
"Babe~"
Of all of them, Ian was the clingiest.
And she was a complete sucker for it.
The puppy nuzzled against the crook of her neck, his hands starting to get restless.
Feeling a tickle on her skin, Mia laughed and swatted his paws away. "That’s enough. Don’t push your luck."
The puppy, displeased, lowered his head and pressed a kiss to her slender, pale neck. His canine tooth grazed her skin, but in the end, he couldn’t bring himself to actually bite down.
