radiothebook Chapter 277 - 275: Jumping Into His Arms
Chapter 277 - 275: Jumping Into His Arms
Mia Grant glared at him. "Get away from me."
"Tsk." Yates Donovan reached out, grabbed her chin, and tilted it up. "Who do you think you’re talking to? Where are your manners?"
She slapped at his hand, but couldn’t knock it away.
Resigned, she looked up at him. "What do you want to hear?"
"You..." The hand on her jaw slid down, tracing a path lower and lower, ever so slowly, before finally stopping over her heart. "You know exactly what."
Yates Donovan knew she was far too smart not to understand what he wanted.
’Just look at that face, that expression. So innocent and harmless.’
But she knew better than anyone.
She was the perfect example of a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Mia Grant rolled her eyes at him.
A second later, she met his gaze. "So what’s in it for me?"
"I can’t just let you take advantage of me for free, can I?"
She crossed her arms, seeming to puff out her chest defiantly.
Yates Donovan’s eyes drifted downward, first to the proud curve of her chest, then to the finger he had resting there.
He sighed.
’What a tragedy.’
"What are you looking at?" Mia Grant shrank back, putting some distance between them.
Yates Donovan withdrew his hand and sighed, his tone laced with regret. "All look, no touch. When will this torment ever end?"
Mia Grant tilted her head in confusion, but then the meaning dawned on her. Her breath caught in her throat, and she shot him a glare.
"Do you have to be so crude?"
He looked at her. "I haven’t even gotten to the crude part yet."
"..."
’This conversation is over.’
Deciding she was done with him, Mia Grant simply scooted over to the other side of the couch to sit.
She had moved away, but Yates Donovan didn’t give chase.
He just propped his chin on his hand and gazed at her, like a pining husband turned to stone.
Mia Grant refused to make eye contact, forcing herself to focus on the movie still playing on the screen.
Onscreen, it was a stormy night, the image flickering in time with claps of thunder. Eerie music swelled, creating an atmosphere of terror and unease.
The protagonist was asleep in bed, head pillowed on one arm.
The shot changed. A dark, shadowy figure appeared to be climbing up the side of the bed behind him.
Sensing something, the protagonist’s eyes snapped open, and his entire body went rigid.
Mia didn’t dare to see what happened next. She committed to her decision and simply squeezed her eyes shut.
But just then, the movie’s audio swelled, and the eerie score was all she could hear. Beyond that, the living room was utterly, deathly silent.
Mia squirmed restlessly. Just before the protagonist on screen could scream, she opened her eyes and lunged for the remote on the table.
But the man beside her was quicker.
Mia shot him a glare.
He had one hand propping up his chin and the other resting on his bent knee, dangling the remote from his fingers. He swung it back and forth, a silent provocation.
"What’s wrong? Done watching? Want to go to sleep? You can head into the bedroom. I’ll finish this and then come find you."
Mia, who had just seen a scene of a female ghost climbing into a bed: "..."
Furious, she turned her head away, refusing to give in.
Meanwhile, Yates Donovan twisted his wrist to check the time before turning his attention back to the screen.
Perhaps because they had chosen such a nice suite, the projection equipment, while not the top-of-the-line setup he had at home, was still quite good.
The screen was large, the picture sharp.
The effect was fantastic.
Yates Donovan glanced at the movie’s progression.
’Based on this trajectory, it should be reaching the climax soon.’
Yates Donovan silently calculated the time in his head.
’He figured Mia would break any second now...’
At almost that exact moment, a blur of motion launched itself from the side and dove straight into his arms.
Yates Donovan instinctively opened his arms to catch her, freezing for a full three seconds before he processed what had happened. A triumphant smirk played on his lips.
"Well, well. Weren’t you done with me? What’s this, throwing yourself into my arms?"
From his embrace, Mia Grant lifted her head to glare fiercely at him, though her expression was also tinged with indignation.
Yates Donovan instantly relented and dropped the teasing.
"Just kidding." He hugged her tighter. "What’re you afraid of with me here? Is anything in this world scarier than I am?"
"At least you’re self-aware."
Yates Donovan chuckled and pecked her on the lips. "That’s for sure. You used to avoid me like the plague, you know. I haven’t forgotten."
"Besides, there are no such things as ghosts. If you get scared, I’ll just sleep next to you every night. And even if they did exist, they’d have to take my life first. Happy now?"
"..." Mia gave him a look that was difficult to put into words.
"If I’m not around, you can just tape my picture to your door."
"Huh?"
"To ward off evil spirits."
"..."
Mia was left speechless.
Thanks to his antics, the atmosphere wasn’t nearly as tense anymore.
Yates Donovan switched the movie, putting on a lighthearted comedy instead.
Mia tried to squirm away, but he held her tight.
"You really need to break this habit of using people and then throwing them away."
"It’s just one little word. It’s not asking much."
"I’ll think about it when I’m in a good mood."
"Not in a good mood, huh?" Yates Donovan glanced outside. "Want to go out? It’s started snowing."
Mia glanced outside. "No, I’m good."
Yates Donovan stared at her for a moment before asking, "Is the reason you don’t like winter because of that dream?"
Mia froze. She instinctively turned to meet his eyes.
Their eyes met. His were brimming with a smile, looking completely non-threatening.
It seemed like a casual question.
Mia suddenly recalled the things the system had told her before.
After a pause, she asked, "You still haven’t given up on investigating me?"
Yates Donovan raised an eyebrow but didn’t speak.
"You’re far too fixated on this dream."
"Am I?" Yates Donovan nodded. "Perhaps."
He had admitted it. He was still investigating.
Mia didn’t understand. "It’s just a dream. Why are you bothering? Besides, I’ve already found my birth parents."
"It’s not because of your dream. Or, to be precise, it’s because of mine."
’How could I be so unwilling to let this go if it were only because of her dream?’
’My dream seemed to be an extension of her dreamscape.’
’But it was far too real.’
’How could it link up so perfectly with hers?’
’I don’t understand it.’
’But I have to find the answer.’
Over the past few days, he’d seen doctors and even consulted a master of dream interpretation.
He’d tried every method imaginable.
The people he’d sent out were still searching for Mia Grant’s "parents" based on the details from his dream, along with the hazy images of a restaurant and a rented apartment.
So far, they had turned up zero leads.
"So, have you found anything?"
He shook his head. "Every lead has been a dead end."
Just as Mia Grant expected. She smiled. "See what that means? It means it really was just a dream."
His gaze lowered, and Yates Donovan stared into her glistening eyes, as if trying to glean some hidden truth from their depths. But unfortunately, just like his investigation, it was a futile effort.
"Why so quiet?" A faint smile played in his eyes as he stared at her, his gaze intense, scorching, and unnerving.
Mia Grant felt an inexplicable wave of nervousness.
After a few seconds, he seemed to snap out of it. He didn’t refute her, saying instead, "I hope it is."
Mia froze on the spot.
"I want it to be a dream more than you do."
"So the fact that I’ve found nothing isn’t something that angers me. Quite the opposite, actually. I’m relieved."
"It’s just... I’m a stubborn man. And I happen to have exceptional faith in my own intuition."
Mia Grant: "..."