Chapter 383: Chapter 381: She Will Leave
Ian Sinclair felt very strange.
He’d gotten the compliments he wanted, but for some reason, he just couldn’t feel happy.
When Mia Grant had spoken, her words and demeanor had been so earnest they bordered on solemn.
As if she were planning a farewell.
Ian Sinclair’s heart sank. His left hand gripped the steering wheel, and his right hand shot out to grab hers.
He didn’t control his strength, and Mia Grant felt a sharp pain in her hand, right down to the bone.
She froze for a moment but didn’t pull away or say anything.
The atmosphere in the car grew subdued and heavy.
The car ahead finally moved. Ian Sinclair followed slowly until they were past the intersection, then he slammed on the gas, causing the engine to roar and making Mia Grant gasp in surprise.
The roads in Jynsia weren’t suited for street racing, and it wasn’t long before they hit a congested stretch, forcing him to slow down.
It was stop-and-go traffic the rest of the way.
Mia Grant could sense that Ian Sinclair was in a bad mood.
She replayed their conversation in her mind but couldn’t figure out why he was angry.
’It can’t be because he wasn’t satisfied with my compliments, can it?’
’But I was being so sincere.’
’Is even that not enough for him?’
’Does he need me to write a whole speech before he’ll be happy?’
Mia Grant sighed. ’How did this little puppy get so hard to please?’ she thought.
’Before, all it took was a pat on the head to get him to wag his tail.’
Mia Grant stared out the window, lost in thought.
Gradually, Ian Sinclair also sensed that the atmosphere was off. He stole a glance at her and saw her gazing out the window with her chin in her hand. He frowned, displeased.
She didn’t look very happy.
’Why?’
His fingers curled instinctively, brushing against her skin. He froze, then looked down and realized he was still gripping her hand tightly.
Red marks had already appeared on her fair skin.
Ian Sinclair abruptly let go.
The abrupt movement startled Mia Grant.
"What’s wrong?" Mia Grant asked, meeting his evasive gaze. She had no idea what had just happened.
"...Nothing." Ian Sinclair dropped his gaze, glancing at her hand again. Seeing that she wasn’t actually injured, he breathed a silent sigh of relief and quickly changed the subject.
"What... were you thinking about?"
"Oh, just drafting that speech for you."
Ian Sinclair’s eyes widened. "What—what speech?"
"Hmm." Mia Grant thought for a moment. "You could call it a love letter, I suppose?"
With that, she nodded to herself. "They’re pretty much the same thing."
"!" To say the little puppy was shocked would be an understatement.
His foot, meant for the brake, almost hit the accelerator instead. He barely managed to compose himself and stop the car at the intersection. He looked at her cautiously, his tone filled with uncertainty. "Why would you write one for me?"
"Is it only for me?"
"Why not for my brother?"
"Why not for anyone else?"
"..." The questions came one after another, almost making Mia Grant’s head spin.
After a moment, she looked at Ian Sinclair’s faintly expectant gaze and swallowed the words on the tip of her tongue—’Weren’t you the one who wanted compliments?’—and said instead—
"There aren’t that many reasons. I just like you."
Ian Sinclair’s pupils constricted. The next second, ignoring that the light in front of them had changed, he leaned over and gave Mia Grant a hard kiss.
Horns blared behind them. When Mia pushed him away, Ian wasn’t annoyed at all; he just sat up straight, grinning from ear to ear.
The honking from behind didn’t bother him in the slightest as he leisurely pressed the accelerator and moved forward.
Mia Grant touched the lingering warmth on her lips and mentally retracted her earlier thought about him being hard to please.
They still had a ways to go before reaching the university, so Mia Grant lowered the window a little to feel the breeze.
A moment later, the floating willow catkins tickled her nose and made her sneeze.
Ian Sinclair quickly closed the window. "Be careful. Don’t you have allergies? You shouldn’t have the window open."
Mia Grant rubbed her nose but didn’t argue.
After a moment, she asked casually,
"What are your plans for the future?"
Ian Sinclair glanced at her for a few seconds. "Not really. After graduation, I’ll just get dragged into the family business to help out, I guess."
"There’s no other choice. Felix Sinclair might be the smart one, but his heart isn’t in business. He’s probably going to go straight through for his master’s and doctorate, and I have no interest in school."
"Between the two of us, one has to go back and inherit the family business."
Mia Grant nodded. She wasn’t surprised.
After a pause, he asked her in return, "Are you going to work at the Grant Corporation?"
Mia Grant rubbed her chin and shook her head. "I’m not cut out for that kind of work either."
"I’d rather just pay Simon Adler to work himself to the bone for me."
At the mention of Simon Adler, Ian Sinclair rolled his eyes. "I can’t believe you’d trust a guy like that."
Clearly, he was still hung up on what had happened at the Hughes family’s estate.
Mia Grant couldn’t help but smile. "Putting that incident aside, he’s very reliable when it comes to work."
"So what are you going to do in the future?"
Ian Sinclair didn’t want to talk to her about other men.
Mia Grant hesitated for a long time. Previously, she wouldn’t have been able to answer that question, but thinking about it now, it seemed she wasn’t entirely without an answer anymore.
"Continue my studies, I think."
Ian Sinclair stared at her, stunned. "Keep studying? You mean, like my brother?"
Mia Grant shook her head. "It has nothing to do with him. I just feel like I wasted a lot of time a long time ago. I left school too early."
"Since I don’t find it boring, I’ll just keep at it. I can always make a new plan later if I get another idea."
She thought for a moment, then murmured, "I want to at least get a doctorate."
"So... are you going to stay at Jynsia U?"
"I don’t know. It’s still too early to say." Mia Grant gave a small laugh. "I’m not sure myself, so you can stop prying."
’The feeling that she was saying goodbye grew stronger and stronger.’
Ian Sinclair couldn’t stop himself from pressing her. "Will you leave? Will you leave me behind?"
"What’s all this talk about leaving or being left behind? I’m always here," she answered ambiguously.
"If you leave Jynsia, can you take me with you?"
Mia Grant was taken aback. "You’re overthinking things. I just said I was going to continue my studies, not that I’m going to disappear completely."
The little puppy pouted, a hurt look in his eyes. "But I just feel so insecure."
"I always feel like you could leave me at any moment."
"Don’t worry." Mia Grant patted his hand, trying to reassure him.
It was as if Ian Sinclair hadn’t heard her. He asked stubbornly, "You’re not going to leave this world, are you?"
"..."
Mia Grant froze.
’Originally, she’d thought this world was wonderful. The System had said it could send her back, but that staying was also an option.’
’But now, things had changed.’
’She wasn’t sure anymore.’
’She had to figure everything out before she could make a decision.’
’Because she knew she wouldn’t get another chance to start over.’
Mia Grant didn’t answer his question.
An empty feeling washed over Ian Sinclair, and he remained sullen for the entire drive to the university.
But there was nothing to be done. Mia Grant didn’t want to make any promises about it.
Back in her dorm room, she turned on her phone and saw that she had several missed calls.
Feeling annoyed, she tossed her phone onto the desk without looking at it again.
That night, an unexpected visitor came looking for her.
Her dorm president returned from a student council meeting and told her a man was downstairs looking for her.
Mia Grant assumed it was one of the male leads and didn’t want to go down.
Her dorm president said, "He said his last name is Qi, and that he’s a doctor."
Mia Grant froze.
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