I Faked My Death—Now I Have to Tame the Crazy Men I Left Behind-Chapter 107 - 105: A World for Two

Mia Grant felt like she was dreaming.

A thick fog swirled before her eyes.

She stood frozen, staring blankly at her surroundings. The scene was desolate; as far as she could see, she was utterly alone.

It was as if she had stumbled into a no-man’s-land.

Behind her, a beast roared.

She couldn’t tell what kind of animal it was, and she didn’t even have time to look back. She just ran forward, blindly.

Her adrenaline kept surging.

She had no idea how far she’d run; her body felt no fatigue. Not until she pushed through the mist and found herself standing on a cliff’s edge, where she screeched to a halt...

One more step, and she would plunge into a bottomless abyss.

Taking a deep breath, she turned around.

A cool breeze blew through the mountains, scattering the fog bit by bit. A sound came from the depths of the dense jungle, and the beast emerged. Its sharp claws dug into the mud, leaving a trail of deep prints.

She backed away, then stopped abruptly as a thought occurred to her.

She now faced only two choices: turn around and jump, or become the beast’s next meal.

’But I don’t want to die...’

The beast advanced step by step, already baring its fangs at her.

Her legs gave out, and she collapsed to the ground.

Her palms were scraped raw by the coarse gravel. The beast leaned in, then suddenly stopped, just as she closed her eyes, resigned to her fate.

Its deep, dark eyes stared intently at her. There was an inexplicable sadness in its gaze, as if it were silently trying to convey something.

Mia Grant swallowed nervously, realizing it didn’t seem to have any intention of eating her.

Their eyes met.

She stared into its vertical pupils, trying her best to control her trembling body.

She wanted to speak, to reason with it, but she saw it slowly lower its head, a pained whimper escaping its throat.

"..."

She shrank back, at a loss for what to do.

The beast cried out twice, then fell silent.

It took a step back and lay down at her feet, beginning to lick its sharp claws as if she weren’t there.

The fog receded, and the air filled with the crisp, cool scent of rain-kissed dew and fragrant plants. If she sniffed carefully, she could also catch the faint, elusive smell of blood carried on the wind.

Suddenly, she looked down.

"You’re... hurt?"

The licking stopped. The beast looked at her and let out a short whimper.

It sounded almost... aggrieved.

She finally let out a sigh of relief. ’So that’s what it is.’

Realizing it meant her no harm, she scrambled up from the ground and moved closer. Only then did she see that its paw had been pierced by something, leaving a gaping, bloody hole that exposed the bone.

Without a second thought, Mia Grant tore a strip from her jacket. "You poor thing. Here, let me bandage that for you."

"There we go."

The moment she finished speaking, it licked her palm.

Its tongue swept away the gravel from her palm, gently brushing over the red scrapes.

The wet sensation wasn’t as sticky or unpleasant as she had imagined. It was very light, like the touch of a feather.

Mia Grant froze for a second, then smiled and patted its head.

"Do you know the way out of here? Once you’ve recovered a bit, maybe you can show me the way."

"If possible, I could take you back with me."

"That way, you won’t be in pain anymore."

The beast really did lead her out of the forest, but it didn’t leave with her.

Mia Grant found a rescue team, but when they returned to the forest, the injured beast was nowhere to be found.

The group headed back the way they came.

"So there is a way down here." The rescuer led her down a small path to the base of the cliff.

They hadn’t gone far when she heard one of the rescuers exclaim, "There’s something in the water! It’s an adult male lion."

"It’s already dead. Looks like it fell from up there. Probably not long before we arrived."

"Why does it have a piece of human clothing on its paw?"

A thought struck them, and everyone turned to look at the figure walking at the back of the group.

"Miss, we found the beast you told us about. But... I’m sorry to say, it’s not leaving this forest."

"..."

"Mia? Mia!"

Mia Grant opened her eyes.

Meeting her unfocused gaze, Yates Donovan, who had been leaning over her, paused. Then he smiled and asked, "Having a nightmare?"

After a long moment, Mia Grant blinked, and her eyes regained their focus.

Yates Donovan wiped the cold sweat from her forehead.

Mia Grant sat up, clutching the blanket. "What time is it?"

"It’s already evening." Yates picked up his phone from the table and ordered dinner to be brought in.

His gaze returned to Mia’s face. Seeing her pensive look, he joked, "Don’t tell me you were dreaming about me? To get that scared."

Surprisingly, Mia didn’t roll her eyes at him. Instead, she shook her head seriously.

"I dreamed about a... lion?"

"And?"

"It’s a little complicated."

"Then give me the short version."

"It was hurt, and then it died."

"...And you?"

"I’m fine." Mia’s thoughts were a jumble. "It just felt a little strange. The dream gave me this weird... this..."

"A feeling of loss."

"You probably just didn’t sleep well." Yates told her not to overthink it. "You’re so young, but you’ve got a million things on your mind. Use your brain too much and you’ll get dementia when you’re older."

’Nothing good ever comes out of his mouth.’

Mia Grant shot him a glare. When she saw his subordinate bring in their food, she couldn’t help but ask, "My brother isn’t back yet?"

"Nope." Yates opened the insulated container, tilting his head to grin at her. "Isn’t it better that he’s not here? We can have our own little world."

Mia Grant shoved his face away with her hand. "Get away from me."

She took out her phone and scrolled through her messages.

Hayes: [Sorry, Mia. I have some urgent work and can’t get away. I won’t be able to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival with you. I’ll come pick you up and bring you home as soon as I’m done.]

Mia Grant didn’t suspect a thing.

In the middle of their meal, Yates Donovan took a call.

Mia couldn’t hear what the person on the other end was saying.

All she knew was that Yates’s gaze suddenly shifted to her.

Her hand, holding her chopsticks, froze mid-air. She stared blankly at Yates, her eyes questioning.

After a brief moment of eye contact, Yates looked away. "Okay, I understand."

Only after he hung up did Mia dare to speak.

"That call was from Portia."

"Portia?"

"Mhm. My second uncle has been active over there recently."

"And?"

"What ’and’?"

"You just looked at me."

"I just like looking at you. Is that a crime?" he continued, teasing her.

Mia Grant pressed her lips together and said nothing, just staring at him intently.

A few seconds later, Yates surrendered. "Fine, fine."

He clicked his tongue in exasperation.

"Two things, okay?"

"One is about Hayes Hughes, and the other is about Gu..."

"Did something happen to my brother?"

She made her choice without hesitation, which didn’t surprise Yates. He shook his head slowly. "No, I was just going to tell you that he went back to Portia."

Mia Grant let out a sigh of relief.

Wait. She looked up again. "What about my eldest brother?"

"Him..." Yates propped his chin on one hand, his tone airy. "He’s been injured." 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

"..."

"But don’t worry, it’s just his hand." Yates took her hand and traced a finger across her palm. "Here. This spot. It was pierced through."

"!" Mia’s pupils contracted.

’That spot... the beast!’