I Faked My Death—Now I Have to Tame the Crazy Men I Left Behind

Chapter 292 - 290: I’m Downstairs

Julian Vaughn was the first to notice Mia Grant was gone.

He looked around, frowned, and went back to find Carla Sinclair.

Carla was called out of the tea room and gave him a cold look.

Julian, long used to this, asked, "Have you seen where our sister went?"

’Our sister...’

Carla looked toward the front hall. "Wasn’t she watching TV?"

"She’s not."

They exchanged a look and quickly headed outside.

It had only been a short while since they’d last seen her, and now she was nowhere to be found.

Logically, it should be impossible to get lost at the Sinclair residence.

But her suddenly being out of touch made them both feel a little uneasy.

The staff also said they hadn’t seen Mia Grant.

Her calls went unanswered.

The two of them grew anxious.

Felix Sinclair was just stepping out of the elevator when he ran into the pair.

"Felix?" Carla called out uncertainly. When he looked over, she asked, "Have you seen Mia?"

With the worried looks on the Sinclair siblings’ faces, Felix could tell what was going on at a glance.

"She fell asleep on the sofa a little while ago, so I took her to a guest room to rest."

"I’ll take you upstairs."

Hearing this, Julian breathed a sigh of relief. "Then you go on up."

It wouldn’t be appropriate for him, a man, to go.

Carla nodded and went upstairs with Felix.

In the elevator, Carla broke the silence. "Why have you been spending all your time abroad recently?"

"Some personal matters."

Carla wasn’t one to meddle. Normally, she didn’t even want to get involved in her own family’s affairs, let alone someone else’s.

But this time, she looked at Felix, not letting him off the hook.

"Before you returned to Jynsia, what were you doing in Portia?"

"A layover."

That was the truth.

"Are you sure it wasn’t because you were trying to see someone, but couldn’t?"

Carla was probing, but also warning him. "Stay away from the people at the Hughes Corp."

"They aren’t people you can afford to trifle with."

"I’m not trifling with them. I have my reasons."

"It’s a mutually beneficial arrangement. Maybe no one loses."

Carla frowned.

"What do you want? Anything the Hughes Corp can do, the Sinclair Family can do as well."

Felix still shook his head. "It’s just some personal business. I know what I’m doing."

Hearing this, Carla swallowed the rest of her words and said no more.

In truth, Felix had considered leveraging the power of the Sinclair family. Their resources were more than substantial.

But the problem was that starting from scratch would be a huge waste of time.

The Hughes Corp engineers had all been poached with exorbitant salaries and had signed what were essentially slave contracts; it was impossible for them to jump ship.

Collaboration was the most suitable option right now. It would save time and effort.

To put it simply, it would let him skip the introductory phase.

Life is too short. He didn’t know if he would succeed, but he had to give it his all while he still could.

On second thought, it seemed he had found his purpose in life.

Every day from now on would be precious and meaningful. He had to cherish it.

Mia Grant didn’t know how long she had slept. She had a very short dream, like a novel about a long-awaited reunion that ends abruptly just as the main characters meet.

When she was woken up, she was still in a daze, her wide eyes staring blankly at the ceiling.

Coming to her senses, she looked at Carla by the bedside and realized she had fallen asleep.

"Are we going home?"

"Yes. It’s late."

Carla helped her up. "Go wash your face. We’re leaving now."

"Mmm, okay."

Carla stood by and watched as she put on her shoes, got out of bed, and slowly ambled into the bathroom. She washed up, came out yawning, and followed behind Carla downstairs like a little tail.

"How did I get up here?"

"You don’t remember?"

Mia rubbed her eyes. "Did Ian bring me up?"

Carla thought for a moment, then said just before Mia got in the car, "Felix is back."

"..."

Mia froze, looking up blankly.

Nearby, Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair came out to see their guests off, arranging a time with Yuri Sinclair to meet up again in Portia after the New Year.

Mia looked around but didn’t see the Sinclair brothers.

A thought occurred to her, and she looked up, trying to find that one window from memory.

The light wasn’t on.

She couldn’t help but doubt Carla’s words, but she knew Carla wouldn’t lie to her.

"Mia, it’s time to get in the car," Julian urged from the side.

The temperature was low at night. It had snowed in Jynsia in the last two days, and Mia was dressed too thinly. With her delicate health, she would inevitably catch a cold if she stayed outside for too long.

"Oh, coming."

Mia pulled back her gaze, shivered, and bent over to get into the car.

The sound of urgent footsteps came from behind her, and Mia turned around instinctively.

She saw a familiar figure descending the long flight of stairs.

Even in his haste, his bearing was impeccable.

’Mmm, definitely not Ian.’ a

’He’s an athlete. When he gets in a rush, he practically bounces all over the place.’

’Why would he ever come down the stairs so properly?’

Mia glanced back at Julian and Carla. "I’m just going over there for a second. I’ll be right back."

With that, she hurried up to meet him.

The young man came to a stop in front of her, panting. "You’re really back?"

He was too out of breath to speak to her words, but he nodded eagerly in response.

Handing over the box in his hands, he struggled to catch his breath. "New Year’s gift. Sorry it’s late."

Mia was stunned for a moment, then her expression softened into a smile. "It’s okay."

She took it, cradling the heavy box in her arms. "How did you get back so fast? Julian said he ran into you during a layover. Aren’t you supposed to be in Lonton?"

"I was planning to head over tomorrow or the day after."

"You’re still going?" Mia said, surprised. She suddenly remembered what Simon Adler had said, paused, and then added, "Do you have time? Can we find a quiet place to talk?"

"Right now?"

Felix glanced past her. Not far away stood Yuri Sinclair with a benevolent smile, Felix’s own parents smiling silently, and Carla and Julian, who were staring at him coldly.

This didn’t seem to be the right place for a talk.

Mia noticed his gaze and looked over her shoulder.

In an instant, everyone scattered their gazes, looking everywhere else as they pretended to be busy.

Mia sensed what was happening. "Then... I’ll call you when I get home."

Felix neither agreed nor disagreed.

Mia waved. "I’m leaving now. Happy New Year!"

"Thanks for the gift!"

A beat too late, Felix raised his hand and waved gently at her back as she walked away.

---

As the car pulled away from the Sinclair estate, just before it merged onto the main road, the silence inside was so complete you could hear a pin drop.

After a moment, Julian brought up Felix. Mia listened quietly, murmuring a response from time to time.

Although Julian was the one talking, Yuri and Carla were also observing Mia’s reaction.

Judging by how excited she looked just now, it certainly didn’t look like she was indifferent to Felix.

For a moment, each of them was lost in their own thoughts.

Back home, Mia was wide awake.

She unwrapped the gift. Inside was an art book.

’No wonder it was so heavy.’

Mia flipped through a few pages and realized it seemed to be a collection of original paintings from a particular artist.

Surprised, she took out her phone, intending to call Felix and ask him about it.

The call connected.

It was quiet on Felix’s end. Mia chatted with him about the paintings, getting so carried away that she lost track of time. Only after a while did she remember her real reason for calling.

"Are you free to talk now? We need to talk. Can you go somewhere... private?"

"I’m free."

"Are you in your room?" It did sound very quiet on his end.

Felix couldn’t lie. He hesitated for a moment before saying, "I’m in my car."

"In your car?" Mia was taken aback. "Are you going out?"

"I’m downstairs."