The venue instantly fell silent.

Onstage, Mia Grant looked toward the Grant Family.

For a moment, Mrs. Grant’s expression was one of stunned disbelief. The next, her eyes met Mia’s, and a flash of loathing flickered in their depths.

Mia Grant froze. Her feet shifted as she subconsciously recoiled.

Suddenly, a firm grip closed around her wrist.

Mia was rooted to the spot. She looked up at Felix Sinclair beside her.

The figure before her shifted, shielding her from that terrifying gaze.

Inexplicably, Mia’s turbulent heart began to settle, as if she had found her own harbor and could safely anchor herself beside him.

Mrs. Grant was completely cornered. She couldn’t possibly refute Mrs. Sinclair right now. With so many people watching, the Sinclair Family could afford to disregard their reputation, but the Grant Family could not.

Especially not over a trivial "fake" daughter. It would mean a complete, public falling-out with the Sinclair Family.

The costs would far outweigh the benefits.

’But, to sever all ties...’

A flicker of hesitation crossed Mrs. Grant’s eyes.

She had too many reservations.

She was just an adopted daughter; severing ties should have been simple.

But she had raised this adopted daughter for so many years, grooming her meticulously. To just sever ties like this was simply too poor a return on her investment.

Yuna Hughes delayed stating her position, so Mr. Wallace didn’t dare make a move either. He couldn’t afford to offend either side.

Suddenly, a glint of light caught Yuna Hughes’s eye.

She looked up, her gaze following the beam to its source. At the top of a spiral staircase that had gone unnoticed, Yates Donovan sat on the highest step, propping his head up with one hand. In his other hand, he held the "instrument of his crime."

Yuna Hughes froze.

Before she could react, a staff member approached and whispered, "Mrs. Grant, Mr. Donovan has asked me to kindly remind you not to forget what you promised him at the hospital."

"..."

An image suddenly flashed through Yuna Hughes’s mind.

"Mr. Donovan asked me to tell you that allowing things to escalate this far is already his greatest concession."

According to their agreement at the hospital, Mia should have ceased to be a member of the Grant Family long ago. And Yuna Hughes would have had no right to arrange a marriage for her.

’Yates should have stopped me.’

But on second thought, Mia did need a formal, public occasion to sever ties with the Grant Family.

That’s why he hadn’t interfered from the beginning.

Besides, she had her own plan, and there was no need for him to impose his ideas on her.

Perhaps her plan was doomed to fail. Perhaps she would suffer a crushing defeat.

It didn’t matter.

None of it mattered.

’She can go ahead and do as she pleases. I have plenty of ways to fix the result.’

If people were trains, then life would be a network of countless intersecting tracks.

No matter how far the journey deviated from its preset course, he would ensure she arrived at her desired destination.

「 」

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Yuna Hughes forced a smile and said to Mrs. Sinclair, "I’ll leave Mia in your care from now on."

Mrs. Sinclair played along, and after exchanging a few more elegant pleasantries, the matter was considered settled.

Mia let out a small sigh of relief. Felix Sinclair gave her hand a gentle squeeze, calming her nerves.

Mia smiled at him and whispered, "I’m fine."

The two were whispering intimately on stage for all to see. Down below, Simon glanced at the person beside him out of the corner of his eye.

Simon Adler stood there as if completely unconcerned, his face expressionless.

After a single glance, Simon Adler’s gaze shifted from the stage to the upper level.

"What are you looking at?"

Simon followed his gaze. The staircase was empty.

"Nothing."

Yates Donovan was already gone.

Simon Adler considered this for a moment, then stood up. "I’m stepping outside."

Simon began to follow, but Simon Adler’s words stopped him. "Don’t follow me."

"..."

「At the end of the long corridor.」

Simon Adler found Yates Donovan smoking by a window.

Hearing footsteps, the man turned his head and raised an eyebrow. "Looking for me?"

Simon Adler took a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. "Got a light?"

Yates scoffed, tossing him the lighter.

"Spit it out," the man said, exhaling a few smoke rings. "I can’t stand people like you—so pretentious and slow to get to the point."

"Pretentious?" Simon Adler paused, lighter in hand. After a moment of reflection, he realized Yates’s assessment was quite accurate.

’Isn’t that exactly what this is? Pretentious.’

But how could he not be? How many people could accept everything as calmly as Yates did, even seeming to enjoy it all?

’How many people were that deranged?’

"I know Silas Grant likes her. But I don’t know what you are to her."

"What do you think?" Yates leaned against the window, taking the cigarette from his lips and flicking the ash with a smile.

"Friends?" Before Yates could answer, Simon Adler added, "Friends who’ve crossed a line."

"..."

Yates was stunned for a moment, then he broke into a laugh.

He couldn’t stop laughing, as if a switch had been flipped inside him.

He choked on the smoke and started coughing, yet he kept on laughing.

Simon Adler didn’t know what he was laughing about, so he just continued with his own observations. "The way she is around you... it’s no different from how she is with Silas Grant."

"You seem like friends."

"But one of you is likely not satisfied with that arrangement."

"You’re not a couple, which is why I said you’re just friends who’ve crossed a line."

"If you were actually together, you wouldn’t be able to be this magnanimous."

"Magnanimous how?"

"So indulgent of her."

"She’s making a mistake. If you were a couple, you would definitely step in to correct her."

"Excellent analysis," Yates nodded. "Now, don’t do it again."

Simon Adler looked him up and down for a long moment. "Since you like her, why don’t you do what Silas Grant is trying to do and just take her? She doesn’t like you, but it’s not like she’s that into Silas Grant, or that Sinclair fellow on stage, for that matter."

"I can tell you like her a lot."

"Is that so?" Yates seemed to genuinely consider his words. "So, by your logic, I should charge in there right now and drag her away. Then, disregard her wishes and lock her up."

"That shouldn’t be too hard for you, right? Besides, you’re exactly the kind of person who would do something like that," Simon Adler stated bluntly. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

’Yates was a madman to begin with. He never followed reason or logic, so what was holding him back?’

What Simon Adler didn’t know, however, was that from Yates’s perspective, he no longer had the right to do such a thing.

Perhaps he had, a long time ago, but not anymore.

’In his entire life, he’d rarely felt this way about anyone...’

’How to describe it?’

Yates thought for a moment, then realization dawned. "Right. It’s a debt."

Simon Adler froze.

He hadn’t expected him to say that.

’Do I like her? Of course.’

Yates’s mind drifted to the past.

Even when he tried to run from it, the pounding of his heart every time their eyes met told no lies.

That wondrous, unprecedented feeling emphasized, again and again, that what he felt for her wasn’t simple interest, not the excitement of finding a beloved toy or a fascinating little gadget.

It was liking, it was love—it was the real, heart-pounding feeling of falling for someone.