It was late at night.

When Simon Adler returned to the room, Mia Grant was already asleep.

Her phone, beside her, was still on, playing a very old comedy movie.

He stood there watching for a long time before stepping forward to turn off her phone.

Suddenly, a message popped up at the top of the screen.

Fish: "Babe, let’s video chat~"

"..." Simon Adler’s brow furrowed in disgust, and he immediately turned off the phone.

Seeing the contact name, he knew it was Yates Donovan.

But he hadn’t expected that an unpredictable madman like Yates Donovan would be so clingy with her.

The Yates Donovan he remembered wasn’t like this at all.

Suddenly, he recalled the scene from their first meeting: Yates Donovan sitting beside her, smiling and calling her "Master."

*Hiss.*

Simon Adler closed his eyes, the corner of his mouth twitching violently.

He hadn’t had much contact with Yates Donovan before this, but he’d heard Silas Grant mention him.

Yates Donovan was, simply put, a time bomb.

If he were a time bomb with a timer, you could at least know where his limits were.

But he was uncontrollable.

No one knew which words would suddenly set him off.

He was an out-and-out madman with no moral compass.

Reasoning with him, threatening him, or trying to bribe him—it was all useless.

And now, a person like that was shamelessly clinging to Mia Grant.

The girl was sleeping soundly, her breathing light and shallow as she lay facedown on the pillow, her back rising and falling.

A strand of her long hair had fallen and stuck to the corner of her mouth, moving with every breath she took.

It was this seemingly innocent, harmless little girl, who couldn’t even truss a chicken, who had Yates Donovan completely wrapped around her finger.

No, wait. It wasn’t just Yates Donovan. There was also Silas Grant, Kian Keller, and Hayes Hughes.

And the Sinclair Family.

"She really is... a player."

Simon Adler frowned and sighed softly, reaching out to brush the hair from the corner of her mouth.

"Who are you calling a player?"

"..."

The figure on the bed suddenly opened her eyes. The man’s hand froze in mid-air, not having had time to pull it back.

Their eyes met. Mia Grant knitted her brows. "So you’re not bad-mouthing me behind my back anymore? You’ve moved on to doing it to my face, have you?"

"You weren’t asleep?"

"I was, but you woke me up." Mia Grant had indeed been asleep, but not deeply. She woke up the moment he pushed the door open.

She was just facing away from the door and couldn’t immediately tell who had come in, so she decided to feign sleep.

When she realized it was Simon Adler, she was about to open her eyes.

But she soon sensed him lingering in front of her.

’I had no idea what he was planning to do...’

To be honest, she had already felt for the "pew-pew" under her pillow. If he dared to try anything, her first shot would turn him into a eunuch.

’And all I get is being called a "player"?’

Mia Grant was so angry she laughed.

She sat straight up, looking ready to give him a piece of her mind.

"How am I a player? You tell me. This is ridiculous. Who exactly have I been playing?"

She was already in a bad mood because of her period, and he just had to pick this moment to cross her.

He had no one to blame but himself.

The man stood by the bed, and she sat up, tilting her head back to look at him.

It was a strange angle, which both of them slowly realized.

Annoyed, Mia Grant stood up directly on the bed.

Now, she was a head taller than him, and it was his turn to look up at her.

’This angle is much better.’

Mia Grant put her hands on her hips. "Well? You were running your mouth just fine a minute ago. Cat got your tongue now?"

Simon Adler snapped back to his senses, his gaze shifting to her face.

"Aren’t you stringing those guys along?"

"...Please. Who’s stringing who along? If it weren’t for the black... Anyway, I’m not."

’If it weren’t for the influence of the blackening value, I would have rejected them outright long ago.’

’This isn’t what I wanted at all.’

"Besides, other than the promise I made to Felix Sinclair, have I promised anyone else anything? I never said I wanted them to marry me, did I?"

"Then why not leave? Why keep juggling all of them?"

"It’s not that I want to do this! They’re the ones who feel guilty. I’d love to leave, but you can ask them if they’d let me."

"Though I admit, saying it like that does sound a bit like a player." Mia Grant scratched her head and frowned. "But I don’t want this either. I have things I need to do. Once I’m done... I’ll lay my cards on the table."

"Things you need to do?" Simon Adler raised an eyebrow. "You mean you’re doing all this for reasons that have nothing to do with love, for some other purpose?"

"For money?"

Simon Adler guessed. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

From what he knew, each of these men was wealthier than the last. Any one of them could give her a "breakup fee" that would be enough for her to squander for several lifetimes.

"Could you be any more crass?" Mia Grant said with disdain.

"It’s not money?"

Meeting his eyes, Mia Grant choked.

’It’s true that I’m doing it for money, just not the male leads’ money.’

’I’m after a legally-earned cash prize.’

Seeing her silence, for some reason, Simon Adler suddenly felt a sense of relief.

’Thank goodness, she only wants money.’

"How much do you want?"

"What?"

"Money."

Mia Grant thought he was being very strange. "Are you offering to give it to me? Why would you give me money? Are you trying to become my sugar daddy?"

"Please. Forget you, I wouldn’t even agree if *they* wanted to be my sugar daddies. Stop daydreaming, will you?"

Simon Adler couldn’t be bothered to explain. "Name your price, then take the money and leave."

"Leave? Go where?"

"Go wherever you want. Abroad, around the world, I don’t care. Just stop hanging around in front of them. Anywhere is fine."

"..."

Mia Grant pressed her lips together, looking quite helpless. "To be honest, you’re not the first person who’s said that to me."

"So?"

"So, if I were only in it for the money, I’ve had countless opportunities to leave."

’Unfortunately, what I’m after is that huge cash prize and...’

’And... I hope they can all live good lives.’

’As it is, this world is so much better than the one I lived in before.’

’If this world collapses, everything—every single thing—will cease to exist.’

’It will all just become a dream that only I remember.’

’No one else will remember.’

"In any case, it’s not as simple as you think. Don’t assume you know everything. What you can see is only what I want you to see. It’s not the full picture.

If you ask me, while I’m not that noble or selfless, I still believe I’m the one saving them.

If you’re doing this for Silas Grant, don’t worry. I will absolutely not become a stumbling block for him."

Mia Grant averted her gaze. "Him getting married... is a good thing for me, too."

"You don’t want money, and you don’t want the men. After all this trouble, are you just trying to make them turn against each other? What could you possibly gain from that?"

Simon Adler was still analyzing the situation. Just as Mia Grant was about to curse him out, she heard him say, "You couldn’t possibly want even more, could you?"

"Huh?" Mia Grant looked at him, not quite understanding the gibberish he was spouting.

"Don’t tell me... you want the Hughes Corp?"

"..." Mia Grant’s pupils trembled.

Simon Adler stared intently at her.

After a long moment of staring, a burst of clear laughter erupted in the room.

Mia Grant laughed so hard her stomach hurt. "Oh, my god... I can’t. You’re fucking insane, hahaha..."

She quickly sat back down on the bed, still laughing.

Simon Adler frowned at her. "Am I wrong?"

When Mia Grant finally had her fill of laughing, she looked up at him with a helpless expression. "Fine, fine, you’re right. So what are you going to do now? Go find the old man? Or Silas Grant? Have me killed?"

"You know what, forget it. Just call the police and have me arrested."

Mia Grant flopped back onto the bed in mock despair.

"If that really is your goal..."

His voice trailed off, as if he were struggling with something.

Mia Grant propped her head on her arms. "What, are you going to help me?"

After what felt like a long time, he spoke again. "I won’t help you. But... I won’t tell Silas Grant."

"..."