seattlejaycees Chapter 254 - 252: Get Her Drunk
Chapter 254 - 252: Get Her Drunk
Yates Donovan rarely agonized over something for this long.
He was dying for a chance to ask Mia Grant again, but with her... asking would be pointless.
All he’d get were evasions or lies.
Getting anything out of her was just too damn hard.
’Unless... I get her drunk.’
Yates Donovan’s dark eyes narrowed as he sank into thought.
’That seemed like an excellent idea.’
Noticing his gaze, Mia Grant scooted silently to the side. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
Yates Donovan’s lips curved into a harmless smile. "Go back to your dorm and rest for a bit. I’ll take you home for dinner tonight."
"Home? Whose home?" Mia Grant asked, confused.
"My place, of course." Guessing she was about to refuse, Yates Donovan cut her off with the perfect excuse. "You promised my grandfather last time that you’d come over for dinner."
"You bailed last time, so let’s make up for it today."
"Besides, he didn’t want me to come back from Portia in the first place. If you come with me, I might get chewed out a little less."
That was a hard reason to refuse. Mia Grant thought for a moment, then nodded. "All right."
The smile in Yates Donovan’s eyes deepened. He was like the big bad wolf, tail wagging frantically, as he watched the little white rabbit willingly hop into his trap. He could finally show his true colors.
’She took the bait.’
’Perfect.’
Back in her dorm, Mia Grant had a snack with her roommates and caught up on the latest news.
"Kitty, did you hear Serena Grant was forced to withdraw?"
Mia Grant paused in the middle of opening a bag of chips, looking over in astonishment. "Serena Grant? Why?"
"Apparently, her grades were fudged. Someone exposed it, and it dragged the university onto the trending list for a whole week. The internet was blowing up about it for a while, but the buzz has only started to die down in the past couple of days."
"We thought you would’ve known."
Mia Grant shook her head. "I haven’t been paying attention."
"So what’s the situation with her now?"
"Well, no one’s seen her on campus since it all went down. I think her roommate said her family is planning to send her abroad."
Mia Grant just hummed in response, saying nothing.
At six that evening, Yates Donovan appeared outside the women’s dorm, just as promised.
His flashy personality was evident from his choice of car.
A flashy red supercar, it drew a crowd of people who stopped to take pictures.
Mia Grant noticed the scene the moment she stepped outside and, without a second’s hesitation, turned right back around.
She kept her head down, her steps hurried and flustered.
She had just ducked back inside when her phone rang.
It was Yates Donovan. "I saw you come out. Why’d you go back in?"
Mia Grant took a deep breath. "Couldn’t you have driven a different car?"
"Huh?" Yates Donovan glanced back at his beloved car, confused. "What’s wrong with it? I brought this one out especially for you. It’s my most expensive one—I’m normally too sentimental to drive it. No one’s ever sat in the passenger seat before. You’re the first."
...
It was a special honor Mia Grant really couldn’t handle.
Mia Grant said, "Drive around to the back gate. I’ll meet you there."
"Why?"
"Just do it! Hurry up."
Ten minutes later, Mia Grant, all bundled up, slid into the passenger seat and ordered him to get a move on.
"Is being seen with me that embarrassing?"
Yates Donovan asked.
Mia Grant pulled down her mask and took off her glasses. "Embarrassing is an understatement."
"It’s mortifying."
"It’s too flashy."
"All right, all right." Yates Donovan relented. "Next time, I’ll come pick you up on my grandpa’s old clunker bike."
...
「The Donovan Family Estate.」
Unlike her last heart-pounding visit, this time Mia Grant was completely calm.
"You don’t seem nervous at all," Yates Donovan observed. She really did look like she was just there for dinner.
"Yeah. What’s there to be nervous about?"
"You’re not afraid my grandfather will give you a hard time?"
"Could he possibly be more difficult than that old gentleman?"
"Probably not."
"Then there’s nothing to worry about."
Yates Donovan smiled.
"His way of giving you a hard time is... different from the Hughes family’s. The trendy term for it would be..." Yates Donovan turned and snapped his fingers in front of her. "...’hot violence.’"
Mia Grant tilted her head, not quite understanding.
But she would soon find out exactly what he meant.
「At the dining table.」
The old master was beaming at her, continuously piling food onto her plate. "Here, here, Mia, try this dish."
"Oh my, child, you’re so thin! You’re practically skin and bones. You don’t need to be on a diet, eat up!"
"You must have exams coming up, right? Just relax. When they’re over, come and visit your grandpa."
"Oh, that’s right! Old Chen, quick, go get the welcome gifts I prepared for Mia. Goodness, I almost forgot."
Mia Grant hastily put down her chopsticks, desperately trying to swallow the food in her mouth as she fumbled to accept the several gift boxes the old master handed her.
"These are some health supplements. I heard you fainted and were hospitalized last time. You have to take care of your body when you’re young, so build up your strength."
"This is a jewelry set I got for you. I don’t know much about these things, and we don’t really have any women in the family, so I have no idea if you’ll like it."
"This is a set of gold coins. Keep them safe. You can treat them as an investment, or trade them for something you like."
"I heard you’re still living in the dorms? The ones at Jynsia U are so old. Take this key. Grandpa bought you a large condo near campus. It should be more than enough space for you to live by yourself."
...
’A large condo... for one person... more than enough space.’
’Were those words even meant to be used in the same sentence?’
Mia Grant was too stunned to speak.
Gradually, her view was obscured by a growing mountain of gift boxes, and she could barely hold on to them all.
Suddenly, the weight in her arms vanished.
She was free.
Yates Donovan had come around from the other side of the table to take the pile from her and set it aside.
"All right, all right, take it easy, Grandpa. It’s her first time here. You’re going to scare her off."
"I just got back, remember? Let the girl eat her dinner in peace."
"You brat," the old master chided with a laugh. "Usually so reckless, but you sure know how to spoil your girl."
Mia Grant sat there, frozen with apprehension, not daring to move. Yates Donovan had to press her chopsticks back into her hand. "Just eat. Ignore him."
...
Stealing a glance at the old master and seeing he was still chuckling, Mia Grant finally let out a sigh of relief.
"Your grandfather’s actually pretty easygoing," she whispered to Yates Donovan during a lull in the conversation, when the old master wasn’t paying attention.
The old master really didn’t put on any airs. The way Yates Donovan spoke to him would have earned a slap across the face in most other families, but his grandfather just kept smiling.
At first glance, he looked intimidating. Probably because of his time on the battlefield, the old master had a scar on his face—a ’medal,’ he called it, from a bayonet fight back in the day.
It made him look a little fierce.
’I never would have guessed he’d be so good-natured.’
Yates Donovan just smiled, saying nothing. He simply kept pouring her a drink. "Try this. It’s a fruit wine the butler brews himself. It’s very sweet."
Mia Grant, unsuspecting, took the glass and had a small sip. It really didn’t have much of an alcoholic taste; it was more like juice.
Seeing this, Yates Donovan continued to pour.
"Alright, two glasses should be enough," he advised with feigned concern.
Mia Grant frowned. "Don’t stop, I want more."
"What if you get drunk?"
"I won’t," Mia Grant assured him. "I’m usually out after one drink, but I don’t feel a thing from this."
"Really?" Yates Donovan asked, feigning doubt.
"Mhm!"
The little white rabbit nodded emphatically.
"All right then. You’re the one who wants to drink it. It’s got nothing to do with me."
Yates Donovan pushed the bottle toward her. Propping his chin on his hand, he gazed at her with a doting expression. "Just don’t yell at me tomorrow morning, okay?"
"Promise!"