When they got off, he was in a hurry to buy water and didn’t notice she had gone back for the photo.
"The staff said it was a great shot and really recommended I buy it. I took a look, and they were right," Mia Grant explained.
"Thank you." A genuine smile spread across Felix Sinclair’s face. This was their first photo together.
He loved this gift.
Mia Grant smiled, too.
On the way back that night, Mia Grant started to feel unwell, but she didn’t alarm Felix Sinclair.
She didn’t stay off-campus, instead having Felix Sinclair drop her off back at the university.
Inside her dorm room’s bathroom, Mia Grant leaned against the sink, unable to stop coughing.
By the end of the fit, she could taste a familiar, metallic sweetness in her mouth.
She took a moment to recover, then rinsed her mouth and spat.
Staring at the pinkish tint diluted by the water, she asked the System, "Are you sure I’m okay?"
The System replied, [In the last world, you were diagnosed with lung cancer after six months. But even then, it wasn’t a definite death sentence. It was just that treatment wasn’t necessary, since the grand finale was approaching anyway. This time, though, if you start treatment early, you’ll definitely be fine.]
Mia Grant closed her eyes.
’Fate had always just been toying with her.’
It was a wonder her will to live was still so strong.
[Host... are you all right?]
Evidently, after seeing Mia Grant snap without any warning the last few times, it was very concerned about her current mental state.
It was afraid that if it wasn’t careful, she’d have another instantaneous breakdown.
Mia Grant wiped the water from her hands. "Don’t worry, I have no intention of bashing my head against a wall just yet."
System: [...] ’Somehow, that’s not very reassuring.’
Mia Grant looked through her recent check-up reports. They really didn’t show any problems.
’Thinking about it, the onset of this lung cancer was bizarre. If she had to trace it back, she wondered if it was related to that flu she had before.’
Mia Grant made a mark on her calendar, planning to go to the hospital for a check-up every month.
—
The next time she saw Yates Donovan was half a month later.
It was during Mia Grant’s medical examination.
Hayes Hughes was with her, bustling about and asking if she was feeling unwell somewhere. Mia Grant lied and said no, she just wanted a comprehensive check-up.
Hayes Hughes didn’t press the issue. At least she was willing to get checked now.
Even if she didn’t want to talk, the medical report wouldn’t lie.
While they were waiting for the results, Yates Donovan appeared without any warning.
The empty seat next to her suddenly dipped as someone sat down.
Mia Grant was idly playing a tile-matching game. She glanced over out of the corner of her eye, then froze.
"Are you sick?" she asked, feigning composure. Her tone was as casual as if she were greeting an old friend, betraying nothing.
"Yeah. Just passing through," Yates Donovan said.
"Oh."
Their tones and expressions were perfectly natural, not at all like two people who hadn’t spoken in over half a month.
Hayes Hughes was inside waiting for the report. Mia Grant lowered her head and went back to her phone.
Yates Donovan watched her for a long moment before asking, "So, what’s wrong this time?"
"A check-up. The university requires it."
She spouted a casual lie.
Yates Donovan didn’t call her out on it, and the atmosphere grew icy once more.
It was rare for the two of them to be so quiet together.
Yates Donovan loved to joke with her and never let the conversation die.
Mia Grant felt a little uncomfortable and wanted to get up and go inside.
She closed the game, put her phone away, and got ready to leave.
But a hand clamped down on her wrist.
She glanced sideways at him, her eyes as still as a placid lake, looking at him as if he were a stranger.
Yates Donovan’s throat tightened. He wasn’t sure if it was because of the cigarettes he’d smoked before coming, but his throat felt itchy and dry.
His Adam’s apple bobbed with difficulty. He tried to explain, "I’ve been busy lately, abroad. In Northeria..."
"You don’t have to explain. It’s not like I’d understand anyway." Mia Grant saw no point in it.
’It’s all just a lame excuse. Why go into so much detail?’
’What’s the point?’
Yates Donovan knew she was angry. The pad of his thumb subconsciously stroked the skin on the inside of her wrist, feeling the faint beat of her pulse.
"I..."
But honestly, he didn’t know how to begin.
Because during this period of no contact, he had come to the constant realization that in the last world, he had been the source of her pain.
Some people can’t even understand their past selves.
Take the current Yates Donovan, for example.
He couldn’t understand his past self, why he had used such methods to force Mia Grant to stay by his side.
’Did he not like her?’
He’d had plenty of fake girlfriends to fool the elders in his family, but he’d never liked them, so he never got too involved.
’So if he didn’t like her... he wouldn’t have treated her that way.’
But he couldn’t tell Mia Grant that.
’After all, who would imprison the person they liked in the name of love?’
Especially since she hated being imprisoned more than anything.
Yates Donovan wasn’t sure if she would start to hate him, too, if he told her all this.
He was actually looking forward to the day Felix Sinclair could control the System again. That way, he’d have a chance to go to the last world and slap that other version of himself silly.
"Have you... been dreaming recently?" he finally asked after a long silence.
"No."
Mia Grant wasn’t lying. The last time she’d dreamed of information from before was on the day of the car accident.
Since that day, it was as if her memories had undergone a groundbreaking update.
She hadn’t dreamed of those scenes again, but if she quieted her mind and really tried to remember, she could feel the presence of extra memories in her brain.
Vague details would suddenly become clear.
That was why she hadn’t proactively contacted anyone during this period. She truly didn’t have the time.
She had a lot of classes lately, and whenever she had a free moment, she would try to recall and update her memories.
"I see." Yates Donovan thought for a moment, then asked, "Has *it* contacted you?"
"It?" Mia Grant paused, then realized he was asking about the System.
"It contacted me on the day of the car accident."
Hearing this, Yates Donovan sighed. "So, it told you about me."
He’d actually had a feeling, guessing that Mia Grant might have learned something.
He just wasn’t sure how much the System had told her.
Just as Mia Grant was about to say something, the door to the adjacent room was pushed open, and Hayes Hughes walked out.
He was slightly taken aback when he saw Yates Donovan in the chair, but then he nodded in greeting.
Then he looked at Mia Grant. "Come on, let’s go inside to talk."
Mia Grant’s heart sank.
She thought that by being prepared, she wouldn’t be so nervous and scared.
As it turned out, that was all nonsense.
When she heard the lung cancer diagnosis, Mia Grant couldn’t help but sigh at the bitter irony.
Seeing her face turn deathly pale, Hayes Hughes grabbed her hand and comforted her nonstop.
The doctor said it was only the early stage and the cancer cells hadn’t spread yet. If the patient cooperated with treatment, there was a very high chance of a full recovery, so she shouldn’t be too anxious.
Mia Grant weakly lifted the corners of her mouth, trying to smile but unable to.
That same day, the news of Mia Grant’s lung cancer reached the ears of all the male leads.
Yates Donovan was smoking in the hospital corridor at that moment. When Mia Grant calmly told him she had lung cancer, his hand trembled, and the freshly lit cigarette fell to the floor with a soft THUD.