His Obsession: My Family Can Read My Mind

Chapter 3: Playing with Fire

Three days had passed since Old Madam Sinclair's sudden hospitalization.

Thanks to Mia's involuntary mental warning, Silas had ordered an immediate toxicological screen the moment his grandmother arrived at the hospital. The results had confirmed the presence of lethal digitalis. The treasonous maid and Silas's uncle had been dealt with in the quiet, brutal fashion of the Sinclair syndicate. Grandma Beatrice was now recovering beautifully, completely out of danger.

But Silas hadn't visited Mia since. He had spent those three days investigating her.

His reports showed she was just a regular girl raised in an orphanage, with no connection to the medical field, no intelligence background, and absolutely no way of knowing about the Sinclair family's internal affairs.

Yet, she knew.

"Mr. Sinclair," his head bodyguard, Marcus, reported as they parked outside the gates of A-University. "Miss Vance has returned to campus today. Shall we bring her in?"

"No," Silas said, staring at the university gates. "I want to watch her."

Inside the campus, Mia was currently walking toward the cafeteria. She was thoroughly annoyed.

【System, why did my hatred rating with Silas drop to eighty percent? It was at ninety-eight! What did I do wrong?】

The system chimed in. [Host, maybe your physical contact made him comfortable? You did touch his abs.]

【Stupid system. He hates being touched! I should have grabbed his lower half. That would have definitely gotten me a restraining order.】

Silas, listening from his parked SUV a hundred yards away, nearly rubbed his temples. Her voice was as clear as if she were sitting right next to him.

Mia entered the crowded cafeteria. She ordered a massive plate of sweet and sour chicken. But before she could take a single bite, a hand slammed onto her table, sending her orange juice spilling across the tray.

"Mia Vance!"

Mia looked up. Standing in front of her was Kyle Preston, a wealthy heir and Vivian Harper's most loyal, aggressive simp. Behind him stood several of his frat-boy friends, all glaring at Mia.

"You pushed Chloe into the pool at the gala, and you've been terrorizing Vivian," Kyle snarled, his face twisted in a macho grimace. "Just because you have the Vance family name doesn't mean you can run your mouth. Apologize to Vivian right now, or I’ll make sure you get kicked out of this school."

Mia looked at her ruined lunch. Her eye twitched.

【My chicken. My sweet, beautiful, deep-fried chicken. It’s covered in orange juice.】

【Kyle Preston. You absolute piece of trash. You want me to apologize to Vivian? How about I feed you your own teeth first?】

Silas, listening in, felt his muscles tense. He opened the car door and began walking toward the cafeteria, his strides long and urgent.

"I asked you a question, b***h!" Kyle yelled, reaching out to grab Mia’s shoulder.

Mia’s eyes went completely cold. The fragile, helpless girl vanished. In a split second, her right hand shot out like a viper. She grabbed Kyle's wrist, twisting it with a sickening crack.

"AHHH!" Kyle screamed, falling to his knees as his wrist was bent at an impossible angle.

"Do not touch me with your filthy hands," Mia whispered, her voice dangerously low.

But then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a crowd of students pulling out their phones to record. She instantly realized she was breaking her "weak, pathetic villainess" cover.

Her face transformed in a fraction of a second. She let go of Kyle's wrist, stumbled backward, and threw herself onto the floor, clutching her plastered left arm.

"Oh my god! Help!" Mia wailed, her voice echoing with sheer terror. "He’s trying to beat me! Kyle Preston is trying to murder me because I won't give him my lunch money! Help!"

Kyle, cradling his broken wrist on the floor, looked at her in absolute horror. "You... you crazy b***h! You broke my hand!"

"I’m just a weak girl with a broken arm!" Mia sobbed hysterically, wiping non-existent tears. "How could I break your hand? You're a varsity athlete! Security, help!"

The cafeteria erupted into chaos. Just as Kyle's friends stepped forward to grab Mia, the heavy double doors of the cafeteria slammed open.

Silas Sinclair stepped inside.

The temperature in the room instantly dropped to sub-zero. The students parted like the Red Sea, terrified of the aura of pure death radiating from the billionaire.

Silas walked directly past Kyle, who was groaning on the floor. He stopped in front of Mia, who was still sitting on the ground, putting on her best damsel-in-distress performance.

He bent down, his massive frame towering over her, and offered her his hand.

"Get up," Silas said, his voice deep and commandingly smooth.

Mia looked at his hand, then up at his dark, mesmerizing eyes. She reluctantly took it, letting him pull her up.

【Damn, he's so hot when he's being intimidating. But seriously, why is he here again? Is he stalking me? Does he want to defend Vivian's simp? If he tries to punish me, I swear to god I will find out where he sleeps and shave his head.】

Silas’s chest rumbled with a silent laugh. Shave my head? Bold girl.

He turned his cold, predatory gaze toward Kyle and his friends. "Kyle Preston. If I ever see you or any of your friends within ten feet of my fiancée again, the Preston family will be bankrupt by midnight. Do I make myself clear?"

Kyle, pale and trembling from both pain and fear, nodded frantically. "Y-Yes, Mr. Sinclair. We're leaving. We're leaving!"

Silas didn't wait. He grabbed Mia’s wrist—careful to avoid her injured arm—and dragged her out of the cafeteria, ignoring the whispers of the students.

He pulled her into an empty, dimly lit lecture hall and slammed the door shut, locking it behind them. He pressed her against the wall, his large body looming over her, trapping her completely.

"Silas," Mia gasped, her heart rate spiking as his dangerous, masculine scent overwhelmed her senses. "What are you doing? People will see—"

"Let them look," Silas whispered, his dark eyes burning with an intense, possessive fire. He leaned in, his lips inches from her ear. "You wanted me to touch you, didn't you? You wanted to see what I could do with my hands?"

Mia froze, her breath catching in her throat.

【Wait... how does he... how does he know what I thought?】

Silas smirked, his hand slowly sliding up her waist, his thumb caressing the soft skin of her lower back. "I know everything, Mia. Especially how much you want to ride me."