Chapter 74: If It Comes to Force
It was true what they said about proximity giving you an advantage.
She had to take things slow.
If she spooked him and made Adrian Grant put his guard up, she’d only be shooting herself in the foot. Her clever plan would end up a clumsy failure.
’She didn’t think Adrian Grant would be that easy to win over.’
On this point, Adrian Grant happened to agree with her.
He also believed the "boiling a frog" approach was best for Caroline Whitman. If he forced things, he was afraid she’d get scared and run off.
After all, she had deliberately avoided him a few times before.
The next morning at six, Caroline Whitman was already up.
She was up a step ahead of Ryan Grant.
This way, she could sidestep her son’s morning inspection.
Just as she pushed her door open, she ran into Adrian Grant coming out of the room next door.
Adrian Grant nodded to her first. "Morning."
"Morning," Caroline Whitman replied politely.
On days they were home from work, Miss King didn’t need to come over. So after washing up, Adrian Grant went straight into the kitchen and started making breakfast.
Before long, the little guy was up, just as expected.
"Good morning, Mommy, Daddy."
After waking up, Ryan Grant got dressed in his room before coming out.
The moment he saw his parents were both already up, he immediately bounded over to greet them.
"Mommy, you two are up so early today."
Caroline Whitman chuckled to herself. ’Of course we’re up early. We were afraid of your morning "room inspection."’
"Where are we going today?"
"To Norcaster."
"Yay, yay!"
"Go brush your teeth and wash your face. We’ll leave right after breakfast."
Taking advantage of the brief moment, she went back to her room to pack his clothes.
After they finished breakfast, the family of three dragged their luggage down to the underground garage.
Since Caroline Whitman had chosen the destination this time, she suggested she drive on the way there.
On the road leading into the resort, Adrian Grant looked at the scenery outside the window and suddenly said:
"This is the resort you were talking about?"
Caroline Whitman turned her head. "You’ve been here before?"
Adrian Grant smiled. "What a coincidence. This is the summer mountain villa I told you about. It also goes by the name Hot Springs Resort."
"..."
Adrian Grant continued, "What I didn’t expect, though, was that the person who suddenly invested three years ago was you."
It wasn’t just him who was surprised; Caroline Whitman was shocked too.
For the past few years, she had been investing in all sorts of tourism ventures for no other reason than remembering a part of the plot where the male lead, Vincent Fuller, had invested in this sector.
’Since it was an investment made by the male lead, it couldn’t possibly fail.’
Although she wasn’t sure which specific tourism businesses he’d invested in, that didn’t stop her from casting a wide net.
"Oh, the partner who met with me last time wasn’t you?" Caroline Whitman dredged up the memory of the partnership meeting for this mountain villa.
"He’s also one of the shareholders."
Caroline Whitman really didn’t remember this. Back then, after having her assistant verify that there were no issues with the other investors, she had just sent her assistant to sign the contract.
She smiled. "It seems we’re really connected by fate."
Adrian Grant nodded. "Indeed. At least our taste in investments is very consistent."
"..."
’This guy’s pretty humorous,’ Caroline Whitman thought. For a moment, she couldn’t tell if he was praising himself or being humble.
The car stopped at a villa.
This was an exclusive perk for all investing shareholders. ’Adrian Grant’s plan for yesterday must have been the same,’ she thought.
The villa’s grounds included a swimming pool, and everything was regularly cleaned and maintained.
Before they came, Caroline Whitman had already contacted the villa’s manager to have someone clean it again.
After getting out of the car.
Ryan Grant woke from his nap, full of energy. He ran around the yard before finally squatting down by the pool.
"Daddy, can you teach me how to swim?"
"I can, but don’t go near the water by yourself right now. Come over here. I’ll teach you a little later."
Adrian Grant glanced at the blazing sun before speaking to the little guy.
"That’s great!" The little guy jumped for joy and ran toward them, following them into the villa.
The villa had two floors and wasn’t very big.
There were two bedrooms on the first floor and three on the second.
They weren’t staying on the second floor, so there was no need to take their luggage upstairs.
So, they would be staying on the first floor for the next few days.
"I want to sleep with you guys tonight." Ryan Grant checked out the two rooms on the first floor, then came to stand before Adrian Grant, tilting his little head up to speak.
Adrian Grant said, "Didn’t you like sleeping alone on our last two trips?"
Ryan Grant fidgeted, wiggling his small body. "This is my first time at this house. It’s different from a hotel."
Caroline Whitman came out after putting her luggage away and asked curiously, "How is it different?"
She was also surprised by the little guy’s proposal. The main reason she’d chosen this resort, besides the exclusive shareholder villa, was that it had many rooms.
’If the child sleeps by himself, then I won’t have to squeeze into one bed with Adrian Grant like at the hotel.’
But as it turned out, her child didn’t play by the rules.
Caroline Whitman was puzzled.
"This isn’t our home in Kingsport, and it’s not a hotel. This house is so big and has so many rooms... I’m a little scared," Ryan Grant turned and whispered to Caroline Whitman, his small hand unconsciously tightening its grip on the corner of Adrian Grant’s shirt.
"It’s fine with me. Ask your mother." Adrian Grant noticed the child’s unease and replied nonchalantly, smoothly passing the decision to her.
Caroline Whitman’s heart stirred slightly, but her expression remained natural. "Oh, in that case, Daddy can sleep with you tonight. Once you get used to it, you won’t be scared anymore."
Adrian Grant said, "That works. I’ll sleep with you tonight."
The moment Ryan Grant heard that, he quickly let go of Adrian’s shirt and ran to Caroline Whitman’s side. With wide, innocent, and teary eyes, he asked the killer question:
"Mommy, don’t you love me anymore? Why won’t you and Daddy sleep with me together?"
Caroline Whitman: "..."
’Is this kid deliberately acting so pitiful because he knows how to play on our psychology as new parents?’ she wondered.
Speaking of the father and son, they had the same eyes, though one pair was large and the other small.
The older one’s gaze was filled with aggression.
The younger one, however, knew how to act cute and play pitiful.
Caroline Whitman said, "The beds in the rooms aren’t big enough. They can’t fit three people. Otherwise, you could sleep with me."
You could still reason with a three-and-a-half-year-old.
The beds in the villa really weren’t big enough. They were only double beds, which was a tight squeeze.
It was barely enough for two people.
Two adults and a child would be too crowded.
Hearing this, Ryan Grant ran off to check all the rooms. The beds here really were small, not like the big ones at home.
Finally, he came back downstairs and reluctantly accepted this reality.
"Okay, I’ll sleep with Daddy tonight, with Mommy tomorrow night, and by myself the day after that."
He wasn’t an unreasonable child.
Once he got familiar with the place, he wouldn’t be scared anymore.
And if he wasn’t scared, he wouldn’t pester his mommy and daddy to sleep with him.
"Good boy."
——
「Two in the afternoon. Kingsport, Grant Group headquarters.」
Gavin Grant’s sudden arrival at the company caught the attention of many senior executives. When they learned he was there to see Adrian Grant and didn’t want to be disturbed, they all tactfully stayed out of sight.
But when he arrived at Adrian Grant’s office, he found it empty.
Gavin Grant looked at the secretary standing nearby and asked in a low voice, "Where is he?"