Desire Me If You Can [Novel] - Chapter 46

So you went into the basement?
Grayson nodded as if answering a hidden question.
“Well, it’s less boring than being alone.”
Dane was silent again. Behind him, his colleagues were waiting after preparing to leave, as if lost in some complicated thought. Dane had noticed this a long time ago, but he didn’t look back. There was still a question left.
“Why can’t I leave?”
When asked why he didn’t bring the child out in the first place and instead went in, Grayson answered without hesitation this time.
“It’ll just mean I’ll get punished again, and it’ll just make the time longer.”
Then he frowned and shrugged.
“I could have held out a little longer, but you took Santiano away, so I stayed instead. I had to tell him that Santiano didn’t go there of his own volition. I’m a witness.”
Dane was silent again. He looked at Grayson with a complicated gaze that he couldn’t understand, and after a few seconds, he opened his mouth.
“So, what you did is honorable?”
“I was just trying to help.”
Grayson accepted the words without hesitation this time.
“I always do my best, but people always get mad. Why is that? I don’t understand.”
Dane just silently watched as he furrowed his brows as if he was being wronged. His complicated thoughts were clearly visible on his face, but Grayson didn’t notice.
At that moment, Ezra, who couldn’t wait any longer, shouted behind him.
“Dane! What are you doing? Come on, let’s go back!”
When he glanced, everyone had already gotten into the car, and only Ezra was left, waving his arms in front of the open car door. Dane turned around without saying anything. When he had taken a couple of steps, Grayson suddenly asked from behind him.
“Do you think I did something wrong too?”
Dane looked back. The damn smile disappeared from Grayson’s face. Dane opened his mouth coldly, his expressionless face showing no emotion.
“Don’t help me.”
With a face as cold as his tone, he stammered.
“Don’t do anything, you.”
With that, Dane strode off and got into the car. Ezra followed him and whispered softly.
“What are you going to do with that kid, he’s not in his right mind.”
The other guys had similar expressions. They must have heard the conversation he had with Grayson. Dane sat down in the empty seat without saying anything. Grayson also got into the car a little late, but he didn’t say a word until they were back. However, e occasionally looked in Dane’s direction, but Dane stubbornly kept his gaze fixed in the opposite direction and didn’t move at all.
(I love you, Dane.)
In his memory, the red-haired woman hugged him tightly and whispered.
(My precious treasure, you are all I have.)
His expression naturally became devastated as the forgotten memory came back to him. Dane closed his eyes and frowned to shake off the unpleasant memory. He thought, “I was going to go to the club today, but I failed.” When he feels dirty, he doesn’t seek out sex partners. He had no choice but to go straight home after work even though tomorrow was his day off. He thought, “I should sleep with my darling today.”
That son of a bitch.
On the way back to the fire station, Grayson began to feel a little angry. What on earth was that look in his eyes? What was he thinking when he looked at me? Why?
It was the first time he had seen that expression. He had no idea what it meant. He groaned in annoyance.
Grayson Miller had difficulty distinguishing facial expressions since long ago. He must have had a brain defect since birth. His son, who had difficulty reading emotions, whether they were smiling or angry, was given a method by his father, Ashley Miller.
Learn to read emotions.
After that, famous teachers specializing in acting and psychology visited the mansion frequently to teach him cold reading. At first, he started with simple things like smiling when the corners of his mouth went up, and sad when they went down, and later he memorized everything, even the inner feelings revealed by how even a single finger moved.
Fortunately, Grayson had an outstanding talent for cold reading. He absorbed everything he was taught like a sponge, and he could quickly read the other person’s mind and even guess what they wanted just by looking at them.
On the other hand, he was also excellent at using his knowledge to imitate the emotions that other people would feel in the same situation and ‘pretend to do so. ‘Thanks to that, he used what he read to perfectly create the image of himself that the other person wanted. To the extent that anyone who didn’t know about his innate flaws and acquired efforts would have been completely fooled. His acting teacher recognized his talent and seriously recommended it to him.
“Why don’t you consider this career path? I’ll tell Mr. Miller. You definitely have talent! How cool would it be if you were on the red carpet with Chase? Huh?”
The teacher was very sincere, but Grayson refused. This was because he clearly knew his limitations.
He only ‘imitates’. Because of that, he can’t act with depth like his younger brother Chase Miller, who is considered a top actor and is recognized for his outstanding acting skills. In fact, when I watched movies with Chase, I only watched them as if I was learning, thinking, “Oh, Grayson expresses himself in that kind of situation.” I never admired his acting. This is because I couldn’t feel the emotions. Although I could tell whether he was crying, screaming, or laughing through my studies, I couldn’t understand ‘why’
More than anything, the only times he would ‘act’ and adapt to someone was when he judged them to be his ‘fate’. He exerted his utmost effort and used more than 120 percent of what he had learned, and because of that, they fell for Grayson, regardless of gender. The problem was that he was merciless when he abandoned them. Anyway, for that reason, Grayson Miller had never failed until now. Even if they had initially looked down on him or had negative feelings for him, if he gave them expensive gifts and said a few nice things, they would pretend not to be able to win and fall for him. On the other hand, he hated people who hated him terribly. Grayson Miller was someone who received both unconditional love and fierce hatred.
Of course, all of those reactions were just funny to him. In the end, whether they hated him or loved him, the fact that they couldn’t stand his presence was the same. Love and hate are the same.
That’s why he had lived looking down on everyone in the world until now.
What on earth did that expression mean?
He was curious to the point of madness. Grayson had learned and mastered all the expressions of emotion in the world. But this was the first time he had seen such an incomprehensible expression.
He had to know what it was.
Grayson felt nervous. There had to be no emotion he didn’t know. He had to strangle Dane Striker right now to find out what it meant. Right now.