Chapter 177: Chapter 177: Can't you see the situation clearly?

Chapter 177: Can’t you see the situation clearly?

Mia Sinclair? Same last name as Alice.

Ryan was taken aback as he listened to the little one introduce herself. Sinclair? And here of all places? Could she really be related to Alice?

But having spent a few days with Alice, he hadn’t heard her mention having a sister or any relatives like that.

Could she be the little sister from the family?

“Big brother—what’s your name—”

Seeing Ryan zoning out again, lost in his thoughts, Mia pouted her cute little lips.

Her small hand reached straight for Ryan’s face and pinched his cheek with a strength that seemed too much for her tiny frame.

Ouch—

Her temper seemed to be cut from the same cloth as Alice’s. Maybe it’s a Sinclair thing to have a fierce temper.

Ryan, his cheek still in Mia’s grip, managed a helpless smile, not daring to ignore the young girl any longer, and quickly responded.

“Ryan, my name’s Ryan. Can you let go, please?”

Ryan generally believed in the principle of influencing kids positively, something he’d read about in a book. Kids being noisy or acting out wasn’t a sign of bad character, but rather an attempt to get adults’ attention.

Like now… the girl was just trying to get his attention.

“Brother, does it really hurt?”

Mia paused her actions as she listened to Ryan, her big eyes misting over, her little nose twitching, seemingly sorry for what she had done.

“Well… not really.”

Seeing the girl’s pitiful look softened Ryan’s heart, but he regretted it the next second.

“Oh, if it doesn’t hurt, then why—why do you keep ignoring me—”

Her hand hadn’t moved from Ryan’s face, and the pitiful look vanished instantly, her grip stronger than before.

In front of Ryan wasn’t an angel but a little devil who seemed to have escaped from hell to roam the earth.

Glancing at the time, it was nearly two o’clock. He had spent too much time in the kitchen, and he wondered how Alice was doing.

Of course, he couldn’t forget what was important. Ryan’s thoughts quickly drifted back to Alice.

After promising repeatedly not to ignore Mia anymore, the little one finally huffed and withdrew her hand.

Ryan’s cheek was so stretched it felt breezy, swollen in a comically endearing way.

He sighed and reached out to Mia, who this time didn’t resist but placed her small hand in his.

Ryan’s hand was warm, and Mia seemed a bit uncomfortable at first, but when Ryan looked at her, she returned to her usual self.

“So, Mia, how about I take you out, okay? There’s really important stuff going on at the hotel later.”

Ryan spoke with as much patience as he could muster. Right now, he couldn’t afford to dwell on why Mia was here. He planned to find a bodyguard to keep an eye on her once they were outside, and then figure things out after everything was settled.

But Mia just pouted, her small hand squeezing Ryan’s twice, clearly unhappy with his plans.

“It’s just a meeting, right? A bunch of people sitting around with their own agendas, plotting to kick someone out.”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Is that really so important?”

Mia spoke on her own, sighing like an adult. Rather than sitting around listening to boring adult meetings, she’d rather find something to eat.

People plotting to kick someone out—wasn’t that exactly Alice’s situation?

Ryan stared at the girl in shock. The little one clearly knew much more than Ryan had thought.

“Uh, how do you know about that? Did the adults at home tell you?”

Ryan had been suspicious of Mia’s identity from the start, and now, hearing her casually mention what was worrying him, it pretty much confirmed his suspicions.

“Sort of,” Mia said, a trace of sadness in her tone, her eyebrows tinged with sorrow, her little head slightly bowed, but her expression was still clearly captured by Ryan.

Back when Ryan was in the orphanage, there were always adults coming in to adopt kids.

As the oldest and most sensible ‘big brother’ in the orphanage, Ryan never really lacked adoption opportunities.

But every time he saw the longing looks in his younger siblings’ eyes, their fear of being alone, like little eaglets huddled in their nest afraid of the outside world, it broke his heart.

The adoptive parents were generally decent, but when it came down to the final decision, Ryan would always sneak away, choosing to stay at the orphanage to be with his brothers and sisters. To him, they were more important.

Something had definitely happened to Mia,Ryan recognized that familiar sadness in her, but now wasn’t the time to delve into it.

Ryan led Mia out of the kitchen, and to keep her from getting hungry too quickly, he grabbed a pack of malt candies from the kitchen and slipped it into her pocket.

Outside, everything seemed unchanged. The bodyguards were still greeting people arriving for the meeting, and no one noticed Ryan’s brief disappearance.

Since Mia was also brought here for the meeting, Ryan didn’t need to hand her over to a bodyguard. Instead, he held the little girl’s hand and led her directly to the upstairs conference room.

Alice had been sitting in the conference room for a long time, feeling the fatigue creeping up her back again. She would stand up to politely greet anyone who entered.

She was growing tired of this life, but she couldn’t resist it,she had to keep moving forward as fate dictated.

After her father’s death, the burden had fallen on her shoulders without asking if she was willing.

She was just a child before her father died, and after his departure, she became the boss of a massive gang.

The gang life was far from ordinary, and far from the life Alice had dreamed of. If she had a choice, she would have preferred not to be born into this family.

Unfortunately, life doesn’t offer many “ifs.”

“Miss Alice, I trust you are well.”

Lost in thought, Alice was startled by a voice from behind.

She frowned slightly and quickly stood up, bowing respectfully once she saw who it was.

“Mr. Russo, you’ve arrived.”

Standing before Alice was an elderly man with white hair and beard, dressed in traditional attire with flat cloth shoes, his back straight and eyes bright, showing no signs of fatigue.

He was Dante Russo, her father’s right-hand man and a major figure in the gang, second only to her father.

“How have you been feeling lately?”

Alice didn’t dare to be presumptuous. She knew the resistance to her plans was significant, and if she wanted to succeed, she needed Dante Russo’s approval.

But she had tried many times, and Dante Russo, the old fox, wasn’t easy to sway.

“Thank you for your concern, Miss Alice. This old man is still quite robust.”

“You’ve been fighting for the gang for most of your life,you should take some time to rest. Did you receive the item I sent?”

Alice asked casually, seemingly indifferent but actually gauging his attitude.

Alice’s gifts were usually not ordinary,she had purchased a property for Dante in Australia, the expense of which even made her wince.

“Miss Alice sent me a gift? I… this…”

Dante’s expression changed to one of surprise, then he turned to look at his secretary.

The secretary, looking embarrassed, smiled awkwardly at Alice and whispered something in Dante’s ear.

“See, I’ve been quite busy lately, and I told my secretary to only inform me about work-related matters, so he intercepted your gift.”

“That’s my fault. I’ll definitely make a visit to apologize to Miss Alice when I’m free.”

Dante smiled at Alice, who just smiled back and waved it off as no big deal.

No assistant would dare intercept something from Miss Alice without good reason. Dante’s act was just for show,he wasn’t ready to pick sides yet.

It was understandable. After Alice’s father died, the gang was thrown into internal strife. As the person with the most influence, Dante had the hardest choices to make.

Leaning towards one side could lead to significant consequences he couldn’t explain to the late Boss Richard Sinclair, so he was still observing.

Dante Russo took his seat, and Alice resumed her facade, her smile intact but her heart somewhat disappointed.

These past few days had been rough, and even Alice herself wasn’t sure if her plans would succeed.

But thankfully, Ryan was still supporting her, even though she had never fully explained her intentions to him.

Alice slightly bowed her body, exhaling a heavy breath. The meeting hadn’t even started, and she was already feeling exhausted.

Just as one problem seemed to settle, another arose. Another voice sounded behind Alice, and just hearing it made her teeth itch with irritation.

“Miss Alice, long time no see.”

“If you ask me, you should stop playing these games. Can’t you see the situation clearly?”