“Stella.” Hayden’s voice became deeper. She gazed at the little girl motionlessly.
“Do you think it’s appropriate to do so?”
Stella pursed her lips, feeling a sense of guilty.
Usually if her mother spoke to her in this way, it meant she really got angry.
“Mommy.”
Stella tugged at her sleeve. “I just want to play with Noah for a bit longer.”
Hayden still stared at her solemnly.
“I know, but what time is it now? Haven’t I told you to mind your manners before coming here? You can
play with Noah, but you can’t linger around or refuse to go home. This is the most basic courtesy.”
When she was scolding Stella, Noah suddenly crawled to her and held one of her legs, holding the
drawing board in the other hand.
Hayden felt that her left leg was tightly gripped. Looking down, she saw the words written on the
drawing board raised high in Noah’s hand: “I want Stella to stay.”
“Noah.” Hayden frowned and didn’t know what to say at the moment. It seemed that she could never
refuse Noah’s requests.
“Noah, I have to go now. It’s really too late. Next time I’ll bring Stella over and play with you again when
I have time, alright?”
Seeing that Hayden still insisted, Noah became anxious. He hurriedly wrote another line on the drawing
board, and then dragged Joseph’s pants, asking his father to read his words.
“If you don’t make Stella and Aunt Hayden stay, I won’t eat.”
Joseph was taken aback, feeling a sudden fluctuation in his heart.
He hesitated, looked at Hayden, and said, “How about staying here tonight? We have a room for you
and Stella.”
Hayden was startled. “Well, I don’t think it’s appropriate.”
“Please don’t get me wrong.” Joseph glanced at her and unhurriedly explained, “If you leave, Noah
wouldn’t eat again tomorrow. He still has an injury, so he could only stay home instead of going out. He
can barely meet his friends nowadays.”
Upon hearing it, Hayden could do nothing to refuse.
Stella was also striking the iron while it was hot. “Mommy, tomorrow is Sunday. I don’t need to go to
school and nor do you need to work. Mommy, I promise. I will definitely go home tomorrow. I just want
to spend more time with Noah.”
Now Hayden had to agree with her reluctantly.
She poked Stella’s forehead and said meaningfully, “You are so young and you want to accompany a
boy already. Alas, you are grown up and I can’t keep you home anymore.”
Since they had agreed to stay overnight, a servant arranged a guest room for them. Hayden went to
bathe Stella first. The little girl acted as if she was nuts -- she kept screaming, jumping up and down,
and running around in the bathroom. All towels were soaked in the water.
“Enough is enough. Are you done? Why are you so excited?”
“Why shouldn’t I?”
Stella looked at Hayden with a smile. “Mommy, I always wish that I could have an older brother.”
Hearing her mentioning that, Hayden couldn’t help but furrow her bows.
She said in a lower voice, “You have one.”
Stella realized that she had brought up her mother’s sadness, so she regretted immediately.
“Mommy, I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright.” Hayden rubbed her head helplessly. “Stop messing around. Stay in the bathtub to keep
warm. I’ll go out to find you a new towel.”
“OK.”
Her taken-away son in the past was always the knot in Hayden’s heart. Although she knew it might not
be possible for her to bring him back if she could find him, she always hoped that she could meet him
one day. As long as she could take a look at him from afar and if he was leading a happy life, she didn’t
need to disturb him.
Coming out of the guest room, Hayden slowly exhaled a suffocating breath, feeling a little flustered.
Joseph was drinking water in the living room. Hearing the footsteps coming downstairs, he turned
around, only to find that Hayden was coming down from the stairs. Her light blue dress was soaked
from the chest, faintly revealing the outline of her bra inside.
Catching a glimpse of it, he felt his lower abdomen tightened, his mouth drying out.
“Excuse me. Where is the servant?” under his motionless gaze, Hayden asked with hesitation.
Joseph returned to his senses, looking away.
“She went out just now to throw the trash, I guess. Are you looking for something?”
“Towels.” Hayden pulled at the collar of her dress, smiling helplessly. “Stella was too restless when
taking a bathe, getting water all over me. All the towels in the bathroom are wet. I just want to ask the
servant if there’s any other dry towel.”
Joseph took a glance at the door -- the trash station was quite far from here. The servant on duty
tonight had just left, so he didn’t think she would come back shortly.
“I have some in my room. Come to get them.”
As he spoke, he put down the water glass, walking towards the stairs.
Hayden followed him, inexplicably feeling somewhat nervous when going into the master bedroom on
the second floor. Clenching her fingers, she looked at Joseph’s back and shook off the distracting
thoughts in her brain.
‘What are you thinking about?’ she warned herself inwardly.
“Would you like a bath towel or a face towel? Come to take a look,” Joseph said.
He was standing at the bathroom door. She hurriedly walked up to him.
“Both, please.”
In the cabinet beside the sink in the bathroom, there were neatly folded towels. Hayden took two bath
towels and looked for the face towels. It seemed they were placed on the top of the cabinet. Hence,
she reached out tiptoed. Unfortunately, she was too short to get one.
One hand crossed above her head, and a deep voice rang out from the shadow. “Two of them, right?”
She was in a daze, nodding uneasily. She wondered if he had seen her nod, just feeling that the his
shadow on her went a little deeper.
Joseph took the face towels and looked down, meeting Hayden’s stupefied gaze. Her eyes looked
extremely bright although she was in the dim light. His heart skipped a beat and he paused his
movements.
Under the dim yellowish light in the bathroom, the way how Joseph reached things behind Hayden
looked as if he was holding her from behind, quite intimate. The atmosphere suddenly became
ambiguous, as if the temperature in the bathroom had risen a little.
Hayden’s breath became heavier. Sniffing the faint scent of the cologne from his body, she couldn’t
help inhaling slightly.
It smelt good.
“Excuse me, young master...”
All of a sudden, they heard the servant knocking at the door, which broke the ambiguous atmosphere
instantly.
Hayden suddenly sobered up when hearing the knock. Lowering her head, she dodged the direct gaze
from him and took a step back, distancing herself from him safely.
Joseph also went back to his senses. When he looked at the door, his eyes were filled with
unhappiness.
“What’s up?”
One of his hands passed the face towels to Hayden.
Biting the bullet, Hayden took it over, feeling her heart hammering in her chest, as if it would jump out.
It was such a weird feeling.
“I just went to the guest room and found Ms. Downey’s daughter alone in the bathroom. She asked me
where her mother is. I’ve looked for Ms. Downey all around the villa but didn’t find her.”
Hearing that, Hayden hurriedly looked up at Joseph. Before she could stop him, he had already walked
out from the bathroom.
He responded calmly, “She’s here with me.”
There was a moment of silence outside the door.
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