Joseph’s voice came from the other end of the phone, but she felt like he was just whispering by her
ears.
Immediately, Hayden was transported back to that night, and her face instantly blushed.
How was that possible She didn’t even have an inkling of what she had said.
“Wait, no, that’s impossible, right” Hayden retorted forcefully, “Why would I come up with such a
request”
If this really happened, it didn’t just mean that she was drunk. She must also be crazy.
“What are you doubting about” Joseph’s questioning tone came from the other end, “If you don’t
believe me, you should think that there is no reason for me to fabricate such an excuse, no”
Hayden was speechless. Indeed, if she hadn’t made this request, what was the point of Joseph coming
up with such a request There wasn’t any reason for doing that at all.
Despite finding it hard to believe that she was the one who had made this request, compared to the
possibility that Joseph was lying now, it was more convincing for her to believe that she must have said
some gibberish while in a drunk state. Therefore, she instantly swerved the direction of her
conversation as she stammered, “That’s not what I mean. I was seriously drunk that night, I… I will go
get Stella now.”
She hung up the phone and the driver stepped on the pedal hard. In no time, Imperial Villa emerged
from a distance.
The sky had turned dark, and Joseph was in the living room with the two children. The moment she
made her appearance, Noah immediately rushed towards her and hugged her thigh.
Hayden stroked his head and said, “My dear Noah, you must be careful with your hand. Don’t
aggravate your injury. Do you still feel any pain”
Noah shook his head while looking at Hayden longingly.
This child was able to recover very fast so there was no need for a plaster anymore. The doctor just
instructed him to be careful when exerting strength into his arm.
The home chef was arranging the dishes on the dining table when she glimpsed Hayden. She broke
into a smile, “You have come just right on time, Miss Downey. The dishes are all ready and you guys
can come eat now.”
“Huh”
Hayden froze for a second and she hastily declined, “It’s okay, I am here to get Stella.”
“Let’s eat together since you’re here.”
On the sofa, Joseph shut the book in his hand and walked over.
Stella nodded on one side as she implored, “Mummy, I am hungry now.”
Hayden knew that she would look pretentious if she continued to decline their goodwill, so she could
only force herself to take a seat by the dining table.
“Mummy, this is sweet and sour fish which is your favourite. It is something uncle has specially ordered
aunty chef to make!”
Stella winked as she said this as if she wanted to flatter her mother.
Upon hearing that, Hayden was seized by a little awkwardness. She shot a momentary glance at
Joseph.
“Thank you. It must have been some hard work.”
Joseph didn’t stand on ceremony somehow as he mumbled a response.
Just as he was about to pick up some dishes, his sleeve was held back by some force. He looked
down and saw that Noah was grabbing his sleeve and his other hand was holding a drawing board
which had this term on it Send me some food.
Joseph helplessly picked up some food and sent to his bowl.
Noah suddenly looked anxious as he fumbled with Joseph’s sleeves while shooting glances in
Hayden’s direction. Only then did Joseph realize about Noah’s true intentions He was hinting at Joseph
to send some food to Hayden, not to his own bowl.
This rascal!
Hayden was quietly chowing down on her food when suddenly a slender hand appeared in front of her
eyes. A pair of chopsticks landed a small piece of braised fish meet in her plate.
She raised her head and met Joseph’s serene eyes. She was really flattered by his move.
“Thank you, I can do that myself.”
“Noah wants me to send some food your way. Just eat it.” His tone was natural and cool, as if trying to
detach himself from his own actions but little did he know that his words made his action all the more
sweet and ambiguous.
One would conclude that he must be a very gentle and respecting parent, and his family must be one
shaped by peacefulness and prosperity.
It was not like they hadn’t eaten together before, but it was precisely because Noah liked her cooking
that they were able to dine in together previously. However, something undesirable had happened on
the night before yesterday, which greatly affected her current mood and rendered her unable to just sit
there naturally with Joseph around and act like everything was the same.
She didn’t know that Joseph actually had intended for that to happen.
When he was sending her back home on that night, she had said, “We are both adults now. You don’t
have to worry about anything.” She was saying that with such nonchalance but it somehow elicited
some sense of discomfort within him. It felt like he was the one being taken advantage of at that time.
Since you’re not so concerned with that, let’s see how long can you hold up that attitude.
The two children seemed to be deliberately taking their sweet time with finishing their meals. Ever since
Hayden came visiting, it was nearly two hours but they still weren’t able to finish their meals.
Under the constant urging by Hayden, Stella finally was able to gobble up her last spoonful of food. At
that time, the outside was blanketed in pitch-black darkness, and she saw that the time was already
past ten o’clock.
“Stella, where’s your bag It’s time for us to go after you pack up.”
Stella winked and responded, “Mummy, aren’t we staying here tonight”
Upon hearing that, Hayden’s face became flushed, “When did I ever say that We need to go home. Go
fetch your bag.”
“There’s no need for that. You won’t be able to hail a taxi at this hour.”
Joseph’s voice came from the direction of the living room, “I have prepared a guest room for you.”
The moment he finished his sentence, Stella exclaimed cheerfully and jumped up in joy. She broke
away from Hayden and followed Noah upstairs, “Noah, let’s go play the bouncy bed game.”
“Hey…” Hayden wasn’t able to stop her in time while he turned his gaze towards Joseph.
“It’s okay, I’m here to fetch Stella so that you won’t be burdened. I know you are very busy.”
“It’s not a burden at all.”
Joseph was standing in front of a wardrobe shelving a plethora of ancient antiques. He casually took a
jade model resembling a mythical beast, and he slowly continued, “I am not that busy lately. Aren’t you
the one telling me that I should accompany Noah more I happen to have time to fetch the children
nowadays.”
“I don’t think that’s necessary.”
“I won’t go back on my words once I have made a promise with someone.”
Joseph turned around and stared at Hayden, “Since I’ve promised you, I will make sure to carry it out.”
“No, I was just drink that time and my mind was in a messy. I was just saying some gibberish, so you
don’t have to take it seriously. Furthermore, it’s not appropriate for Stella and me to stay here with you.”
Hayden was suddenly feeling frustrated. Putting aside the fact that she had been taken advantage of
by him, why was she the one who was feeling shaky and guilty She was the one who was incurring
losses here!
“Didn’t you say that I shouldn’t be too worried about what had happened that night”
Joseph suddenly asked, “It is just like the past when you spent the weekends here. What’s wrong with
that Or are you worried about something else”
Hayden couldn’t produce any response as her heart started to race.
“I… I’m not worried about anything at all.”
Hayden frowned and decided to be brutally honest with him, “Aren’t you going to marry soon My
presence here will definitely cause some sort of misunderstanding.”
In fact, she wanted Joseph not to worry about that incident from last night because of this reason too.
Joseph was going to be a married man, and this news had been going around like crazy. There was no
way she wanted to cause any scandal at this critical point. She didn’t want to offend Viola in any way.
“Just because of this reason alone”
“Isn’t this an important enough reason” Seeing that he had a unconcerned expression on his face, she
decided to push her luck, “I still think that Stella and me staying here is really not something
appropriate.”
Joseph remained silent for a while before inching towards her with a vague smile on his face. His voice
was low as if he was whispering just right by her ears, “This is not just any misunderstanding, is it”
He specially emphasized the word “misunderstanding” as if he was reminding her of
something.
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