After Hayden and others spent more than ten hours on the plane, they finally landed at the airport of
the Maldives.
As soon as they got off the plane, they felt the refreshing breeze from the sea. They could almost smell
the fishy smell, but it wasn’t unpleasant.
Stella had been attached to Freddie all the way. After getting off the plane, she became tired. On the
way to the hotel, she was like a koala -- hanging on Freddie’s neck and dozing off.
After they had arrived at the hotel, Freddie firstly sent Stella to bed in a room on the first floor. Then he
carried in the luggage. After walking around, he arranged the rooms.
“Hayden, you can stay upstairs with Stella, as the room upstairs is bigger. I’ll stay downstairs.”
Hayden handed a glass of water to him. “Thank you. Have some water first. I’ll go check upstairs.”
Freddie burst into laughter. “You don’t need to be so nervous. Seeing you so polite, I feel really
awkward.”
Hayden looked around helplessly. This room was fully installed with cameras. In the tent at the corner
of the living room, there was a cameraman hiding inside, pretending to be an invisible man. How could
she not be tense?
“I really can’t do it. I’m afraid I’ll break down in these five days.”
“It’s all right. Relax. They focus mainly on Stella and me. They’ll also cut off most of your scenes during
the post-production.”
Hayden hesitated for a moment. Suddenly her eyes lit up.
“How about I let Stella follow you from tomorrow on. As long as you both don’t interact with me, the
cameramen wouldn’t chase after me.”
Freddie was speechless.
Hayden quickly said, “All right. Please take care of Stella these few days.” Then she went upstairs.
It was already dusk. The night breeze blew in.
Pushing open the glass door of the balcony on the second floor, Hayden could see the orange sea
reflecting the setting sun in distance, sparkling under the sunlight. On the beach, there were coconut
trees and the shadows of them. A few couples were having a walk along the seashore.
Hayden supported on the balcony and inhaled deeply, feeling refreshed.
She hadn’t been so relaxed for a long time.
Although it was an accident to shoot this traveling program with Freddie, she was still quite grateful for
this opportunity a lot. After all, it was a rare opportunity to travel on the business fare.
Suddenly, she heard a ding -- the message tone on her cell phone. She pulled it out from her pocket
and looked down, and from the corner of her eyes, she suddenly caught a glimpse of a familiar figure
downstairs.
Instantly, her heart skipped a bit. She raised her head and looked over at the gate of the cafe next to
the swimming pool, only to find a man in a beige casual shirt sitting with his back to her. This man
looked like him.
Hayden was shocked by this sudden thought appearing in her mind.
‘Are you crazy? How could you mistake it was him?’ she thought to herself.
While she was wandering, there was another message coming in. She came back to her senses and
looked down to read the message from Freddie.
“Stella is still sleeping. I’m going downstairs to grab something for dinner. You can come down to stay
with her.”
Hayden replied: “OK.”
As she sent the message, she turned around and went downstairs. While she was turning around, she
just missed that in the cafe downstairs, a little boy was climbing onto the chair with his all fours
opposite to the man.
He wrote a line on the small drawing board.
“Why don’t we go to them directly?”
The man unhurried took a sip of the tea. “No hurry. There are cameras around them. It’s inconvenient.”
The little boy was a little unhappy. Pouting his lips, he looked upset. Then there were a few more lines
appearing on the drawing board.
“Anyway, if I can’t meet them, I won’t go home. You can’t go home either.”
The man looked aloof and calm. When he read the lines, however, he looked a bit helpless. “Okay. I
know. Now can you eat properly?”
Upon hearing his response, the little boy looked less annoyed. He reluctantly took a bite of his food.
However, he was bitching about the food inwardly. ‘It’s not yummy at all, not comparable to Aunt
Hayden’s dishes. What’s so fun here?’ he thought to himself.
Late at night…
Freddie bought some takeout dinner from downstairs. Stella happened to wake up. The three had
dinner on the first floor together. Due to the journey, they all felt exhausted, so they returned to their
rooms afterward.
In the evening, Stella and Hayden were sleeping on the second floor. In the sky outside the window,
they could see all the stars, just like being in a dream. Since the curtain was not drawn, breezes blew in
from the cracks of the French window from time to time together with the salty smell from the sea,
making them feel quite cozy.
The figures of a man and a boy were faintly seen in the balcony. When the little boy saw Hayden, he
wanted to get into the house, but the man held him in his arms to stop him. The man whispered, “If you
go into the room now and wake them up, we won’t have any fun tomorrow.”
Although the little boy was reluctant, he could still look down, looking enviously at his little friend Stella
who was sleeping in Hayden’s arms.
“Now you’ve seen them. Let’s go back and sleep.”
The deliberately low voice disappeared in the breeze. The two figures on the balcony walked tiptoed,
turned around, and left.
In the early morning the next day, they were having breakfast.
Freddie suddenly asked, “By the way, Hayden, did you lock the balcony door last night?”
“What’s wrong?”
“The balconies in this hotel are all shared by two suites, so guests could go into the two suites through
the balcony on the second floor. I don’t know if we have any neighbors next door. Remember to draw
the curtain and lock the window at night. I forgot to remind you last night.”
Hayden nodded. She didn’t take it seriously.
“Really? I didn’t close it. But there should be no one staying next door. I didn’t hear any movement.
When I was on the balcony yesterday afternoon, I didn’t meet anyone.”
Upon hearing that, Freddie reminded her to close the door again. Then he packed things such as the
sunscreen lotion, his water bottle, a hat, and a pair of sunglasses into his backpack before finally going
out under Stella’s impatient urges.
Hayden watched Freddie and Stella get in the car at the hotel entrance.
“Are you really not going with us?” Freddie asked before the door of the car was closed.
His tone still had a hint of expectation.
“You know I’m seasick, don’t you?” Hayden shrugged helplessly. “If I go with you and board the boat,
you’ll not only have to take care of Stella but probably also me. It’s too troublesome. Just forget it.”
Freddie murmured, “I wish I could take care of you.” However, his voice was too low, so Hayden didn’t
hear it clearly.
According to their schedule today, Freddie would take Stella to sail on the sea. On the one hand,
Hayden had seasickness; on the other hand, she didn’t want to be filed by several cameras at any time
no matter where she went. Hence, she told them last night that she wouldn’t join them.
After the car left, Hayden went back to the hotel.
“A cup of coffee, please,” she ordered a cup of coffee in the cafe next to the outdoor swimming pool.
Then she sat there until noon, feeling quite relaxed.
In distance, a small figure was caught by a hotel staff, who was speaking English to the boy.
Hayden glanced through the sunglasses. Suddenly she was taken aback. Then she straightened up
instantly.
Wasn’t that Noah?
“Hey! Noah?”
She stood up and yelled his name from afar. The little boy immediately looked back at her. Breaking
free from the staff’s hand, he rushed to Hayden and hugged her thigh immediately.
“Noah, why are you here alone?” she asked.
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