The next day, Hayden arrived at the Downey family’s villa with Stella and some health supplement
products in her hand.
It was Camille whom had answered the door as she was informed ahead of time by Bentley Downey
that Hayden was paying a visit today, and she had prepared a huge feast for the delightful occasion.
She beamed with joy as soon as she saw their presence, “Welcome home, Ms. Downey. Mr. Downey
was still wondering whether to give you a call to ask for your whereabouts and here you are.” She
greeted them cheerfully and her face lit up when her sight was set on Stella.
“This is Stella, right?”
“Stella, this is Camille, greet to her.”
“Hello, Camille.”
Stella was very lovable with her adorable features and honey-tongued personality, and she could
always melt people’s heart with her sweet words. Camille grew fond of her right away as she shouted
towards the house in an elevated pitch, “Mr. Downey, Hayden has come home with Stella.”
A streak of door opening sound came from the direction of the study on the second floor, and soon
after heavy footsteps that were treading in a rapid manner could be heard clearly from above. Bentley’s
gravelly voice that was filled with joy sounded from the staircase a few moments later, “Hayden.”
As soon as he paced down the stairs, the sight of Hayden holding Stella in her hand had made him
gone stiff and put him in a constrained manner.
“Dad.” Hayden brought Stella forward while wearing a composed look as she said, “This is your
grandfather, Stella.”
Stella looked him up and down intently, and her silver voice finally rang in the parlour after a while,
“Grandpa is very different from what I have imagined.”
“How, how different do I look?” Bentley asked nervously.
Stella tilted her head and with an innocent look in her eyes, she explained, “I thought grandpa’s hair will
be white, and he should look very old!”
Her innocent remarks had brought laughter to Camille and the other servants.
Bentley let out a sigh of relief and could not help but to smile at her whimsical remark. He stooped
down and took Stella’s hand with a growing look of affection in his eyes, “Grandpa is indeed very old,
but it’s not to the extent that I have grown a lot of white hair. They will grow soon in the future.”
“It’s better if you don’t have any.” Stella shook her head and said, “Mommy told me that those with
white hair are way too old, and their body is often feeble and frail. Furthermore, they cannot eat a lot of
delicious food.”
“What is your favourite kind of food, Stella?”
“I have a lot of preferences, but my most favourite food is dessert!”
“I will ask Camille to buy them for you.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“…”
Hayden spaced out all of a sudden as she listened to her father’s tone unknowingly imitating Stella’s
childlike voice. She was five by the time she had arrived at the Downey family, hence she could
remember most of the stuffs since then. In her memory, when she was around the same age as Stella,
her father had always mimicked her tone when he spoke to her as well.
They had gotten along very well in the beginning, but she slowly became more and more taciturn and
reticent due to Sofia and Chelsea. She was afraid to be overly affectionate with her father to protect
herself, but ultimately, she was being labelled as stand-offish and distant from her own father.
“Have a seat. Let’s talk over dinner.”
Camille ushered them to the dinner table, and her eyes were glistened with tears when she looked at
Stella.
Hayden asked hesitantly, “Is it going to be just us?”
Sofia and Chelsea were nowhere to be seen from the moment she had arrived till now which was
unusual.
“Chelsea and her mom had gone back to visit their maternal home,” Bentley explained briskly, and
fatigue could be seen exuding from his countenance.
“What’s wrong, Dad? Are you feeling unwell?”
“I’m fine. You should eat more.” Bentley kept on refilling the plate in front her with all kinds of dishes.
“So, have you found the keys for the residence in Jinshui Villa Area? Do you need me to arrange some
movers for your relocation? I think it’s better if I ask someone to give the place a thorough cleaning
since it was vacant for a long time after it was bought, and we should furnish the house with new
furniture as well.”
“It’s okay Dad, I can do it by myself.” Hayden’s brows wrinkled as she slumped into a state of dither.
She had originally planned to discuss about the residence in Jinshui Villa Area with her father today,
but now that his health was indeed not at an optimal stage, she was worried the house would be turned
upside down if he found out that Chelsea’s boyfriend in fact inhabited the place right now. Since the
property rights belonged to her, she had decided to settle it herself as she deemed that there was no
need to escalate this matter further.
“The only reason I’m coming back this time is just to bring Stella to meet you, Dad. I have no other
intention other than that.”
Relief swept across Bentley’s face after he had gotten her reassurance, but a wave of emotions hit him
as he sighed, “I really wish that you will at least ask me for something now that you are back. I know
these few years have been hard on you.”
Hayden looked a little bemused as she replied, “I’m fine, Dad. I have been doing well.”
Bentley raised his hand to stop her from going on, “It’s ok, you don’t have to comfort me. Stella is
already turning five this year, and I don’t even get to know the reason of you going abroad six years
ago. If I have been looking after you really well, you would have let me know what is going on in your
life as it is such a grave matter at that time.”
Hayden frowned deeper when the incident that had happened six years ago was mentioned to her
face.
Even though she was being mistaken as a surrogate mother by accident and taken away at that time,
she always felt that someone was pulling the strings behind the curtain that night, attempting to lead all
her actions which had resulted in her tragic fate.
However, her purpose of coming back today was not to talk about that incident. She could not bring it
up to her father anyway, hence she had stopped speaking about this matter.
Bentley brought Stella upstairs to his study to spend some time with her after they had finished their
lunch. Hayden was more than willing to let Stella to get along with her grandfather as she only had her
as a family all this while.
After ordering a few servants to clean up the table, Camille was grabbed by Hayden to the parlour to
take a seat for some small talk.
“I’m sure the late Ms Downey will be relieved to see that you have such a lovable and charming
daughter.”
A roaring engine sound suddenly sounded from the courtyard while they were chatting, and a familiar
voice could be heard coming from the front door.
The crisp sound of door closing was soon followed by the domineering sound of high heels clicking on
the front doorsteps. They could immediately tell the identity of the person whom had come back from
the top of their head.
“Where is everyone? There are lots of stuffs in the car so hurry up and bring all of them down.”
A gentler voice could be heard from further away, “Lower your voice, Chelsea. Your dad might be
taking a nap now. Don’t wake him up.”
“Taking what…”
Before she could finish her sentence, Chelsea had noticed Hayden whom was sitting on the sofa and
her expression darkened at once, “Why are you here?”
Hayden stood up and replied with a calm expression on her face, “This is my home. Is it that shocking
to see me here?”
Chelsea clenched her fist upon hearing her reply, “You have the nerve to call this your home? Have you
come home all this while after returning from abroad? Why, have you broken up with Joseph and life’s
been hard since then? Did you come home to ask for some money?”
“Don’t simply spit out all kinds of hateful assumptions, Chelsea. I’m only here to pay a visit to Dad.”
“To visit Dad?” Chelsea scoffed and shot a glance behind Hayden, “Why didn’t you bring along that brat
whom you had taken back from abroad? Are you sure you only want to visit Dad? Or do you intend to
piss him off?”
Hayden had never disclosed the fact that she had a child, but it would not be a huge challenge to find it
out if Chelsea had the intention to dig up her past, hence she was not surprised when Chelsea knew
about it.
A creak sound of door opening sounded from the second floor at that moment. Bentley walked out from
his study and stood by the staircase with a long face, “Why are you making such a huge fuss right after
coming back?”
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