There was dead silence in the conference room.
Chelsea could barely stand, holding the corner of the table and trembling.
She was overwhelmed with shame and rage, wishing to have Hayden murdered.
She couldn’t believe that Hayden had filmed these unpleasant scenes and also showed them to
Freddie. Hayden used such a trick to threaten her, ruining her only chance to be together with Freddie.
“So, do you read or not?”
After a long moment, Chelsea gritted her teeth, “I’ll read it.”
Before leaving the conference room, Hayden unplugged the USB flash drive and brushed it off,
“Besides, please let the Strong Wind Media and also your internet water armies to delete all those
nonsensical remarks from the internet. Otherwise, you bear your own consequences.”
Chelsea stood at the entrance, with her back facing Downey, gritting her teeth, and she uttered, “I got
it.”
Let’s wait and see, Hayden Downey.
The press conference ended successfully. Chelsea, as one of the litigants, the netizens sympathized
with her, and they would believe whatever she had said. So, after explaining clearly that she and
Hayden were just Freddie’s sisters, it had scorched the rumours.
All the reporters were disappointed as the media had got this wrong, and they had nothing to report
about it.
“I couldn’t believe that this had something to do with her.” Freddie handed a glass of water to Hayden,
“Why did she do this?”
“Are you pretending to know nothing about it?” Hayden glanced at him, “Didn’t you know that Chelsea
always had me in her crosshairs back then just because she had a crush on you? Ironically, you
ignored everyone in the Downey family except me.”
“Had a crush on me?” Freddie was stunned, “I didn’t even think of this.”
“That’s why she found a toy boy that looks like you too.” Hayden curled her lips, “Just that he’s hard-
core.”
Hayden would not take this to threaten Chelsea if it wasn’t for her being out of line. After all, it was
better to make friends than to make enemies. She wouldn’t want to have a stalemate between the two
of them.
But then, it seemed that they had no turning back.
Strong Wind Media had announced that they were willing to apologise to Freddie and the other two
parties and also compensated them for their loss. They had also fired the reporter and editor who were
involved in this case to settle this case.
Joseph was back from his business trip, and the crisis was settled already.
“It worked out well, right?”
At the dining table, Hayden was resting her chin upon her hands, eager for praise.
Joseph looked at her, “Well done.”
“So, it didn’t cause any impact to you and the group, right?” Hayden’s words meant more than what she
said.
Joseph didn’t respond to her, but he took a small square box out from his bag and handed it to Hayden,
“Open it and have a look.”
Hayden froze for a moment, being confused.
She mumbled, “I’m not ready yet. You can put it away first.”
She was still hiding many things in her heart that she never told Joseph. And many things that she
hadn’t found out yet. How could she just marry him like this?
Joseph was puzzled, looking at her, “What are you ready for?”
He opened the box after saying that, “I saw this in Italy. I think it fits you perfectly. So, I bought it.”
Inside the box was a pair of pearl earrings, white and highly lustrous.
Hayden’s face fell, feeling awkward, and said, “It’s a pair of earrings…”
Why using such a box to keep the earrings? It might cause misunderstanding easily.
“What do you think it is?” Joseph was confused about what she was thinking about.
“Nope. Nothing.” Hayden laughed, disguising her awkwardness, “I like it. I like it very much.”
“Why do I feel that you’re a little disappointed?”
Joseph frowned, “You don’t have to force yourself if you don’t like it.”
“Who’s disappointed?”
Hayden stared at him and said in a higher pitch voice, “I’m not disappointed.”
The two little ones across the table froze, and they both looked up.
“What is going on with you?”
“Nothing. I have to go to the washroom.” Hayden left the dining table after finish talking.
Looking at mommy’s back, Stella Downey let out a deep sigh, looking at Joseph, and said, “Joseph, do
you know what woman would normally think of, looking at such kind of boxes?”
“What?” Joseph was bewildered.
“Noah, do you know it?” Stella turned back to look at Noah.
Noah immediately drew on his drawing board a circle, a diamond shape on the circle, and dotted a few
dots to indicate glowing. And he also wrote a few words, “You’re so stupid, daddy.”
“Joseph, mommy would be happy if you just give her the earrings. But if you let her think that you’re
going to give her a ring, but then it comes out that you’re just giving her a pair of earrings. Such a
difference would be so disappointing. It’s simple. Don’t you get it? You’re really stupid.”
After being contemptuous by the two kids, Joseph was frustrated, looking at the box that kept the
earrings, and he touched his nose awkwardly.
Who knew that giving a pair of earrings would need to consider so much?
But…
He looked in the direction of the bathroom and then looked at the ring pattern on the drawing board. He
was happy.
He was planning to take it slowly initially. But since Hayden was looking forward to this, it might just as
well settle it once and for all.
In the bathroom, Hayden rinsed her face off, looking at her reflection in the mirror. She was still young,
but there were many unspoken tales in her eyes. She saw this as she looked in the mirror every time.
She was flustered and chagrined.
Her first reaction was hoping not to receive a ring as she was not sure about being together with
Joseph. But then she felt disappointed, seeing that inside the box wasn’t a ring.
She was struggling with her mind. Just right then, her inner heart was telling her that she was eager to
marry this man. Words might lie, but emotions would always tell the truth.
At night, the kids were asleep while Hayden returned to the bedroom after blowing out her hair. Joseph
leaned over the bed, reading. He looked gentle as the dim lights shone on him.
“Why are you keep staring at me?” Joseph raised his head from the book, looking at her.
Hayden didn’t elude as she sat down on the side of the bed, applying hand cream, “I just think that you
seem different now than when we first met.”
Hearing this, Joseph frowned and emphasized, “I’m really just on a business trip. I didn’t do anything
else.”
Hayden couldn’t help but chuckle, “I didn’t mean that. If you still want to change something about your
face, how could others withstand you?”
“Is that a compliment?” Joseph looked at her warmly.
Hayden put a smile on her face, “I used to think that you’re a hard-hearted man and always being cold
to anyone.”
“You’re right.” Joseph closed the book, then he took her into his arms, with his chin resting on her head,
and said in a low voice, “No point sharing my passion with others who don’t matter.”
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