Nobody expected the man in the leather jacket would do this.
Even the policemen who were holding him down didn’t know how to react. He didn’t attack anyone,
including himself, after all. All he did was only talking.
The crowd of people were agitated. They started to rush in Hayden’s direction.
“I saw her ID Card. Her name is Hayden Downey, the daughter of Brook Downey! Get her! Get her to
pay us back our money!”
The man in the leather jacket continued encouraging the crowd.
The situation became out of control.
Hayden was the centre of the crowd now. The police and fire fighters protected her, but people
continued to attack, scold and humiliate her.
“Get her! Pay us back our money!”
“Pay us back!”
This was all Hayden could hear.
When the team leader of the policemen wanted to request reinforcement, a row of black Porsche cars
stopped at the side of the road. They even brake the cars at the same time.
A few musclemen walked out of the car, and made their way in between the crowd before the
policemen could react.
A young man in a suit then walked into the place and came out carrying the woman who got attacked
by the crowd.
Hayden couldn’t see such a heroic scene happening to herself because she got knocked out before
she got rescued.
It was already midnight when she regained consciousness.
The room was modestly decorated, but she could still identify the extravagance in the details.
Sandalwood lit at the side of her bed, and it had a calming effect.
Hayden sat up from the bed with the support of her elbow. The blanket slipped off and showed the pink
silk nightgown she was wearing.
“You’re awake.”
A familiar voice rose. Hayden raised her head and saw Edison standing at the door of the bedroom. He
was holding a brown wooden tray.
There was congee with meat and pickles on the tray. It was simple, but it was the most delicious meal
for a person who had been asleep for a long time.
“You’re so stingy. You’re living in an expensive house, and you only offer me a bowl of congee?”
Hayden sat on the bed while eating the congee. Edison sat on the couch in front of the bed and was
reading a travel magazine. He replied in resign, “Will you be able to consume bird nest and shark fin if I
give it to you now?”
“No.”
“You’re honest,” Edison shook his head and humoured Hayden, “Finish up the congee. I’ll bring you
other food after your body warmed up. For your information, the doctor said that your head is injured
and you shouldn’t have irritating food.”
Hayden raised her head and took a look at her reflection in the mirror. Her head was wrapped in a
bandage, and she looked like a mummy. Hayden was discontent, “Why did you wrap me up like this? I
didn’t even realize it if you didn’t tell me.”
Edison was resigned, “You need to look like this to stop the scolding on the internet.”
It seemed like playing the victim was the most effective things to do.
Hayden curled her lips and tried to redo her bandage in the mirror. She suddenly winced as a sharp
pain shot through her wound when she accidentally touched it.
“Stop moving around,” Edison frowned as he worried for Hayden.
Hayden was shocked by his straight face and promised him not to move around. Then she
remembered that Edison saved her from the crowd just now.
“You saved me?”
Edison put away his straight face and looked at Hayden curiously, “Are you disappointed that it wasn’t
Joseph?”
Hayden felt speechless when she heard Joseph’s name. She replied sourly, “Can’t you stop making fun
of me? Since you are so well-informed, you must know that we’ve already broken up.”
Edison looked away from the magazine and stared at Hayden, “I won’t come in time if I didn’t know
about your break up.”
“What do you mean?”
Hayden frowned, “Can you be more straightforward? I’m tired of guessing the meaning in between your
words.”
Edison didn’t respond to Hayden’s request. Instead, he changed the subject, “Everything looked so
planned out as if they were waiting for you to turn out. Don’t you think so?”
“This is not possible. Why do they want me to turn out? I have nothing to do with the ST Group.”
Edison didn’t agree with Hayden, “They wanted to get somebody to take the blame, and you are the
daughter of Brook Downey. You thought you have nothing to do with the ST Group but the public didn’t
know that.”
Edison had a point.
Hayden recalled what happened at Chelsea’s funeral. She asked, “It’s all Chelsea’s uncle’s doing?”
“Hey, you’ve got some brains.”
Edison sounded mean, but his tone is gentle. It was hard to be mad at Edison.
Hayden rolled her eyes and countered, “You’re brainless.”
Hayden got changed and followed Edison downstairs for a walk after she finished eating. Hayden then
knew more details of what happened after she passed out.
Edison was worried that the peasants would follow them to the hospital if he admitted Hayden into the
ward, so he brought Hayden back to his villa after rescuing her from the crowd.
“What about Stella? Did you see her?”
Hayden was too occupied to arrange for Stella and Edison to meet up.
It was a fake marriage, but Edison should be Stella’s father according to what Stella understood.
“I saw her from afar. It was chaotic, so I asked Lorraine to inform Scarlett that I brought you home.”
“I see.” Hayden nodded.
It was impossible to think about other stuff under that kind of situation.
“I’ll bring Stella to meet you next time.”
“I’ve heard that before.”
Edison took a glance at Hayden, “You decide on the date. I’m afraid that you couldn’t even find the time
to meet me after I fly back to America when my holiday ends. You are even busier than the President of
the States.”
“I’m serious. You decide on the date then. I’ve got no objection.”
“For real?”
“For real.”
Edison then continued in a teasing tone, “Let’s meet up this afternoon.”
…
“Mr. Beckham, just as what you thought. Edison has been contacting many companies in Nanking. It’s
like he is looking for people to collaborate in the development and publicity of an artificial intelligence
product.”
“Who did he contacted?”
“This is the list.”
Magnus put the document onto Joseph’s desk. He then asked in hesitation when he saw Joseph
focused on reading the documents, “Mr. Beckham, did you watch the news today?”
“No. Why?”
“There was a man who wanted to commit suicide on the rooftop of ST Group.”
Joseph stopped flipping the pages, but his expression looked normal, “Then?”
“Ms. Downey showed up, and her identity was exposed. The public is furious. I heard that she was
attacked and injured by the peasants.”
Joseph grasped onto the document in his hands, and there was fury in his eyes.
###Chapter 225: An Ungrateful Person
“But she’s okay,” looking at Joseph’s reaction, Magnus quickly explained.
Joseph frowned and commented coldly, "Always biting off more than she can chew."
Joseph stood up and put down the document after a few seconds. He asked while putting on his coat,
“Which hospital she’s in?”
“What?” Magnus stunned. He realized that he misspoken the moment Joseph asked him where
Hayden is. Magnus felt like he dug a hole for himself.
“Which hospital she’s in?” Joseph repeated impatiently.
Magnus muttered, “Ms. Downey…is not admitted into any hospital.”
“She is not admitted? Where is she then?”
“Edison…took her away.”
Joseph’s face blazed with anger after hearing Magnus’s answer.
“Mr. Beckham,” Magnus carefully asked, “Are we still heading out?”
Joseph clenched his fists.
“Of course.”
“Where are we going?”
Magnus was confused, “Ms. Downey isn’t at the hospital. Are we going to Edison’s house? Mr.
Beckham, I’m afraid that it isn’t appropriate. Do you want to make a call to Ms Downey first?”
“Do you think I have nothing else to do other than looking for her?”
Joseph sounded cold, and there was a fire of rage in his eyes. Magnus was exposed and tortured
under the fire of rage from Joseph.
Magnus humoured Joseph, “I didn’t mean it that way. Mr. Beckham, you are the dream boy of every
woman in Nanking City. Of course, you can go anywhere you want to. So, where are you heading to?”
“You stay here. Stop following me.”
Joseph replied sourly and left the office.
…
The hall was playing The Blue Danube in a famous French restaurant in Nanking City.
Hayden took off the bandage on her head and changed into a waterproof plaster. Her wound was
covered by her hair, so it wasn’t too obvious looking from afar.
“Don’t bring her any more expensive gifts. She has enough toys to play with.”
Stella was opening Edison’s gifts. Edison smiled and pinched her lightly on her face.
“It’s not about the price. All I wanted is to give my best for my little princess, or else she might run away
with someone else.”
Stella answered, “Daddy you’ve been working outstation all the time. I didn’t even see you much. If you
continue, I think it’s a great idea that mommy starts looking for a new daddy for me.”
“You’re ungrateful,” Edison acted angrily and glared at Stella.
“It’s Elsa!” Stella jumped up and down out of excitement after opening her gift. She was too happy that
she didn’t hear what Edison said.
“Look at her, she won’t take your words seriously,” Hayden rolled her eyes, then turned and looked at
Edison, “Do you know what she did when we first came back? She registered an account on a
matchmaking website using my photo. I was speechless. How did she even know the steps of the
application when she has such limited vocabulary?”
“Matchmaking?”
Edison frowned, “Do you need to?”
“Of course I don’t.”
Hayden answered decisively.
A complicated expression rose on Edison’s face. He knew what Hayden meant was entirely different to
what he wanted to ask. It seemed like it will need more effort to changed Hayden’s mind.
Hayden and Edison talked about what happened in America at the table. Both of them had a good
laugh when they talked about the embarrassment when they first met. It has been too long since
Hayden laughed like this.
On another side of the room where Hayden couldn’t see, Joseph and Addison were dining here as well.
There were a hall and a big piano between Hayden’s and Joseph’s table, so both of them didn’t realize
each other’s existence.
Addison dressed decently. Her little black dress matched the chandelier-filled French restaurant so
much. Addison asked in hesitation after seated, “Joseph, how’s Noah doing recently?”
“He’s fine.”
Joseph answered perfunctorily.
Then, it’s dead silence between them.
Joseph realized the awkwardness between them. So he added on, “Noah has been staying with his
grandfather after discharged from the hospital. He is well taken care of by maids and caretakers now.
He is doing good.”
In fact, Noah has improved a lot. He could even start speaking short sentences the last time he went to
visit him. However, it was only a few short sentences. He wouldn’t want to speak up more.
Stella brought Noah to him and wanted to claim credit, “Uncle Joseph, I have a surprise for you. You
better think about what to reward me.”
Then Stella showed Joseph that Noah could talk. It was moving for Joseph. Even if it was a long time
ago, but Joseph could clearly remember the feeling.
“Noah is adorable. I like him, but it seems like he like Hayden even more.”
Joseph frowned the moment he heard Hayden’s name.
If it wasn’t for Noah, Hayden wouldn’t have the chance to get close to him at all.
“Joseph, I have a confession. I wanted to tell you this for a long time but I didn’t dare to. I don’t think I
can hold on to it much longer now.”
Addison sound depressed as if she poured her courage to make this confession. She didn’t even dare
to look at Joseph’s eyes.
“What do you want to tell me?”
Joseph looked at Addison and recalled why he was here.
Joseph initially wanted to visit Kevin when he stepped out of the office, but he received a call from
Addison inviting him to lunch, saying that she had something important to tell him.
Addison hesitated, “The fire in the hotel… it was me. But I didn’t do it on purpose. I…”
Addison didn’t notice that Joseph wasn’t paying attention. He was looking at the table across the hall
and beyond the bowing pianist.
It was a table of a three-person family, and they looked happy from afar.
Joseph saw the bright smile on the face of the woman who he hadn’t seen in a long time. It was a
relaxing and cheerful smile he rarely sees.
“Joseph, I…”
“I knew about the fire.”
Joseph stopped Addison before she could finish her sentence. She could only saw a shadow moved
away quickly. Addison raised her head and looked across the hall in surprise.
“Joseph, where are you going?”
Joseph looked furious while walking across the performing area in the middle of the hall. He even
pushed the waiters who got in his way away. He headed to a table across the dining hall and left only a
shadow for Addison as if she was just an accessory.
“What are you doing here?”
A familiar voice rose, and Hayden’s smile frozen on her face. She raised her head and saw Joseph
putting on a long face. The way Joseph questioned Hayden sounded so plausible.
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