“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.
62fb1bb41dcb31934bd49bda