Although the market was rather warm, Hayden felt her blood almost freezing in the veins.
Then she spotted Joseph on the escalator but she hesitated. Besides, she avoided his attention by
hiding behind the commercial billboard.
And now she had a clear picture of the woman.
The so-called Noah’s mother was young in a white sweater and a pair of fawn snow boots with her hair
draping over her shoulders and a gray coat on her arm. On the whole, she looked unexpectedly clean
and tidy.
Hayden thought that she must be the one who they had talked about minutes before.
Joseph and the woman were from the first floor, each of whom was taking a paper bag of a store
selling mothers and babies’ products.
The woman told him something and to Hayden’s surprise, he smiled.
Hayden watched them walk out of the building and get in a car.
At the gate, she could hear nothing but the sighing of the cold wind.
Back home, she went to bed after a bath as usual and tried to calm down, hoping that she could
pretend to know nothing when Joseph returned.
The woman who suddenly appeared must be a liar but it’s impossible for Hayden to tell Joseph directly
that the woman didn’t give birth to Noah.
It’s because Joseph wouldn’t want to hear these words, unless Hayden revealed the whole story.
She had only two choices – to tell the truth or make up another lie, which made her totally upset.
***
It’s late, and a boy was sitting beside the bed in a suite of Nanking Hotel. He was not drunk actually
and even looked sober as well as a little cruel.
His phone rang and he picked it up after a look at the call reminder with a poker face.
“Hello?”
“Have you finished your task?” A man was questioning him, “It’s been days, you know. You have
promised me! ”
“I have to slow down. She is not the kind of women I have met before.”
“I know! I have warned you of that. There’s no need to be her boyfriend but some private videos should
be your goal, by all means. I remember I gave you some pills.”
Talking about the pills, Lyon was more unhappy, with eyes fixed on a small paper pocket on the
bedside table.
“Yes. I put it into a glass of wine but she didn’t drink that.”
“So what have you done tonight? What about the video that she drove you to the hotel?”
“No, no video,” Lyon paused for a few seconds and then continued, “I took a taxi tonight. Next time, I
will give you what you want.”
“I need to remind you that there’s little time left. You must complete your mission; otherwise, I won’t
give you money to pay your gambling debts.”
Hearing these words, Lyon’s face gradually whitened.
He hung up the call and then the room was back to silence. The air smelled alcoholic. He seemed to
catch a hint of fragrance by taking a deep breath; it’s from the white coat on the clothes tree.
Then the sternness in his eyes faded away.
In the next morning, the sun rose.
A ray of sunlight thrust through the window curtains onto Hayden’s face, which was so bright that she
frowned and blocked it by the hand. She completely woke up and sat up, holding the fleet with a blank
expression.
When did she fall into sleep?
The house was quiet and another pillow was so neat, which showed that Joseph didn’t come back
home.
Clutching a corner of the fleet, Hayden remembered what happened last night.
At the moment, the door outside was unlocked. She was stupefied and then swiftly got out of bed to
open the door of the bedroom.
“Jo…”
Stefan was taking two breakfasts at the door changing shoes. Hearing the sound, he raised up his
head to find Hayden standing in front of the bedroom, who was surprised to see him and suddenly kept
silent.
“Hayden, what are you doing?”
“Oh, nothing.” Hayden became sober, “It’s you, Stefan. You came back so early today.”
“Yes, I have to fetch something. I have to tell you that there’s a rehearsal in the school and I think I
must stay outside for some days. Oh, I get you some breakfasts.” The food he brought was enough for
two persons, which apparently included Joseph’s.
“It’s breakfast time. I don’t know which kind of food you prefer so I bought every kind of it.”
But he was always acute so he had already silently noticed that Hayden was absent-minded. It seemed
that there’re some problems between her and Joseph since Joseph was not back home last night.
Hayden sat at the table. Although she began to listen to Stefan, she was still a little spellbound.
Stefan gave her a cup of soybean milk with a straw in it, and reminded her, “It’s hot and fresh.”
“Thank you,” Hayden replied in a low voice.
Stefan discovered that she didn’t drink the milk so he asked, “What happened to you?”
Hayden answered, “Nothing. Don’t worry.”
“Has Joseph done anything you are unhappy with?”
Hearing his guess, Hayden asked with eyebrows knitted, “How do you know?”
“It’s obvious.” He sighed, “Every time you had mood swings, Joseph must be the reason since the day I
befriended you. So what has he done again?”
Hearing the word, again, she was so depressed that it seemed someone was suffocating her.
“No, he did nothing to me.” Hayden refused to continue the talk since she didn’t want to reveal Noah’s
birth to him. “A couple’s relationship is always a jungle. And, aren’t you back to get something? Just
mind your business.”
Realizing that she was unwilling to talk any further, Stefan walked back to his room and brought what
he wanted to the school.
***
In the Downey Group, Hayden arrived an hour earlier than usual. The safeguard at the gate was
yawning as he was opening the gate. On noticing Hayden, he immediately widened his eyes
pretending to be full of energy.
“Good morning, Miss Downey.”
Hayden nodded as a reply and took the lift to the tenth floor. It’s not the time for her secretary to go to
work. The whole floor was in the darkness. Before she turned on the light, she caught a glimpse of a
faint light from the treasurer’s office.
She hesitated for a while, and slid in the office without turning on the light.
The door was half opened, and the dim light came out. Behind the desk was Joseph who was sleeping
on the desk.
Hayden stopped at the door and became perplexed thinking of last night.
She didn’t understand why he stayed outside all night long, but now she could guess that he slept here
after he sent the woman away.
This company had nothing to do with him, but since she was not competent, he was willing to help her.
He was so nice to her that it’s hard for her to comprehend why he didn’t even mention a word about the
woman.
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