“Why are you talking about this all of a sudden?” Hayden finally asked after a while.
She didn’t know what kind of roller-coaster emotion that Joseph was experiencing in the hospital before
he finally got to meet her. This once indifferent guy was being incredibly patient in front of her and was
trying to lead their bumpy relationship to a stable state.
Staring at her, Joseph said, “What would you say to me if I didn’t say this? Breakup?”
Hayden didn’t know how to respond.
He was actually right. Should anything problematic turn up between them, her first response would
always be retreating. Cutting losses in time was the biggest rule in her life and she had been adhering
to this rule for twenty years.
She got to weight up pros and cons. Between two kids and Joseph, she would definitely choose the
former.
Between her career and Joseph, she would also choose the former.
If these choices would include family and friends in the future, she would still choose the former without
hesitation.
In her life, Joseph was love which always would be the last to consider.
But what was the reason behind all of this?
After hesitating for a while, Hayden finally said, “Well, truth may be tough to hear, but we got to face it
like the reality. Self-cheating is sometimes a good thing, but I for me, Stella, family and friends are all
far more important than my lover, just like you can’t compare Noah with me. I can only say I’m sorry if
you mind this. Don’t force me to make decisions like this. It’s pointless.”
“What if I don’t mind?” Looking at her, Joseph’s face never changed.
Before trying to start this conversation, he had prepared himself for anything. He knew clearly deep
down what kind of person Hayden was.
The rule that was once unbreakable to him seemed meaningless in front of Hayden.
Hayden paused and even got a bit flustered, “What... what are you talking about?”
“I don’t mind that I rank the last, but I have to be part of your life.”
He looked aloof, just like when he helped her in the elevator when they first met.
Staring at her, Joseph was waiting for her response.
When you love someone, any rules that were impregnable to you can be broken. But there was just
one thing that one can’t compromise, you have to be part of his/her life.
“Okay. I got it.”
Hayden finally felt that her cold hands and feet had turned warm. She was also warm inside.
She didn’t care what kind of problems they had before. She was at least certain now that for Joseph,
she was really important.
“Really?” Joseph asked.
“Yes.”
“Come over then.” Joseph said in a low voice.
Hayden paused for a while and steeped towards Joseph. She was immediately hugged by Joseph
which made her incredibly happy in this freezing winter.
Joseph got Magnus’s call three days later when he just sent Hayden to the company. “Mr. Beckham,
I’ve brought him back.”
Pulling all his connections, Magnus finally brought back Lyon after three days of travelling.
“Bring him to the warehouse in west suburbs.” Hanging off the phone, Joseph stepped on the gas
pedal and drove to the west suburbs.
Though Hayden didn’t say what happened that day, but the surveillance camera in the hotel room
clearly showed that Lyon brought her to a hotel room. He left the room alone after a while, so this Lyon
guy must know everything.
The warehouse in the west suburb was long abandoned and was stacked with some random items of
the ST Group. There was also a dim and humid basement there.
The maroon-headed man who was lying in the corner was suddenly awaken after being poured by a
bucket of cold water.
“Who are you?”
Lyon drew back in fear and was trembling violently.
There were two black-dressed thugs standing in front of him. One of them was carrying a water bucket
and the other one was holding an electric baton.
“Who are we?” The man who was holding the water bucket sneered and laughed wildly, “We’re your
nightmare.”
“How much do you want? I’ll give you everything. Did Alfred send you here? I’ve paid off my debt!”
“Alfred?” Holding the electric baton, the man squatted before him and poked his waist.
“Who is Alfred?”
Lyon screamed in fear, “If you are not Alfred, why are you doing this to me then? I don’t know you!”
“Well, there are things that you can’t pay back with money.”
The man then threw the bucket away which made a huge sound.
The basement door was opened then and a man wearing a pair of bright shoes showed up.
Looking up frantically, Lyon’s face immediately turned pale when he saw who was coming.
“It was you...”
Standing in front of him, Joseph looked downed at him like he was just a tiny ant. “Well, it looks like that
you know me.”
Lyon shivered, “Joseph Beckham, the former president of ST Group. Who wouldn’t know you?”
One of the thugs had already brought a clean chair to Joseph. Joseph then waved his hands and didn’t
say anything.
Looking at two thugs, Magnus said, “Get out. I’ll handle this.”
Okay.” Those two thugs nodded and said, “Just let us know when you need us.”
“Okay.”
The basement door was reclosed. In the dim light, their shadows seemed like to be dancing.
“Do you know why you are here?” Squatting before Lyon, Magnus pulled the ropes that were wrapping
him tight.
Clenching his teeth, Lyon said, “I don’t know. But abducting is illegal.”
“In Nanking, Beckhams is the law.”
Glancing at him coldly, Magnus said, “I brought you back from Melbourne, right? Do you think I would
be afraid of that? I advise you that you’d better tell us everything.”
“I don’t know. I didn’t do anything.”
Lyon’s face had turned blue because of the freezing weather.
Since it was summer in Melbourne, he was only wearing shirts and pants when he was abducted. So
his body was literally numb with cold.
“Didn’t you send the email?” Magnus stared at him. “What happened that night?”
Lyon’s heart skipped a bit and was getting nervous.
Remembering Franklin’s threatening, he clenched his teeth and said, “I know nothing.”
Seeing that he was trying to deny, Magnus stood up coldly and pointed the chair next to him.
“Do you know what is this?”
“Well, I can tell you how it works. I will fasten your body on this chair and pour water on it. Then it will
be electrified and will get frozen. So can you guess how long can a person’s leg survive in subzero
temperature?”
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