Chapter 103



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The light was not on in the room. Hayden could only see a shadow sitting on the couch by the light shining in from outside when he pushed the door open.

Joseph was holding a cigarette between his fingers. He took a puff and the smoke faded into the darkness.

He closed the door hesitantly and moved toward the couch. “Why did you leave so suddenly, is it because you don’t like dumplings?”

“Yes.” Joseph gave a curt reply and that had stopped him from asking the questions he wanted to ask.

Hayden gently waved his hand in an attempt to dispel the cloud of smoke. Although he had been holding his breath, he couldn’t help but cough.

Joseph’s expression froze and he stopped smoking for a few seconds. Then he stubbed out the cigarette in the ashtray, got up and opened the window a little to let the cold wind in. It was raining on the other side of the window and the air in the room gradually eased.

“We’ll leave directly tomorrow morning, as for the guy you ran over, I’ll arrange for him to be transferred to the hospital and we’ll return to N-Town together tomorrow morning.” He sounded exceptionally bored with his deep voice mixed with the sound of the rain.

Hayden was actually relieved and nodded. Having realized that his back was turned to her and she couldn’t see his response, she then let out a soft reply.

“Great. Our work here is really all done, if it weren’t for the rain warning, we should have been back by now.” Joseph nodded and went into the bathroom. The sound of splashing water could be heard from inside.

Hayden stayed in the room for a while. He came out and closed the door, walking down the stairs.

The clients downstairs had all returned to their rooms in groups. The sitting area regained its silence. The worker was clearing the table and, seeing Hayden, asked, “Why didn’t you and your boyfriend finish the dumplings? Is it because the taste was horrible?”

Hayden quickly shook his head and without even clarifying his relationship with Joseph, explained evasively, “He’s not feeling well, so he’s gone back to the room to rest. I’m sorry.”

“No, there’s nothing to be sorry about, is it because he caught a cold due to the rain today? There is medicine on the counter.”

“It’s all right.” Hayden smiled, “I’d like to use the kitchen, can I make a bowl of noodles?”.

“Huh?” The worker startled and looked slightly uncomfortable.

“Sure.” A soft voice was heard from the kitchen entrance. Hayden turned around and saw the boss wearing a plain dress. She was lifting the tinted kitchen curtain, there was a vague impatience from her cold, indifferent eyes.

“Thank you.” Hayden said thank you and followed her into the kitchen.

The boss was in her fifties, but her eyes were still clear, looking affable and kind. She only felt familiar then, but from the look in Joseph’s eyes, it wasn’t hard to guess the relationship between them after relating the clues.

Joseph’s father had passed away when he was thirteen. After that, his mother had left the Beckham Family, which had caused great unhappiness in the family. Although Joseph had not mentioned it clearly before, she managed to hear some rumors.

The woman before her had a great temperament and did not seem like a flirtatious woman that was described in the rumor.

“What do you need?” The boss’s voice interrupted Hayden’s thoughts.

“I’ll be fine I just want to cook a bowl of noodles, do you have flour? I’ll roll out the dough.”

“I’ll help you.”

“No, thanks. That’s okay.” Hayden quickly declined. Seeing the disappointment in her eyes, he frowned, “I don’t mean it…”.

“I know what you mean.” The boss let out a self-deprecating smile and her hand slid down from the bag of flour. “You’re worried he’ll refuse to eat anything I prepare.”

Hayden pursed her lips and felt slightly uncomfortable. After all, it was Beckham Family business and she couldn’t ask too many questions about it. For her, really, she had no idea what to do either.

“I just don’t want to bother you, I’ll be fine on my own, since I have nothing to do anyway.” Still, she managed to give him an out.

“Then I’ll leave you alone, call me if you need help.” After saying this, the boss turned around and prepared to leave.

“Ma’am.” Hayden stopped her and continued, “If you have nothing else to do, could you show me how to make noodles?”.

The boss lady startled and, as if she had instantly understood something, nodded complacently, pulled up a chair and sat down next to him.

As Hayden kneaded, he carefully taught her some of the things to keep in mind, such as when to add the water. The dough quickly formed and stretched in Hayden’s hands. He cut it and stretched it further to form thin strands. The noodles were put into the boiling water in the pot.

“I already knew you were an ST Group worker, but I didn’t expect you to have such a close relationship with him.” The boss stared at her. The ‘him’ she was addressing was understood without explanation.

“I also thought you were just asking about his recent situation out of curiosity to begin with.”

The chief was startled and suddenly asked, “Had he mentioned me in front of you?”

“What do you mean, ma’am?” Hayden didn’t answer her. Joseph wouldn’t hate his own mother without a reason. She was an interloper and it was better for her not to gossip about it.

“Don’t call me ma’am.” The boss looked at her and said, “My name is Rebekah Beckham, if you don’t mind, you can call me Rebekah.”

Hayden was slightly confused, “Your last name is Beckham too?”.

“No one’s ever mentioned that to you before?” The boss was surprised.

Hayden shook his head seriously. After thinking about it, even though the chief was Joseph’s mother, it wasn’t unusual for her to also have the same last name.

As if she had understood something, the chief let out a wry smile. “Although true, who would mention someone who has been gone for so many years.”

She looked up and stared at Hayden. Her eyes were as clear and pure as if she were still a young girl in her brightest age.

She continued in a serene tone, “I was adopted by the Beckham Family and raised by Joseph’s father as a child. We were married before I even graduated from college. After all these years, I guess Father didn’t mention this to you. Oh, yes, Father is still healthy?”

Hayden hesitated for a moment and only realized that the ‘father’ he mentioned must have been the Beckham Family elder. “I only met Mr. Beckham once, but he still looks fit and healthy. But ma’am, I think you’ve misunderstood something, President Beckham and I actually…”.

Without finishing her words, she suddenly realized that, if she clarified their relationship, the fact that they had slept in the same room would be even stranger, especially when she was in front of Joseph’s own mother. Then she swallowed the last words she was going to say.

“We’ve only been together a short time, so I’m not very familiar with family stuff.”

Hearing that, the chief regained her puzzled look. “That’s right.”

Hayden nodded in embarrassment and avoided her gaze. He continued to pull the noodles out of the pot. “The noodles are almost ready, thanks for letting me use the kitchen.”

“No problem, I’m the one who should be thanking you.” From his words, he had clearly treated her like Joseph’s girlfriend and that gave her the creeps, “Can I have your contact details?”.

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