Chapter 118



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The hotel staff cleaning was completely done before leaving work in the afternoon.

After telling the housekeeping staff to do the final cleaning, Hayden packed up to leave work and received a notice from the hotel general manager on his way home.

Traffic was extremely heavy during rush hour, so he decided to check the message on his phone. When he saw the contents, he frowned and immediately dialed.

“Mr. Brown, why am I suddenly being asked to stay at the hotel?”.

He helplessly replied, “It’s the head office’s notice, I’m not sure either. Maybe they are afraid that foreign guests will have problems. It would be more convenient for you to be here and take care of these emergencies. What’s the problem, can’t you come?”.

“Well, since it’s summer vacation, my daughter is still at home. The notice was too sudden and I haven’t thought about where to leave my daughter. Would it be all right if I took her with me?”

“What do you think?”

Hearing Mr. Brown’s unpleasant tone, Hayden muttered, “It’s okay, I’m just asking. It’s okay if it’s not okay, I’ll think of an arrangement.”

After hanging up the call, he looked directly at the screen of his phone.

Superiors only knew how to make things difficult for inferiors. She was no longer angry that she was suddenly called back to the hotel, why wasn’t she allowed to bring her daughter?

It seemed she had no choice but to entrust her daughter to Alayna’s care. Fortunately, Alayna had recently been on leave and would be home all day.

“I didn’t want to take up your time, but this time it really was an emergency.”

“You don’t have to be so polite to me. Whatever happens, I’m still Stella’s godmother. How could I not take responsibility? Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of her.”

Alayna promised directly, “Oh, isn’t tomorrow Saturday? It’s your day off, do you want to go shopping?”.

“I have to send Stella to her swimming lesson first.” Hayden explained, “They have a parent-child class this Saturday, so the parents have to go too. I’ll go take a look first. I’ll contact you if I’m not needed there.”

“What kind of parent-child class? It’s not even a daycare.” Alayna suspected something.

When Hayden went to the bathroom, she lay down on the couch and poked Stella’s shoulder, “Stella, tell me the truth. You’re suddenly so eager to learn to swim, you’re not up to something?”.

Stella was sitting on the rug watching cartoons when Alayna asked her that. Stella smiled and turned away, “Godmother, what do you mean, I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

“Come on.” Alayna pinched her face, “Your mother is a terrible sailor, and you’re not much better than her either. You even cried for a long time in the shower when you were young, so why do you suddenly want to learn to swim?”

Seeing that she couldn’t hide it from Alayna, she pursed her lips, “I’m doing it for mom’s happiness. If you are my mom’s best friend, you must help me. Let her go to the pool with me tomorrow.”

“Happiness?” Alayna averted her gaze, “What, you set her up on a blind date at the pool?”

“Not really, but it’s almost the same as that.”

“I want to watch.”

“You can’t!” Stella immediately declined, “You really can’t develop if there are a lot of people around watching you!”.

“Little girl, you have a lot of tricks in your mind. You sold your mother and she helped you count the money, didn’t you?”.

The two were busy gossiping in the living room. Hayden was brushing his teeth in the bathroom and knew nothing.

He had spent a night. The next morning they had breakfast at home. Hayden slowly gathered his things and was about to take Stella to the indoor pool.

“We’re leaving.”

Before they left, he looked over at the couch and shook his head helplessly.

Alayna was comfortably curled up on the couch while putting on a face mask first thing in the morning. She was watching a Korean drama while eating some potato chips.

Everyone else was planning to travel somewhere when they took annual leave, while Alayna just wanted to stay home and not go anywhere.

“I’ll wait for your message.”

Hayden listened to Alayna’s helpless words before closing the door. She narrowed her eyes and pondered for a while, maybe it was about her asking Hayden to go shopping together?

When they arrived at the pool, the morning class had already started. Many parents had come and they were all young mothers. They were busy chatting and changing swimsuits in the locker room.

As Hayden was changing clothes, she noticed that those mothers who came to attend the parent-child class seemed to already know each other in groups of three or five. Overhearing their conversations, Hayden felt a little uncomfortable.

“Mrs. Thompson, why didn’t Mrs. Moore come in today?”

“She’s pregnant. She found out last week, so she’s staying home to feed the fetus. That’s why I say we should have more babies when we are still young, it will guarantee and secure our lives in the future.”

“What brand of powdered milk did you feed your second child?”.

“Well, I only feed them with foreign products…”.

“…”.

Hayden removed a sunscreen garment she was wearing and the huge changing room was suddenly surrounded by conversations about powdered milk and the second child. She could no longer hear it, as if they were people from two completely different worlds.

She could see that the mothers accompanying her son here on Saturday were all housewives. They trusted their husbands completely and cared unreservedly for their families. She had an unsettling feeling.

Ten minutes later, her premonition was confirmed.

After the instructor taught a few simple moves, the pool was filled with people in bathing suits of various colors. Mothers were bringing their children and soaking in the water while chatting with each other.

They talked about school, grades, tutors and teachers….

After being asked several times how many children she had and where her daughter went to school, Hayden quickly escaped the scene saying she wanted to go to the bathroom.

She would rather work overtime for a month than listen to someone rush her into getting pregnant for the second time….

What kind of swimming and parent-child class was this?

After changing clothes and leaving the locker room, she immediately called Alayna and asked if they could go shopping together.

“Didn’t you have swimming class with Stella?”.

“Don’t mention it, the atmosphere here is too strange. I’d better go shopping. They’re giving lunch today, so I’ll pick Stella up before the class break this afternoon.”

“Okay, I’ll get ready then. Wait for me.”

After hanging up the call, Hayden sat down on the couch in the lobby of the indoor pool and took a break. Slowly she closed her eyes and they reflected the figure of a man and a boy approaching her.

This dream was.

“Why are you here?” A man’s deep voice echoed down the hallway. Hayden was startled and immediately opened her eyes.

It wasn’t a dream!

Joseph was wearing a white t-shirt and beige sweatpants as he looked at her closely.

Noah had already hugged her leg as she was still in a daze. Noah was so happy that his eyes narrowed into a thin line and he smiled at Hayden.

“Why are they here too?” Hayden was surprised to see them and his eyes wavered slightly.

“Noah wants to attend the swimming class.”

“Stella is also in this class.” Hayden’s eyes widened, “What a coincidence.”

Coincidence?

Joseph fixed his gaze on the boy still clinging to Hayden.

Noah pulled a brochure out of thin air and insisted on coming to this pool. He’d begged him for a long time already. Right now, it didn’t seem like a coincidence to him.

He didn’t know the specific reason, but since he was already here, he didn’t bother to get to the bottom of it anymore. He asked, “Didn’t you come to walk Stella to class, why did you go out?”

After hearing that, Hayden shifted his gaze as if he was having perverse thoughts.

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