Chapter 155



There was stony silence in the conference room.

Chelsea could barely stand, clutching the corner of the table and shaking.

She was overcome with shame and rage, wishing they would kill Hayden.

I couldn’t believe that Hayden had recorded those disgusting scenes and shown them to Freddie as well. Hayden used such a trick to threaten her, ruining her only chance to be together with Freddie.

“So, do you read it or not?”.

After a long moment, Chelsea gritted her teeth: “I’ll read it.”

Before leaving the conference room, Hayden unplugged the flash drive and took it from her. “Also, please let Strong Wind Media and also your internet armies delete all those nonsensical comments from the internet. Otherwise, they will bear their own consequences.”

Chelsea stood in the doorway with her back to Hayden, gritting her teeth, and uttered, “Understood.

Let’s wait and see, Hayden Downey.

The press conference ended successfully. Chelsea, as one of the litigants, the netizens sympathized with her, and would believe anything she had said. So, after clearly explaining that she and Hayden were just Freddie’s sisters, she had dismissed the rumors.

All the reporters were disappointed, as the media had been wrong and had nothing to report about it.

“I couldn’t believe this had anything to do with her.” Freddie handed Hayden a glass of water, “Why did you do this?”.

“Are you pretending you don’t know anything about it?”. Hayden glared at him, “Didn’t you know Chelsea always had it in for me because she had a crush on you? Ironically, she ignored everyone in the Downey Family except me.”

“She had a crush on me?”. Freddie was flabbergasted, “I hadn’t even thought about this.”

“That’s why she also found a lover who looks like you.” Hayden curved his lips, “Only he’s tough as nails.”

Hayden wouldn’t take this to threaten Chelsea if it weren’t for the fact that she was crossing the line. After all, it was better to make friends than enemies. She wouldn’t want to have a standoff between the two.

But then, it looked like they had no way back.

Strong Wind Media had announced that they were willing to apologize to Freddie and the other two parties, they were also willing to compensate them for their loss. They had also fired the reporter and editor involved in the case to settle it.

Joseph had returned from his business trip and the crisis had been resolved.

“It turned out okay, didn’t it?” At the dining room table, Hayden rested her chin on her hands, eager for praise.

Joseph looked at her, “Well done.”

“So, it didn’t make any impact on you or the group, did it?”. Hayden’s words meant more than he said.

Joseph didn’t answer him, but pulled a small square box out of his bag and handed it to Hayden. “Open it and take a look.”

Hayden froze for a moment, confused. He muttered, “I’m not ready yet. You can put it away.”

She still hid many things in her heart that she had never told Joseph. And many things she had yet to discover. How could she marry like this?

Joseph was perplexed, looking at her, “What are you ready for?” He opened the box after saying that, “I saw this in Italy. I think it would look perfect on you. So I bought it.”

Inside the box was a pair of pearl earrings, white and very lustrous.

Hayden’s face fell with embarrassment and he said, “It’s a pair of earrings…”.

Why use such a box to store earrings? It could easily cause misunderstandings.

“What did you think it was?” Joseph was confused about what she was thinking.

“Nothing, nothing.” Hayden laughed, disguising his discomfort, “I like them, I like them a lot.”

“Why do I feel like you’re a little disappointed?”. Joseph frowned, “You don’t have to force yourself if you don’t like them.”

“Who’s disappointed?” Hayden stared at him and said in a sharper voice, “I’m not disappointed.”

The two little guys on the other side of the table froze and both looked up. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing. I have to go to the bathroom.” Hayden left the dining room table as he finished speaking.

Looking behind Mom’s back, Stella let out a deep sigh, looking at Joseph, and said, “Joseph, do you know what a woman would normally think of when she sees those kinds of boxes?”

“What?” Joseph was puzzled.

“Noah, do you know?” Stella turned to look at Noah.

Noah immediately drew on his drawing board a circle, a diamond shape in the circle, and dotted some dots to indicate that it sparkled. And he also wrote a few words, “[How silly you are, Dad].”

“Joseph, Mom would be happy if you gave her the earrings. But if you make her think you’re going to give her a ring, but then it turns out you’re only giving her a pair of earrings. That difference would be very disappointing, it’s very simple, don’t you understand? You’re really dumb.”

After being scorned by the two children, Joseph felt frustrated, looking at the box that held the earrings, he awkwardly touched his nose.

Who knew that giving a pair of earrings as a gift would take so much thought?

But…

He glanced in the direction of the bathroom and then looked at the drawing of the ring on the board. He was pleased. At first he planned to take it easy, but since Hayden was looking forward to it, he might as well settle it once and for all.

In the bathroom, Hayden rinsed his face, looking at his reflection in the mirror. He was still young, but there were a lot of untold stories in his eyes.

She saw it every time she looked in the mirror.

She was nervous and upset.

Her first reaction was to hope she wouldn’t get the ring, as she wasn’t sure she was with Joseph. But then she was disappointed to see that inside the box there was no ring.

She struggled with her mind. Just at that moment, her heart was telling her that she was looking forward to marrying this man. Words could lie, but emotions always told the truth.

In the evening, the children were asleep as Hayden came into the room after drying his hair. Joseph was leaning over the bed, reading. He looked kind as the dim lights illuminated him.

“Why won’t you stop staring at me?” Joseph lifted his head from the book, looking at her.

Hayden didn’t evade the gaze as he sat on the side of the bed, applying hand cream, “I just think you look different than when we first met.”

Hearing this, Joseph frowned and emphasized, “I actually just went on a business trip, I haven’t done anything else.”

Hayden couldn’t help but let out a chuckle, “I didn’t mean that. If you still want to change something about your face, how could others resist you?”.

“Is that a compliment?” Joseph looked at her affectionately.

Hayden put a smile on his face. “I used to think you were a hard-hearted man, always cold to everyone.”

“You’re right.” Joseph closed the book, then took her in his arms, chin resting on her head, and said softly, “There’s no point in sharing my passion with others who don’t matter.”

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