Chapter 156



Hayden had a knot in his stomach as he heard Joseph talk about ‘others who don’t matter’. And suddenly, she realized that she had once been an insignificant person to Joseph a few months ago.

Whereas six years ago, Noah was also an irrelevant person to Joseph.

In Joseph’s eyes, any irrelevant person that existed or not would never have an impact on his life.

Hayden’s heart slowly and gradually cooled.

The next day, Hayden was called by the receptionist as she was just arriving at the hotel entrance.

“Miss Downey, someone is looking for you.”

As the receptionist had just informed her, Hayden saw a familiar person heading toward the lobby lounge area. She nodded to the receptionist as a thank you and approached.

The person looking for her was Harrison’s butler, Mark. He was portly, despite being in his sixties, just like Harrison.

“Mark, what are you doing here?”

Seeing Hayden, Mark smiled, “It’s nothing. I brought the information you had asked for.” Mark handed him the paper bag he was holding and said quietly, “Just that, in those days a lot of nannies were fired. It could take a lot of effort to uncover anyone suspicious.”

“It’s all right, as long as there’s a clue.” Hayden received her, “Come and have a seat in my office, Mark, I…”.

“No, thank you. Harrison has me deliver this to you. I’ll be on my way.” Saying this, Mark patted his suit and left the hotel.

Lillian peered into the lobby and shouted to Hayden, who was clutching the paper bag and about to enter the elevator, “Miss Downey, isn’t that the Beckham Family’s former butler? Why did he come looking for you?”

“Just to deliver something to me.” Hayden waved the bag in his hand and distracted Lillian, “Keep it up. Order your badge.”

“Okay.” Lillian straightened up and lowered her head to order her badge. And when she looked up again, Hayden was already in the elevator in the distance.

“Are you stupid, asking such a question?” Another employee sneered aside.

“I heard the Beckham Family butler was calling Miss Downey Miss Beckham. I bet Miss Downey and Mr. Beckham are getting married.”

“Yes. I think the hotel will have big news very soon.”

…

At the office, Hayden called Benjamin at home, “This is the information Mark just gave me. I’m keeping the original and this is a copy. Did you check to see if anything is still missing?”.

“No, it’s fine.” Benjamin opened a few pages and said, “Later, back in my room, I’ll summarize this data. I’ll check the hometown of these nannies and also the status of their bank accounts. If all goes well, I will be able to go out after three days to look for them personally.”

“Okay.” Hayden was still a little concerned and urged, “Let me know if you need help.”

“Relax, it takes little time to find someone. And this is a job fit for an idle person like me.” Benjamin cocked his head, looking naïve.

“Thanks for your help.” Hayden smiled, and remembered Alayna’s messages before he left the house this morning, “By the way, come to my place tonight for lunch. I haven’t had a chance to thank you yet for the video shoot at the hotel.”

Benjamin hesitated for a moment, “Is Joseph coming over?”

“I haven’t told him yet. I don’t know if he’s free or not.”

“Okay, I’ll come.” Benjamin readily accepted her offer, waving the papers in his hand he said, “I’ll be working on it, then.”

“Okay. Thanks for your effort.”

Hayden was gratified to see Benjamin leave, with the feeling of having her grown son to help her.

…

“Mr. Jackman, this is the latest design in our store, created by a well-known designer.” At the jewelry store, the clerk recommended a diamond ring, which she displayed in a box, smiling.

Kevin Jackman glanced at the row of diamond rings on the little table and turned to ask, “What do you think?”

Joseph was sitting off to the side, quietly sipping his tea. She replied without even looking at him, “It’s so-so.”

“You’re telling me!” Kevin frowned and said with distaste, “Other than the size, there’s not much difference between them. Those designs you mentioned earlier are worn out, you can’t fool anyone.”

The store manager broke out in a cold sweat as she explained, “Mr. Jackman, if you have time, you can customize it. But didn’t you say you wanted to buy a ready-made one? Most of the finished products are a bit common, the only thing that changes a bit is the size of the diamonds. There won’t be fancy stuff.”

“Right.” Kevin waved his hand impatiently and looked at Joseph, “Joseph, I don’t want to blame you, but even your comment about this place is bland, why did you bring me here, don’t you know Alayna is very picky, do you think she is a pushover like Hayden? My proposal would have failed if I had made a bad choice about the ring.”

“It would have failed too, even if you had made a good choice.” Joseph looked at Kevin, “As for the marriage proposal, I would advise you to be cautious for some time. Otherwise, it would backfire on you.”

“Do you think I’m joking? A real man never drags his feet on these matters.” Kevin was confident, “I said I’ll marry her, and I will.”

Joseph was tired of talking to him about this matter. He glanced at the diamond rings in front of him and explained, “Actually, this store does not specialize in finished products. I suggest you wait a bit to calm down, besides, the process of customizing a diamond ring also needs time. Choose a loose diamond first.”

Joseph looked at the store manager as he spoke.

The manager took the hint immediately and ordered her staff to take the loose diamonds out of the vault.

“Is it too late?” Kevin hesitated.

Joseph put down his teacup and reminded, “I think you should be worried about the fact that Alayna hasn’t even considered marrying you. Don’t forget that you haven’t gotten back together since your last breakup.”

“That’s because she thinks I’m not serious about her. And that’s why she refuses to get serious with me too.” Kevin had a stern expression, “I would have bought the diamond ring that time, so I could see what else she can say about this.”

Joseph worried for a moment, seeing Kevin so convinced.

Kevin had been used to gambling since he was young. He had been visiting all kinds of clubs in N-Town since he was fifteen. And there were always plenty of women around him. If some strange woman approached him with a child and claimed the child belonged to him, it would be nothing surprising.

A man so accustomed to spreading his affection around, it would be hard to take him seriously. As for a woman who wanted a stable life, she would never want to marry him. Not to mention Alayna’s inflexible temper was not a diamond ring he could handle.

Kevin would have come off badly this time.

As Joseph pondered, the store manager brought out loose diamonds of varying sizes and laid them on black velvet. The diamonds were finely cut and sparkled brightly under the lights.

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