Chapter 222



Hayden called Scarlett after Freddie left.

“Aunt Scarlett, where’s Stella?”.

“She had just finished lunch and now she’s napping along with your uncle.” Scarlett’s voice seems softer than before.

“With Uncle? Uncle Nathan’s not working today?”

“I hadn’t told you, but your uncle officially retired last week. He was scheduled for a calligraphy event in Hubei Province, but he rushed back knowing Stella was coming. I told him he wasn’t good with children, but he insisted otherwise.”

Hayden laughed, “The guy just retired, probably trying to keep busy.”

“That’s true.” Scarlett also laughed, “Oh yeah, there’s a gathering Friday night, we’re having a family dinner, just us and your other uncle’s family, come join us.”

Hayden hesitated for a moment. “It’s been so many years since I’ve seen them, it will be awkward for me to be there.”

“Why, are you severing ties with your maternal relatives?”

“That’s not what I meant, Aunt.”

“Well, then come along. I’ll pick you up at your house on Friday.”

It was hard to refuse Scarlett’s genuine invitation. Besides, her aunt and uncle on her maternal grandfather’s side were the only relatives she had left.

She understood Scarlett’s intention.

On Friday night, Scarlett came to pick up Hayden for dinner at the hotel.

A low-slung black Rolls Royce pulled into the neighborhood. Where her daughter greeted her with a warm hug as soon as she got in, “What took you so long, Mommy, I’m starving.”

Hayden stroked her little head helplessly, “Sit up well, we’re leaving.”

Once seated, Hayden lifted his head and greeted his uncle in the front passenger seat.

“Mommy, look at my new dress, is it pretty?”. Stella didn’t sit still even after sitting down, she held up her chiffon skirt and showed it to Hayden, “See, there are little stars.”

A matching bluish pink chiffon skirt with a thin leather jacket, brown leather shoes with a pair of white floral lace socks. Hayden had been studying the fall/summer fashion shows lately because of work, if he was right, this was the latest design from BV.

Even if the price tag wasn’t visible, the brand logo on Stella’s slanted bag was clearly visible.

“Aunt Scarlett, there’s no need to buy such expensive clothes for a little girl.”

Scarlett disagreed.

“Stella is your only daughter, of course, she should be well dressed. Little girls should be brought up as princesses to prevent her from being easily seduced by mediocre boys in the future.”

“I agree.” Nathan spoke from the passenger seat, “Girls need to be raised as princesses, but we’re not spoiling her, we want her to be strong and independent.”

Hayden felt a sudden headache.

Both Scarlett and Nathan were childless and so fond of Stella. Dressing her in brand name clothes at such a young age was spoiling her too much, they might even lower the stars and the moon for her.

“Auntie, this… don’t overdo it, we have to be strict…”.

“If you want to talk about tiger parenting, there’s nothing to talk about. I was raised that way, having a bad temper doesn’t bring any good.”

Hayden was stunned by her speech.

It was the first time Aunt Scarlett had ever admitted her bad temper. He saw through the rearview mirror the incredulous and surprised look on Uncle Nathan’s face as he slowly uttered, “That’s weird.”

Scarlett’s sharp ears caught what he said, she shot a glare, “There are lots of weird occurrences in this world, isn’t abandoning your wife and child and ending up with a broken family weirder than this?”

Her words struck Hayden’s heart. Perhaps Stella was the only one who didn’t understand the meaning behind them.

“That’s enough, why do you say those things in front of a child?”.

“Those are the truths of life.” Scarlett said coldly, “Even at such a young age, Stella can make sensible judgments, there’s no need to beautify the world for her.”

“Scarlett, that’s enough…”. Nathan said helplessly.

Scarlett was not satisfied with his attitude, she frowned and was about to lose her temper, but was stopped by Hayden, “Aunt Scarlett, don’t keep bringing up the past, Stella is a big girl, she understands everything, right?”.

He looked at Stella.

Stella nodded cooperatively, “Yes, mom, great aunt, great uncle, I know everything.”

Stella’s face softened and she looked at Hayden.

“Don’t get involved with the Downey Group, stay as far away as possible, don’t invite trouble.”

Hayden nodded and tried to hide the sadness in his eyes.

Since Chelsea’s death, news of the misappropriation of funds by the Downey Group’s in-house finance team had surfaced, even making the front page of the media. Rumors spread as the Office of Trade and Industry stepped in to investigate. All projects involving the Downey Group were suspended.

The suspension of real estate development projects caused hundreds of migrant workers to lose their jobs.

Hayden and his family were on their way to the N Hotel for dinner, surely they would pass the Downey Group headquarters. It was easy to guess the situation outside the building.

Immigrant workers were holding a banner that read, [Black-hearted developers, give back my hard-earned money], along with some sort of old-fashioned phrases. The whole square smelled of cheap food as journalists filled every corner.

Even with police intervention, there was little effect.

“Stop staring.” Scarlett said to Nathan in an annoyed tone, “As the tree, so the fruit. With tax evasion and avoidance, there’s nothing they won’t do.”

“We can’t jump to conclusions while the investigation is ongoing.”

Nathan’s voice was soft, that was his style. His many years in the political arena had made him a habit of being objective, he was also a nice person in private.

Hayden didn’t plan to look at first, but there was a lot of traffic in the city, the noise outside was getting louder and louder, he saw a fire truck coming from far away and realized that something had happened.

Hayden saw a large crowd of people in front of the Downey Group building, all looking up.

His car cut through a small lane in the crowd, police cordons had been set up, firefighters dressed in yellow and orange were urgently inflating the safety cushion.

Hayden sensed something, meanwhile, someone in the crowd said aloud what she was thinking.

“Someone had jumped off the building…”.

Her face changed and she felt like she had missed a heartbeat. The image she saw in the café where Chelsea fell from the building crossed her mind, she blurted out. “Stop the car.”

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