Chapter 23



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The car drove down the busy road. After giving Hayden and Stella a ride back home, they encountered N-Town rush hour on the way back and the road started to get congested.

Noah seemed a little frustrated whenever he encountered this type of situation, but today he was inexplicably calm as he doodled on his little drawing board.

Joseph thought about what had happened at the Japanese restaurant in the afternoon and felt slightly amazed. The reason Noah liked Hayden could be explained because Hayden had saved him once, but what about his daughter? As adorable as that little girl was, it was odd about Noah’s attitude. It was nothing new for him to meet adorable children to try to connect, but Noah had always seemed disinterested.

After thinking that, Joseph suddenly felt someone tugging on his sleeve. His mind snapped back to reality and he looked over to the car seat next to him.

Noah was raising his drawing board toward him with an excited look on his face. A man and a woman were drawn on the board with crayons, and in the middle of them was a child holding their hands. The sky was blue, the sun was golden and the grass was green, everything was wonderful.

Joseph examined the drawing for a while and asked hesitantly, “Do you want a mommy? Noah.”

Noah nodded profusely. His face flushed and he squeezed a word out of his mouth forcefully. “Mom!”

Joseph’s gaze froze the moment he heard her words and a nervous look began to appear. He used to be a serene and calm person, but his voice at that moment trembled with disbelief. “Noah, you just spoke.”

I hadn’t heard him say a word since he had that high fever three years ago. It was the first time after three years.

Noah looked at him hopefully and his hands clutched at the drawing board. Joseph was filled with emotions for a long while and finally calmed down. Thinking that it might be seeing Hayden and Stella’s relationship during the day that made him jealous, he felt slightly guilty. He was young and reckless when he decided to have a child.

At first he thought that giving a child to his grandfather to fulfill his wish would be no problem, since he was just a boy, but he hadn’t expected that he would have developed feelings for him. If she had known earlier, she would not have let such a fragile life be born alone in this world, with fear and worries so easily. He should have known better than anyone else the importance of a complete family.

With that thought, he stroked Noah’s head with a soft look. “Okay, Daddy would find you a mommy.”

Noah smiled with joy, as did his eyes.

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“I’ve checked the nearby schools, the medical facilities aren’t that great and some of the schools are pretty far from the hospital. I’m worried about Stella’s asthma, if it recurs, there won’t be enough time for them to send her to the hospital for treatment.” Upon returning home, Hayden spoke on the phone with Alayna Cole, who was on a business trip overseas.

Alayna was a friend she had met while overseas. Both were outspoken people and hated fate for not allowing them to meet sooner. Alayna is even Stella’s godmother.

Alayna had offered Hayden a home stay when Hayden suddenly decided to take her daughter back home for treatment, and her voice was filled with concern from the other end of the phone. “I asked about that, too. I have a distant relative who is a teacher at a private kindergarten and the hospital in town is right across the street from that school. However, since the application process is tedious, I didn’t recommend it to you.”

“Is it that tedious?” Hayden asked. Because of Stella’s illness, he was paying special attention to the medical conditions and was afraid that something would go wrong.

“How about this, I’ll send you the application form and you’ll know once you see it.”

“Sure.”

It was already late. Hayden looked at the application form that was printed from the fax machine with mixed feelings. It was really problematic to send a child to a private daycare, since it actually required the consent of the government organization. He wondered if the children at the school would all be children of famous people.

As a result, Hayden was so nervous that she tossed and turned all night, unable to fall asleep. He didn’t stop yawning all morning when he went to work at the hotel the next day.

“Come in.” Someone knocked on the door and Hayden was surprised when he saw that the one arriving was Joseph’s assistant, Magnus James, “Why are you here, Mr. James?”

There was quite a distance between the ST Group building and the hotel where she worked, it cost energy to go back and forth. Magnus smiled and replied, “Since I have something to do at the hotel, I want to take the opportunity to ask Miss Downey something.”

“Please ask.”

“Mr. Beckham has asked me when he will be able to give me the planning report for the hotel’s anniversary celebration, which will take place in two months.”

“Anniversary planning?” Hayden was puzzled, “I don’t suppose I’m responsible for that?”

“It’s ST Hotel policy, I guess you didn’t know that because you’re new here.” Magnus explained patiently. “All mid-level and senior staff in the company are required to participate in anniversary planning, regardless of department or position. It is not mandatory for ordinary workers, but it is mandatory for those in higher positions. It is also a tradition in our company. I guess Mr. Beckham is afraid I don’t know about it and has asked me to brief you.”

Hayden doubted his words a little, as his probationary period was not over and the bet he had made with Joseph had not yet been completely fulfilled. It was ridiculous to mention something that was only going to take place two months later.

Still, she tried to sound polite and courteous. “Then I’ll get ready for that as soon as possible.”

“Great, then I have successfully relayed Mr. Beckham’s words.”

“Please wait, Mr. James.” Having suddenly remembered something, Hayden stopped him from leaving. He pulled a container out of the insulated bag he always carried with him and handed it to her. “I have prepared meatballs along with a side dish. Seeing as how Mr. Beckham’s son liked them so much last time, since you’ve come, take this to him for me.”

Magnus was startled, he definitely wouldn’t do that sort of thing on normal days. Joseph was annoyed by the always enthusiastic behavior of his female subordinates and from the moment he joined the company, his superior had kept warning him not to do such useless things.

However, he hesitated when he met Hayden. He felt insecure because there were rumors between her and his boss. He hesitated for a few seconds and asked, “Isn’t this your lunch? Don’t you want to eat it anymore?”

“Oh. Right now I’m taking care of my daughter’s school tuition issues. I have to look for a leave at noon and I won’t have time to eat, I’ll buy something random and I don’t want to waste this.”

Magnus was speechless. She wasn’t trying to appear enthusiastic about Joseph, but simply didn’t want to waste the food. Funny.

Magnus put the extra things on the tea table as he returned to the company building and reported various hotel conditions he discovered that day to Joseph who was behind the office desk.

As Joseph listened, his eyes moved past Magnus and settled on the tea table behind him. “What are you eating, Noah?”

Feeling startled as well, Magnus turned around and saw Noah hugging the bowl of yellow duckling he had brought. He was holding a spoon to scoop up the food inside and had a mouthful of gravy.

“Miss Downey who asked me to bring this to little Noah.” He explained quickly.

Hearing it was Hayden, Joseph’s movement stopped and his muscles relaxed. With a relieved look, he nodded slightly in response.

Seeing that Joseph showed no displeasure or alertness, and that little Noah, who was usually very fussy about food, ate with encouragement, Magnus felt extremely surprised. When had Mr. Beckham ever trusted Miss Downey so much?

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