Chapter 48



“Okay.” Joseph replied quietly and looked out the window. A look of success crossed his eyes, he thought about it all night and felt he had it figured out. He just needed time to confirm it. At first, he thought it would be easy enough, but after Hayden obviously avoided him yesterday, he felt he needed to find a good excuse and Noah was that excuse.

From that day forward, Joseph would regularly take his son to Hayden’s house. Even on weekends Hayden and Stella would go to his villa. Sometimes they would picnic in the garden or play in the park. Over time, they came to feel very comfortable with each other.

Hayden believed it was his culinary skills that attracted father and son. During their time together, Joseph would ask his opinion on their plans for their anniversary celebrations, so he wouldn’t be embarrassed during the gatherings.

…

“I’m sorry to have kept you waiting, Miss Kidman.” Inside the private room of the Green Bay Café, a young man set down his briefcase and sat across from Violet.

Violet waited impatiently and showed her displeasure when the man arrived. “Are you Jason’s recommended private investigator, Lachlan Kelly?”.

The man nodded and was reassured to see the doubt in Violet’s eyes, “I am.”

Violet, frustrated, grabbed her purse and, about to walk away, scoffed, “Jason must be crazy. Where did he find you? Are you even an adult? Someone could mistake you for a high school student! My business can’t be handled by a child.”

The man looked barely twenty and had the face of a child. Although he couldn’t have been a minor, he was definitely no older than twenty-five. No one would believe he was the most famous private investigator in all of N City.

Lachlan sat down and calmly said, “When Miss Kidman leaves, I’ll erase everything I’ve investigated. So you don’t have to worry about me leaking anything, it’s part of my professional ethics.”

Hearing this, Violet paused, frowned, and asked, “What did you find out?”

“Weren’t you disinterested?”.

Violet hesitated before returning to her seat and saying, “Go ahead. What did you find out? If you’ve really found out something useful, then I’ll believe you can work for me.”

Lachlan casually pulled out a document, placed his fingertips on it and slowly slid it toward her.

“Regarding what Miss Kidman wanted to check out about this lady named Hayden and her daughter. I found out that six years ago, Hayden was last seen one night after her eighteenth birthday. That was the last time she was seen by her friends before she left the country.

“Six years ago…” Violet looked at the date on the data sheet. Her brow furrowed, “Why that night?”.

“Although Miss Kidman didn’t say what she wanted me to investigate, it seemed to me that she must have been very curious as to why Hayden didn’t go to the room her sister Chelsea had prepared for her after she was drugged. Instead, she was taken away and that same day, Joseph Beckham was also at the same hotel.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think there is every reason to suspect that the surrogate mother Joseph was looking for was Hayden.”

Violet’s face paled as her hands trembled clutching the data sheet. How could it be such a coincidence?

When she was trying to figure out how Noah had come about, she spent a lot of effort figuring out that he had been born through a surrogate. So, if it was a surrogate, Joseph should no longer be in contact with that woman. So she was relieved during these years, but now unexpectedly this surrogate could be Hayden.

How could the Downey Family’s second daughter become a surrogate mother?

“Impossible.” Violet immediately refuted this possibility, “She was the second daughter of the Downey Family and she lacked nothing. How could she do such a thing?”

“Miss Kidman, you were the one who said Hayden was drugged by her older sister. Anything is possible, I’m just telling you my line of thinking. If you disagree, I can stop right here and not pursue this any further.” Lachlan looked at Violet with disdain.

Violet’s expression darkened, she clenched her fists and demanded, “Investigate him! Who said no? I need to get to the bottom of this.”

“Okay, then the next thing I’ll do is track down the Beckman family’s former butler and inquire about the surrogate business. He should be the one responsible for setting it up. I’ll be in touch when there’s something significant.”

Lachlan looked at the fact sheet Violet was holding and said, “You can keep this fact sheet, contact me if you have any questions…and Miss Kidman, it’s not good to judge a person by their appearance. What makes a good private investigator is their analytical skills, not their age.”

Lachlan got up and left after saying. His boyish face expressed full self-confidence and arrogance. Lachlan had taken this case because the person of interest was Joseph.

Female celebrities really had two faces. This Violet was really annoying.

Once outside the cafe, Lachlan raised his open hand over his eyes and looked up at the clear sky. The weather was great and suitable for a meeting.

…

“Shall we buy something and have some stew tonight?” Hayden asked Joseph after they picked up their children.

“Sure.”

Hayden nodded and before they reached the traffic intersection, he called to Mark, “Go to that Carrefour.”

They both held the kids and took a look around the supermarket. Although they were only supposed to buy fresh produce, Stella guided Noah in search of some snacks.

“Hey, where did they go?”

“I’m going to take a look.” Joseph went to get the kids.

Hayden pushed the cart and picked out the vegetables they needed.

Joseph pushed a small cart as he followed the children.

Stella picked up a box of chocolates, looked at Joseph with those big eyes and said, “Normally Mom doesn’t let me eat too many chocolates. These are the kind Noah and I like to eat.”

Joseph took all the flavors off the shelf and said, “Then we’ll buy some.”

This was what rich people did! Stella’s eyes sparkled and she jumped up and down happily, “Joseph is the best!”.

Noah smiled at her and pointed to the snacks in front of them.

By the time the kids picked out their snacks and joined Hayden at the checkout counter, the little cart was packed.

Hayden stared wide-eyed, “Oh my gosh. What did they buy? How long will it take to finish them? Stella, you…”

“I don’t.” Stella waved her hand.

“Who could it be if it’s not you?” Hayden frowned and continued, “Noah’s not like you. He doesn’t usually eat snacks.”

He reached out to pull Stella’s ears and Stella quickly wrapped her arms around Joseph’s thighs, hid behind him and cried, “Help me, Joseph.”

Joseph shielded Stella and calmly said to stop Hayden’s actions, “I wanted to buy them.”

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