Chapter 62



Joseph’s voice was coming from the other end of the phone, but to her it sounded like he was just whispering next to her ears.

Immediately, Hayden found herself transported back to that night, and her face instantly flushed.How was that possible? She had no idea what she had even said.

“Wait, no, that’s impossible, isn’t it?”. Hayden retorted briskly, “Why would I even think of such a request?” If this really happened, it didn’t just mean she was drunk. She must also have been crazy.

“What are you doubting?” Joseph’s questioning tone came from the other end, “If you don’t believe me, you should think there’s no reason for me to come up with such an excuse, it’s not likely.”

Hayden was speechless. In fact, if she hadn’t made that request, what was the point of Joseph making up such a thing There was no reason to do that at all.

Although she found it hard to believe that she was the one who had made that request, compared to the possibility that Joseph was lying, she found it more convincing to believe that she must have said something foolish while drunk.

Therefore, she instantly diverted the course of their conversation as she stammered, “That’s not what I meant. I was very drunk that night, I’m going to look for Stella.”

He hung up the phone and the driver put his foot down on the accelerator. In a flash, the Villa Imperial appeared in the distance.

The sky had darkened and Joseph was in the living room with the two children. As soon as she made her appearance, Noah immediately ran to her and hugged her thigh.

Hayden stroked his head and said, “My dear Noah, you must be careful with your hand. Don’t aggravate your wound, are you still in pain?”.

Noah shook his head as he looked at Hayden wistfully.

gαℓησν𝒆𝓁s․com is full of thrilling adventures This boy was capable of recovering very quickly, so there was no need for the cast anymore. The doctor only instructed him to be careful when exerting force on the arm.

The cook was placing the dishes on the dining room table when she saw Hayden. She smiled, “You’re just in time, Miss Downey. The dishes are ready and you can come and eat now.”

“Huh?” Hayden froze for a second and was quick to decline, “It’s okay, I just came to get Stella.”

“Let’s eat together since you’re here.” On the couch, Joseph closed the book in his hand and walked over.

Stella nodded to the side as she implored, “Mom, I’m hungry now.”

Hayden knew she would look pretentious if she continued to decline his goodwill, so she could only force herself to take a seat by the dining room table.

“Mom, this is sweet and sour fish, it’s your favorite. It’s something the master has specially ordered from Aunt Cook.” Stella winked as she said this as if to flatter her mother.

Hearing that, Hayden felt a little uncomfortable. She cast a momentary glance at Joseph. “Thank you. That must have been hard work.”

Joseph didn’t stand on ceremony somehow as he mumbled a response.

Just as he was about to pick up some dishes, his sleeve was held back by some force.

He looked down and saw that Noah was clutching his sleeve, his other hand holding a drawing board that had written on it, “[Serve some food].”

Joseph helplessly grabbed some food and put it in his bowl.

Suddenly, Noah seemed anxiously fiddling with Joseph’s sleeves while casting glances in Hayden’s direction. Only then did Joseph realize Noah’s true intentions. He was hinting at Joseph to serve Hayden some food, not him.

This rascal!

Hayden was calmly chewing his food when suddenly a slender hand appeared in front of his eyes. A pair of chopsticks deposited a small piece of stewed fish on his plate.

She raised her head and met Joseph’s serene eyes. She was genuinely flattered by his gesture. “Thank you, I can do it myself.”

“Noah wants me to serve you some food. Eat it.” His tone was matter-of-fact and cold, as if he was trying to disassociate himself from his own actions, but little did he know that his words made his action even sweeter and more ambiguous.

One could conclude that he must have been a very kind and respectful father, that his family must have been made up of peace and prosperity.

Not that they hadn’t eaten together before, but it was precisely because Noah liked their cooking that they were able to dine together before. However, something undesirable had happened the night before last, which greatly affected her current mood and made her unable to just sit there naturally with Joseph around acting as if everything was business as usual.

She didn’t know that Joseph had actually intended for that to happen.

That night, when he drove her back home, he had told her: We’re both adults now. You don’t have to worry about anything. She said it with such nonchalance, but somehow it triggered a certain sense of discomfort inside him. He felt as if he was being taken advantage of.

Since that doesn’t bother him so much, let’s see how long you can keep up that attitude.

The two boys seemed to be deliberately taking their time to finish their meal. Since Hayden had arrived, almost two hours had passed, but they still weren’t able to finish eating.

Under Hayden’s constant prodding, Stella was finally able to gobble down her last spoonful of food. By this time, the outside was shrouded in total darkness, and she saw that it was already past ten o’clock.

“Stella, where’s your suitcase? It’s time for us to go after you get your things.”

Stella winked and replied, “Mom, aren’t we staying here tonight?”

Hearing that, Hayden’s face flushed, “When did I ever say that? We have to go home, go get your suitcase.”

“No need for that. You won’t be able to hail a cab at this hour.” Joseph’s voice came from the direction of the living room, “I’ve arranged a guest room for you.”

As soon as he finished the sentence, Stella exclaimed joyfully and jumped for joy. She broke away from Hayden and followed Noah upstairs. “Noah, let’s go play on the trampoline.”

“Uh…” Hayden wasn’t able to stop her in time as he turned his gaze to Joseph.

“It’s okay, I came to get Stella so you wouldn’t be overwhelmed. I know you’re very busy.”

“Not a burden at all.”

Joseph was standing in front of a cabinet with a large amount of antiques. He nonchalantly picked up a jade model resembling a mythical beast and continued slowly, “I’m not so busy lately. Aren’t you the one always telling me I should keep Noah company more? I happened to have time to go get the kids today.”

“I don’t think that’s necessary.”

“I won’t go back on my words when I’ve made a promise to someone.” Joseph turned and glared at Hayden, “Since I promised you, I’ll be sure to keep it.”

“No, that time I drank too much and my mind was a mess. I was just talking nonsense, you don’t have to take it seriously. Besides, it’s not appropriate for Stella and I to stay here with you.”

Hayden suddenly felt frustrated. Putting aside the fact that he had taken advantage of her, why was she the one feeling shaky and guilty? She was the one stumbling here!

“Didn’t you say I shouldn’t worry too much about what had happened that night?” Joseph suddenly asked, “It’s just like in the past when they spent weekends here.”

Hayden couldn’t answer as his heart raced, “I…I’m not worried about anything at all.” Hayden frowned and decided to be brutally honest with him, “Aren’t you getting married soon? My presence here will definitely cause some kind of misunderstanding.”

In fact, she didn’t want Joseph to worry about last night’s incident for this reason either. Joseph was going to be a married man, and this news had spread like wildfire. She didn’t want to cause any scandal at this critical time. She didn’t want to offend Violet in any way.

“Just for that reason?”

“Isn’t this an important enough reason?”. Seeing that he had a nonchalant expression on his face, she decided to push her luck, “I still think Stella and I staying here is not really an appropriate thing to do.”

Joseph was silent for a while before he approached her with a vague smile on his face. His voice was low as if he was whispering right next to her ears, “This isn’t just any misunderstanding, is it?”.

He put special emphasis on the word ‘misunderstanding’, as if he was reminding her of something.

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