Chapter 68



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Hayden was consumed with rage as he kicked the two out of the kitchen immediately. It seemed like there was something strange about the two of them today. If they continued to stay in the kitchen, it was very likely that the meal would never be completed.

Joseph and Freddie stood outside the kitchen, and when their gazes met, they both looked at each other with disdain.

At that moment, Stella and Noah were hiding behind the bedroom door and observing the situation in the kitchen through a small gap. They were stifling laughter by covering their mouths.

“See, what did I tell you last time? You’ll only be motivated if there’s some external pressure.” Stella made a smug face.

Noah nodded furiously, obviously delighted. It was the first time he had seen his father take the initiative when it came to women.

The food was scrumptious: slices of fish, braised chicken wings, shredded pork sautéed with lettuce, tomato and egg soup.

There was an intoxicating aroma in the air.

All the diners devoured it all in a jiffy.

After eating, the two boys went back to the room to continue their fun, while Freddie helped arrange the silverware on the table as if he feared the other would take another step.

“Hayden, I’ll make sure each one of them gets sparkling clean.”

Hayden was happy to let him help, so he wasn’t going to say anything to her. “Then you can wash everything, don’t break any of those dishes.”

“You don’t have anything to worry about.”

Freddie took those dishes into the kitchen while he was in a good mood, but after washing them for a while, he got the feeling that something wasn’t right.

As he busied himself washing those plates and bowls, hadn’t he just given the two of them the perfect opportunity to be alone? She turned around and glanced into the living room, but no one was there. Where had they gone?

These were in Stella’s room, the two adults and two little ones surrounded the naval battle board. The four of them represented a faction in this war, and they were advancing in the game with much jubilation. “I’ve finally reached the end! Now everyone is a loser, so everyone has to wear a sticker!”

Stella, who had a face almost full of yellow stickers, enthusiastically stuck one on the faces of Joseph, Hayden and Noah.

All four had so many stickers on their faces that they looked like striped cats.

Freddie, who was wearing rubber dishwashing gloves, stood by the door and grumbled, “They’re having fun with a game while I’m doing the dishes alone.”

Everyone turned their heads and looked toward the door.

Hayden felt a little embarrassed by her words since Freddie had just returned to the country and shouldn’t mistreat his guest, even though they knew each other very well. So she suggested, “How about you come over and play while I go do the dishes?”

“Who’s interested in playing with that guy?”. Freddie furrowed his eyebrows convinced that Hayden would not allow Joseph to do the dishes. He told him agonizingly, “Wait until I’m done doing the dishes, I’ll be right here.”

After that, he disappeared into the kitchen and washed the dishes with insane speed.

Hayden didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at the sight.

Ten minutes later, Freddie joined the fray, and the game went from sea battle to five-in-a-row to international chess to UNO, and in the end it was just Freddie and Joseph vying for the game.

Joseph was very scheming, while Freddie also knew how to hold his own. Freddie was good at sea battle, while Joseph beat him in a game of UNO, and all afternoon they were as good as each other, and in the end it was a draw.

The sky had darkened and Hayden called them to dinner from outside the room.

Freddie didn’t know when Hayden had left the room and, with a sudden jolt, he realized that he had wasted a whole evening with Joseph here. At that moment he felt a terrible pang of remorse.

After dinner, Freddie asked Joseph unreservedly, “It’s getting late, when are you going to take your son back home?”

Joseph quietly sipped his tea, “I don’t think I’ll be coming home tonight.”

“What?” Freddie shot out of his chair and protested, “Why are you staying tonight? This isn’t your house.”

Hayden was also startled by his words. He couldn’t understand the meaning of Joseph’s words. Was he implying that he would be staying here overnight? That would be very that strange.

“Noah doesn’t want to come back.” Joseph looked at Hayden and said this matter-of-factly, “He told me before he came here that Stella used to stay at my house for a long period, so he wanted to stay at Stella’s house too.”

“No way! I can’t approve of that.”

Freddie instantly rejected her proposal. He only knew that Hayden had been staying at Joseph’s house with his daughter for some time; had he known his intentions, he would not have allowed Joseph to set foot in this place in the morning. He had labeled Joseph as his number one love rival.

“This is not your home, and you are taking refuge here too. Your opinion doesn’t matter.” Joseph looked at him slightly before looking back at Hayden.

Hayden was truly between a rock and a hard place.

If Joseph stayed here, it would be too strange to have two men staying, but if she didn’t allow him to stay, Joseph was right about her time living at his house with Stella. If she didn’t allow him to stay, didn’t that mean she was an ungrateful person?

Since she was caught in a dilemma, Stella came out of the room and rushed over as she announced, “Mom, Noah is asleep. Are Mr. Joseph and Noah staying with us tonight?”

Hayden nodded and replied, “It’s the only way.”

“Hey, that’s not right!”. Freddie wanted to stop this from going any further, “If your son is asleep, you can still take him, right? He’s not very big anyway, why is staying here the only option?”.

“Noah’s not in very good health. If he gets a little cold breeze while he’s sleeping, he’ll catch a cold.” Joseph explained slowly.

Hayden adored Noah very much, so of course she wouldn’t let him get whipped by the cold wind while he was asleep. She nodded immediately, “Yeah, we can’t let him go for now. He’s a little insecure.”

“What about him? We can let the boy stay over, but it won’t be wrong to ask him to leave, will it?”. Freddie clung to the last drop of hope as he gritted his teeth hard.

“My son has never been separated from me, he won’t get used to my absence.” Joseph’s soft reply left Freddie completely speechless.

It was so infuriating. He knew this guy had bad intentions, yet all his words were sugar coated. What kind of witchcraft was this?

After deciding on his sleepover, Hayden tidied up his room and made it available to him.

“I didn’t tell Alayna about this, so you can’t sleep in her room. You’ll sleep in my room while I sleep in hers.”

Joseph naturally had nothing against that, however, Freddie exploded once again, “That can’t be! I can’t agree to that, how can she sleep in your room? Hayden, you must remember that you are a woman and he is a man, you must know how to protect your own privacy. I can’t allow this to happen.”

“Is there any other way?” Hayden glared at him, “The number of rooms in this place is limited.”

“I allow you to sleep with me, despite my reluctance.” Freddie’s eyes widened and his expression told the others that he was very committed in this matter.

“I can’t agree to that.” Joseph shot him a look, “I don’t like sleeping with men.”

“You…”

“That’s enough.” Hayden interrupted Freddie’s words, “Cut the crap, he’s only here for one night. It makes no difference which room he stays in, what’s more, there’s nothing too private in my room anyway, get out of there now. I have to change the sheets and blankets.”

Saying this, he pushed Joseph and Freddie out of the room, then closed the door in front of them to start tidying up the room.

Freddie crossed his arms in front of his chest, looked at Joseph with dissatisfaction and said wryly, “You’re the president of a company, how can you come here and stay overnight in this tiny place? Or are you tired of your life full of entitlement and come here for hardship?”

“If I say yes, will you believe in me?”. Joseph said meaningfully before walking over to a bookshelf. Freddie didn’t care for him in the least.

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