Chapter 90



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“The master has returned.”

The maid’s voice rang out, behind her, a tall, stiff figure emerged from the other side of the door. He was a man in his fifties and was dressed immaculately in a fine suit. He exuded an aura of immense seriousness.

When he saw Hayden in the living room, his feet stopped moving. A stupor appeared on his face as he whispered softly, “Florence…”.

Hayden instantly stood up and greeted him, “Uncle.”

The man came to, but still looked lost. He studied Hayden for a while before smiling, “Is that you, Hayden? Look how much you’ve grown! Why are you here? I’ve heard you’ve been abroad for many years, when did you get back?”.

A barrage of questions began, which improved Hayden’s bad mood a bit. She nodded, “I came back to the country a few months ago, and I’ve been busy at work.”

“Have you gotten a job, where are you working now?”.

“I’m working at the ST Hotel.” Hayden answered truthfully.

“Oh, it’s from the ST Group. Looks like you got yourself a great job.” The man was still ecstatic, “It’s been over a decade since I last saw you, I thought I saw your mother just now. You can have dinner with us tonight.”

“What do you mean she’s having dinner with us?”. Before Hayden could say anything, his aunt’s mean voice interrupted his uncle’s invitation, “Your niece is back in the country because she wants her mother’s inheritance back. If it weren’t for that, I’m afraid she wouldn’t be visiting us again. Do you really think she’s paying us a visit because she misses you?”

A slight change came over the man’s face, “The inheritance?”

Hayden pursed his lips without saying anything.

With the way things were looking at the moment, he didn’t have to think too hard to realize what was going on. The man looked at his wife as he hesitantly asked, “Are you here about that matter?”

“Yes.” Since things had come to this, Hayden had no choice but to come clean.

“What kind of inheritance does he have left? Even if he existed, since he was born, he has stayed with us all his life. Did you think he could stay here for free? It would have all been spent in no time.” His aunt glared at the man.

After a moment of silence, the man said quietly, “Hayden, I’ve heard your request. You can come back now.”

Hayden had no intention of delaying his departure, so after hearing his uncle’s words, he gave a self-deprecating smile before vehemently walking away.

He shouldn’t have come today. At the time, when her grandfather had passed away, it was this aunt who had labeled her as the bearer of bad luck. That same person had kicked her out of the family, everything she had owned she had handed over to the Downey Family without hesitation. Her aunt had made it clear to her that, from that moment on, she could no longer return home. Her path home had been cut off.

Now, she needed his help, though circumstances were never in her favor. Perhaps, she really was foolish and naïve.

After Hayden had left, the man held his knees as he settled back on the couch, “You never touched any of the property left by Hayden’s mother, so why did you say all that just to inflame her hatred?”

“I always pretend to do that.”

Hayden’s mean-looking aunt revealed a hint of hatred on her face. “All those years, Florence was too weak. All she could think about was Bentley Downey, but what fate awaited her? How could Bentley abandon his wife and live a good life afterwards? Hayden is his biological daughter, so her father has no choice but to pay attention to her. Hayden that rascal actually looks smart, however, I didn’t anticipate that she is actually very dumb. She is just like her mother; she should look for her father if she encounters any trouble instead of coming to us.”

“I don’t think he is the unrepentant type. Two days ago, I met with him and he actually mentioned Florence.”

“He still has the nerve to mention her name?” Hayden’s aunt gnashed her teeth in hatred, “What does he have to be sorry about? I want him to always see with his own eyes the daughter he had in exchange for his wife’s life. Only then will he always remember that Florence died for him so many years ago. He will never be able to rest easy.

Hearing that, the man could only let out a sigh. He had nothing left to say.

When his sister passed away, his hands were tied. The only thing she could not be calm about was her daughter. Yet that same daughter was cornered by them today. She didn’t know if this was a good or bad thing for her.

—

After leaving his uncle’s house, Hayden immediately hailed a cab home.

“How did it go, did you get your house back?”.

Alayna’s voice came from her room and hearing the sound of a doorknob turning, she came out of her room as she applied a mask to her face. She had just returned from a business trip, but had been dragged by Hayden to help her move. She had been in a deep sleep since morning.

Hayden shook her head as she felt a wave of helplessness overwhelm her.

She plopped down on the couch as she sighed profusely.

Alayna grabbed a cucumber from the fridge and took a bite. “Don’t you think you’re very unlucky? Your father gave you a villa, but Chelsea stole it for her boyfriend, and the house your mother left has been taken over by your aunt. How can you be so unlucky?”

“Stop it. It’s all so complicated.” Hayden couldn’t help but sigh, “If I really can’t have a house, what should I do for my future?”

“What if you stay with me? I can pay for your livelihood forever, in return you just have to make me food.” Alayna let out a giggle as she sat next to him playfully, “Why do you care so much, why do you have to look with a house in such a short time?”

Hayden frowned, “I’m just preparing for the trial of the future. If I don’t own a house, the court will deem me unfit to take custody of a child.”

Alayna froze for a moment, “Who are you going to court with? Is there someone who wants to take Stella away from you?”

“I don’t mean Stella.” Hayden slowly raised his head. After a moment’s hesitation, he decided to tell Alayna the truth: “The jewelry store called me two days ago. They’ve identified the owner of that necklace.”

“The owner of the necklace?” Alayna rummaged through her thoughts and was able to figure out what Hayden was talking about, “Are you talking about Stella’s father? Does that mean you’ve found your lost son who was taken from you all those years ago?”

Hayden nodded, “But do you know who he was?”.

Alayna tensed when the conversation got to this point. She could sense something was wrong. “Who?”

“It was Joseph.”

A silence immediately descended upon them, and Alayna simply stared at Hayden for some time. After confirming that he wasn’t joking, Alayna couldn’t stifle her gasp, “Oh my God, what kind of fate brings them together?”

Hayden frowned at that.

“No, wait, don’t give me that face, isn’t having Joseph by your side the best possible scenario? You should take advantage of this opportunity since you are the mother of his precious son. He is so fond of his son, so you will also be just as important in his eyes. You can even become the mistress of a well-to-do family overnight. Why are you thinking of taking away the custody of his son, are you fried in the brain?”

Alayna babbled on and on, and the cucumber in her mouth almost spilled out.

Hayden felt his head throbbing and abruptly intervened, “Stop it, Alayna. Stop with the tasteless jokes, I’m not in the mood for that.”

“What’s wrong?”

“There’s no way I can stand next to Joseph.”

“And why is that?”

Hayden’s expression darkened, “If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t even have given birth to two children. To preserve Stella, I had to go abroad without having the opportunity to complete my college degree. The Beckham Family is all-encompassing, they could have changed the course of my life just by wagging their fingers. For them, they just have another son, but what about me? They would never have considered the life of a young woman in her twenties. Someone like him is too scary.

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