Chapter 404 William and Hayden (5)
William had just finished his class when he received a message from his real estate consultant. The villa he had looked at had been sold for £170 million to none other than the very person who had viewed it with him—Hayden.
Although he had suspected that Hayden came from an extraordinary background, William had not imagined she could so easily spend over a billion dollars on a villa, almost as if she were picking up a head of lettuce at the grocery store.
Just who was this Hayden, really?
Curiosity led him to open a search engine, and with a simple entry, William typed in the word "Hayden" and hit search.
The results that popped up were irrelevant to the Hayden he was looking for. He scrolled down until he finally came across a link titled "Hayden's Homepage," but clicking through, he realized it was just some woman with the same name.
In the States, a girl as beautiful and poised as Hayden, who at such a young age could effortlessly shell out billions, shouldn't be unknown.
Either she had been kept very well hidden since childhood, or her online information had been deliberately scrubbed, which is why he couldn't find anything about her.
But William felt the former was more likely. True scions from affluent families knew the value of keeping a low profile—after all, staying under the radar made their lives safer.
Since he couldn't find any information on Hayden, William switched to searching for Nikolai.
At the masquerade ball, Nikolai mentioned that Hayden was the stepdaughter of his aunt. Hayden clearly detested and even loathed Nikolai. Therefore, starting with Nikolai, Hayden's identity and background could be revealed.
Sure enough, upon searching for "Nikolai," hundreds of thousands of articles related to him filled the screen.
Most were about Nikolai's tabloid news, which has been especially plentiful in the last two years, with about a dozen articles mentioning the Suarez and The Johnson family.
Apparently, Nikolai was the son of Pierre Johnson from the domestic business juggernaut Imperial Capital, who had twin sisters. The elder was Sophia Johnson, and the younger was named Emma Johnson. Sophia had married Finn, the CEO of The Smith Group from Imperial Capital, four years ago.
The Smith family was among the top three powerhouses of the Imperial Capital.
Finn. Suddenly, something clicked in William's mind.
To confirm his hunch, he immediately made a call back to the States.
Before coming to study at the London Business School, he had already worked in his family's company for two years.
After working for two years, he realized that what he had learned at university needed to be improved, and his network needed to be more extensive, which led him to apprentice in London. After all, those who had the opportunity to further their studies at a top institution like the London Business School were either wealthy heirs, bosses themselves, or high-level executives.
At this point, he not only learned what he wanted but also met many like-minded individuals, broadening his connections and laying the groundwork for The Bennett family's expansion into the European market.
Came a respectful voice as soon as the call connected.
"Jeffrey, I need you to look someone up."
"Domestic or international?" asked Finley Jeffrey promptly on the other end.
"Domestic. The name's Hayden. If I'm not mistaken, she's the daughter of Finn, CEO of The Smith Group in the Imperial Capital," explained William, his piercing eagle eyes narrowing slightly, "I need you to dig up everything - her family background and the relationships among her family members."
"Got it, William. I'll get on it right away and get back to you as soon as possible."
"Good." William nodded and ended the call.
No sooner had he hung up than William's phone began to vibrate in the palm of his hand.
It was a call from Michelle.
They had met just last night, and this was already the third call of the day.
Had it not been for his promise to Jasper, William wouldn't have had such patience for a woman who had come out of nowhere.
But since he had given his word, William wasn't about to break it.
"Hello," he answered the phone in a detached tone.
"William, I'm in the library's study room. Can you come pick me up?" she asked.
"Okay, I'm on my way." And with that, William hung up and headed towards the library.
Three hours after Hayden signed the contract to purchase the villa from its previous owner, she was not just buying an empty house but everything inside it, except for personal belongings. The items needed to be checked individually, which naturally took up a good amount of time. Three hours was actually quite efficient.
After signing the contract, Hayden went straight back to her dormitory. She had yet to start on the homework her professor had assigned that day, and she needed to get it done properly.
Her purpose in coming to London was to study, and she didn't want any other matters to interfere with her academics.
As she drove towards an intersection near the school, the red light came on, prompting Hayden to gently press the brakes and bring the car to a halt.
Glancing unintentionally through the clean glass windows of a roadside restaurant, she instantly recognized two familiar figures seated by the window: her roommate Michelle and William.
At that moment, the two were sitting opposite each other at the dinner table, enjoying a delightful meal and sharing laughs. Hayden, facing directly across from Michelle, could see Michelle's admiration and affection for William reflected in her gaze.
Recalling their visit to the villa that afternoon, when the large Argentine Doberman had lunged at her, William had instinctively pulled her away, resulting in both of them tumbling into the swimming pool. Then, the image of him instructing the housekeeper to prepare period pads and hot chocolate, which made Hayden let out a derisive sneer..
It was just the usual tactics of a playboy, and she was amused that she'd actually been touched by it.
What a joke!
With a self-deprecating laugh, Hayden noticed the traffic light change from red to green. Immediately, she floored the accelerator, sending the car shooting forward like an arrow released from its bow.
As her white Porsche sped away, William, who was sitting by the restaurant's glass window, turned his head to look outside.
At a glance, he saw Hayden's Porsche blaze past, disappearing into the distance.
"William, what are you looking at?" Michelle noticed William's distraction and followed his gaze out the window, but Hayden's car was already long gone.
"What were you saying earlier about your roommate being difficult?" William turned back, a slight smile playing at the corners of his mouth as he looked at Michelle.
"After spending a week with her, I realized she's quite aloof. It's hard to get close to her, so don't mind her cold attitude this morning," Michelle said with a smile, gracefully lifting her glass for a sip of water.
William just chuckled, continued slicing his steak, and chose not to respond.
At that moment, his phone vibrated in his pocket.
Setting down his cutlery, he pulled out his phone and saw it was Jeffrey calling.
"Excuse me, I need to take this call," he said, standing up without waiting for Michelle's response.
Michelle watched him, her lips curled in a gentle and serene smile as he walked away. His tall, straight figure eventually disappeared from her view.
"William, I've gotten all the details on Hayden sorted out," William said as he found a quiet corner to speak.
"Alright, let's hear it."
"Hayden is indeed the eldest daughter of Finn, the CEO of The Smith Group in the Imperial Capital. Her mother is Mia Petrova, the daughter of The Petrova family from the same city. She's twenty-two and just left for business school in London to pursue her MBA. She's got a little sister, Jocelyn, who's ten years younger than her. Hayden is very protective of Jocelyn," Jeffrey said on the phone, pausing briefly before continuing, "Four years ago, her mother Mia committed suicide. A month later, Finn married Sophia, the sister of Pierre, CEO of The Johnson Group. Sophia brought along her son Daniel Johnson, who then took the name Daniel Smith."
"Sophia's son Daniel is Finn's biological son?!" William asked, furrowing his handsome brows as he listened.
"Yes, his son," Jeffrey confirmed over the phone, then added, "Lately, there's been talk of a marriage alliance between The Smith family and The Johnson family—they're thinking of marrying Hayden off to Pierre's son, Nikolai."
