Chapter 424 William and Hayden (25)
After a brief glance at his phone, he put it back down and focused on the red light ahead.
"Aren't you going to answer that?" Hayden asked, noticing his phone's persistent ringing.
William glanced at her and shook his head. "No need."
"What if it's something urgent from Michelle?"
With a smirk tugging at his lips, William explained, "I was looking after her on Jasper's request. Now that Jasper's fine, it's not my responsibility anymore."
"But Michelle considers you a friend and seems to trust you quite a bit." Hayden didn't know why she felt compelled to point that out.
"Is that so?" William chuckled softly, gazing at her with a serious expression. "Maybe I gave her the wrong impression before. That won't happen again."
Their eyes locked for a few seconds before Hayden abruptly leaned back in her seat and said, "Michelle's not bad. You're just heartless."
William just smiled and remained silent.
At that moment, the red light ahead turned green. William lightly pressed on the gas pedal and drove off.
......
A robotic female voice played through the phone in the business school dormitory, and Michelle felt inexplicably uneasy.
The sight of William holding Hayden as he left in his car, Hayden getting out of William's car this morning, and Hayden carrying the same scent as William all made her panic.
She had always been the pride of her family, a paragon of excellence since childhood. She never even glanced at the countless suitors who pursued her.
But now that she'd finally fallen for William and was determined to win him over, Hayden appeared, seemingly out to snatch him away.
Since meeting Hayden, William's demeanor toward her had turned cold, leaving her agitated and restless.
‘No!’
She liked William first; she couldn't let Hayden have him. Never.
As these thoughts consumed her, Michelle, gripping her cup, felt her hold tighten, a fiery blend of rage and spite brewing in her eyes.
Just then, the glare of headlights shone in through the window from below.
To her surprise, Michelle glanced out casually and saw it was William's car.
Was William not answering her calls because he wanted to surprise her by showing up unexpectedly?
Overjoyed at the thought, Michelle stood up, leaning on her crutches.
But after only a few steps, she saw the car stop and the passenger door open. Hayden stepped out of the vehicle.
Hayden, again!
On the other side of the car, William also got out and quickly walked over to Hayden, murmuring something to each other. Then Hayden headed toward the dorm entrance alone, while William stood watching until Hayden disappeared through the doors. Only then did he turn around, get back in the car, and drive away.
At this late hour, the two of them were together, and the look in their eyes and their expression while talking was obviously different from before.
What had they been doing together?
Rage roared through Michelle like a lion, ready to devour her.
Just then, the dorm door clicked open from the outside.
Snapping back to reality, Michelle looked up and saw Hayden walking in. Unable to contain herself, she hurled the glass in her hand fiercely at him.
With a sharp "crash," the glass shattered at Hayden's feet.
Initially startled, Hayden quickly regained her composure when she met Michelle's angry and scornful gaze.
Michelle's fury must surely be because of William.
With a calm smile, Hayden stepped into the dorm and, with a "bang," closed the door behind her and headed straight to her room.
"Hayden, what the hell did you and William do?" Michelle demanded furiously.
"Why should I tell you?" Hayden paused, turned around with a slight smile, and added, "If you really want to know, why don't you ask your William?"
Fuming and nearly exploding with anger, Michelle was left speechless. Hayden just flashed another faint smile and walked into her room.
...
The next day, early morning.
While William was out for a morning run, his phone rang.
It was Michelle calling again.
He frowned, ignored the call, tucked away his phone, and continued running.
But then another message popped up—a voice message on Skype.
Feeling the obligation to help if Michelle was in trouble, William opened the voice message.
"William, I just slipped in the dorm bathroom, and it hurts so bad! I tried calling Jasper, but he didn't pick up. Can you come to take me to the hospital?"
Michelle's pained voice made William's brow furrow even deeper.
Yet he didn't reply to Michelle, and he didn't plan to go to her. Instead, he dialed Jasper's number.
The phone rang twice and was quickly answered.
"Weren't you out for a run? What's up?" Jasper's voice came through immediately.
"Did Michelle call you?"
"Yeah, the phone rang once, and then she hung up. It was probably the wrong number. How did you know?"
— The phone rang once, and then she hung up.
A flicker of disgust crossed William's eyes in an instant.
"She fell in the dorm. You should go check on her." With that, William hung up and continued his jog.
On the other end, Jasper frowned upon hearing this.
But he had bumped into her, after all. She was a fellow student, a freshman, and a girl. It wouldn't sit right with him if he didn't take care of her.
After hesitating for a moment, Jasper grabbed his car keys and headed out toward the business school's female dormitory.
Michelle had indeed taken a fall in the dorm, but it was intentional, not accidental.
At that moment, she was lying at the entrance of the bathroom, clutching her phone, her face a contorted mix of pain and anxiety.
William didn't answer her calls or respond to her texts. Could it be that he had no feelings for her? Was he planning to ignore her completely?
Just as these thoughts tortured her, her phone suddenly rang.
Surprised, she looked down... it was Jasper.
The excitement that briefly lit her eyes faded just as quickly.
Still, she decided to answer the call.
"Hello, Jasper."
"You fell in the dorm, right? I'll be there in fifteen minutes," Jasper said succinctly.
"Okay, I'll wait for you." Reluctant as she was, Michelle had no other options at this point.
Struggling, she got up from the ground, settled on the couch, and waited for Jasper.
The doorbell rang before the fifteen minutes were up, and Michelle, using her crutches, opened the door to find Jasper had indeed arrived.
"Is it serious?" Jasper asked, seeing the pained expression on her face.
"It's better, not as painful now."
"Let's go. We should get you checked out at the hospital." Jasper helped her out and closed the door with a bang.
Just after they left and the door shut, in one of the bedrooms of the dorm, Hayden, who had been sleeping soundly, groggily opened her eyes.
Squeak-squeak, squeak-squeak.
Suddenly, a faint and shrill noise arose, sounding exceedingly unpleasant.
Squeak-squeak, squeak-squeak, squeak-squeak.
The noise persisted, and Hayden furrowed her brow, her drowsiness instantly dissipating.
Getting up and following the source of the noise, she gasped...
When her eyes landed on the two enormous rats by her desk and near the door, Hayden screamed in horror and immediately wrapped herself tightly in her blanket.
From a young age, Hayden was fearless, except for her phobia of snakes, rodents, insects, and ants.
"Squeak, squeak, squeak," the sound echoed as a big rat gnawed on her books atop the desk. Hayden watched, disgusted, and shivered with goosebumps.
"Get out! Get away!" She grabbed a pillow from nearby and, screaming, hurled it toward the noise.
With a loud "Thump!" the water glass on the desk toppled over as the rat scurried in a panic, darting straight for her bed.
"Ah!" Hayden shrieked at the sight of the large rat climbing onto her bed. In fright, she leaped down from the mattress.
The rat had now burrowed into her blankets, hiding out of sight.
Hayden looked long and hard at her bed and then at the corner where the rat lingered by the door. She closed her eyes, nearly in tears.
But she was too grown up to let a couple of rats get the better of her!
Gathering herself, she steadied her nerves. With caution, she reached for another pillow on the bed and threw it at the rat near the doorway.
Another "Thump!" met her ears, and the doorway rat let out a couple of "squeaks" before it scampered off toward the underside of the bed.
Seizing the moment, Hayden snatched her cell phone from the nightstand and dashed for the door as fast as she could.
At the door, she yanked it open, rushed out, and with a "Bang," slammed it shut behind her.
Leaning against the wall outside, her breath racing, she felt like she'd lost half her soul to fright.
