Chapter 456 William and Hayden （57）
It wasn't clear whether Jasper's grip was too strong or if Michelle was just too fragile, but when Jasper grabbed her, Michelle let out a startled cry and fell backward right into Jasper's arms.
"What's that smell on you? How come I've never noticed it before? It's kind of weird," Jasper remarked as Michelle fell into his embrace. A strong, somewhat acrid scent suddenly assaulted his nostrils.
Even though it was pungent, Jasper couldn't help but sniff it a few more times.
"Do I?" Michelle looked skeptical and sniffed herself. "I don't smell anything! Jasper, maybe you're drunk."
"Do I not?" Jasper sniffed again forcefully and then frowned. It seemed to have faded a bit."
"Maybe you really are drunk. How about I make you some hangover soup?" Michelle offered, yet she still didn't get up from Jasper's arms.
"No, that's alright!" Jasper waved his hand dismissively, suddenly feeling something stirring within him, growing restless and unbearably hot.
Quickly, he helped Michelle up from his embrace.
"Are you okay? What's wrong?" Michelle, noticing the change in Jasper's complexion and demeanor, asked with evident concern.
"I'm fine!" Jasper gestured with his hand, "I'll call someone to take you home."
Saying this, he turned to look for his phone to make the call.
"But Hayden is still here. What about her?" Michelle quickly called out to him and then walked over to the sofa in the living room.
"She's fine; I'll have William come and take care of her," Jasper spoke while searching everywhere for his phone, the sensation that something wasn't right in his body becoming stronger and more pronounced.
"Senior, come and look. What's wrong with Hayden?" Michelle called out to Jasper in surprise, seeing that he was still somewhat lucid.
Jasper was in the dining room when suddenly, he felt a wave of dizziness and found it difficult to stand straight.
Quickly, he reached out to steady himself on the dining table.
"Come and check on Hayden," Michelle, seeing that he was nearly at his limit, called out again.
"Okay," Jasper replied to Michelle's call in a daze. He turned to walk over but found himself stumbling as he moved...
...
It was after 10 p.m. when William's flight landed at Southern International Airport.
Once he was out of the airport and in his car, he immediately called Hayden. The phone rang for a long time, but nobody answered.
However, just as the call was about to disconnect automatically, it was suddenly picked up. Clear through the phone came the sound of a woman's moans mixed with a man's voice.
Startled, William's dark eyes narrowed instantly, and he clenched the phone so tightly that the veins on the back of his hand bulged.
The woman's voice was all too familiar to him. For the past month and more, it had almost been a constant companion.
—Hayden, Jasper.
No!
The next second, he took the phone from his ear and hung up.
Impossible!
He must have heard wrong. That was it. The woman's voice couldn't have been Hayden's.
Yet now, the sounds he just heard looped like an endless chant, incessantly echoing in William's ears, impossible to shake off.
With his eyes closed, he leaned back into his chair, his phone gripped in his palm as if about to crush it.
He remembered calling Hayden during a flight delay and how her words felt like a dagger plunging into his chest, causing his entire body to recoil in pain.
No, it couldn't be.
Hayden's words were straightforward. She couldn't have had any hidden intentions, and she definitely wouldn't have betrayed him by talking to Jasper secretly.
But the voice he'd just heard was surely Hayden's!
The harsh truth was revealed to him that Hayden was actually with Jasper without him knowing.
No, he refused to believe it!
Abruptly, William opened his eyes, redialed Hayden's number, and called once more.
But this time, no matter how much he tried, no one answered.
After three attempts, still no answer, he quickly switched to calling Jasper's number.
Likewise, Jasper's phone did not answer.
Now, neither person was answering the phone. What might have happened with the call that was picked up abruptly? Could it have been just a random mistake?
After a moment of contemplation, William pulled up the number of a classmate who had attended Jasper's birthday party and dialed it.
This time, the call was quickly answered.
"Where are you at?" William asked immediately, trying to sound calm.
"In my apartment, I just took a shower. Why?" replied the classmate.
"The birthday party for Jasper ended that early?" William pressed.
He was aware that this classmate's apartment was a good half-hour drive from his and Jasper's place.
Since the classmate had already returned to his apartment and taken a shower, that meant he had left Jasper's party quite a while ago.
"Yeah, it broke up around nine. The building manager knocked on the door, saying we were too loud and disturbing the peace, so everyone left."
"Where's Hayden? I can't get through to her phone. Did she leave with everyone else?" William asked directly, unable to wait any longer.
