Chapter 458 William and Hayden （59）
He strode purposefully towards the bed, grabbing a thin blanket before pulling back Hayden's covers. With gentle hands, he freed her from Jasper's embrace, wrapping her in the blanket. Then, cradling her in his arms, he turned to depart.
"William...," a hoarse, sleep-filled murmur came from behind.
With only a single step taken, William's movement froze. The fury he had been suppressing now surged forth like an erupting volcano.
Jasper had woken, glanced at himself and the chaotic bed, the traces left on it, and then turned his puzzled gaze toward William and the woman swathed in a blanket in his arms. Furrowing his brow, Jasper asked, "Who are you holding?"
"Don't you know who I'm holding?" William didn't turn around, still desperately controlling his boiling rage.
Jasper furrowed his brow deeper, scratching his head, trying to remember. Realization hit him, his pupils dilated in shock, and he looked again at the person William held.
—Hayden!
Oh, no!
In that instant, Jasper felt as though he wanted to die.
"It's not what you think, William. Hayden and I..." he began.
Bang!
Before Jasper could finish his explanation, William, unable to contain himself any longer, spun around and delivered a swift kick.
Caught off guard, Jasper was struck squarely in the chest and hurled from the bed, rolling onto the floor.
At that moment, the pain twisted his eyebrows into a tight 'W,' struggling to recover.
Standing on the other side of the bed, William glared at Jasper, his anger burning fiercely. If he hadn't restrained himself, he might have charged forward and attacked Jasper without mercy.
"William..." After a long pause, Jasper finally propped himself up and slowly stood, turning to William, "If Hayden and I really did something, it wasn't about betraying you, man. We were both hammered. And the only person Hayden loves is you."
The repeated phrases echoed in William's mind.
‘We never intended to betray you.
The only person Hayden loves is you.’
With a trace of amusement, William gave a faint chuckle at Jasper's words, held Hayden in his arms, and left without another word.
Upon returning to his apartment, William carefully laid Hayden on his bed. Observing her peaceful sleep, showing no signs of waking, he settled onto the single-seater couch beside the bed, silently watching over her. The scent of alcohol emanated from Hayden, indicating she was genuinely asleep and not pretending.
But if Hayden was truly out cold, how could she have called out Jasper's name so clearly during that phone call earlier?
This left William with two possibilities.
One possibility lingered: Hayden might have developed feelings for Jasper long ago, leading to a secret relationship between them. Even in her intoxicated state, she seemed to recognize her connection was with Jasper, not with William.
Considering this, William stood up and approached Hayden's body to inspect it. He was familiar with every inch of her, knowing that each pore bore his mark.
From the looks of her, she didn't seem to have just come from a wild romp. But the disarray on Jasper's bed and the marks on Jasper's body all pointed to a fierce encounter.
Therefore, the second possibility was that Hayden had been framed.
The woman Jasper had been with wasn't Hayden but someone else.
And as for the voice... Voices could be imitated or altered using gadgets; faking one wasn't too difficult.
With this in mind, William quickly phoned the security office of the apartment complex. It was a fancy place with strict rules, where every resident was treated like a VIP and had access to excellent services.
After explaining the situation, the security personnel sent him the surveillance footage from the floor where he and Jasper's apartments were.
Starting from the afternoon, William scrutinized every frame of the surveillance video. Clearly, someone had tampered with it—sections had been edited out.
At the security office of the apartment building, there were many staff members, and identifying who had tampered with things was a challenging task. After all, this wasn't William's usual area of responsibility.
In a flash, William was struck by an idea. With a sudden burst of energy, he sprang up from the couch and bolted out the door. Upon reaching Jasper's apartment once more, he swiftly entered the code and went inside without delay.
Inside, wrapped in a bathrobe, Jasper was sitting on the sofa in his bedroom, frantically pulling at his hair as he tried to remember what had happened after everyone had left.
But his memory was failing him.
The last memory William had was of Michelle offering to stay and make him some soup to help him sober up. He had promised to arrange for someone to drive her home, and after that, everything went blank.
Damn it!
As Jasper sat there, thoroughly annoyed, punching the armrest of his sofa, the door to his apartment clicked open.
Jasper startled, stood up abruptly and walked toward the door.
It had to be William.
He believed that Jasper had slept with Hayden and was returning, possibly with the intention of confronting him and possibly even physically attacking him.
"William, listen to me, I can explain, I..." Jasper started.
"Move!" William cut him off.
