Chapter 465 William and Hayden （66）
William was the first to wake up. With his eyes still closed, he reached for the vibrating phone, answered it, and held it to his ear.
"Hello?"
Meanwhile, Nico, who was in Michelle's mansion, was briefly surprised by William's deep, smooth voice with a touch of allure but swiftly composed himself and replied, "I'm looking for Hayden. Is she there?"
I'm looking for Hayden.
William glanced, and, indeed, it was Hayden's cell phone.
Looking at the woman in his arms, who was still deeply asleep and showing no signs of waking, William lowered his voice and said, "Sorry, Hayden isn't awake yet. She'll call you back once she's up."
"I have an emergency. Let her take the call," Nico insisted from the other end.
Hearing the urgency in Nico's voice, William's brows furrowed slightly.
"Mmm, what's happening?" Because she was so close, Hayden heard a familiar voice coming from the phone and groggily woke up.
Since she was now awake and the caller mentioned an urgent matter, William placed the phone next to Hayden's ear and lightly pecked her red lips, saying, "It's your phone. They said it's urgent."
"Oh," Hayden mumbled, half-asleep, and closed her eyes again. She started to speak into the phone William held to her ear, "Hello?"
"Hayden, it's me, we failed."
— We failed.
The voice on the phone was like a clap of thunder, instantly striking Hayden.
She froze, her eyes snapping open, and she was fully alert with no trace of sleepiness left.
She quickly took her phone from William's hand and immediately left the bed.
William attempted to grasp onto her, but noticing the sudden shift in her expression, he understood that it must be important for Hayden. Consequently, he didn't try to detain her. He observed as she got out of bed without shoes and walked over to the floor-to-ceiling windows.
At the window, Hayden pulled back the heavy curtains and looked out at the expanse of whiteness outside, involuntarily shivering.
"Nico, what happened?" After calming herself, Hayden asked.
At that moment, William came from behind with a bathrobe and draped it over her.
Hayden turned around, offering William a faint smile, and took a few steps back, creating more space between them. Then she heard the voice from the phone say, "Sophia barged in while people were busy in bed, making a scene and threatening to take her and Daniel's lives to get to your dad, so he had no choice but to take care of it."
Seeing Hayden intentionally distancing herself from him, presumably not wanting him to hear the phone conversation, William didn't move closer but just stood quietly, watching her.
Nico's voice became increasingly agitated on the phone, continuing, "But how could Sophia just let it go? She ended up capturing our guy again, demanding answers under harsh interrogation, and in the end, he couldn't bear it and gave me away."
Listening, Hayden furrowed her brows, "Nico, what about you? Did my dad and Sophia give you any trouble?"
"Your dad took a liking to the guy so that he wouldn't bother me, and as for that scumbag Sophia, she wouldn't dare," Nico said almost through gritted teeth.
"Nico, you need to be extra careful. You're in the light, Sophia's in the shadows, if she..." Hayden glanced at William and didn't finish her sentence.
"Hayden, don't worry. I'll be careful. But right now, I'm actually concerned about you," Nico said from the other end of the phone, followed by a sigh. "Sophia is anything but dumb. She probably suspects you're involved. Just because she doesn't dare mess with me doesn't mean she won't give you a hard time. Even though you're down in the South, you still need to watch your back."
"Got it, Nico. I'll do that," Hayden frowned, nodded, exchanged a few more words, and then hung up the call.
After the call ended, Hayden looked up to find William silently observing her. She opened her mouth but couldn't find the right words to say.
"Hayden, if you have something on your mind, just let it out. We can share the load," William said softly, moving closer and taking her hand.
Hayden hesitated, torn about whether to confide in him.
Firstly, the plan she and Nico had hatched wasn't exactly honorable, and to make matters worse, it had already failed.
Secondly, William cared so deeply for her and loved her that he would undoubtedly get involved if she shared everything with him.
Once William got involved, Sophia and the Johnsons would surely find ways to go after him.
William's efforts had enabled the Bennet family and the Queen's Avenue Food Group to thrive, and Hayden couldn't foresee the repercussions if the Johnson family decided to target him.
She couldn't let William and everything he and the Bennet family had worked for be ruined because of her!
"It's nothing serious. Nico just ran into my stepmom. They can't stand each other and had a bit of a spat, which really set Nico off, so he called me to let off some steam." After a moment's reflection, Hayden decided not to drag William into the current mess with the Smith family.
She would give up everything about the Smith family at most. As long as she had William, that was enough.
William looked at Hayden, his brow slightly creased. He gently brushed a few stray strands of hair behind her ear and said in a deep voice, "Hayden, is that really all there is to it?"
"Yes, really, that's it! Nico's close with my mom, so he especially can't stand my stepmom. He lost the argument with her, which, of course, did not sit well with him. He's already thinking about the next round," Hayden said with a radiant smile. Then, turning to look out the window, he exclaimed in excitement, "William, look, it's snowing!"
Suddenly, she looked up at William again, her eyes full of hope, and said, "After breakfast, will you join me to build a snowman?"
William gazed at her, observing the joy and happiness that didn't quite reach her bright, clear eyes. He gave a small, crooked smile and nodded, agreeing with a simple "Sure," then added, "It's still early. Do you want to go back to sleep for a bit?"
Hayden shook her head, "Can't sleep anymore. I'll go to the restroom first."
"Alright," William nodded, releasing her hand and watching her walk toward the bathroom.
He was almost certain that what Hayden had just told him wasn't the complete truth.
But what could he do about it if she didn't want to say more?
