Chapter 471 William and Hayden （72）
...
During the fight, a lot of things in William's apartment had been damaged. Luckily, it was a luxury complex, and the diligent staff and management were on hand to address it. They promptly replaced the broken items, and all William had to do was sign the bills.
When he returned to his apartment, it had already been tidied up and looked no different. But, without Hayden there, everything felt completely different.
William stood in his apartment's stark emptiness, hand to forehead, eyes shut tight. Then, taking out his phone, he attempted to call Hayden.
But the phone call went unanswered and eventually disconnected automatically.
Calling again, the only response was the mechanical voice stating, "The number you have dialed is currently switched off..."
Standing before the floor-to-ceiling windows, William stared out at the world covered in white. After a prolonged silence, he couldn't resist the urge; he grabbed his car keys and headed straight to Finn's mansion.
Finn's mansion was heavily guarded by security personnel, and William couldn't even get past the front gate.
Unable to enter, William decided to wait outside the gate.
Although he could not see Hayden, being a bit closer to her made him feel somewhat better.
Inside the villa, Finn received the report from his security team. He stepped out onto the balcony of the second-floor reception room, a cigar clenched in his mouth, and squinted at William, who stood next to a black SUV in the snow, hundreds of meters away from the gate. A sneer gradually formed at the corner of Finn's mouth.
In fact, judging by William's appearance and demeanor, he was in no way inferior; he might even surpass many of the scions in the Imperial Capital.
Unfortunately for William, he was born into too low a station.
With such a humble background, Finn thought bitterly of William's motives for charming his daughter.
Even without considering William's ulterior motives, Finn had already promised Sophia to a member of the Johnson family so that they could rightfully help manage the Smith Group. His son was still too young, and even when he grew up, he would need assistance.
It was better to rely on someone from the Johnson family than an outsider.
Furthermore, this time, he had made an error – he had been intimate with another woman, an arrangement orchestrated by Nico and Hayden. Sophia had reacted with tears and threats at home, so to appease her, he had consented to find another suitable man from the Johnson family for Hayden.
So, for William, it was just bad luck and poor timing.
The aspiration to marry Finn's daughter and elevate his status into elite society through the Smith family was simply not feasible.
"Should we get rid of him?" The bodyguard stood behind Finn, respectfully inquiring.
"No need," Finn said with a laugh, exhaling a cloud of smoke, "In this freezing cold, I'm curious to see just how long he'll stand out there."
"Yes, sir," the bodyguard responded.
......
In a suite on the second floor of the mansion, with its back to the grand entrance, Hayden curled up on the couch. Her eyes were hollow, desolate, and dim, void of the slightest spark of light. The cheeks that were once fair and rosy were now marked with two red, swollen handprints.
Lying still on the sofa, entangled in her thoughts, a distinctive hum of an engine broke her reverie. To most, car engines hummed a similar tune, but she could discern the unique growl of William's black Land Rover without a second thought.
'William is here! It must be him!' she realized with a surge of excitement.
In a swift motion, she leaped from the couch and dashed to the expansive floor-to-ceiling windows. She flung one open and leaned out, her ears keen for confirmation.
It was William's black Land Rover.
Yes, William had arrived.
"William, William!" she shouted excitedly, without any regard for her surroundings, calling out the window.
But her voice struggled to carry across the vast estate, especially with her room's window facing the opposite direction of the main entrance, a considerable distance of two to three hundred meters away. The night wind swiftly dispersed her calls.
After shouting a few times and realizing her efforts were futile, Hayden ran toward the door.
Thud, thud, thud, thud!
"Open up!"
The door was locked from the outside, and Hayden couldn't open it, no matter how hard she tried. She kept shouting while pounding on the door with all her might.
But no matter how much she knocked or yelled, there was no response from outside.
However, she didn't give up; she had to get out and see William. She just had to.
"Open up. I just want to see William for a moment, just to speak to him and clear things up, and then I'll let him go," Hayden continued to shout as she slammed against the door.
As her shouts echoed this time, the door finally clicked open from the outside, and Finn's personal bodyguard appeared before her.
Seeing the door open, Hayden tried to dash out without a second thought.
But as she took one step forward, the bodyguard blocked her path.
"If you don't stay put and keep quiet, I'll throw that William of yours into the swimming pool, and you can forget about coming up," the bodyguard said with a voice cold as ice.
Faced with the imposing bodyguard, Hayden shivered. Her legs suddenly felt frozen, and she was incapable of taking another step.
"Fine, I won't see him; I'm out of sight." Hayden abruptly changed his tune, retreating back into her room. With an almost pleading look, she said to the bodyguard, "Can you please go tell William to leave? Tell him to go immediately and say I don't want to see him, and I won't meet with him."
In such cold weather, and with William being injured, what if he fell ill?
Furthermore, if he continued to wait outside the villa and it angered Finn, what if Finn truly decided to throw him into the swimming pool? What would happen then?
