Chapter 529 William and Hayden
Hayden had lunch with The Johnson family before she left. When she returned, Sophia Johnson naturally already knew that she had gone to make amends with Hall. Whatever Hayden's intentions were in agreeing to date Hall, it was a good thing that their relationship was progressing towards their goals.
Upon seeing Hayden return, Sophia Johnson immediately showed great concern and warmth towards her. If Sophia Johnson was such a great actress, then Hayden couldn't possibly be any worse.
Now, Hayden was more rational and clear-headed than ever before. She knew what she wanted and understood what she needed to do next.
She would no longer make sacrifices that would harm herself to defeat her enemies. She would never fight an unprepared battle again.
If she were going to fight, she would do so to win spectacularly.
In the evening, Finn came back, and Hayden calmly mentioned working at the company to him. Due to the slight guilt he felt about Hayden, Finn advised her to rest at home for a while. However, since she insisted, Finn did not oppose her decision.
The next day, Hayden went to work in the company's finance department.
The busyness and fulfillment of work allowed Hayden to temporarily set aside everything and fully immerse herself in her job.
Near the end of her shift, Hayden's phone rang. It was Hall calling.
He said he would pick her up after work to have lunch together.
Hayden, of course, did not refuse.
Now, aside from the things that Hall did that Hayden couldn't accept, she could handle everything else, even including kissing.
When she finished work, Hall was already waiting for her in a luxurious sports car outside The Smith Group's office building.
After redoing her makeup to look even more glamorous in the office, Hayden went downstairs and got into Hall's car, going to the restaurant with him.
However, Hayden didn't expect to see Jasper with a few friends when they arrived at the restaurant.
Immediately, Hayden held onto Hall's arm and leaned in closer to him, almost sticking to his side.
Seeing her initiative, Hall naturally enjoyed it and pulled her into his embrace, holding her tightly.
Jasper, who was originally laughing and talking with his friends, inadvertently looked up and saw Hayden's graceful figure and enchanting face.
Unexpectedly, he had just returned from Southern and encountered Hayden again.
When he saw her being embraced by a man with an incredibly intimate posture, Jasper's eyes immediately darkened.
If he wasn't mistaken, the man embracing Hayden was Hall, the second son of the Johnson family.
How could Hayden be with Hall?!
Didn't William say that she was pregnant? It had been so long that her stomach must have gotten bigger.
However, she was currently wearing high heels and a slightly tight dress that accentuated her figure, and her stomach was so flat. How could she be pregnant?
Was William deceiving him, or was there another explanation?
The entire situation felt surreal to Jasper.
Compelled by confusion, he rose and made his way toward Hayden.
Yet, as he approached, it became apparent that Hayden didn't acknowledge him. Their eyes locked for a fleeting moment, but she offered no sign of recognition. Deliberately, she diverted her attention and steered herself away.
'What game is Hayden playing this time?' Jasper thought bitterly.
With a surge of frustration, he clenched his teeth and halted abruptly.
"What's wrong?" His companion at the table noticed his abnormality and immediately called out to him.
"It's nothing. You guys go ahead and eat. I'll go make a phone call." Jasper turned around and left these words before striding towards the terrace outside the restaurant.
This was a famous luxury Western restaurant in Imperial Capital, and outside the restaurant, there was a large terrace where one could overlook half of the city's night view.
But clearly, Jasper had no intention of admiring the night view at this moment.
Once he reached the terrace, he directly dialed William's number.
On the other end of the phone, William was in a five-star hotel in Sherlock Harbor, P City. It was already late at night, past ten o'clock, but he hadn't rested and was currently having a video conference with a group of executives in China.
This was Queen's Avenue Group's first major project investment in P City, and it involved a huge amount of capital. William didn't dare to be the slightest bit negligent, so he flew to Sherlock Harbor three weeks ago to personally oversee the project there.
Halfway through the conference, he heard his phone vibrating on the desk. He glanced at it and saw that it was a call from Jasper. Immediately, he raised his hand to pause the meeting, allowing everyone to take a five-minute break.
He knew that if Jasper called him, it was either related to Hayden or a good collaboration project that he wanted to introduce to him.
He picked up his phone and walked to the floor-to-ceiling windows before answering the call.
"You didn't tell me the truth, did you? Hayden isn't pregnant, right?" Jasper's confused and angry voice came through as soon as the call connected.
William frowned. "What's going on?"
"I just saw Hayden; she was with the Johnson family at the Johnson family Hall. That's not the point. The point is, you told me almost two months ago that Hayden was pregnant, but when I saw her just now, her belly was flat as a pancake! It's unbelievable!" Jasper blurted out quickly.
"What are you saying?" William's voice dropped to a low growl.
Yes, a low growl. Full of shock mixed with fear and unease.
Yes, fear and unease. Even Jeffrey, who was sitting nearby in a meeting, was startled and looked up at William.
After hearing this, Jasper was a little confused. "Are you saying you didn't lie to me?"
"Click!"
Before Jasper could finish speaking, the phone was hung up abruptly, leaving only a busy signal.
Jasper was taken aback as he glanced at his phone.
What was going on?
If William had lied to him, he wouldn't have reacted the way he just did.
The thought struck Jasper like a bolt from the blue — had Hayden, in his absence, made the unthinkable decision regarding their child?
His eyes widened in horror at the mere possibility.
In the meantime, William, having just ended a phone call, turned to Jeffrey, who was close at hand. "Secure me a flight back to the Imperial Capital in China, and make it quick," he commanded with an urgency that brooked no delay.
Jeffrey caught a glimpse of the storm brewing in William's expression and, without a moment's hesitation, knew better than to question him. "Right away," he responded and promptly began to arrange the travel details on his phone.
After instructing Jeffrey, William stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows. In just an instant, his eyes had turned bloodshot, and the hand that was hanging by his side had clenched into a tight fist. The high-quality phone in his hand seemed as though it could be crushed.
Closing his eyes, gradually, he couldn't control it anymore. His whole body trembled slightly.
A belly is as flat as a pancake.
How was that possible?
Almost two months ago, he had laid his hands on her prominent belly, personally feeling the life of their child in her stomach. He had experienced the lively presence of the baby.
After almost two months, the child in her belly should have been six months old.
Even though her pregnant belly was smaller than others, how could it be unnoticed after six months? Jasper wasn't a fool, and if it wasn't for the loss of the child, how could Hayden's belly become flat?
Before coming to Sherlock Harbor, he had someone inquire and found out that Hayden had moved in with The Petrova family, living with her grandmother.
Hayden's grandmother was her actual grandmother, and William knew that no matter what, her grandmother would protect Hayden. Otherwise, she wouldn't have moved in with her grandmother after showing her pregnancy.
Furthermore, he also knew that Hayden had stayed in the house since moving in with her grandmother.
He knew she was protecting their child.
But now, their child is gone!
Their child is gone.
What exactly happened? What did Hayden go through? Losing a child, how much pain, sorrow, and helplessness would she feel?
And he, thousands of miles away in Sherlock Harbor, did nothing while she was in her most painful, sorrowful, and vulnerable state.
He deserved to die, truly deserved to die!
"William, there's only one flight to the Imperial Capital in China every day, tomorrow afternoon," Jeffrey checked the flight information and immediately reported to William.
"Then arrange a private charter flight from the airline for me; the sooner, the better," William commanded without hesitation.
"Yes, William."
"Hayden, I haven't seen you in two months, and you've become even more beautiful!"
In the restaurant, after observing Hayden and Hall for a while, Jasper couldn't resist and walked towards them with a glass of wine and a proud stride.
"Jasper, I haven't seen you in two months, and you've become even more debonair." Hayden raised her gaze and looked at Jasper with a faint smile, with a hint of charm in her words.
"It's rare for you to praise me like this; I'm really flattered!" Jasper raised his handsome eyebrows and glanced at Hall sitting across from Hayden, his lips curled up, but his face showed no hint of a smile as he said, "This gentleman hasn't met me yet. Do you want to introduce us?"
Hall was almost thirty-nine years old, and coupled with his usual indulgence in eating, drinking, and playing, he didn't exercise or take care of his body much. He looked older than his actual age.
Jasper was only around twenty-five or twenty-six years old, while Hayden was only twenty-two or twenty-three. Calling Hall, who looked like he was in his forties, "uncle" was quite fitting.
However, upon hearing this, Hall became visibly angry, but luckily, Hayden intervened and introduced Hall as "The Johnson family's second young master, Hall, my boyfriend."
After Hayden's introduction, Hall's anger quickly subsided, and he became cheerful and looked up at Jasper with a smile. "If I'm not mistaken, this must be Liam from The Hart family, third son."
"The Johnson family's second young master, my boyfriend."
Jasper glanced at Hall and couldn't help but scoff in cold contempt. "Oh, when did Hayden's taste become so poor? As far as I know, this one is just a freeloader in The Johnson family. Although he has no power or influence, he loves to play around. I really don't understand; what does Hayden see in this second young master of The Johnson family?"
"Jasper, say something nice!" Hall immediately slapped the table and shouted, veins popping out of his forehead.
In the upscale restaurant, his table-slapping and shouting immediately attracted the attention of other diners. Everyone turned their heads to look at them.
Hall, as a second young master of The Johnson family, was even more famous in the Imperial Capital than Jasper.
Immediately, many people recognized him and started whispering among themselves.
"There is a saying that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Haven't you heard of it?" Compared to Hall's anger and impulsiveness, Hayden remained calm and spoke without sarcasm. But every word she said was sharp and to the point, making her words even more elegant and clever.
However, Hayden didn't expect Hall, who was almost forty years old, to get so easily provoked.
It seemed that, apart from Pierre Johnson and Sophia Johnson, the rest of The Johnson family was truly foolish.
"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder!" Jasper nodded and savored Hayden's words, which made him burst into laughter mockingly. "Hayden's taste has indeed become quite extraordinary. I admire it, truly admire it!"
"Jasper, didn't you see that my boyfriend doesn't welcome you at all?" Hayden's face turned cold as she looked at Jasper, who was laughing almost out of breath. "So, please, Jasper, behave yourself and stop ruining the atmosphere of our meal."
"Yes, you're right." Finally, Jasper stopped laughing and nodded seriously. "I haven't finished my meal yet. If we continue talking, I might feel sick and not be able to eat anymore. So, please, enjoy your meal."
He was saying that Jasper raised his wine glass and toasted Hayden in the air. He then finished the wine in one gulp and turned to walk back to his seat, exuding a noble and elegant air.
Hall looked at him, so infuriated that he almost swung his knife and fork towards him.
However, Hall was well aware of Jasper's identity, whether it be from The Hart family Mason or Jasper's two brothers. He was not someone The Johnson family could afford to offend.
Moreover, he couldn't bear to make a public scene, so he had to hold back.
"Hall, he's being rude. Just ignore him, and let's focus on our meal." Hayden felt relieved and grateful to Jasper as she looked at Hall's face, which was turning blue with anger. However, her expression and eyes showed concern.
Struggling, Hall suppressed the anger in his face and eyes, then reached out to hold Hayden's hand, which was placed on the table. He looked at her with a loving expression and said, "Hayden, you are so generous and considerate. If I could marry you and be your sweetheart in this lifetime, it would be my greatest honor and happiness."
Hayden looked at him and smiled tenderly. She raised her wine glass in front of her and clinked it with Hall's glass, saying charmingly, "Cheers!"
"Cheers!"
They had dinner together, and Hall wanted to take Hayden to a bar.
Naturally, Hayden refused to go, as she could easily guess Hall's intentions.
Using a perfect excuse, she directly got into her car and headed back to the Lin family.
When they had just sat down to eat at the restaurant, she had sent a message to the driver at home to pick her up.
After getting in the car, she took her phone out of her bag and switched it back to normal mode. Immediately, more than twenty missed call notifications popped up.
Among them, twenty-one calls were from the same set of numbers.
When her phone vibrated during the meal, she took it out and glanced at it. Seeing the familiar set of numbers, she immediately switched her phone to airplane mode.
At that time, Hall asked her why she didn't answer.
She smiled and said it was a harassing call.
At this moment, in less than an hour, there were twenty-one calls, with a calm of only two or three minutes in between, and William certainly had perseverance! It seemed like Jasper had told him everything he had seen.
Putting down his phone, Hayden leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath, then turned his head to look out the car window, lost in thought.
Before long, the phone in his hand vibrated again, snapping Hayden back to reality. He looked down and saw the familiar string of numbers once more. Was William coming to interrogate her? Or was he trying to comfort her, to be her support?
But at a time like this, what could she say to him? Should she tell him that she pretended to break up with him and repeatedly humiliated him in order to protect him and The Bennett family?
Should she tell him that she had to be with Hall because her sister killed Nikolai Ivanov, and she had to defend her sister, which is why she had to get rid of the baby in her stomach?
If she were to reveal everything, what would have been the purpose of her actions? Ultimately, she would be left exposed to the scorn and disdain of Sophia Johnson and the entire Johnson family. Hayden gazed at her phone's screen, feeling it tremble with the persistence of an incoming call, yet she let it buzz unanswered.
Once the call ended on its own, she swiftly unblocked her device and, with a heavy heart, blocked the number that was etched into her memory.
'I'm sorry, William. If your ultimatum of five years still holds, I will honor it. If not, then it's time for us to move forward separately!'
Meanwhile, at the other end of the line in Sherlock Harbor, William was already navigating through the bustle of the airport. The call had disconnected automatically, and his subsequent attempts were met with the impersonal message that "the number you dialed cannot be reached." Hayden had cut off her line to him.
He didn't seem surprised or angry but rather worried, uneasy, and even nervous. He had already called someone to investigate what had happened to Hayden in the past three weeks and why they had lost their child. For him, the child was not the most important thing. What was important was whether Hayden was alright now.
"William, you can board now." At this moment, an airport staff member approached respectfully and spoke to William.
William glanced at the staff member, nodded slightly, and then put away his phone before turning around to board the plane.
