"Hayden, do you know this woman?" Layla could sense that Hayden had feelings for this woman. "You don't have her contact, so that means you aren't really close to her, right?""I don't know her, but I know what I'm doing," he said. "I will get to the bottom of this.""As you should, but be careful not to get fooled. She might be after your heart or your money.""Do I look like a fool to you?""You don't, but people would occasionally tend to lose touch with these things from time to time. Your wit abandons you when you are in love," Layla said. "Back when I said that I wanted to marry Eric, you all thought that I'd gone mad.""I didn't think it was a foolish choice," Hayden commented. "At least Eric won't take advantage of you in any way.""Duh! I've managed to keep a leveled head, but you might not! After all, I married someone I've known since I was a kid, and you don't even know the mother of your child.""That's enough." Hayden's head was pounding. "Are you not going home to
"I drank too much that night. That's it. Don't overthink it," Hayden said."Oh... alright, then! Remember not to drink too much in the future." Layla glanced at the clock and said, "Get some rest, Hayden! You haven't rested since you came home.""Yeah." Hayden returned to his room and unlocked his phone as he lay in bed after his shower.He had told the manager of the hotel to inform him whenever there was an update, and the manager had sent him a text.[Mr. Tate, the employees have no idea why you are looking for this woman, so they are too scared to tell the truth. Can you at least tell me you have good intentions?]Hayden thought that the manager's words made sense and replied. [I'm looking for this woman to reward her, so I will reward anyone who can provide leads on this woman.]The manager instantly replied once he received Hayden's text. [I will ask them again to see if any of them are willing to tell the truth.][Anyone who can provide leads will be rewarded 15,600 dolla
"This employee quit some time ago," the manager said. "But I have her contact here with me. Do you want it, Mr. Tate?"Hayden knew what the manager meant and said, "Yeah. Give me her number and I will pay you right away.""Sure! Thank you, Mr. Tate! I will transfer the money to the employee who provided the lead," the manager said respectfully. "The hotel owner has been alerted about this, and he told me to get to the bottom of this."Hayden hummed in response and hung up.The manager texted him the phone number and address of the employee he spoke of, and Hayden instantly paid him 31,200 dollars.Since they did not provide the information of the woman he was looking for, the manager and the employee who came forward could only obtain 15,600 dollars each.After that, Hayden set his phone down to go to sleep.He was exhausted as he had not been able to rest on his way to Aryadelle.Since he had already found a way to reach the woman, he decided to start his search again the nex
"No, and I'm probably not going to be. I didn't cross him in any way.""Why is he looking for you, then? He spent a fortune at the hotel, trying to get a clue about who you are. My former colleagues wouldn't have betrayed me had he not done so."Shelly did not want to tell others about her children and said, "I don't really know what this is about. I will see what happens when he contacts me!""Alright, then! Where are you working right now? The same place?" the friend asked."No. I am working in a cafe run by a friend right now.""Oh... A waitress? I thought you had a decent job, so why did you quit to work at a cafe?" the friend asked. "You are educated so it's a waste for you to be a waitress.""Yeah. It's getting late, so you should go to bed. I'm going to bed soon." Shelly did not want to continue the discussion as she did not know what she was going to do. Even if Hayden was to reach out to her, he would not do so that same night, and she started wondering if she should s
"Shelly, why are you so silly?" Courtney sighed. "You could have gotten rich overnight, and y yet you choose to remain in poverty because of your pride. If I were you, I would have told the Fosters the same day I found out that I was pregnant. Even if Hayden Tate doesn't want the baby, his parents will let you keep the children."Shelly blushed. "Courtney, I will send Audrey over to your place tomorrow. Is that okay?""Of course! It's Elliot Foster’s granddaughter we are talking about here. Aren't you worried that I'm going to take her to Elliot and ask him for money?" Courtney burst out laughing."... I trust you.""My family runs a business, and I'm a businesswoman at heart. If I take Audrey to Elliot, he is going to pay me at least 150,000," said Courtney running the numbers, "and that's just the minimum. He might let me name my price and pay me 780,000 or even 1.5 million if I ask for it."Shelly fell silent before Courtney's words. "Naturally, I won't do that. I'm just mess
"Why didn't she deliver her child here herself? If she doesn't want the baby, why give birth to him in the first place? If she wants money, she could have said so. There's no point for her to do all these things," he thought."Hayden, why are you awake so early? You should sleep in," Avery said when she spotted him."Did you two sleep well?" Hayden asked.Since his parents slept with the baby the night before, Hayden assumed that they had not been able to get a good night's sleep."Hahaha! I slept fine, but your dad didn't." Avery beamed. "Your son woke up every two hours crying for milk. Hahaha!"A devastated look appeared on Hayden's face. "Are babies all like that?""Babies at his age are pretty much all like that." Avery had accepted the fact that she was a grandmother and was rather pleased by it. "Do you want to try sleeping with your son?""Let's just hire a nanny!" Hayden said."Sure. Have you found the mother of your child?""I'm close.""Do you have her number?" Ave
Haydne could barely taste his food during breakfast because Elliot was sitting next to him with the baby.The baby was well-fed and rested, so he batted his big eyes as he stared at Hayden.Hayden left the table shortly after eating his oatmeal."Avery, Hayden doesn't seem to like his son," Elliot whispered."He was taken by surprise, after all," Avery said."But this is his son! I might be a jerk back then, but I still loved my children." Elliot was upset that Hayden was so cold to his own son."Hayden is already acting differently by not turning the baby away," Avery consoled him. "I've read books that said it takes men more time to build a relationship with their children because they don't go through the process of carrying the baby and giving birth to it.""Alright! I hope the books are right."Hayden dialed the number he received from the hotel manager the night before, and his call was answered right away.His heart raced and he blurted out, "Hello. I'm Hayden Tate. The
"Today?" Shelly asked."Yeah. Today," Hayden said sternly."Mr. Tate, we don't have to meet." Shelly did not want to meet Hayden in person as she was worried that she might not be able to lie.After all, a man like Hayden had seen enough people to tell when he was being lied to."You are contacting me because of the baby, right?" Shelly said. "I did get someone to deliver the baby to you. I'm poor and can't afford to raise a child, so I figured he will be better off with you.""Why did you give birth to him if that's the case?" Hayden questioned. "Just so that you can deliver him to me without getting anything in return?"Shelly blushed.Hayden's tone was confronting and harsh, and she was thankful that she did not have to face him directly."It's not that... People are complicated, and they might feel differently at different times. I wanted to get rid of the baby at first but didn't have the courage to go through an abortion. After some delay, I was too far along to go throug