Chapter 407: My Husband, My Secret Lover

Stela Walker POV

So many years had passed, and Hayden still had the habit of leaving the light on before going out. After hesitating for a few seconds, I decided to go into his room and turn off the light for him.

Then I gently opened the door of Hayden's bedroom. Although Hayden was not in the bedroom, I still tiptoed into the room as quiet as a cat. When I saw that the bedside lamp was on, I walked over to turn it off. But when I reached out my hand, I accidentally knocked a photo off the bedside table.

The photo was small and not framed, as light as a piece of paper. The moment before it fell on the carpet, I reached out my hand quickly and caught it.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I murmured to myself, "Fortunately, I caught it. Since Hayden put this photo on the bedside table, it must be very important to him. If it falls to the ground and becomes dirty, he will be unhappy." As I spoke, I put the photo back in its previous position.

Out of curiosity, I took a look at it and then was stunned and froze. After a long time, I straightened up with the photo in my hand, staring at the photo silently.

The photos were taken when they went to the amusement park together before. In the photo, the three children grinned happily, and Hayden and I stood closely together with bright smiles on our faces and our hands clasped. In the past few years, I and Hayden rarely had such a happy time.

I gently stroked the photo again and again as if I could experience the happiness that day again by doing that. If I can turn back the clock, I'll be willing to pay any price for it. If I can go back in time, I'll tell my past self how much Hayden loves me, I thought.

After staring at the photo for a long time, I reluctantly put it back on the bedside table. I vaguely remembered that the photo was placed with its back upward. Just after I turned over the photo, my attention was attracted by the words on the back of it. The words were written in italics and I recognized Hayden’s handwriting at once.

"My Star..." I read the words in a trembling voice. So, he still cares about me, right?

After hesitating for a while, I put the photo into my pocket, wanting to keep it as a memento.

Then I went back to my bedroom and went to bed. Tonight, I had a good sleep and dreamed about Hayden. In my dream, I saw Hayden who was in his youth. He ran towards me and said that he would take me to watch the stars.

The next morning, I was woken up by noises in the corridor. In drowsiness, I vaguely heard Luke's voice and the servants' quick steps.

Not knowing what they were doing, I wrapped myself in a thin coat, rubbed my sleepy eyes, and walked out of the room.

"What happened?" I asked when seeing Luke.

With messy gray hair, Luke said anxiously, "Stela, the children and Mr. King are missing! We can't find them!"

" Several minutes ago, I went to the children's room to ask the three kids to have breakfast as usual. But when I opened the door, I surprisingly found that the children were not there, and their small beds were tidy and the quilts were folded up neatly, which meant that the children had not slept in the room last night. Then I began to look for them anxiously."

Hearing his words, I was shocked and became wide awake. Then I thought of something and patted my head, saying, "Uncle Luke, don't worry. I was with them last night. I know where they are. Come with me!"

After saying that, I turned around and ran towards the stairs as fast as I could. With a confused look, Luke quickly followed me.

In a minute, we arrived at the terrace on the top floor and saw Hayden and the three children still sleeping soundly. Hayden was sitting in a wheelchair with Yvonne and Christina in his arms, covered by his big coat.

And Christina smacked her lips from time to time while sleeping. Seeing this, I and Luke heaved a sigh of relief and shook our heads helplessly.

"Oh, my God. I was nearly scared to death just now," Luke said as he wiped the cold sweat on his forehead.

I walked toward Hayden and gently patted Aelius on the shoulder to wake him up.

However, Aelius was sleeping so soundly beside Hayden that he didn't wake up and just mumbled something unintelligible. He was tightly wrapped in his small coat and the two sleeves were tied together over his neck.

Seeing this, I knew it must be Hayden who tied them for Aelius in case he would catch a cold. Then with a wry smile, I said to Luke, "Uncle Luke, let's take the children back to their room together. I'll carry the two girls and you'll carry Aelius. After that, we two come back here together and help Hayden go downstairs, okay?"

As soon as I finished my words, Hayden frowned slightly and then slowly woke up from his wonderful dream. Opening his eyes with a drowsy look, he thought that he was still dreaming. Therefore, when he saw me, he smiled gently and called my nickname affectionately, "Star..."

Hearing this, I was stunned and looked at him with my eyes full of surprise.

With Yvonne and Christina in his arms, Hayden looked at my dress and said with concern, "Star, it's cold in the morning. Put on more clothes. I'll send you to school by bike later." Unable to distinguish between reality and dream, he thought he was still in his youth.

I had heard Hayden say similar words to me many times in the past. At that time, we were still students. To spend more time with each other, we went to school together every day. And Hayden specially bought a bike with a comfortable rear seat. Every morning, he would take a detour to my house and wait for me. When I was ready, he would take me to school by bike.

When I thought of the good old days, the rims of my eyes turned red. Putting my arms around Hayden's waist, I smiled and replied to him in a soft voice, "Okay."

Hearing my voice, Hayden became fully awake. He quickly straightened his face as if nothing happened.

He said with a poker face "Just pretend you heard nothing," he said with a cold look when realizing what he had said just now.