Chapter 167 The Man Answering the Phone
Hayden happily wrapped his arms around Scarlett's neck. He loved her sweet smell and soft embrace.
Scarlett looked down at Hayden in her arms. Somehow, she thought of her lost son, and the pain felt like someone was carving out her heart with a knife.
Did anyone hold her lost son? Did anyone care about him?
If Wesley hadn't sold him, the child in her arms right now would be her son. Scarlett felt both sad and angry, hating Wesley and Brielle for their cruelty.
But once her emotions were stirred up, even looking at Hayden in front of her became unpleasant.
Her son's fate was unknown, why should she be here holding Octavia's son?
Sometimes people were just strange like that. Emotions created chain reactions that somehow connected all sorts of people.
Why was she holding Octavia's son? Scarlett put Hayden down on the ground, stood up, and took Yara from Ambrose's hands.
"Alright, you can take Hayden home now!"
The sudden change confused not only Hayden but also Ambrose.
Ambrose looked at her helplessly. "What's wrong?"
"You should go home. If the kid wants a hug, let him find his mom." Scarlett said bluntly, not hiding her emotions.
Ambrose raised an eyebrow. He understood, seeing Hayden made her think of the terrible things the Mitchell family did to Owen.
But he couldn't tell Scarlett that the Hayden in front of her was the son she'd been longing for. Just as he was feeling helpless, he heard Hayden stubbornly shout.
"You're a liar! You promised that when you came back, I could still live here. Now you're kicking me out. Liar!"
"I don't like you anymore!"
After shouting, Hayden turned and walked away, too proud to say a word about wanting to stay.
He thought Scarlett liked him, but just now she seemed disgusted by him, unwilling to hold him for even a moment longer, and told him to leave.
She didn't like him, so he wouldn't like her either.
Hayden walked extremely fast, so fast that made Scarlett feel bad. She didn't want it to be like this, but she couldn't control her emotions.
Ambrose watched her reaction. Though angry, he understood her difficulty, so he said, "Hayden will get over it in a few days. I'll go find him."
After Ambrose left, only the mother and daughter remained in the room. Yara wrapped her arms around Scarlett's neck to comfort her.
"Mom, don't worry. When I explain to Hayden later, he won't be mad at you."
Scarlett smiled weakly. "It's fine."
Actually, this was for the best. Now she wouldn't have to worry about Hayden living here all the time. One less thing to worry about.
It was fine.
Ambrose caught up with Hayden at the elevator. Hearing footsteps, Hayden thought Scarlett had come after him. When he turned and saw it was Ambrose, he angrily turned back around.
Scarlett didn't care about him anymore!
Seeing Ambrose standing beside him without saying anything, he glanced at him.
"You're just leaving like this?"
"Yes." Ambrose replied flatly.
"You're useless." Hayden huffed angrily.
Ambrose looked down at him. "You're so capable, could you stay?"
Hayden fell silent.
Just then, the elevator arrived. Father and son stepped in one after the other. Just as the elevator door was about to close, someone called out to wait.
A beautiful woman ran over. In the past, Ambrose wouldn't have bothered, but this time he actually pressed the door open button, waiting for her to get in before closing it.
The woman politely thanked him. Right after thanking him, she exclaimed in surprise.
"It's you!"
Only then did Ambrose look up at her, but he didn't recognize the person in front of him. Just as he was frowning, the woman explained.
"Last time I asked for your WhatsApp, and you said your girlfriend didn't let you give out your contact info."
Ambrose vaguely remembered something like that. At the time, he'd used Scarlett as an excuse. Since he hadn't given his contact info then, bringing it up now was pointless. His face showed no reaction.
Seeing no response from him, the woman stopped chattering. Looking down, she saw Hayden, and her eyes lit up.
"You're so handsome."
Hayden had the same expression as Ambrose - neither of them acknowledged the woman.
Seeing this, the woman said nothing more. After getting off the elevator, she rolled her eyes. Did all good-looking people have such bad manners?
Father and son got in the car. Once inside, Hayden complained, "You attract women like this when you're out. No wonder Scarlett kicked us out. She must think you're not trustworthy."
Ambrose, who was about to start the car, paused and turned to look at him. "I didn't even acknowledge her. How is that not trustworthy?"
"You're going to have a hard time going back to Scarlett's place." Hayden sighed, looking dejected.
"If you behave yourself and stay home for a while, I can definitely get you back there, or get her and her daughter to move to Silver Oak Heights."
Ambrose started the car, trying to reassure him.
Hayden listened, half-believing. "Really?"
"I don't lie."
Hayden was quiet for a moment. "Will you make me go to my mom's place?"
"You'll need to deal with her occasionally, but you definitely won't live there." Ambrose was making a promise. Only then did Hayden feel somewhat relieved.
He decided that no matter what, he'd stay home for now.
Scarlett and her daughter were at home. Rhea wouldn't be back until the afternoon, so they had a simple lunch. After eating, she remembered to call Briar.
The phone rang for a long time without being answered, and finally picked up on the last ring.
"Briar."
"She's taking a shower right now. If you need something, I'll have her call you back." A male voice suddenly came through, and she froze.
This man's voice sounded somewhat familiar.
Before she could figure it out, the other end had already hung up.
She held her phone, dazed. Did Briar have a boyfriend?
Keeping it so secret?
No, that wasn't right. Since leaving the Reed family, Briar hadn't met anyone she liked.
Back when she was a young lady of the Reed family, she had an arranged match named Wilder Chambers, who happened to be someone Briar liked. But Wilder didn't like her, he even disliked her. After discovering she was just a fake heiress, Briar gave up on that hope.
Briar had no contact with those people anymore, so who was this man?
Fifteen minutes later, Briar called back. Scarlett didn't immediately ask about the man, but instead mentioned that her birthday party was ruined last night and she'd make it up to her another day.
"What's so great about that birthday? Having a birthday just reminds me I'm getting old. Last night I was just bored and hadn't hung out in a while, so I called everyone together to have fun."
Briar scoffed dismissively.
Actually, when she was with the Reed family, her birthday parties were quite grand. This year, she just didn't want it to be like usual, so she'd invited all these people.
"But yesterday, several big shots from Silverlight City gave me a lot of face. Now word has spread everywhere that Silverlight City's Ambrose, Felix, and Ruben came to my birthday. Especially that bottle of wine Ruben gave me - you know what people are saying now?"
Briar started being mysterious.
Of course, Scarlett didn't know what they were saying, but she could guess that it had probably turned into gossip.
"Saying Ruben has his eye on you?"
"You're so smart. That's why the Reed family came looking for me again."
"The man who answered the phone earlier, was he from the Reed family?" Scarlett asked.