Freddie cared very much about Hayden, and Hayden never dodged from his care.
But the care Freddie had for Hayden was mostly because of when she helped him escaped from the
underground boxing life. It was a life transformation. Therefore, the more he achieved, the more he felt
grateful for Hayden.
Freddie was still young, but he had seen too many that made him lost interest in his peers. However,
Hayden was the factor that his life transformed, and she became his belief.
Hayden wasn’t qualified to tell Freddie if what he felt for her was love, but she knew that Freddie was
just a little brother for her.
“I understand,” Freddie seemed down, and he looked awkward when he stood up.
Hayden followed him to the exit of the dressing. Freddie turned around.
“Hayden, can I ask for a hug, as an encouragement?”
Hayden was stunned for a second, then she opened her arms and smiled. She gave him a big hug,
“Break a leg!”
“Thanks.”
…
“Freddie, good show!”
“Freddie, I love you.”
“Freddie!!”
During the concert, Stella stood among Freddie’s fans and tried her hardest to shook the glow stick she
was holding. The fans were encouraged by her and started to scream Freddie’s name at the top of their
lung.
Everybody was screaming for an encore at the end of the concert.
Hayden almost couldn’t stand the screaming of the fans. She raised her voice and told Benjamin,
“Stella is crazy. You should leave first if you can’t stand it.”
Benjamin smiled and handed her a pair of earplugs.
“Genius!”
Hayden was surprised. She wore the earplugs under her hair and blocked the noises out.
The screaming got even worse when Freddie returned onto the stage. Haden looked at the stage’s
direction in a comfortable look. She nodded her head along with the music as if she could really hear
them.
Freddie wore a white shirt and carried his guitar on the stage. He smiled in Hayden’s direction.
“This is a song for the most important person in my life. She changed my life. I used to think she was
my belief, but she reminded me that my initial belief was freedom. It shouldn’t be anything else…”
The pink neon light was like waves in the sea. They grooved along with the music. The auditorium
became so quiet that only Freddie’s song was flowing in the air and into everybody’s heart.
His belief was written in the song, and it touched his fans. However, it didn’t touch Hayden. She still
looked calm and awkward when she grooved with the music. Earplugs caused Hayden to miss out on a
romantic confession.
Stella’s voice turned hoarse after the concert ended. She fell asleep on Benjamin’s shoulder before
they arrived in the car park area.
“Let’s go to your house first. Let me help you to send Stella back home first, then I’ll call the cab to the
hotel.”
“It’s okay. Alayna’s home. I’ll send Stella home to sleep first, then send you back to the hotel. It’s not
too far,” Hayden buckled up and drove the car onto the highway.
The concert was held in a sports stadium, and it was located rather far away from the city. It took
Hayden one-and-a-half hour to arrive in the city centre, which was why she needed to take a half-day
leave in the afternoon.
Right after Hayden’s car drove out for the car park area, a little boy shrugged off a man’s hand and
chased after her car. He tried his best to run near the car, but he couldn't catch up with a vehicle’s
speed. The car disappeared from his sight not long after he started running.
“Noah.”
Joseph quickly followed Noah and tried to hold his hand.
Noah glared at him and shrugged off his hand again. He wrote something down on his drawing board
and showed Joseph in anger.
“Why didn’t you stop mommy and Stella?”
Noah had seen Hayden as her mother after Hayden and Joseph were officially in a relationship. He
liked to refer to Hayden as ‘mommy’ rather than ‘aunt’.
Joseph took a deep breath and said to Noah, “Didn’t you see that they came with another man to watch
the concert? She didn’t even ask if you wanted to come, and you are still calling her ‘mommy’?”
“I like calling her ‘mommy’!” Noah raised his drawing board again with a proud look on his face.
“Let’s go home.”
Noah crossed his arm and glared at Joseph. His reluctance was written all over his face.
Joseph was frustrated, “You can stay if you don’t want to go home with me. Go, chase after her car
now.”
Noah pursed his lips and sat on the floor. There were tears in his eyes.
Joseph only wanted to scare Noah. He turned around after taking a step in front. Joseph's expression
softened when he saw Noah sat on the floor. He squatted down, “Alright. I’ll invite Stella and her for
dinner this Thursday.”
There weren't tears in Noah's eyes anymore. He immediately stopped frowning after hearing what
Joseph said, and raised his drawing board.
“Mommy’s birthday.”
Joseph frowned, “How would you know?”
Noah didn’t answer him. He stood up and walked towards Joseph’s car. He didn’t even need Joseph’s
help to get into the car. Noah displayed an attitude as a winner in this ‘game’ with his father.
Of course, it was Stella who told him about Hayden’s birthday. If it was just an ordinary date, why didn’t
he invite them over on weekends? Although he didn’t remember the exact date of Hayden’s birthday,
he could relate when Joseph mentioned Thursday.
It seemed like my dad wasn’t dumb at all.
…
Hayden applied for a day off on Thursday. She brought Stella to the cemetery to visit her mother.
Hayden was stunned when she saw a bouquet of Calla Lily in front of the tombstone. She looked
around, but there weren’t other people. Maybe it was a friend of her mother, Hayden thought. It had
been years since she passed away. Hayden appreciated the kind gesture.
The tombstone was clean, as it was constantly taken care of. Hayden carefully wiped the dust off the
tombstone.
“Mom, this is Stella, your granddaughter. I’m sorry for leaving in rush last time, and we’ve only
managed to come back to visit you now.”
Stella was too young to understand life and death. She looked at the picture on the tombstone and
praised, “Grandma looked pretty. Oh, you look a lot like her.”
Hayden smiled, “Yes, your uncle said that too.”
She immediately understood who placed the Calla Lily here when she said ‘uncle’.
There won’t be another person who still remembered her mother in the family other than her uncle.
Hayden left the cemetery with Stella after spending some time in the place. Before they arrived at the
entrance of the cemetery, Hayden saw a person she used to know. The woman was wearing a set of
grey dresses and put on much lighter makeup than usual. Hayden almost didn’t recognize the woman.
“Aunt?” Hayden’s expression changed.
Hayden’s aunt, Scarlett, raised her head and took a glimpse at her. She was as mean as Hayden
remembered.
“What’s with that surprised look? Can’t I come to visit your mother?”
“That’s not what I meant. Thank you, aunt.”
“Stop that,” Scarlett realized Stella’s existence. She stunned for a second and asked awkwardly, “Is she
your daughter?”
62fb1bb41dcb31934bd49bda