“So, are you guys back together now?”
It was a video call from overseas. Alayna looked vigorous, and she was ready to hear all the gossips
she missed out on.
Joseph officially moved into Hayden’s bedroom after that night. They were closer now than when they
were in a relationship. Joseph didn’t need to take care of his company now, so he had more free time
to fetch her to work and back from work.
However, Hayden was still worried, and she couldn’t handle it alone. She needed a person to talk to,
and the subject she needed to talk about was known by only a few persons. So, that made Alayna the
best listener.
“This is actually great. You see, you won’t need to worry so much if you’re with Joseph now. Your
daughter is with you, and now your son too. It doesn’t look so bad.”
“It’s not what it seems like,” Hayden was struggling, “I felt like I’ve been lying to him.”
Hayden knew how good Joseph treated her. He was loyal, and he wanted her to be happy. In addition,
he loved Stella.
If Hayden didn’t know that Joseph was looking for Noah’s birth mother, she wouldn’t be so proactive
the other night. Hayden was only looking for a safe place before the storm hit.
Hayden could pretend that she didn’t know anything if Joseph found out that she was the surrogate
mother. Since she was already Joseph’s girlfriend, Joseph might not even mention it in front of Hayden.
Hayden was betting. She bet Joseph cared a lot for her, and he would never allow anything to hurt her.
“You’re overthinking.”
Alayna continued over the video call, “From where I stand, I thought you should be honest with him
before he finds out. You can always send Stella to Edison first if you’re worried. After all, Joseph can’t
kidnap Stella if she is with Edison, right?”
“Let me think about it.”
Hayden frowned. Even if she was going to be honest with Joseph, it is not the right opportunity now.
“Hey, why are you so free? I heard that you took over the Downey Group to clean up their mess.
How’re the old staffs? Are they willing to cooperate?”
Hayden pulled back from her thoughts, “Like hell, they’re willing to cooperate. I called twice board
meeting, but only half of them attended. I should probably leave now. I have a meeting with them later,
and I made it compulsory.”
After ending the video call, Hayden leaned on the back of her chair. She pinched her nose, and it felt
like worries and misfortune in the whole universe decided to land on her life.
The capital problem in Downey Group wasn’t as bad as what the newspaper reported. The company
was only experiencing a temporary breakage in funding. Hayden actively involved in refinancing,
reorganized the company share, and threw in the safety money Brook Downey left. Now Hayden was a
shareholder who held 36% of the company share.
What she has now was still lesser than what Sofia and Chelsea used to have together. Now that
Chelsea was dead and her shares went directly to Sofia, but Sofia disappeared, so Hayden was the
next person who was eligible to take over the company now.
The people on the board didn’t like Hayden. There were seventeen members, including Sofia, on the
board, and half of them were related to Sofia. The most rebel member was Sofia’s third brother’s
daughter, Chelsea’s cousin, Belinda Mason.
Hayden wanted to replace all three managers in the Finance Department, and she already expected
strong opposition.
Right after Hayden voiced out her opinion about replacing the finance managers, Belinda stood up in
anger.
“What are you talking about? What’s wrong with the current Finance Department? Are you planning to
replace all the old staffs with your own people? Don’t you forget, you are only a temporary director of
the board. Aunt Sofia is the official director.”
Belinda is a spoiled brat who didn’t know anything about the finance world. All she knew was to put on
pretty makeup and to make life difficult for Hayden. However, this was the most difficult kind of people
to deal with.
Because they were unreasonable.
Hayden took a glance at Belinda, “Well, since I’m the director of the board now, even if it is only
temporarily, you have to listen to me. The finance managers are too old for the position, plus, they have
a complicated history and network with the company. I don’t think it is any good to keep them in the
position. They have to be replaced.”
“I don’t agree with that,” Belinda said arrogantly, “My uncle, my father, and everyone in this meeting
won’t agree with you either.”
“That wasn’t a discussion. That was a notice.”
Hayden closed the files in front of her, “Disagree with me? Try and get my position.”
Hayden then left the meeting room without looking back.
Anna, Hayden’s assistant, quickly announced that the meeting ended for today.
The meeting didn’t even hold for five minutes, and it ended because of Belinda. The elders didn’t dare
to voice out. No wonder the Downey Group was in a mess, and breakage in funding could easily cause
them to go bankrupt.
Hayden walked out of the meeting room with the wind in her hair.
“Stop right there, Hayden.”
Belinda shouted Hayden’s name from afar. She sounded furious.
“What can I help you with?” Hayden turned around elegantly in her heels and faced the furious Belinda
calmly.
“You didn’t want to help Downey Group, did you? You wanted the Downey Group to go bankrupt,
right?”
“Stop joking. I’m a shareholder of the group now. What’s in it for me to have the Downey Group going
bankrupt?”
“God knows what are you planning at the back.”
Belinda looked sulky, “Don’t think that everyone has to listen to you. You’re a shareholder, but my
father, my uncle and I are the shareholders too, and the sum of our shares aren’t any lesser than yours.
Why should the company listen to you? Who do you think you are? Don’t forget that the ST Group isn’t
supporting you now. Joseph Beckham is just rubbish that got kicked out of his family.”
The relationship between Joseph and Hayden wasn’t a secret. Many people knew about it. People
even knew when Joseph fought about Hayden with his family. It became the most discussed gossip of
the town.
As an elegant man who was always on top of the world, Joseph had high standards, but now he
needed to depend on Hayden. Joseph’s situation now was a scene to see for those who got scolded or
insulted by Joseph in the past.
Hayden wanted to say something, but she felt a hand put on her shoulder. A cold, familiar voice rose
beside her, “Before you address somebody a rubbish, shouldn’t you think about how you got that little
amount of shares you have in hands now?”
Joseph put his arm around Hayden and looked at Belinda coldly. Joseph still looked elegant and
arrogant, even if he got kicked out of the Beckham family.
“Joseph?” Belinda panicked for a second, and she quickly calmed herself down, “It’s the Downey
Group we are talking. What does it have to do with an outsider like you?”
Joseph took a glance at Belinda coldly, then looked into her eyes, “It has nothing to do with the
outsider, but it has everything to do with the new Finance Manager.”
62fb1bb41dcb31934bd49bda