Valeria then smothered more frosting onto his face and he pretended to be upset. William tried to get ahold of her and the couple chased each other around for a while around the dining table. He eventually managed to catch her and wanted to put some frosting on her face as well. She was terrified as her face soon went as pale as a ghost and shouted, “Honey, I’m so sorry! Please save me, anybody!”
Hayden hurled out of the study room upon hearing Valeria’s cry for help. He burst into laughter upon seeing Valeria and William with a face full of cake frosting.
The couple immediately became serious especially Valeria upon hearing his chuckle. She composed herself and greeted Hayden politely.
“Cake is meant to be enjoyed instead of using it for a prank,” Hayden held his laughter and warned them in a stern tone.
“Okay, dad. Do you want to have a slice?” Valeria asked cordially and tried to ease the tension.
“Sweetheart, it’s my birthday today. Why would you offer him when I have not even tasted it yet?” William questioned.
“We shall enjoy the cake together, alright?” Valeria cut the cake and gave it to William, “You’re the birthday boy today and you shall have the final say. The cake shall be served to you first.”
She then proceeded to cut a slice for Hayden and he was seated with a perplexed look on his face. He finally picked up the fork and devoured the cake after staring at it for a long time.
The cake was consumed by Hayden in a blink of an eye. Is my cake that delicious? Valeria stared at Hayden in surprise and thought to herself.
“Dad, would you like to have another serving?”
“No, thank you for the offer. The cake tastes good!” Hayden stood up while staring at William and said, “William, happy birthday!”
Hayden immediately left the couple alone as soon as he was feeling awkward about it. William was holding a fork in his hand and he froze upon hearing it. This was the first time that Hayden had wished him ever since he was born.
William felt stiff and uneasy about it.
Valeria observed him carefully and asked, “Honey, is everything okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine. I just think… that it’s weird.” William mocked at himself and said, “I’m used to not celebrating my birthday. But all of a sudden…” “I’ll celebrate your birthday with you every year from now onwards alongside our kids,” Valeria disrupted him and fed him a mouthful of cake.
William grinned and said, “Sweetheart, thank you so much! I’m feeling upbeat! It is as if I am on top of the world!”
They eventually went upstairs while locking hands with faces full of frosting. The dining table was in a mess and it was up to the servant to clean it up.
Notification alerts were being heard as they went back to their bedroom. William’s mobile phone kept ringing with a burst full of messages.
William did not bother to check his phone and he headed straight into the bathroom. Valeria picked up his phone and followed him with a curious look on her face, “Honey, don’t you want to have a look at your phone?”
“Nope, it’s fine. It must be them wishing me a happy birthday.”
“Who are you refering to?” Valeria asked.
“Well, it ought to be text messages from Michael, Marcus, Bobby, Andrew, as well as Raymond.”
“Would they wish you by text every year?”
“Yeap.”
“Why don’t you read their texts then?” Valeria pestered him and continued, “You should at least have a look at their blessings, right? Let’s check them out together!”
William eventually unlocked his phone and decided to have a glance. It was seen that the messages that he had received were more than prior years. He had obtained blessings from Archer, Natalie, Braelynn, Lamont, Sammuel as well as the team of bodyguards from the Floyd family besides his usual gang of friends that he had mentioned just now.
He had also received overseas messages from Fandrey, Deborah, Callum, and Angel.
The adults from the Floyd family had also wired him some money as his birthday present.
Valeria tilted her head and said, “Honey, you have received some funds. I would like to know how much your grandparents and your uncle have given to you.”
William chuckled upon looking at her greedy look. She then locked her eyes at the statement and realized it was a mere single-digit number.
She was surprised as she did not expect the Floyd family to be that stingy.
She wanted to voice her opinion but was occupied by three text messages that William had suddenly received. The text notification had stated the official amount being transferred into his bank account. Valeria enlarged her eyes and realized that the Floyd family had each owed William an eight-digit sum of money.
Valeria stuck out her tongue and commented, “How generous of them! I would be thrilled to be in your shoes.”
William giggled and asked, “Aren’t you a part of my family now?”
“It’s different. Although I address them the same way as you, they would never give me such a huge amount of money as my birthday present.”
William caressed her head and said, “It’s fine. I will do the same thing to you on your birthday and make you happy. It is one of my responsibilities of being your husband.”
Her eyes lit up and said, “Really? I’m now hoping that my birthday would arrive soon!”
“Pfft. You’re such a money-minded person!” William tapped the tip of her nose and said, “You should wash up as your face is full of cake frosting. I would want to have you for myself today.”
Valeria unexpectedly agreed to his request and said, “Honey, it’s your birthday today. You can do anything that you wish.”
“I’m thrilled to hear that!” William reached out to hug her and suggested, “Let’s have a bath together with our babies in your belly.”
Paisley and Hardy went back to their separate rooms after returning back to their villa. Hardy took off his jacket and proceeded to lay on the bed. He casually switched on his phone and started to browse the news.
He frowned upon seeing that William’s birthday celebration had made to the headlines. He then flicked to the next piece of news and it was a photo of William and Valeria hugging each other.
Hardy was surprised upon seeing Valeria’s face as he suddenly recalled that he used to be deeply in love with her.
He had always been interested in Valeria instead of Talitha. He did not understand why he was being affectionate towards Talitha out of the blue.
His chest suddenly felt uncomfortable as if it had been shredded into pieces. He struck his chest and breathed heavily. The pain lasted for a while and it eventually subsided.
Paisley knocked on his door and came in with a glass of milk in her hand. “Hardy, have a glass of milk to recuperate yourself.”
Hardy nodded and sat up before taking the milk from her. Paisley sat down by the bed and saw the photo of Valeria and William on his mobile phone. She let out a sigh and said, “They are enjoying the spotlight now! By the way, Hardy, have you really made up your mind to accept Talitha as your girlfriend?”
Hardy took a sip of milk and frowned. “Paisley, I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I suddenly feel comfortable around her.”
“Why would you feel this way? You used to despise her a lot, right? What’s with the sudden change of heart?” Paisley continued, “Talitha is a hypocrite. She behaves arrogantly and does things without thinking twice. She is a bully and likes to take advantage of others. Why would you be interested in such a shallow person like her?”
Hardy frowned as he knew that Talitha was not his cup of tea from the very beginning. Besides, she was not a gorgeous woman and did not have a good personality. He still could not wrap his head around his interest in her.
Have I gone mad? Hardy thought to himself.
His chest was once again feeling uncomfortable and the sensation was similar as before.
The cup in his hand fell to the ground as he struck his chest with a painful look on his face. Paisley was shocked upon looking at his reaction and shouted, “Hardy! Hardy, what’s going on?”