William was so straightforward that Hayden could not remain silent. He shook his head and rejected William’s suggestion. “No way!”
“Why?” William asked.
“No reason, I just don’t want to go.” When Matilda was still alive, the elders of the Floyd family were so disgusted with him that they refused to forgive him and Matilda. Now that Matilda was gone, they would certainly not forgive him.
Hayden didn’t want to make things difficult for himself.
Hayden’s direct rejection made William realize that he was afraid the Floyd family would embarrass him. Hence, William could only try to persuade his father. “You’re the son-in-law of the Floyd family. Since your father and mother-in-law will be here, shouldn’t you at least pick them up, right? Otherwise, what would they think of you?”
Hayden still refused. “I know what you mean. William, I’m already in this state and I’m not afraid of how others would look at me. Aren’t they just going to scold me? I’m not afraid of that! No matter what, I will never pick them up!”
“Dad! Can’t you just bow down for me? Grandma and Grandpa treat me very well…” William sighed. “Even if it’s just for my mom’s sake, you should pick them up!”
“Don’t say that, William! I can bow down for your mother. If your mother is still alive, I can even kneel down and pray for her, but she’s is dead! What can I change even if I go?”
“No matter what, they are mom’s parents. She won’t want to see you and them being so distant.” William still didn’t give up.
“I don’t want to bow down because of your mother.”
Hayden’s voice was hoarse. “When your mother and I left, I hoped that they could forgive her. But they didn’t forgive her until they died! After your mother passed away, I sealed her in an ice coffin and sent a letter to the Floyd family. I hope they could see your mother for the last time, and I wished that they would forgive your mother and let her leave in peace! But no one from the Floyd family showed up at all. They were so heartless, so why should I tolerate them?”
“This… there might be a misunderstanding!”
“Stop talking about it William, I won’t go see them!”
Hayden’s attitude was so firm that William knew it was useless to persuade him, so he had to change the topic. “Dad, I have one more question for you about Emily.”
Hayden frowned. “Why are you asking about Emily? You haven’t interacted with her, have you?”
“There are some things that I can’t figure out and I need to verify it. Did Emily get pregnant with Uncle’s child when they were abroad?”
Hayden looked at William in surprise. “How did you know?”
“So was Emily really pregnant? Dad, tell me everything you know.”
“As I said, Emily and I are not familiar with each other. I know her just because of your mother. When I met your mother abroad, I did meet her once and it was during winter. Emily had eaten with us twice. She was wearing a thick down jacket and her figure did not look slim. She looked as if she was five or six months pregnant.”
“So she was indeed pregnant? Was it uncle’s? What happened to the child?” William asked.
“Emily was with your uncle at that time. If she was really pregnant, the child must be your uncle’s. As for where the child went, I don’t know!”
Hayden shook his head and added, “The Floyd family will never abandon their child. I think that child should be dead, right? Otherwise, he should be in the Floyd family as well.”
“Is it possible that Emily gave birth to that child?” William asked again.
“There are so many ears and eyes in the Floyd family, so how could they not know about the child? As a woman without any background in a foreign country, how could it be easy for her to hide her child?”
Hayden replied with a question and then emphasized his tone. “Willaim, don’t meddle in the matters of the Floyd family. It has nothing to do with you.”
William forced a smile. “Dad, they’re my grandparents. How can I ignore them?”
“I’m not saying that you don’t have to care about them! When they come over, you should do your best as a host. It doesn’t matter if you bring them around to enjoy themselves, but you should only entertain them. Everything else has nothing to do with you.”
Hayden’s attitude towards the Floyd family was very bad. William was hoping that Hayden would be able to let go of the past with the Floyd family’s two elders, but it seemed like he was overthinking things.
The elders of the Floyd family had a prejudice against Valeria and they didn’t like Hayden either. Hayden knew very well that they didn’t like him, but he didn’t know that they hated Valeria as well. He had to tell him in advance.
“Dad, I actually have the same thoughts as you. I’ll just entertain them and send them away, but I’m afraid that they don’t think that way. They’re not coming back for fun, but for me.”
“What do you mean?” Hayden asked.
“My grandmother called me and asked about me and Valeria. She isn’t happy about me and Valeria, so she wanted me to be separated from Valeria.”
Hayden frowned and his expression was extremely ugly. “What right do they have to interfere with your life? As your father, I don’t even object to Valeria being together with you. What rights do others have? Don’t worry about them. The reason why I stopped your mother from being with me back then was because they were your mother’s parents. What rights do they have to interfere in your matters now?”
“Dad, I have told grandma the same thing. She is very angry and she thinks that my mother-in-law indirectly murdered mum. I don’t want to ignore them, but I’m still worried that they will come over and cause a hard time for Valeria”
“Did they really say that? They heartlessly abandoned your mother in the past, so why are they bringing it up again? And this has always been a secret. Who told them about this?”
“I guess it must be Raelyn’s family who did it. To be honest, I’m annoyed that they’re coming here. I don’t care about anything else, but I’m just afraid that they will bully Valeria. Valeria is such a foolish girl and she was happy that they’re coming here. She even wanted to pick them up to thank them for taking care of me abroad. If they said something bad about her, can you imagine how sad she would be?”
Hayden knew that William was trying to protect his wife. “Then don’t let Valeria see them and ask her to live in the old estate after they arrive. I’ll protect her. They won’t make things difficult for her if they don’t see her.”
“Please tell her about this matter and ask her to stay in the old estate! Valeria is a little afraid of you and she would not dare to refute you. If I tell her not to see my grandparents, she will surely suspect that they don’t like her.”
“She’s afraid of me?” Hayden was shocked. “Wasn’t she the one who debated with me over you? Why would she be afraid of me? I didn’t do anything to her, did I?”
William smiled helplessly, “She’s afraid of you anyway. Your words are the law to her, but she’ll just ignore my requests.”
“Alright, I’ll talk to Valeria!” Hayden nodded in agreement.