Chapter 722: Chapter 722: Bayside, Where the Story Begins
Caroline Sloan recounted while reminiscing, "At that time, big brother, you had already fainted in the icy snow. Your whole body was frozen stiff, and your breath was faint. I could only drag you to a nearby cave and make a fire to warm you up."
"But the temperature was too low, your lips turned purple from the cold, I could only... only take off my outer clothes and hold you tightly. We embraced each other for warmth in the snowy night. I whispered in your ear, constantly encouraging you, saying big brother, you must persevere."
Hayden Crawford listened quietly. When Yasmine Sterling found him many years ago with the jade pendant, he didn’t have any suspicions, so he didn’t ask her to recall the situation then. Now as Caroline recalls, every scene and word she speaks are true, exactly as he remembered.
"Later, you woke up, and you gave me a jade pendant, and also said... said you would come back to find me, you would definitely find me..."
"But, I waited for you for so many years, and you never came. And I always treasured the jade pendant you gave me, hanging it around my neck. My greatest wish is to reunite with big brother."
Caroline Sloan gazed at Hayden Crawford with watery eyes, hesitant and bashful, full of affection. Her eyes seemed to draw people in.
Hayden Crawford maintained a stoic expression as he spoke coolly, "Then you should stay here for the time being, recuperate first."
Besides this, he didn’t say anything else.
Caroline Sloan felt a bit disappointed. Hayden Crawford is a very wise and alert man. Despite her combined soft and gentle approach, launching an offensive of sweet words, Hayden didn’t take the bait at all. She couldn’t fathom what he was truly thinking.
"Big brother, does sister Yasmine have a misunderstanding? I think... sister Yasmine doesn’t like me very much..." Caroline Sloan said with grievance.
Mentioning Serena Sterling, a bit of tenderness overflowed from Hayden Crawford’s handsome brow, "Just don’t appear in front of her anymore. I will slowly coax her, I can definitely make her happy again."
Caroline Sloan stiffened.
"By the way, she really doesn’t like you now, so don’t upset her any further. And don’t call me big brother anymore." With that, Hayden Crawford turned and left.
Caroline Sloan stood frozen on the spot, face pale. She had not expected, despite appearing with injuries and pretending to be frail and pitiable, to be met with such coldness and indifference from him.
How infuriating!
...
In the study.
Hayden Crawford sat on the office chair as Corvus handed over a sealed dossier envelope, "Master, here are all the detailed records of Caroline Sloan’s life."
Hayden Crawford opened the envelope and quickly skimmed through it with downcast eyes.
"Master, are you suspicious of Caroline Sloan? According to these records, nothing is wrong with Caroline Sloan, everything she said is true."
Hayden Crawford set the documents aside; for now, it seems there is nothing wrong with Caroline Sloan, but he still felt something was off.
So much had happened with the Crawford family back then. His mother jumped into a great river from Jill’s attic, disappearing, and at her funeral, he was traumatized and forcibly committed to a mental institution.
He stayed in the psychiatric hospital for two years, then upon leaving, encountered assassination attempts on his way to Bayside, being trapped in icy snow, nearly losing his life.
Everything happened too coincidentally, like a series of linked events trapping him and the fate of the entire Crawford family closely together.
This shroud of gloom over the Crawford family had been stifling for many years, making it hard to breathe.
Hayden Crawford always felt there was a powerful unseen hand orchestrating everything from the shadows.
Now every piece of evidence pointed to Caroline Sloan as the girl who saved him in the snow, yet a voice inside kept telling him no, it’s definitely not her.
What does Caroline Sloan’s appearance mean now?
Hayden Crawford formed a subtle and dangerous smile with his thin lips. Although he couldn’t see clearly through the doubts now, the surrounding phantoms were starting to move, beginning to emerge. He didn’t need to do anything but watch quietly.
Hayden Crawford lowered his gaze, focusing on a photograph. The photo depicted the place where he had been trapped, the place where he met that girl.
Hayden Crawford suddenly narrowed his deep-set eyes, picked up the photograph, and examined it carefully.
"Master, what’s wrong?" Corvus asked softly.
Hayden Crawford slowly spoke, "I don’t know why, but looking at this place now feels familiar, as if I had returned there before."
"Master, please try to remember."
Hayden Crawford closed his eyes for a moment, then shook his head, "I can’t remember, just that this place gives me a very familiar feeling, as if... there are old memories of mine there."
Actually, the place in the photograph was the countryside where Serena Sterling grew up, just a long distance away, not the same location. Four years ago, when Hayden Crawford was critically ill, Serena Sterling had taken him there.
Unfortunately, Hayden Crawford had been taken there with his eyes closed by Serena Sterling and taken out the same way by Jude Crawford.
That place held his and Serena Sterling’s sweetest memories.
Corvus said, "Master, this place is also Bayside. Coincidentally, both you and that girl and you and Miss Serena met in Bayside. Bayside is the place where everything started."
Hayden Crawford was reminded of his first encounter with Serena Sterling on the train to Bayside, when he was again being pursued. Although it was later found to be a business adversary, identical to the first attack, claimed to be Crawford’s business enemies, he always felt something was strange.
The first time he met that girl, and the second time he met Serena Sterling, the wheel of fate kept turning as if things were arranged by destiny. Bayside was where all stories began.
Hayden Crawfords pulled open the bottom drawer and put the photograph inside, "It’s best not to tell Serena about the girl’s matter, she would overthink it."
In Bayside—and he had mentioned before that Yasmine Sterling saved him back then, which made her jealous—it was undeniable, that girl was a soft spot in his heart, but now his heart wholly belongs to her.
If Serena Sterling finds out that just after sending off Yasmine Sterling, Caroline Sloan came, she would certainly be jealous.
Women can be very scary when they are jealous. Without doing anything, he would already face universal condemnation, a stern rebuke from the little darlings and his parents-in-law, and he didn’t want the matter to escalate further.
"Understood, Master."
...
Serena Sterling returned to her apartment, Cherie said, "Dylan Gardner’s whereabouts have been discovered."