Chapter 973

Keira stared at the messages Lena had just sent. She sensed something was amiss, so she immediately called her, but Lena declined. Instead, she replied with another message: [I’m at my grandparents’ house, and my mother is here too.]

Keira had no choice but to keep texting: [Did Aaron upset you today?]

Lena sent Keira a string of ellipses. That endless row of dots made her even more curious. [What happened exactly?] Keira pressed.

Lena replied: [He brought his girlfriend home today.]

After sending that message, she also sent Keira a screenshot of a payment receipt and added: [Spot the highlight.]

Keira zoomed in on the image and finally noticed the note: Name Change Fee. [Wow, how generous! 600,000 dollars just for a name change fee. What did you call her to make it worth that much?] Keira was shocked.

Lena then sent Keira a voice message, explaining the situation in detail. At the end, she added: [He used to tell me how long he’d liked me, but now he’s suddenly found a girlfriend. How can he be so fake?]

Keira didn’t respond immediately. Instead, she turned to Hayden, nudging his hand with her foot. “So, Mr. Hart, what’s going on here?”

Aaron and Hayden had an unusual relationship. They didn’t seem to interact much on the surface and rarely contacted each other, but when Hayden dealt with Drago family issues, Aaron’s behind-the-scenes support was clear.

Hayden, having overheard Lena’s voice message earlier, shook his head. “I don’t know.”

Keira didn’t believe him. “Really? You don’t know anything?”

He nodded again. His expression didn’t look like he was lying, but his honesty made Keira suspicious.

“Alright then, at least tell me what Aaron’s deal is. He doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who’d be all in for one person one moment and then move on to someone else the next,” Keira asked, genuinely puzzled.

“This doesn’t make him a jerk,” Hayden said after some thought. “He quietly liked Dr. Lane for so many years. That shows he’s persistent. But now, moving on makes sense too. A hope that never materializes is better abandoned.”

His words left Keira speechless for a moment. That was true. Aaron knew the relationship between him and Lena was taboo, but he had tried. On the other hand, Lena had always buried her head in the sand like an ostrich.

Thinking about this, Keira texted Lena: [You couldn’t give him what he wanted, so it’s understandable that he chose to start a new life.]

This time, Lena stopped replying altogether. Keira wasn’t sure what was on her mind, but she started to worry and sent her another message: [???]

Finally, Lena replied: [Honestly, this is probably for the best.]

Even though she said that, Keira could feel her loneliness and disappointment through her words. Keira sent her another message: [Lena, be honest with yourself. Are you happy that Aaron has a new girlfriend?]

She didn’t reply again. Lena’s silence weighed on her, and she turned to Hayden with a sigh. “Hayden, seeing Lena like this makes me uncomfortable too.”

“Hmm?” he hummed in acknowledgment.

“If she gets together with Aaron, she’ll have to face pressure from her family and public opinion. But if she doesn’t, I can tell she has feelings for him. If it were me, I’d be torn too,” Keira admitted.

“Just like when you found out the car accident that killed your parents was caused by my father, right?” Hayden brought up the past again.

He wasn’t wrong. “I feel like their situation isn’t even as complicated as ours. Once midnight passes and Aaron reveals his true parentage, everyone will know he has no blood ties to the Ace family. If they get together after that, people might not criticize them at all. On the contrary, they’d probably call it a perfect match. It’d be seen as fate bringing them closer, and the Ace family wouldn’t lose Aaron, either.”

He had a point. Keira turned to look at him. “I have a sneaking suspicion you’re trying to get me to convince Lena for you.”

Hayden smirked, but before he could respond, he suddenly made a surprised noise: “Huh?”

Keira frowned. “What are you ‘huh’–ing about? What happened?” she asked, glancing nervously at the spot he had been massaging.