CHAPTER 687: CHAPTER 687: TIME IS THE MOST PAINFUL THING

Serena realized that handing Stella over to her mother was a completely mistaken decision. Moreover, she had already given birth to three children; how could she possibly have another one? What if the next pregnancy also resulted in triplets?

When Serena gave birth to triplets, she had a near-death experience, leaving her with severe psychological trauma. She often nightmares about being pregnant again, waking up in a fright each time. She absolutely did not want to have another child.

At this moment, Stella obediently lay inside, covering herself with a blanket, "Daddy, Mommy, goodnight."

Stella closed her eyes and quickly drifted into dreamland.

The children were asleep, and now it was time to resolve the issues between the adults. Serena slowly turned over, raising her bright eyes to look at the man beside her, "Hayden Crawford, do you already know the truth about the children’s parentage?"

Hayden glanced at Serena. To see the children, she had reverted to her stunningly delicate face, and because she was lying down, several strands of her long dark hair entwined around her rosy neck, creating a look of purity yet allure.

This is the woman who gave him three children; she is their mother.

Hayden’s heart was indeed moved; he still remembered their first encounter on the train in Bayside when she was only 19.

She gave him the most youthful years of her life and the continuity of his bloodline.

Hayden’s long fingers curled slightly, wanting to embrace her, to hold her tightly in his arms and merge her into his soul. There were so much he wanted to tell her, how he loved the children she bore for him, and how he never wanted to be apart from them or from her again. He never wanted her to leave his side again.

Yet, his curled fingers loosened because she too had done many things he could not forgive.

Hayden pressed his thin lips and let out a cold snort, "Were you planning to keep the children’s parentage a secret from me forever?"

"I didn’t..."

"Yes, you did!" Hayden interrupted her directly, "Serena, you are too selfish and cruel. Let me ask you, why did you send Caden to my side? Did you not want Caden anymore, not want me? You abandoned us in your world, only raising Pip and Stella, even not letting me know of their existence. In the blink of an eye, Pip and Stella have grown so big, time has flown by, and I haven’t been able to watch them grow up firsthand. And with Caden too, for three years, day after day, month after month, he is a piece of your flesh, yet you never came back!"

Hayden sat up, his sturdy chest rising and falling, and a layer of blood-red pain quickly enveloped his long eyes.

Time is truly the most wounding thing. Three years ago, by the riverbank in the forbidden area, she had stabbed his heart fiercely, then left with Seth Sullivan, completely abandoning him.

Back then, he watched as she vanished with Seth Sullivan at the edge of the world, out of his life. He naively thought that that should have been the height of pain.

But it wasn’t.

In the ensuing three years, day after day, month after month, as he stood alone on the street, holding the months-old infant Caden when he babbled "Mom" for the first time; when he wandered through different women searching for traces of her, he realized that she had merely inflicted a single stab at the riverside. The following three years saw that wound rot gradually, leaving him full of scars, completely disfigured.

Seeing his pained expression, Serena sat up too, her bright eyes instantly reddening as she desperately tried to explain, "Hayden Crawford, listen to me, those three years I..."

"What flowery words are you going to use to deceive me again?" Hayden interrupted her, roughly tearing open his shirt, pointing to the scar on his heart, "Serena, look carefully, this is where you stabbed me. Do you know how I survived three years ago? The doctor said if your hand had been a few millimeters more precise, I would have had no chance of survival!"

"I think I should hate you, and yet ironically... I mustered all my strength to hate you, swore I wanted to forget you, but then I started noticing that over these three years, those women around me began to resemble you somewhat. I was searching for your shadow in different women."

"Sometimes tired, weary, incredibly lonely, I even thought about truly being with a woman, letting her fill your place, letting her care for Caden. I should tell myself that I don’t necessarily need you, but unfortunately, I failed; my body never felt any sexual interest in them."

"As I grew older, I reached a time of vigor and abundant desire; yet those women didn’t arouse sexual interest, but at midnight, when you entered my dreams, I woke up overwhelmingly hot, stretching my hand beneath to soothe myself. Do you know how powerless and despairing I felt then?"

Speaking, Hayden extended his hand to grip her soft shoulder, squeezing hard, pressing so hard his veins throbbed, "Serena, I’ve always struggled with a question, always wanted to ask you face-to-face, three years ago... what did I do wrong?"

Hayden had always wanted to ask, what did he do wrong, and now he finally voiced this question.

Although he knew, once he asked this question, he had already lost; he again abandoned all his pride and dignity.

Serena’s bright eyes were already brimming with sparkling tears, her long lashes trembling as tears quickly trickled down.

This was his three years.

It turned out this was how he had spent the three years she was gone.

It’s said that the Crawford family is filled with passionate men, as Jude Crawford was, and now Hayden is too; they are all devoted and loyal.

Serena raised her hand, her trembling fingertips slowly landing on the scar at Hayden’s heart, "I’m sorry, I truly... deeply regret it, but about those three years, I can explain, I really wanted to come back and see you, see Caden, but I couldn’t, I..."

Hayden grabbed her small hand and pushed her away, closing his bloodshot eyes before opening them again, leaving only a trace of coolness and indifference, "Serena, if you truly regret it, then I need you to do something for me now."

"What is it?"

"Pip and Stella are my children. I want you to give up custody of them; their custody must be entirely mine."

Serena’s ears buzzed as she looked at him in shock and confusion, not understanding what he was saying!