CHAPTER 751: CHAPTER 751: HENCEFORTH THE KING NO LONGER ATTENDS MORNING COURT

Serena Sterling lifted her small palm-sized face to look at him. He was still asleep, the soft bangs on his forehead dispelling his usual sharp and stern look, making him appear handsome and gentle.

Serena felt a small joy in her heart. How wonderful it was to wake up in the arms of the person she loved most in such a morning.

She slowly raised her small hand, the slender white fingertip falling gently on his sword-like eyebrows, brushing softly over his high nose bridge.

Just then, a large hand suddenly reached over and grabbed her soft, boneless hand. Hayden Crawford opened his eyes.

Serena hadn’t expected him to suddenly open his eyes and didn’t have time to look away. Hayden instantly caught her gaze with his, her eyes full of love for him.

"Mr. Crawford, you’re cheating, you must have been awake already?" Serena tried to pull her hand back, feeling a bit embarrassed being caught stealing a glance at him.

Hayden held her with one arm, his heart soft and tender, thinking about how many mornings she hadn’t woken up in his arms.

He placed her soft white hand near his lips, giving it a gentle kiss before pulling her tightly into his embrace, "I just woke up, don’t move, let me hold you and sleep a little longer."

He closed his eyes again.

Serena curled her red lips, "Mr. Crawford, the sun is already high up, get up quickly, don’t be lazy."

Hayden buried his handsome face in her long hair, rubbing gently, "I now understand the lament of Emperor Xuanzong, the night is short, and from now on the emperor no longer attends the morning court."

"Mr. Crawford, you dare to imitate Emperor Xuanzong, but I wouldn’t dare to be Yang Guifei, who made all the other beauties in the palace pale in comparison." Serena laughed.

Hayden held her, unwilling to let go, when a melodious phone ring broke the moment, a call was coming in.

"Mr. Crawford, your phone kept ringing throughout the night, now it’s starting again in the morning, you’re really busy."

Hayden furrowed his sword-like brows and reached out to pick up the phone from the nightstand; it was a call from Corvus.

Corvus was his trusted aide and knew he and Serena came to the hotel last night, so he wouldn’t call unless something was wrong.

Just then, Serena reached out and pushed Hayden away, sitting up, "Mr. Crawford, answer the call quickly. If my guess is correct, something must have happened to Lillian, calling you to play the hero to save the beauty, since you were missed last night."

As the fragrant softness in his arms disappeared, the drowsiness in Hayden’s eyes also started to fade away. He pressed his lips and answered the call.

"Hello, Master, it’s not good, Caroline Sloan is in trouble." Corvus’s voice quickly came through.

Since Hayden hadn’t hidden anything and turned on the speakerphone, Serena also heard Corvus’s words. Her clear eyes glanced over, as if saying, see, I was right, wasn’t I?

Hayden, "..."

"Caroline’s parents have come over, asking her for money, and they threatened to send her back to Hugo Woods. Caroline refused, so she ran to the rooftop on the ninth floor, threatening to jump. Master, should you come over and take a look?" Corvus asked.

Hayden was silent for a few seconds, "Got it, I’ll head over in a moment."

He ended the call.

Serena had already gotten up and entered the bathroom. Hayden followed her inside, Serena handed him the toothbrush with toothpaste on it, "Mr. Crawford, quickly brush your teeth and freshen up. If you’re late, Lillian might jump."

Hayden took the toothbrush and said blandly, "Don’t worry, without me there, Caroline won’t jump."

Serena never doubted Hayden’s ability to see through pretense, but she was curious why Hayden kept Caroline around.

"Mr. Crawford, are you really not going to tell me the story between you and Lillian?"

Hayden looked at her clear eyes. Should he tell her, about that girl many years ago in the snowy cold?

Hayden didn’t dare, because she was too smart and decisive. If she knew he had a past with another girl, she would definitely be unhappy. She had already said her eyes couldn’t tolerate any grains of sand.

She was already cold to him enough; Hayden didn’t want to risk losing her affection completely.

"Serena, just give me a little more time, I need to find out something."

Since he didn’t want to say, Serena didn’t press him, "Alright then, but later let’s go to the rooftop together and have a look. Lillian is performing the full act of crying, making a scene, and threatening to jump off."

...

On the ninth floor’s rooftop, Hayden held Serena’s small hand and walked up, where many people had already gathered, watching the commotion.

Caroline stood on the balcony in a white dress. She already looked frail, and with the strong wind, it seemed like she could be blown off at any moment.

Caroline’s parents had come from the countryside, both wearing flashy fur coats, their eyes filled with dirtiness and greed.

Seeing Caroline precariously perching above, her parents were quite anxious; they didn’t want to lose their cash cow.

"Lillian, let’s talk this over calmly. It’s dangerous up there, come down quickly. Your mom and dad love you, this family can’t do without you."

"Yeah, your brother found a girlfriend, and her family is asking for tens of thousands in dowry. We came over to ask you for help this time."

"Lillian, it’s not mom and dad forcing you, Hugo Woods treats you well, why are you making trouble with him, listen to us and go home quickly, live a good life with him in the future."

Caroline looked at her parents with red eyes, shaking her head frantically in anguish, "I don’t want to, I don’t want to go back. You don’t know how Hugo treats me, did he promise to give you money again?"

"Well..." Her father gave an embarrassed smile, "Lillian, Hugo is our son-in-law. It’s right for him to give us some cash."

"Lillian, I heard from Hugo that you met a very wealthy man outside. Is it true? Is this man richer than Hugo?" Her mother’s eyes gleamed, already considering switching suitors.

Her father quickly pulled at her mother, "What do you know, all those wealthy men outside are old and have families with children. Lillian can only be... their mistress, and mistresses don’t get money, we’ll have no money to spend."

Her mother disagreed, "From what I heard, mistresses are the ones with the most money, as long as they serve those men well, they can count money until their hands are tired."

"Really?" After discussing the matter, the couple looked eagerly at Caroline, "Lillian, is that wealthy man good to you? Where is he? You should invite him for a meal, let us get to know him well."