I Forgot I Ever Loved You (Zoe and Hayden) novel Chapter 657

The words died on Zoe's lips, but her expression remained completely unwelcoming.

Yara, not as quick as Hayden while holding a baby, had to sit further down the table. Garrett, worried that Yara would struggle to eat while juggling the child, abandoned his usual seat at the head of the table and sat right next to her.

"Why did you follow me?" Yara asked coldly.

Garrett beamed. "Don't misunderstand, I'm just here to look after little Ian."

Yara's expression softened slightly.

When Sylvia, Mr. Kendall Sr., and Arthur Kendall Sr. saw Hayden return, they were all momentarily stunned.

Hadn't the man left? He came back awfully fast.

But none of them said a word.

After all, the man's wife and children were here. And considering his seemingly contrite attitude, they didn't feel it was their place to intervene.

The only person who truly held the power to decide was Zoe.

Zoe's choices were the ultimate verdict on Hayden's fate.

Even if they were her biological parents, they couldn't just kick him out the door.

He was the biological father of both children. Having learned about Zoe's self-destructive obsession over the past five years, they found it bizarre, but they couldn't entirely blame Hayden for everything.

Everyone naturally favored their own.

Ultimately, they decided to let Zoe handle it however she saw fit.

Once the maids had served most of the dishes, Zoe couldn't hold back anymore. She leaned in and lowered her voice. "Are you saying they found the person?"

She was anxious. A mole inside Fort Hamilton Command Center was a massive security breach.

Sienna had stolen the data for Zoe's companion robots, which had caused all of Horizon Group's massive investments to go down the drain.

Fortunately, the government had eventually taken over, covered the financial losses, and allowed her to pivot to military AI, salvaging most of the disaster.

But a state-sponsored military project was nothing to play around with.

If internal data was leaked, it could compromise every future engagement on the battlefield. At best, it meant destroyed hardware. At worst, it could lead to an incalculable loss of human life, ruining thousands of families.

It wasn't a simple corporate loss.

"Eat first. We'll talk after," Hayden replied.

A maid came over to clear the dishes. Seeing him still sitting there, she hesitated, a little anxious.

"Mr. Thorne, are you still eating? All the serving dishes are empty. Should I have the kitchen make you a bowl of noodles?"

He hadn't even managed to grab a single piece of vegetable before the platters were scraped clean.

Hayden offered a faint smile, not wanting to make things difficult for the staff.

"No need. I'll just order some takeout later."

The maid shot him a deeply sympathetic look.

She couldn't help it. Ms. Lynd had explicitly instructed the kitchen to portion the food exactly by head count, even factoring in the baby. Word around the house was that Mr. Thorne was Ms. Lynd's ex-husband and the father of the two children. He was incredibly handsome and tipped generously.

She had no idea what he had done to offend the usually sweet and easygoing Ms. Lynd so profoundly, but it was honestly tragic. She wouldn't even let the man have enough to eat.

"Right away, Mr. Thorne."

The staff privately gossiped about it. A wildly successful, incredibly attractive man like Mr. Thorne, yet Ms. Lynd had divorced him, packed up her two kids, and walked away without looking back—even putting one of the kids under the Kendall name and giving the other her own last name.

They figured Mr. Thorne must have been a legendary playboy, hiding countless mistresses to drive Ms. Lynd to such drastic measures.