He Wouldn't Claim Me — Another Man Did

Chapter 158 - 144: Confession

Dylan Colton watched Morgan Hayes warily.

But Morgan didn’t even glance at him. His attention was focused entirely on Annabelle Leighton.

Annabelle’s face was pale, her brows furrowed with exhaustion.

Morgan guessed she had fainted from excessive worry and not eating properly over the past few days.

"I’m taking her to the hospital," Dylan Colton said.

Morgan didn’t reply. He simply reached out and pulled Annabelle into his arms.

"Hey, who are you?" Dylan Colton grabbed Annabelle’s hand again. "I’m Annie’s good friend; we grew up together."

"I’m her boyfriend."

Dylan Colton froze.

The man before him had ended the competition with just three short words. As it turned out, the longer the prefix, the more useless it was.

"Boyfriend?"

"Yes."

"For real?"

Ignoring Dylan Colton’s skepticism, Morgan scooped up Annabelle Leighton and walked away.

When Shane Sterling left, he had left his driver and car for Morgan Hayes. Morgan had insisted it wasn’t necessary at the time, but he never expected it would actually come in handy.

Morgan carried Annabelle into the car and told the driver to go to the nearest hospital.

The driver started the car immediately.

Dylan Colton didn’t stay idle either; he followed Morgan right to the hospital.

After the doctors took Annabelle in for an examination, Dylan Colton kept hovering around Morgan.

"Are you really Annie’s boyfriend?"

Dylan Colton sized Morgan up.

Morgan wasn’t good at lying. Being stared at by Dylan for so long made him start to wonder if it was wrong to spread such a lie while Annabelle was unconscious.

He was just about to offer a corrective explanation when he heard Dylan ask, "Are you a cop?"

"How did you know?"

"So it really is you?" Dylan said excitedly. "Damn, are all cops this handsome these days? A second ago, I thought you were just some pretty boy trying to woo Annie."

Morgan Hayes: "..."

"Annie used to talk about you all the time. She said she was chasing you. I laughed at her back then, telling her there was no way a serious guy like a cop would fall for a free spirit like her. She said she didn’t care, that she only liked you and was determined to win you over. Heh, and she actually did it."

Dylan Colton started talking a mile a minute.

This caught Morgan completely off guard.

He’d thought Dylan was a love rival just a moment ago, but in the blink of an eye, the rival had turned into a wingman.

"Officer, may I ask your surname?"

"It’s Hayes."

"Hello, Officer Hayes. My name is Dylan Colton. Annie and I are very good friends. My mom treats her like her own daughter, and I think of her as a sister. So what I’m about to say might be a bit out of line, but I have to say it anyway."

"Please, go ahead." With the ’love rival’ crisis averted, Morgan became exceptionally patient with Dylan.

"Annie’s mom passed away when she was very young. Her dad started a new family and doesn’t pay any attention to her at all. The outside world thinks she’s the precious heiress of the Leighton Family, the apple of their eye, but the only person in that family who truly doted on her was her grandma. Don’t be fooled by her usual optimistic and cheerful demeanor; deep down, she’s very insecure. Before she met you, she didn’t believe in love at all. After meeting you, she was like a completely different person. Her eyes would light up whenever she talked about you." Dylan paused for a moment. "Um... all that was just rambling. What I really want to say is, it’s rare for Annie to like and trust someone this much, so you absolutely can’t let her down. Especially now, with even the grandmother who loved her most gone, she must be in so much pain. You have to be there for her and help her get through the darkness of her grandmother’s passing."

Dylan spoke with such sincerity that his words naturally sank into Morgan’s heart.

"Mr. Colton, please rest assured. I will never betray Annie’s feelings for me."

* * *

When Annabelle Leighton woke up, she was in a hospital bed with an IV drip in her arm.

Morgan Hayes was sitting by her bedside, watching her quietly. The moment he saw her wake up, he steadied the hand with the IV.

"You’re awake. Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere?"

"A little dizzy," Annabelle said.

"You’re too tired, and you haven’t been eating properly. That’s why this happened." Morgan glanced at his watch. "After your IV is done, I’ll take you home and make you something delicious."

Annabelle looked at the hand Morgan had placed over hers, then back at his face. "Why are you suddenly being so nice to me? Do you pity me?"

"Of course not. I promised someone I would be good to you, and I have to keep that promise."

"That was just an act."

"I’m not talking about Grandma."

"Then who are you talking about?"

"That good friend of yours, Mr. Colton."

"Dylan Colton? What did he say to you?"

Morgan licked his lips, a little embarrassed. "He told me a lot of things. He even entrusted you to me."

"Don’t listen to his nonsense, he..."

"No, listen to me first." Morgan looked at Annabelle earnestly. "I was the one who first told Mr. Colton that I was your boyfriend. Only then did he say all those things to me."

Annabelle was completely drained of energy, and her mind couldn’t quite keep up with the speed of Morgan’s words.

After a moment, she asked hesitantly, "Why did you tell him you were my boyfriend?"

"Because I want to be your boyfriend."

Annabelle couldn’t believe her ears. "What are you saying?"

"I said, I want to be your boyfriend."

Annabelle was silent for a few seconds, then slowly turned her head away, avoiding Morgan’s gaze.

"I know you’re just pitying me for losing my grandmother, but I’m not as fragile as you think. I can get through this on my own. I don’t need you to turn our act into reality and make such a huge sacrifice."

"I’m not pitying you. I genuinely like you." It was Morgan’s first time confessing to a girl, and he nervously weighed his words. "Actually, from the moment you first said you liked me, you threw my heart into turmoil. I’d never met anyone as... as passionate as you. You’re like a little sun, bringing so much color and anticipation to my otherwise monotonous life."

"Then why did you keep rejecting me?"

"Because I had no confidence. Because we’re from different social classes. I didn’t think we could make it to the end, so I kept rejecting you."

"’We’re not from the same world.’ I get it."

"I thought I could control my feelings for you, but I overestimated myself. When you went on that blind date, I got angry. When a close male friend showed up by your side, I got jealous. I was becoming less and less like myself. Before your grandma passed away, when you asked me to pretend to be your boyfriend to see her, I was actually very happy. The promises I made to her on her deathbed all came from the bottom of my heart. After she passed, I was at home, restless and worried sick about you. In that moment, I desperately wished I had a legitimate reason to be by your side."

"Really?"

"Of course, it’s real." Morgan stroked Annabelle’s head. "Serving the people might be my motto, but I wouldn’t go so far as to offer myself up as a boyfriend just because someone’s relative died. It’s definitely because I like you."

Tears silently slid down Annabelle’s cheeks.

"You know, I just had a dream. In it, Grandma said that someone would definitely come to love me in her place. Then I opened my eyes and saw you."

"Then you can think of me as the one Grandma chose for you. Let me be the one to love you from now on, okay?"