He Wouldn't Claim Me — Another Man Did

Chapter 153 - 140: Clown

The look Annabelle Leighton gave Morgan Hayes was filled with sympathy, pity, and consolation, as if he were the most miserable man in the world right now.

But Morgan Hayes had absolutely no idea what she was talking about.

"Whose girlfriend?"

"Your girlfriend."

"I don’t have a girlfriend."

"That’s impossible. I saw it with my own eyes. That day at your place, you two went grocery shopping together, arm in arm." The memory still made Annabelle Leighton’s chest tighten.

Morgan Hayes still couldn’t remember.

Annabelle Leighton reminded him, "Your chief’s daughter."

’The chief’s daughter?’

Morgan Hayes remembered. During the time he was recovering from an injury at home, his cousin, Willow Thorne, came to visit. She’d lifted the lid on his pot and found only carrots and chicken breast. She insisted he was eating pig slop and that she had to cook him a proper, nutritious meal. And so, his cousin had dragged him out of the house to go buy groceries.

’Annabelle Leighton saw us that day?’

"You came looking for me that day?"

"Mhm."

"Then how come I didn’t see you?"

"Uh... that’s not the point, is it? The point is, I just saw your girlfriend cheating on you."

"Who told you she was my girlfriend?"

Annabelle Leighton almost blurted out "Officer Quinn," but on second thought, Levi Quinn hadn’t actually said the woman was Morgan Hayes’s girlfriend. He had only said she was the daughter of Morgan Hayes’s chief.

"You were walking through the market arm in arm. Doesn’t that mean you’re a couple?"

"No, that’s my cousin."

"Cousin?"

"Yes. Her dad and my mom are brother and sister."

Annabelle Leighton’s brain instantly short-circuited. She had imagined Morgan Hayes would be devastated tonight, maybe even inconsolable. She had even prepared four or five different comforting speeches. And after all that... ’It turns out *I’m* the clown?’

"Really your cousin?"

"Don’t believe me?" Morgan Hayes pulled out his phone, dialed his cousin’s number, and thoughtfully put it on speaker.

"Hey, no, you don’t have to..."

Annabelle Leighton was dying of embarrassment. Just as she was about to snatch Morgan Hayes’s phone, his cousin on the other end picked up instantly.

"Bro, what’s up?"

Morgan Hayes raised an eyebrow at Annabelle Leighton, his expression seeming to say, ’Hear that? She called me "Bro".’

Annabelle Leighton was mortified.

"Bro? Why aren’t you saying anything?" His cousin’s voice instantly filled with worry. "Did something happen? Are you hurt?"

Willow Thorne came from a family of police officers; several of her relatives were on the force. She dreaded late-night calls from family the most.

Morgan Hayes knew what she was thinking and quickly spoke up, "No, I butt-dialed you."

"You scared me to death."

"Are you on duty?"

"Yeah."

"Got a boyfriend?"

That topic change was way too abrupt!

Willow Thorne was startled. "How did you know? Who told you? Did you tell my parents?"

Morgan Hayes laughed. "Look how nervous you are. What’s the big secret? Is he a criminal or something?"

"Don’t be ridiculous, he’s great. It’s just that we just started dating, so it’s not stable yet. Don’t you tell my parents yet. If they find out, I’ll never forgive you."

"I’m not that bored."

"Then who on earth told you? None of my colleagues even know. How could you possibly know?"

Morgan Hayes glanced at Annabelle Leighton. Feeling guilty, Annabelle choked on her own saliva and couldn’t help but start coughing.

She tried her best to muffle it, but the phone was on speaker, and Willow Thorne on the other end still heard it.

"Bro, you have a woman with you this late?" Willow Thorne laughed. "And you’re asking about me? You’ve got a girlfriend now, don’t you?"

"I don’t," Morgan Hayes said.

"Don’t lie. Last time I was at your place, I saw a woman’s hair tie on your nightstand."