One Night Surprise (Courtney and Alexander)

Chapter 61

It was almost time for dinner, and there were only a few customers in the cafe on Sunhill Enterprise's first floor. After serving some coffee to the table in the corner, the waiter-who seemed to know Courtney very well-nodded to her with a smile.

Courtney often worked on the first floor lobby, so she was well acquainted with the people who worked in the shops on the first floor. She felt a little ill at ease while stirring her coffee. "What brings you here, Dad?"

The man across from her looked about 50 years old. Dressed in a brown suit, he looked very refined. Threads of silver ran through the black hair at his temples, and the watch on his left wrist-which was worth at least 1 million-had a cold luster to it.

"Your sister said that she saw you when she attended Isaac's engagement party last Saturday. She told me that you're working here."

Courtney had guessed a long time ago that Anna was bound to take liberties with the truth after going back that day, so she took a colder attitude at once. "What else did she say? She didn't put in a good word for me, did she?"

Courtney's father, Lucian, frowned upon hearing that. "How could she say nasty things about you? She just told me that you're working here. Do you have any misunderstandings with your sister, Courtney?" Courtney's face clouded over as she clenched the spoon in her hand. "What kind of misunderstanding can I have with her? We simply can't get along well because our personalities are incompatible." "Indeed, Anna doesn't have a good temper, but she cares a lot about you. Since both of you are from the same family, she treats you more sincerely than the outsiders, Courtney-"

"Dad," Courtney interrupted him. "You didn't come here just to mediate between us sisters, did you?"

Lucian glanced at her upon hearing this. "I heard that you've been dating President Duncan of Sunhill Enterprise. Is that true?"

Courtney wasn't surprised that her father would ask this question. Since Anna would talk about her encounter with Courtney at the engagement party when she got home, she would surely talk about the matter between Courtney and Alexander, for this matter had caused a great stir back then. Even if

Anna said nothing about that, Lucian would probably hear it from his friends; someone as smart as Anna wouldn't let her father hear this from anyone other than herself, of course. Not only that, Anna was probably worried that Lucian might learn of how she had ridiculed Courtney at the engagement party that day if he asked someone else about this.

"Who cares if it's true or false?" Courtney lowered her head without denying it, but she didn't have the nerve to acknowledge it as well. "You never cared about how I have been doing over so many years anyway, so don't concern yourself with this matter. I'll take care of it myself."

Lucian wasn't angered by Courtney's indifference. Instead, he worried for her by saying with a concerned expression, "I heard that he has a son. I'm afraid you'll have a lot to consider if you want to be together with him."

Courtney slowly raised her head. "What if I tell you that I have a child as well?"

Lucian's expression slowly changed. Courtney waited for her father to lash out at her. Ever since she grew more sensible, she had been waiting for him to lash out at her. That way, she could pour out all her doubts and grievances over these years.

To her dismay, however, Lucian only looked astounded for a moment. Then, as if wanting to calm down, he held up his cup of coffee with a trembling hand to take a sip of it. When he finished drinking his coffee, he assumed the look of a loving father again. "When did that happen?" Courtney answered perfunctorily, "I went overseas five years ago because I had given birth to a child whom I didn't want to take home."

"In that case... the child should be five years old." Lucian frowned. Naturally, he couldn't calm down so quickly, but he didn't show signs of getting angry. He even asked after a moment of silence, "Is the child a boy or a girl?"

*A girl."

The conversation then headed in an increasingly weird direction. Courtney was anticipating her father's anger, but he patiently asked many questions about her daughter as if he had forgotten that he was initially here to question her relationship with Alexander.

When he finally left, he settled the bill, hesitated for a moment, and advised with a hint of mindfulness, "Take your daughter home for a visit when you're free. It's okay to live at home with your daughter if you're willing to do so. No one in our family will say anything." With that, he left. For some reason, his figure looked lonely from behind.

Courtney had lost her mother as a child, so she spent her childhood in the care of her maternal grandfather. It wasn't until her maternal grandfather passed away afterward that Lucian took her home. At that time, he had remarried and had a daughter, Anna, who was a few months older than Courtney. Children probably knew nothing when they were little, but they would inevitably hear rumors and gossip when they grew up. After all, some matters couldn't be concealed.

Lucian always thought that he was indebted to his daughter, so he was set on making it up to her. Not only did he never deny her anything, he even said yes when she suddenly brought a beggar-like boy home for him to adopt at 15 years old. Even so, he still felt that he couldn't care for her as he would have liked to, for he couldn't help feeling that he didn't fulfill his responsibility as a father.

Courtney felt a little agitated after meeting her father. Luckily, the construction work in the afternoon had ended, and it wouldn't resume at night to avoid disturbing the guests upstairs while they were resting. Walking out of Sunhill Hotel with her backpack on her back, she raised her wrist to check the time. As she was lost in thought, she suddenly remembered that she was so busy that she had forgotten to pick Tina up. She quickly hailed a taxi. "Go to Sapphire Kindergarten, please.”

On the way to the kindergarten, she called Nora, the kindergarten's helper. "Someone has picked her up?" she exclaimed while sitting in the taxi. "Who picked her up?"

Nora's voice could be heard over the phone as she explained nervously, "Mr. Alexander picked her up. I thought you were on good terms with Jordan's father, and you two often pick up each other's children, so we handed Tina over to him when he offered to pick her up. Is there a problem with this, Miss Hunter?"

"Oh, t-that's fine then." Courtney signed with relief. "Sorry for troubling you."

After hanging up the phone, she noticed an unread message from Alexander on her Messenger. It read, I have taken Tina back to my home.' She immediately instructed the driver to change their route and went to the Royal Park Manor. Then, she gave Alexander a phone call.

"Hello?" Alexander, whose voice sounded as low and deep as his whispers in her ear that night, spoke from the other end of the line.

Feeling that the air was stuffy, Courtney quickly wound down the car window to get some fresh air. "Uh, thank you for picking Tina up. I forgot about this because I was so busy today."

"You're welcome." Alexander's voice was devoid of emotion. "It's only natural that I have to do what!

have promised you."

"Promised me?" Courtney was stunned. "What have you promised me?"

Alexander sounded very justified. "Didn't you make me promise to pick Tina up? Also, I've promised to let you two stay at my place for the time being while you're busy with the hotel's anniversary celebrations." "What?" Courtney was totally baffled. She asked hastily, "When did I make such a request?"

There was silence for a few seconds on the other end of the line. Then, Alexander uttered four words in a very serious tone. "The night before yesterday."

Chapter 2

Alexander spoke from the other end of the line as if whispering close to Courtney's ear, instantly reminding her of that particular night. She instantly went red in the face. How could that be possible? / have no recollection of that at all.

"It can't be possible, right?" Courtney braced herself and asked in reply. "How could I have possibly made such a request?"

I must have gone insane instead of getting drunk.

"What are you suspecting?" Alexander's questioning voice was heard over the phone. "Why do you think I would make up this kind of request if you don't believe it?"

Courtney was rendered speechless. Alexander's right-why would he make up such a request if I didn't make such a request myself? This doesn't make sense.

Even though she was reluctant to believe that she had made such a request herself, she would rather believe that she had talked nonsense in a drunken stupor than believe that Alexander was lying to her about this kind of thing. Therefore, she withdrew her remarks right away and stammered, "That's not what I meant. I was drunk that day. I-I'll go to your place and pick Tina up right away."

After she hung up the phone, the taxi driver sped all the way, and she arrived at the Royal Park Manor soon after that.

It was already dark, and Alexander was in the living room with the two kids. Upon seeing Courtney, Jordan became the first to rush at her and wrapped his arms around her feet. Courtney patted his head. "Good boy, Jordan. Be careful with your hand, and don't bruise yourself again. Does your hand still hurt?"

Jordan shook his head while staring at Courtney with yearning eyes.

It was normal for kids to have a speedy recovery, so the plaster cast on his hand had been taken off. However, the doctor had instructed him to be careful while using his hand. The cook, who was serving the dishes, said with a smile upon seeing Courtney, "You came back just in time, Miss Hunter. The dishes are all ready, so you may have dinner now." "Huh?" Courtney was startled for a moment. Feeling a little ill at ease, she refused, "There's no need for that. I'm just here to pick Tina up."

Alexander closed the book in his hand on the sofa before coming over. "Since you're already here, let's have dinner together."

Tina also nodded. "I'm hungry, Mommy."

Courtney could only give in and sat herself down; she would appear pretentious if she turned them down again.

"Mommy, have a taste of this sweet and sour fish. I said that this is your favorite dish, and Mr. Alexander made a special effort to ask the cook to prepare this!" Tina blinked her eyes as if trying to present a treasure to Courtney.

Courtney felt even more embarrassed upon hearing this. She shot a fleeting glance at Alexander and said, "Thanks for the effort."

"Uh-huh." Alexander didn't bother with any polite remarks,

He was about to scoop up some food with the spoon in his hand when he suddenly sensed his sleeve

being pulled. When he lowered his head, he saw Jordan tugging at his sleeves with one hand while holding his drawing board in the other. A line had been written on the drawing board before he realized it. It read, "Pick some food."

With that, Alexander spooned some food into Jordan's bowl in resignation.

Jordan became anxious, though; he kept tugging at Alexander's sleeve while desperately shooting glances in Courtney's direction. Only then did Alexander realize that Jordan wanted him to pick up some food for Courtney instead of him.

This little brat! he thought to himself.

Courtney was eating in silence with her head down when a long, clean hand suddenly reached out in front of her. Then, the hand spooned a chunk of meat from the sweet and sour fish's belly into the bowl before her.

She looked up to meet Alexander's calm eyes. Looking flattered, she thanked, "Thank you. I can pick the food myself."

"Eat it. Jordan wanted me to pick it up for you." Alexander's chilly voice sounded very natural. He sounded as if trying to assert that he had nothing to do with the action of picking up food for her, but in reality, what he said sounded even more suggestive to the others.

On the first hearing, his words gave the impression of a happy family with loving parents and filial children.

It wasn't like they hadn't had dinner together before, but the reason why they had dinner together last time was because Jordan liked the food she prepared. However, after that incident the night before yesterday, it was honestly too difficult for Courtney to have dinner with Alexander as if nothing had happened.

Unbeknownst to her, Alexander had invited her to dinner on purpose.

When he sent her back that day, what she said in the car about them not having to be concerned as adults sounded lighthearted and casual, yet Alexander found her remark deeply uncomfortable. The more he thought about it, the more he felt like she had taken advantage of him.

Aren't you unconcerned about it? In that case, I'd like to see how unconcerned you can be.

The two kids ate their dinner very slowly as if on purpose. They had spent two hours eating since Courtney came, yet they hadn't finished their meals yet.

When Tina finally ate the last spoon of food in her bowl at Courtney's urging, it was already dark outside. Courtney checked the time and found that it was already past 10.00 PM.

"Where's your school bag, Tina? Pack your things up-it's time for us to go home."

Tina blinked her eyes. "Aren't we staying here today, Mommy?"

Courtney blushed upon hearing this. "No, that's not going to happen. We need to go home, so hurry up and get your school bag."

"There's no need for that. There's no taxi outside at this time." Alexander's voice could be heard from the living room. "The guest room is ready."

"Hurray!" Tina exulted as soon as Alexander finished his sentence. Jumping for joy, she quickly followed Jordan upstairs, leaving Courtney behind. "Let's play on the trampoline, Jordan.