One Night Surprise (Courtney and Alexander)

Chapter 16

We aren't" Courtney answered the influencer with a straight face. "Miss Heather, what do you think we are forgetting?"

The influencer immediately came back to her senses and shouted while pointing at Courtney's face, "Are you now discarding your previous promise? Where is your shame? Do you really think you can get away with what happened last night?"

A bunch of onlookers were starting to gather in the hall.

However, Courtney didn't hesitate and went straight to the point. "Miss Heather, last night you claimed that there were cockroaches in your room, so we immediately handled it and arranged a new room for you. I promised that we'd provide you the compensation needed if the situation was true, but now, we believe that the cockroaches had nothing to do with our hotel at all."

Upon hearing her words, the influencer was so enraged that her face turned red.

IL

"I have seen many shameless people before, but I've never met anyone as shameless as the staff of the Sunhill Hotel. Are you now bullying your guest? Just you wait as I call the Commerce and Health Departments right this instance."

"You can make the call all you want." Courtney remained calm as she spoke slowly. "I specially took the cockroaches in your room last night to the medical school for an inspection, and the results showed that the cockroaches had been dead for at least five days because their bodies had dried out. However, last night, you claimed that you killed the cockroaches on our carpet 30 minutes after staying in our hotel. This is really odd.".

The moment her words came out, it stirred up the crowd surrounding them.

This is the same situation as someone throwing a bug in the bowl after their meal just to frame the restaurant. She is obviously here to play victim and scam the hotel.

As soon as the influencer noticed that the people around were starting to criticize her, she immediately lowered her head and ran away as fast as she could without uttering another word.

After the situation had been settled, everyone in the hotel was more impressed by Courtney, especially her assistant, Addie, who admired her for having the courage to deal with those two cockroaches. "Miss Hunter, I can't believe you dared to bring such a terrifying thing out for an inspection. That day, I used up half my breath just to put it in the bag."

"That's why you still need more training. Now, I need you to think of a way to deal with the negative reviews."

She calmly patted Addie's shoulder and strode back into the office with her head held high. The moment she shut the office door, she lay against the back of the door and released a huge sigh of relief. Actually, ever since last night, she was absolutely disgusted by the two cockroaches to a point where she couldn't even bring herself to drink water.

I'm no better than Addie. This is all to maintain my reputation.

After a week, the hotel's negative reviews still weren't resolved.

Therefore, Courtney personally checked every room in the hotel, but after confirming herself that there weren't any problems, she went back to her office confused. In the office, not only did she realize that the hotel's performance was far from what had been set in the bet, it was also drastically declining, so she sighed resignedly.

What the hell! Did the hotel offend someone lately? Is someone purposely sabotaging the hotel behind the scenes?

A few minutes before getting off work, she answered a phone call from her father, who told her to meet him in a cafe near the company.

When she got there, her father, Lucian, had already arrived, looking a little uneasy.

"I've ordered a cup of hot milk for you. Drinking too much coffee is bad for your sleep. However, if you don't like it, you can order something else."

Courtney shook her head. "It's fine. I'll drink anything."

Finally, Lucian let out a sigh of relief and smiled. "Courtney, I'm quite surprised and happy when you called me."

With her head down, Courtney stirred the milk in her cup as she refused to look at her father. After a while of hesitation, she said, "Dad, I asked to see you because I wanted you to help me with something."

"What is it? You can tell me."

Courtney rarely asked him for favors, so he was quite delighted to hear her asking him for help.

"On my 18th birthday six years ago, didn't you give me a house as a gift? Is it still mine?"

Even though the company had lots of work and was very busy during this period, she still wanted to move out of Alexander's house because she felt that it was inappropriate for her to stay in his house with Tina. After much consideration, she had no choice, but that was when she recalled the house gifted to her by her father.

"Of course it is." Lucian's brows were raised slightly, showing signs of excitement. "Your name is still on the property deed, which means it's technically your house."

"Thanks, Dad." Courtney felt a little uneasy. Although she was trying to make herself look more gentle, her tone still had traces of alienation, as if she wasn't talking to her own father. "But I didn't take the keys when I left. When will you be at home? Can I go back and take it?"

"It doesn't matter whether I'm at home or not. You can come by anytime you like. However, you must remember to inform me before coming home so that I can ask your aunt to prepare a proper meal for us to eat as a family."

"I don't want to trouble you, Dad."

"There's no trouble at all." Lucian seemed to be firm with his words. After a moment of hesitation, he continued, "Remember to bring your daughter too. After all, she is my granddaughter. The family and I would like to meet her."

Upon mentioning Tina, Courtney bit her lips tightly. "I'm not so sure about this. She is still young, so she can't handle too many people gossiping about her. I'll bring her to meet you when she's older." Lucian furrowed his brow, as if he wanted to persist on his request, but at the end, he let out a sigh of relief and gave up.

After leaving the cafe, Lucian got into his car and started coughing uncontrollably. He used a handkerchief to cover his mouth while coughing, and when he removed it, he could clearly see stains of blood on the cloth.

"Mr. Lucian, are you alright?" the driver asked nervously while looking through the rearview mirror.

However, Lucian waved his hand and clenched his handkerchief, "I'm fine. It's just an old ailment. Let's

go."

In Shanghai, the negotiations between Alexander and his client continued till midnight. After returning to the hotel, he lay down on the couch and glanced at the dinner sent over by the hotel when he suddenly remembered Courtney's cooking.

"President Duncan, the person you sent to Lowton Town just called me." Josh served a plate of fruits that he had just washed on the coffee table, but his expression looked a little complicated. "He said that Louis is dead."

Alexander's brows tightened. "What happened?"

"He died in a fire. It happened the night before we sent Luca to his house. When he got there, there was nothing left in the house, and Louis had already become a pile of skeletons." Josh sighed as he brought up Louis' death. "Luca sent me photos of the scene. Other than Louis' house, the neighbors on both sides were also caught in the fire, but the two houses were empty because they weren't occupied by anyone. Therefore, Louis' house kept on burning until early in the morning before someone finally found out. When the fire trucks arrived to put out the fire, everything was already burned to the ground." Alexander's brow tightened even more. "What a coincidence."

Louis just so happened to have an accident when I sent someone over to investigate the surrogacy back then? Is there such a coincidence?

"Do you think someone did this?" Josh was starting to look nervous. "No way. That would be murder."

"Haven't you ever heard of murder before?" Alexander stared at him. "There's something fishy about all this. As soon as I'm done with my business in Shanghai, I want you to go there personally to investigate what happened before and after the fire."

Firstly, Louis was the only one who knew about the surrogacy, so I need answers. Secondly, he was an old butler of the Duncan Family, and he had stayed beside grandpa for many years. If there's anything fishy about this, I have the responsibility to find out the truth.

"Will do."

"Also, don't mention Louis' death to my grandpa."

"Understood."

As Alexander nodded his head, he suddenly thought of another matter. "What's the progress with Shay?"

"Everything is done. He signed a five-year contract with Starlight Media straight away. If he breaches the contract, the compensation fee will be enough to put him into bankruptcy." Josh wanted to laugh as he reported the situation to Alexander. This little brat Shay, is so easy to deceive. A slight feint by President Duncan is enough for him to take the bait instantly. After all, he is still young, so he couldn't read the minds of bosses like him.

"Why would I want to terminate his contract?" Alexander flatly refuted. "Isn't it better to keep him so that he can make money for me?"

After hearing his explanation, Josh was dumbfounded as he started to sympathize with Shay upon his realization. President Duncan is trying to drive him insane! Imagine being the servant of someone that you especially hate and being forced to make money for him. If he doesn't earn money for President Duncan, he won't be able to support himself, but if he does make money, half of what he earns will be taken away by his boss. What a painful way to live!

In the Hunter Mansion, Courtney deliberately chose a Monday afternoon to come back and retrieve the keys. This was because Anna was at work, and even though Courtney's stepmom, Susan Yves, wasn't a nice person, she was still polite toward her on the surface, so she wouldn't trouble her. I can just take the keys and leave. It should be fine.

"Miss Courtney." The moment the old maid of the Hunter Family, Mrs. Bell, saw Courtney, she almost burst out in tears. "Miss Courtney, why are you back? Where have you been all these years?"

Mrs. Bell was a maid who followed Courtney's mother in her early years, but ever since her mother's death, she had always stayed beside Courtney to take care of her. In later years, she followed her to the Hunter Family

At the moment, Courtney's eyes were getting a little teary as she held Mrs. Bell's hands and sobbed. "It has been a while since I returned, but I didn't come back here. I'm sorry that I had you worried, Mrs. Bell."

"My worries don't matter. I have no idea how much you've suffered outside. If your mother found out about it, I'm afraid she'd blame me for not taking good care of you."

"I'm quite well actually, Mrs. Bell.”

"Courtney?"

While they were talking, the voice of a woman suddenly broke into their conversation.

Susan was wearing a blue-grey traditional outfit as she stood on the stairs. Her well-preserved face made her look like a 30-year-old lady who still had her charm. When she saw Courtney, Susan's face was filled with shock, but soon after, she composed herself and went down the stairs while welcoming her enthusiastically.

"Courtney, why are you back? You should have told me in advance. I would have asked the kitchen to prepare your favorite dishes."

Hearing that, Courtney let go of Mrs. Bell's hands. "I came back to take something. I'm leaving afterward, so there's no need for all the trouble, Aunt Susan." For many years, she always called her Aunt Susan, and it never changed.

In the early years, she secretly heard Susan complaining to Lucian with an aggrieved face, saying that this daughter of hers was ungrateful and unwilling to call her mother' even though she did all her best to treat her well. However, Lucian rendered her speechless by saying, "You are not her mother in the first place. She's polite enough to call you 'aunt'."

Back then, Susan didn't dare to say anything in front of Lucian, but ever since he left the house, she

smashed countless objects in the house and even abused the maids in the bedroom. At that time, she yelled, "If she isn't my daughter in the first place, why won't he tell me to stop treating her well?" Courtney had seen through a two-faced woman like her long ago when she was a child, but she couldn't never understand why her father couldn't realize that after all these years. Is he blind? she wondered. After a few greetings, Susan didn't stop Courtney from going upstairs. Her room was still the same as before as nothing was touched. Following her memory, she opened the right drawer of her desk and furrowed her brows because the key wasn't there. When I received the gift that year, I clearly placed it here. Someone has gone through my stuff.

Upon seeing her coming down the stairs, Susan got up from the couch and asked gently, "Have you found it?"

"Nope," Courtney answered straight away. "Aunt Susan, the key to my house isn't in my drawer. Has someone gone through my stuff?"

Susan was startled. "House key? What house key?"

"The house key to the villa that my dad gave me six years ago. It's in Golden Water Park."

"I really didn't know about that." Susan denied knowing about it while looking innocent. "I've never entered your room, and it's usually Mrs. Bell who cleans the room for you. Occasionally, your dad would go in to sit for a while. Why don't you ask him?"

"I see. Alright." Courtney didn't want to talk too much with her, so she prepared to leave.

"Courtney, do stay for lunch." Susan tried to ask her to stay. "I've already asked the cooks to prepare your favorite sweet and sour fish."

With her back facing her, Courtney was suddenly a bit frustrated. "If I stay for lunch, I'm afraid you wouldn't even dare to take a bite." "Courtney, what are you talking about? Why would I-"II

"Why wouldn't you?" Courtney turned around and glared at her profoundly. "There isn't anyone here; my dad isn't here either, so you can just stop pretending. My dad can't see what kind of a person you and your daughter are, but I can see it clearly."

With these words, Courtney left the Hunter Mansion without turning back.

Susan leaned on the back of the couch as her face grew gloomy. Slowly, she directed her gaze toward Mrs. Bell, who was standing by the door. "Let me ask you something. What did you tell her?"

Mrs. Bell put on a cold attitude with her head down. "Miss Courtney was only here for less than 10 minutes. What could I have told her?"

"I'm asking about the past. What did you tell her in the past?"

"In the past?" Mrs. Bell lifted her head as her eyes seemed to be bruning, striking fear into Susan's heart. "Do you still remember the past, Madam? I thought you'd forgotten all about it."

The moment her words came out, Susan's hands couldn't stop trembling. This means that the girl knows everything. No wonder... No wonder she refused to come back for so many years! After clinging herself onto Alexander Duncan, what does she actually want now that she's back?

On the other side, Courtney took a cab away from the Hunter Mansion, but she was still feeling