Chapter 261 Mommy, What’s Wrong With Your Lips?
“According to the previous branch manager, the lady is in her early twenties and very beautiful. She brought the necklace over to ask for the identity of the person who ordered it in our store.”
The branch manager’s voice came clearly over the line. It was like a jolt of shock to Alexander, waking him up immediately.
He had a woman named Hunter right next to him, so he could not help thinking about her.
However, he quickly eliminated the possibility.
Six years ago, I had no interaction with Courtney whatsoever. How could the necklace end up with her?
As he denied his guess, some memories flickered in his mind.
All this while, he suspected that the necklace was lost by the surrogate woman during that night six years ago. However, his previous butler, Louis vehemently denied it. According to him, he already asked the woman but it was not with her.
After Louis returned from the hospital with Jordan, he resigned immediately. When Alexander asked Josh to investigate this matter, they found out that Louis died in an accident. Apart from that, from the obstacles they faced when they looked into the surrogate woman, he knew that Louis must be hiding something about the surrogacy back then.
Flocks of birds flew past the window and the cerulean blue sky of Melrose City looked alive on this day.
Looking out the window, Alexander was deep in thought.
Then, he tapped his slender fingers on the phone.
“Head over to the ancestral home and ask Harry for the list of employees who worked with Louis back then. Look them up one by one and ask them about the surrogacy; you can pressure, force, or coerce them—do whatever to get the job done.”
On the other end of the line, Josh was stunned for a moment before returning to his senses.
“Understood; consider it done.”
“Good.”
After he hung up the phone, Alexander took his pajamas and walked into the bathroom.
If there was something up with surrogate, what would it take to make Louis—an experienced butler in our family—suddenly resign?
Seeing Courtney, who was fast asleep in the bathtub, Alexander suddenly had a wild thought. It only lasted for a moment before he warded it off simply because of the sheer absurdity.
Courtney slept until noon before waking up.
When she woke up, it was relatively lively outside. Jordan and Tina were both watching the television in the living room. Tina wanted to watch Shay’s live concert replay but Jordan did not allow it and switched channels when she was distracted. Hence, the both of them quarreled and fought in the living room.
Oliver was nowhere to be seen, but Alexander was cooking in the kitchen.
Did the sun rise from the west today?
Courtney ruffled her messy hair as she stood by the bedroom door for a while, still looking quite sleepy.
“Mommy, why did you just wake up? You sleepyhead!” Tina ran to her and appraised her curiously. “What’s wrong with your lips, Mommy?”
“What?”
Courtney froze for a moment before covering her lips with her hands right after she returned to her senses. In a muffled voice, she said, “Uh… I accidentally knocked the cabinet yesterday, so it’s swollen.”
“What? Does it hurt? Let’s go to the hospital.”
Tina grabbed Courtney’s pants, wanting to leave then and there.
“It’s alright.” Courtney looked extremely embarrassed. “I’ll just rest and drink more water. You guys continue to have fun among yourselves.”
With that, Courtney avoided both kids and entered the kitchen.
Initially, she was just planning to have a glass of water. However, right after she entered, Alexander looked at her meaningfully.
“Your lips have become swollen due to the knock? Let me see if it’s serious.”
With that, he took a few steps closer to Courtney, who quickly retreated while blushing.
Face flushed, she mumbled in a low voice, “Stay away from me.”
“Let me have a look.” Alexander wrapped his huge hands around her waist and pulled her to his chest. “What kind of cabinet can make your lips swell to this extent? Why don’t we remove it?”
“Are you done?” Furious, Courtney struggled to get out of his embrace and punched him hard. “Stop taking further advantage of me!”
“I’m not the only one who took advantage, am I?”
“Hey—” Courtney raised her voice.
Tina’s voice immediately rang from the living room. “Mommy, what’s wrong?”
“N-Nothing.” Courtney quickly explained. “I’m pouring some tea.”
When she turned around, she glared at Alexander and warned him, “You better pretend as though nothing happened last night.”
Just as Alexander was about to speak, she cut him off, “Don’t ask me anything. I haven’t sorted out my thoughts and I need some time to digest what happened last night. If you still want to stay here, you’d better shut it.”
Alexander stayed silent for a moment, looking as though he wanted to say something.
“What’s with that expression?” Courtney frowned. “Do you think that I’m being unreasonable?”
Alexander arched his eyebrows slightly as he said in a low voice, “I just wanted to ask you—do you want a sunny side-up?”
As soon as she heard that, Courtney’s expression immediately changed and she felt as though the air was closing in on her. “Ahem… A-Anything goes.”
With that, she poured a glass of water before quickly leaving.
As Alexander watched her leave hastily, the amused expression in his eyes deepened.
If she wants to take it slow and think it through, so be it. I have all the time in the world to wait for her.
Since the interaction between them was about the same as before, it was only a matter of confirming their relationship. Hence, he did not care about that.
Sometimes, Alexander even suspected Courtney liked the feeling of a secretive relationship. If so, he did not mind indulging her for a while.
But only for a while.
After lunch, Bill requested Courtney to attend a meeting at the company.
Hence, she had to leave both the kids in Alexander’s care.
Before she left, she put her card and some cash on the coffee table. “You can bring them along to buy anything else that’s needed.”
Alexander froze when he saw what she was doing. However, after a short moment, he let it slide. After all, he was the one who said that he was broke last night., so he could only accept this momentarily. “Alright.”
“The pin number for the card is Tina’s birthday.” After she finished speaking, Courtney suddenly froze. Then, she told him the number directly, avoiding his eyes the whole time.
Truth was, she was quite nervous because when Alexander once asked when Tina’s birthday was, the date she told him was two months in advance.
Perhaps he doesn’t remember it anymore. I can only hope for that.
“Oh, and Bill probably has some urgent matters to discuss with me, so I’ll have to make a move.”
With that, Courtney quickly took her bag and walked to the door to put on her shoes.
After staring at the money on the table for a while, when Alexander saw the card, he quietly repeated the pin that Courtney told him just now. However, he immediately frowned and raised his head to look at her back after she hastily turned around.
“Tina’s birthday is in March? I remember you told me it’s in January,” he asked, feeling perplexed.
Courtney’s body slightly froze as blood drained from her face.
“Really? Didn’t I say it’s in March?”
With her back to Alexander, Courtney tried to conceal her discomfort.
“No. You said it was January.”
Then, she heard Alexander walking toward her.
“I-Is that so?” Courtney could hear her own voice trembling. “Why don’t I remember that? When did that happen? You probably remembered it wrong.”
Alexander was already standing right behind her.
“Impossible. You clearly told me it was January. Jordan’s birthday is also in March, so if you told me that Tina’s birthday is in March, I would surely remember because the date you just mentioned is the same day as Jordan’s birthday.”
