Chapter 431 Shouldn’t Harbor a Grudge
Generally, each time Linda came to look for her, there was bound to be trouble. At that moment, Courtney recalled Linda’s previous threat and how Linda had forced her to attend a blind date. As Courtney had been extremely busy with work for the last two days, she had completely forgotten about it.
“Dr. Hunter, why are you in a hurry? I have the rest of the day off too, so let’s go for a drink.”
“Chief Hass…” Courtney then forced a smile. “I’m off work now and my two daughters are waiting for me at home. I have to go.”
“That’s just the perfect timing. I heard that you’re great at cooking. How about we head over to your place for a drink?”
Frankly speaking, Courtney was not prepared to invite Linda, who had such an exalted presence, to her home, so she hurriedly rejected by saying, “My house is a mess right now. It’s not fit to host any guests at the current moment. I’ll definitely invite the gang over for a party once I’ve cleaned up the place.”
“I don’t mind. Since I’m rather free, how about I head over and help you to clean up the place? We’re all part of a close-knit and large family at Melrose Hospital anyway.”
At that point, the two of them went back and forth on this topic for more than ten minutes. In the end, Courtney finally lost her patience. “Chief Hass, I honestly can’t attend the blind date on your behalf.”
At this moment, Linda’s beam widened. “Dr. Hunter, look here. I’ve already mentioned this before, stop addressing me as Chief Hass. We don’t have a huge age gap, so you can just address me by my name.”
Meanwhile, Courtney looked at the smile on Linda’s face and felt a chill run down her spine.
“Well, the thing is that the patient in the first VIP room needs a qualified doctor to care for him 24/7. I noticed that you seem to know the old man well, so you should be quite familiar with his daily lifestyle. I reckon you would be the best candidate for that role.”
Courtney’s expression then stiffened, but she solemnly replied after a short while, “Don’t worry, Chief Hass. I’ll definitely turn up for the blind date tomorrow.” It was fine for someone to stand their ground against throwing in the towel in exchange of gaining interests, but if it could prevent a potentially awkward situation, then perhaps it was alright to agree just this once.
After all, she wasn’t ready to face Scott yet. As such, it would be a rather tough job to take care of him at the hospital 24/7.
It was almost immediately after Courtney’s promise that Linda let Courtney off the hook.
As soon as Courtney arrived home, she sank onto the couch right away. She felt a looming headache when she realized that she had to impersonate Linda and attend a blind date on Linda’s behalf. This is such a farce!
At the same time, there was a congratulatory tone for the successful level in a video game that came from the bedroom. Soon, a tiny head poked out of the room. “Mommy, Great-Aunt Alicia has invited us over for dinner at her house tomorrow.”
Huh?! A shocked Courtney turned and heaved a sigh before she responded, “I won’t be able to join you guys. Why don’t you go over with Angie? By the way, bring along the clothes that we bought for Josie.”
“Okay.” Tina nodded before she retreated to her room.
Soon after that, Angie’s head popped up from the room as well. “I’m not going there. Josie treats me like an enemy and she swipes at me as soon as she sees me. I don’t want to go.”
“That happened when she was a kid.” Courtney then shot a look at Angie. “She took a swipe at you because you fought with her for her plushie. You deserved that!”
Meanwhile, Angie’s face had an aggrieved look. “She’s still a kid now! I don’t want to go. Not to mention, Great-Aunt Alicia doesn’t like me either.”
“So, Angie’s actually afraid of Great-Aunt Alicia. Haha!” Tina’s laugh reverberated throughout the room and it sounded like Tina was mocking. “Great-Aunt Alicia always has something to say about Angie’s hair each time she sees Angie.”
“Anyway, I’ve decided that I’m not going there.” A recalcitrant Angie seethed with anger.
By that point, Courtney facepalmed, seemingly exasperated with the situation.
It was at that moment when her cell phone suddenly rang and she glanced at the device to see that it was a daily reminder. There were a few words that read ‘visitation day’ in blue flashing across the screen.
“Alright, it’s fine if you don’t want to go. I need to bring you somewhere else too.”
A surprised Angie paused in her tracks.
Meanwhile, a curious Tina was behind Angie and she asked, “Mommy, where are you bringing Angie to? I want to follow.”
Angie then gave an awkward cough before her expression and tone of voice suddenly became unnatural. “You can’t come along with us. By the way, you haven’t seen Josie in ages, right? In that case, you should go and visit Great-Aunt Alice.”
When Courtney noticed Angie’s change of expression, there were mixed feelings.
The date that popped up as a reminder was the day in which Angie’s biological father, Regan, was granted his visitation rights. Her father was in fact the fatso who had released Courtney previously on that deserted island.
As night fell, Tina was more than ready to head off to bed after brushing her teeth. Meanwhile, Courtney was in bed and reading a book as Angie climbed into the bed with a pillow in hand. Then, Angie hugged one of Courtney’s arms in the silence as she stared at Courtney unblinkingly.
“Can’t sleep, huh?” In the end, Courtney closed the book that she was reading before she lowered her head to look at Angie.
Angie’s voice quivered as she confessed, “I miss my mom.”
This girl has turned out to be a beautiful lady, compared to how she looked when she was in that deserted mountain. Courtney ruffled Angie’s hair while lamenting, “Your mom would be excited to see you today. You’ve grown from a scrawny, dark-skinned little girl into such a pretty young lady.”
At this moment, Angie’s eyes widened as she glared at Courtney with fury. “Was I very ugly back then?”
“You were.”
“Hey!”
“Stop complaining. You said that you missed your mom, right? I’m legally considered as your mom, so how about addressing me with that term just this once?”
“No way!” Angie rolled her eyes, but she didn’t relinquish her grip on Courtney’s arm. In fact, Angie tightened her grip instead. “You’re just slightly older than me, so how could you have given birth to a child my age?”
“Well, it’s true that I wouldn’t be able to deliver someone of your age, but I did bring you home with me.”
“You already have three kids. Do you really need another one?!”
In fact, Angie wasn’t that old, but she had a sharp tongue since she was a child. However, once she had said those words, she suddenly fell silent.
Courtney was fairly confident at that point that she knew what was on Angie’s mind. Under the warm hues of the lights in the room, she lay down and took Angie into her arms. “That’s right. I’m a mom of three kids, so having another child wouldn’t make much of a difference. As for him, he doesn’t have any kids in his lifetime.”
The moment she was met with Angie’s silence, she continued, “Back then, before you left Melrose City with me, I asked you whether you wanted to say goodbye to your dad. However, as you had a strong abhorrence for anything related to the deserted island, you didn’t acknowledge him as your dad. You’re not wrong about that. The truth is that he isn’t your dad. Do you resent me for hiding the truth from you all this while?”
“I don’t resent you.” Angie’s muffled voice rang out from underneath the blanket. “Even if you told me the truth back then, I wouldn’t have believed it. I made an oath as a child to escape that place, so no one would have been able to stop me from leaving.”
“Well, even if you resent me, there’s nothing you can do about it.” Courtney flicked Angie on her forehead at that moment. “It was your uncle who stopped me from telling you. Since I owe my life to him, it’s obvious that I had to keep my promise. Go to bed now. We have to wake up early tomorrow, you know.”
In fact, no one could have known that the fatso from the deserted island wasn’t actually Angie’s dad, but rather her maternal uncle. He had brought his younger sister and Angie with him back then to seek refuge on the deserted island. The man had claimed that his sister—Angie’s mother—was his wife to ward off the unwanted attention of those roguish guys on the island, but it was a shame that he had managed to keep everyone else but Dragon at bay.
The horrible ordeal ended up pushing Angie’s mom to commit suicide and leaving behind a young daughter upon her death. As a result, Fatty had been guilt-ridden ever since and eventually entrusted Angie in Courtney’s care. He had requested that she take good care of Angie and provide a stable and peaceful childhood without Angie ever learning the truth.
Courtney had kept her word to him and hid the truth from Angie for five years, but now that she was nearly eighteen, she had the right to know what had happened. Furthermore, Angie shouldn’t continue to harbor a grudge against her uncle who had been so fiercely protective of her all this while.
