Chapter 114 Don’t Mention Him to Me
When Courtney returned home at night, she wrapped an apron around her waist and cooked some noodles in the kitchen for Tina.
Then, Tina ran toward her with a smile and asked, “Mommy, are you in a good mood today?”
“What is it? Why are you asking?”
“I’m just asking!” Tina sniffed with her nose. “Mommy, did you receive flowers? I can smell the scent of it all over you.”
Upon hearing her daughter, Courtney immediately furrowed her brows.
However, Tina had not noticed it, so she continued to ask with expectation. “Is it Mr. Alexander? It smells like roses and is fragrant!”
The moment she spoke those words, a loud ‘clang’ was heard as Courtney immediately stabbed her knife on the cutting board and growled, “Do not mention his name to me!”
Instantly, Tina trembled as she felt a shiver down her neck. When she lifted her head, she saw Courtney’s gloomy face, causing her tiny heart to race while she quickly fled the scene. What happened? I thought sending her flowers would definitely win her over.
As the chopping sound of meat continued to ring in the kitchen, Tina hid in her bedroom and secretly made a call. “Grandpa Scott, Mommy seems to be angrier than before—no, she was merely unhappy before, but she’s really angry now!”
After a while of silence, he replied, “We’ll think of another way.”
In the dining room of the Duncans’ ancestral home, Scott looked gloomy as he hung up on the call. This makes no sense. I thought women are usually happy to receive flowers. Why is she angry instead?
Courtney seemed to have calmed down during dinner after chopping all those pork ribs, so she grabbed some ribs for Tina. “You should eat more. When I’m not at home during the day, you can heat up the ribs in the microwave yourself. You shouldn’t eat a lot of junk food.”
Tina bit her ribs and murmured, “Mommy, it’s boring to stay at home alone everyday. Why don’t you sign me up for extra-curricular activities?”
“Extra-curricular activities?” Courtney was slightly startled. “What do you want to learn?”
“Swimming!” Tina ran to her room before returning with a laptop that showed an admission advertisement for a summer swimming class. “I’ve already found a class. The kids can attend classes by themselves from Monday to Sunday whereas you can accompany me there on the weekends.”
“I don’t even know how to swim.” Courtney furrowed her brows. “Why should I even go there?”
“That’s fine. I’ve asked them and they told me that there will be a free class for adults on Saturday, so you can learn with me.”
“When did you ask?” Courtney looked confused.
“I called them earlier.” Tina wore an innocent expression. “Mommy, aren’t you always worried that I don’t eat well while staying at home alone? As long as you send me to the swimming class in the morning, they’ll even provide lunch!”
“Lunch?” Courtney scanned through the advertisement and mumbled. “It sounds too good to be true. I bet it isn’t cheap.”
“I’ve asked them about that too. There is a 50% discount on their opening day.”
“That means…” Courtney quietly counted the price before letting out a sigh of relief. “That’s alright. I’ll sign you up tomorrow.”
Tina blinked her eyes. “Mommy, you’re the best. Then, you are coming with me to the swimming pool this Saturday, right?”
“No problem.”
The next day, after Courtney sent Tina to the swimming pool, she received a call from her assistant, saying that the hotel’s receptionist came into conflict with one of the guests. She immediately hung up the phone and hurried over.
“What happened?”
The moment she arrived at the hotel, she was met with Addie’s gloomy face. “Aren’t we supposed to clear out the entire hotel to welcome the important guests? However, the filming crew that previously stayed here is a huge problem. I don’t know how they communicated with each other, but the crew’s second female lead was somehow offended.”
“Someone from the crew?” Courtney’s brows tightened. “Second female lead? Is she the one who is staying in room 1213—Brenda Clark?”
“Yes, that’s her. Initially, we’ve discussed with the person in charge of the crew by arranging a nearby hotel for them to stay in. We are responsible for the luggage transportation and their loss of time, but Brenda claimed that she lost a diamond necklace. The surveillance video showed that only the receptionist, Penelope, has been to her room this morning to inform her about the time to move…”
“Are you saying Penelope stole it?” Courtney’s brows tightened. I know everyone in the hotel and Penelope is even someone who I hired myself. She doesn’t seem like someone who would steal.
“Am I not? Brenda is now clamoring to call the police. We are supposed to welcome the important guests, but if we alarm the police and let everyone know that someone from our hotel is a thief, it’ll definitely cause a negative outcome.”
Courtney nodded. “We can’t call the police. By the way, where’s Penelope? Tell her to come to me first so that I can ask her what happened.”
“Alright.” Addie quickly nodded before heading off to look for her.
On the other hand, she went straight to the surveillance room, but as soon as she arrived there, she saw a familiar figure.
“Why are you here?” She looked at Oliver with surprise.
Oliver blinked at her and answered, “Something has happened in the hotel, so my first reaction is to come and check the surveillance video. I have nothing to do anyway, so why don’t I help you out? I have already asked them to cut the recording that you want, so you can just watch it right away.”
Courtney praised him. “Good on you.”
The surveillance video showed the door outside room 1213 and the operator quickly fast forwarded it at eight times the speed. As soon as the video arrived to last night’s timeline, she was suddenly alert. “Stop.”
The operator quickly pressed the pause button. “Is there any problem, Miss Hunter?”
Courtney raised her hand to inform him not to speak while she focused on the frame on the screen. It was only a while later that she murmured, “Rewind by about five minutes.”
The operator quickly rewinded the video.
“Stop.” While looking at the door, Courtney could see Penelope’s panic. As she took a deep breath, her face grew gloomier. “Just like what Addie told me. Last night at 9PM, Penelope went into room 1213 and there’s probably no one in Brenda’s room at that time.”
However, as Oliver touched his chin and held the glasses on his nose, a trace of wisdom seemed to constantly flicker in his eyes. “It doesn’t look that simple.”
Then, a series of hurried footsteps were heard rushing outside the door and what transpired was Addie panting. “Miss Hunter, something has happened. Penelope is now on the rooftop. She wants to jump off the roof.”
“What?” Courtney’s face suddenly turned pale as she rushed out of the room in her 12cm heels.
On the rooftop of Sunhill Hotel, a slim figure trembled outside the rusty railings. The scorching sun was so bright that it was hard for anyone to keep one’s eyes open while the hot wind blowing on the roof made people feel that they were about to be melted at any time. “Don’t come here. Don’t you guys come here.”
“Penelope, calm down.”
When Courtney arrived at the rooftop, there was already a circle of hotel staff gathering outside. All of them looked nervous with a pale face as they gazed at the shaky figure outside the railings. If something happens to the hotel before the important guests arrive, the hotel and even the entire Sunhill Enterprise will be doomed.
“Move aside. I need all of you to move aside first.” Courtney pushed aside the crowd and walked to the front. The moment she saw the scene in front of her, she was almost frightened to death, but after she calmed down, she raised both her hands and panted. “Penelope, it’s me. You need to calm down. We can talk about it after you step down from there.”
