Chapter 311 Will This Work?
Meanwhile, a woman in a white fur coat had been waiting for a long while inside a booth at a Japanese restaurant. The restaurant’s interior was carefully designed to evoke a certain atmosphere.
Courtney’s smile slowly froze over the moment the waiter opened the door to the booth.
“This is Belle Smith.” Alexander introduced the woman before glancing at her. “And this is my fiancee, Courtney Hunter.”
Belle got up from the tatami she had been sitting on and smiled at Courtney. “Nice to meet you.”
Courtney squeezed out a smile that was even uglier than a crying face. “Nice to meet you too.”
Nevertheless, Alexander didn’t notice the look on Courtney’s face as he pulled her over to take a seat.
Courtney took in Belle’s appearance. Compared to her view from a distance last night, she found it far easier to survey Belle up close. Belle was a pretty woman. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail, and tiny little strawberries were printed on her white fur coat. She looked at Courtney with a somewhat bashful smile. “I’ve been hearing from Mr. Duncan about how beautiful his fiancee is. Now that I’m meeting you in person, I’m truly in awe.”
Courtney wasn’t swayed by this. In fact, she felt a little repulsed. She simply sized Belle up, waiting for Alexander or Belle to speak. Anyone would feel awkward after several seconds of silence, so at last, Alexander spoke up. “Belle is a child psychologist. I wanted to ask her a few things about Jordan.”
Courtney rolled the hem of her blouse between her fingers under the table. “Really? A child psychologist? Didn’t you say before that you got in touch with a German psychologist? Are you from Germany, Miss Smith?” Her tone had an aggressive touch to it. Both Alexander and Belle tensed up at that.
After a moment of contemplation, Alexander seemingly came to a realization, his forehead wrinkling up almost imperceptibly.
“Then, have you taken a look at Jordan yet? What’s your opinion?” Courtney spoke up, breaking up the frozen atmosphere.
Belle seemed relieved. “Not yet, actually. I’m just going over the details with Mr. Duncan first. He said that Jordan typically spends more time with you, so I’d like to know how Jordan typically behaves.”
Courtney had plenty of experience when it came to doctor consultations because of Jordan’s mental problems. After a few simple questions, she realized that Belle was actually a professional. From the looks of things, she’s the real deal. Could I have been mistaken? At this point, she started doubting herself.
Cameron had said that Alexander was in touch with Jordan’s ‘birth mother,’ but it was also true that she had never mentioned how the woman looked, or what her name was. Courtney had ended up jumping to conclusions because she saw Alexander and Belle standing together last night.
“Jordan’s condition probably doesn’t have much to do with his illness when he was younger. The most likely possibility is that he suffered a severe fright, or he might have seen news about babysitters abusing the children under their care or something similar. Adults always assume that children aren’t really aware of things because of their age, but that’s not the case in reality.”
Belle had a serious look on her face as she delved into her expertise. “Newborns are like blank canvases. Everything after that depends on the adults around them. If you paint them with a myriad of colors, that’s how they’ll be. And if all you paint on them is black, that’s how they’ll be too. Jordan cutting himself off from everyone is most likely because someone had once threatened him by forbidding him to open his mouth.”
With just a simple explanation, Belle had cut right to the heart of the matter. Courtney balled her fists up. This was more or less in line with what she and Oliver had uncovered.
Back then, Britney had been free to come and go from the Duncan Residence. The babysitter in charge of Jordan’s care, Sarah Jones, had said that she often saw Britney go to the yard to see Jordan. Even stranger still, Jordan rarely kicked up a fuss whenever Britney was around while no one else could coax him to behave.
Initially, the Duncans thought that it was because Britney knew how to cajole Jordan. And it was also because of this that Scott frequently turned a blind eye to Britney’s frequent coming and goings. Later on, when Courtney talked about this detail with Oliver, she suddenly felt great fear.
Back then, probably no one would have thought that a C-list celebrity like Britney would have the guts to do anything to the young heir of the Duncan Family. But, what if she did? And the reality today told them that not only did Britney actually dare to do what she did, but she even had someone else behind her helping to cover it up.
“So, are there any ways to help solve this?” Courtney looked at Belle, reining in her earlier enmity.
“Slowly try to get him to come out of his shell. If you can, try not to treat him with medicine. But if you know what happened to him in the past and can bear a moment of cruelty, you can also choose to reenact the scene and change Jordan’s perception of the past.”
“Reenact the scene?” Courtney was caught by surprise. “Will it work?”
“There’s data backing this up. And the younger the child, the better the effects.”
Alexander’s brow furrowed, guilt showing in his eyes. “But no one knows what happened then.”
All at once, the booth fell silent. Alexander hadn’t been by Jordan’s side three years ago. By the time Jordan came to live with him, the boy had already stopped talking.
After a long silence, Courtney looked up and said, “I know what happened back then.”
Alexander’s expression stiffened, and he looked at Courtney with an inquisitive gaze. This is something that even I couldn’t find out despite my investigations. How did Courtney find out?
“Jordan told me before,” Courtney lied. She had to lie to cover up certain details so that Jordan could get treatment. “From the few fragments he said and the drawings he made, we can draw the conclusion that someone used to forbid him from speaking, and they threatened him.”
Alexander’s gaze chilled. “Who was it?”
Courtney’s frown deepened. After a moment of hesitation, she shook her head in the end. She shouldn’t know so much about this in the first place. If she revealed too much, she wouldn’t be able to escape others’ suspicions as to why she was so knowledgeable.
“Then we can assume that’s the case for now,” Belle continued. “If so, then it won’t be difficult reenacting the scene, but I’d like to know your opinions.”
Alexander and Courtney exchanged looks. Courtney was hesitant. As of now, she couldn’t confirm the credibility of Belle’s identity. “We’ll consider it.”
“Okay.” Belle had a look of understanding on her face. “All right, then. If you decide to go through with it, you can get in touch with me any time.” She then got up and picked up her coat and bag. “I still have other matters to attend to, so I’ll be going now. You can take your time with your meal.”
“Why not eat together? The food should be coming soon.” Courtney was stunned.
“It’s okay.” Belle’s lips pulled up into a smile, one that was a little wry. “I still have to go back to the hospital. The nurse aide will only stay until eight tonight. I still have to return when the shift ends.”
At the mention of ‘hospital’ and ‘nurse aide,’ Courtney didn’t know what to say. After Belle left, she looked at Alexander. “Hospital?”
“Belle’s husband has late-stage stomach cancer. The doctors said that he has only half a year left; they don’t plan to operate on him because of that. But still, he has to stay in the hospital,” Alexander explained briefly. “She has to go over every night to watch over him.”
Courtney’s expression tensed up. While she was regretting her earlier attitude toward Belle, she didn’t notice the complicated look in Alexander’s eyes. It looked as though he was mulling over his words.
