Chapter 346 Do You Have 20 Million Dollars?
At that moment, anyone who heard Courtney calling Alexander ‘hubby’ so flirtatiously would get goosebumps. Yet, she batted her eyes at him with an innocent look on her face. “Don’t make things difficult for me, okay?”
All of a sudden, he froze. As he turned to look at her, his eyes were burning with desire. “What did you call me? Say it one more time,” he uttered a husky voice.
“First, promise me that you’ll move out for the time being.”
“Sure,” he replied without hesitation because he knew that stalling worked on her every time; he was already familiar with such situations.
Just when he thought it was over, she changed the topic. “I want ice cream.”
“Now?”
“Yes. Could you get some for me, hubby?” She batted her eyes again.
His heart stirred after hearing her call him ‘hubby’ twice. Right then, he was dying to devour her after seeing how she had learned to torment him this way.
“Go get me some ice cream. I’ll take a bath and wait for you to come back.”
As he thought of her beautiful face after she had taken a bath, his eyes gleamed lustfully. Without demur, he turned and headed to the door. “Wait for me.”
Watching as he left, she smiled complacently before changing the password of the digital door lock. Then, she sent him a text and thought to herself, Dear hubby, I guess you won’t be coming back home tonight. After that, she turned off her phone.
She had to pack her things that night as she would be going to Oreus early in the morning the next day. He would be a nuisance if he stayed.
Meanwhile, he received a text message just as he reached the ground floor. ‘Hubby, I was thinking, why don’t we start today since you promised that we would live separately before our wedding? I just changed the door lock’s password just in case you give in. I guess you’ll have to drive home tonight. Sorry. I love you!’
Then, a gust of cold wind brushed the back of his neck. The enthusiasm he had just a moment ago was gone.
Then, it dawned upon him that she was up to no good every time she called him ‘hubby’. Yet, he would forget and fall for her tricks again and again.
After grumbling about it for a moment, he sighed and walked toward his car.
I chose her to be my wife. What else can I do? I guess I’ll just have to love her as she is.
——
…
The next day, Courtney drove to Oreus early in the morning.
As soon as Courtney reached Oreus, she bumped into the receptionist of Hostel D’Amour, Mia, who was taking the trash out. There were clinking sounds as Mia threw the broken glass from the dustpan into the bin.
Seeing this, Courtney walked over to Mia.
“Hey, you’re Miss Hunter! You came to our hostel before.” Mia’s eyes brightened up when she saw Courtney.
Nodding, Courtney asked casually, “Why are you throwing so many shattered glass pieces? Did something break?”
Mia’s face turned grim when she heard this. “Don’t even get me started. The hostel’s like an empty shell right now. Almost everything is broken.”
Hearing this, Courtney was stunned. “What happened?”
As Mia brought Courtney into the hostel, Courtney noticed that all the windows and glass on the door were gone before she even entered. All the tables and chairs were not where they were supposed to be and were piled up in one corner with missing legs. The once vibrant common area had become empty.
“A group of gangsters turned our shop upside down and took Mr. Oliver away three days ago.”
“What?” Courtney’s face turned pale. “Did you call the police?”
“No,” Mia shook her head and whispered. “Madam won’t let us. Besides, she asked me to go home early after cleaning up. But I feel uneasy about all this. Did Mr. Oliver offend someone? Or do they have something on him? Why did they break into our shop and smash our things?”
“Where’s Madam?” Courtney glanced at the second floor. “Is she upstairs?”
“Yup.”
“I’ll go check on her.” With that, Courtney ran upstairs to Fiona’s room.
Considering how she refused to call the police even when her son was taken away, I wonder how much leverage they have on her.
In the meantime, Fiona was busy packing her things in her room. All of her jewelry was on the desk. She was wearing a mauve knitted dress, and her eyes were still red from crying. Just then, she froze when she saw Courtney and quickly wiped her tears.
“Why are you here?”
“What happened?” Courtney closed the door and went straight to the point. “Who took Oliver away?”
Frowning, Fiona muttered, “Stop asking. It has nothing to do with you. Aren’t you getting married to Alexander soon? Go back.”
“You’re Alexander’s mother, and Oliver’s his brother. Do you think I could act as if nothing had happened and go back?”
Though Fiona had a mild temper, she was stubborn. After Courtney said this, Fiona kept quiet, as if hoping this could force Courtney to leave.
After calming down, Courtney tried to get Fiona to loosen up. “Madam, how about this? I won’t ask what happened. I’ll do anything to help Oliver. Anything. Just tell me. You have to. He’s like a brother to me.”
Slowly, Fiona lifted her head and stared at Courtney for a long time. Then, Fiona’s eyes welled up with tears.
Moments later, Fiona finally asked, “Can I borrow some money? I’ll use the hostel as a mortgage, and I’ll think of a way to pay you back. I really don’t know what to do right now.”
Upon hearing this, Courtney sighed in relief. “Is this something that can be solved with money? Don’t worry. I’ll think of a way. How much do you need?”
Finding it difficult to reply, Fiona clenched her teeth. Finally, she gritted, “He asked for 20 million, but I only have a million or so, and it’s too late even if I sell the hostel.”
To Courtney, 20 million was not a small amount. Courtney furrowed her brows and squeezed her hands, forcing herself not to ask further, then said, “Okay. I’ll think of something. Don’t worry.”
Courtney didn’t have 20 million dollars, but Alexander did. She trusted that he wouldn’t refuse to help in such a dire situation.
Knowing that Fiona did not want to get involved with him, Courtney comforted her before going downstairs to give him a call. “Hey, I have something to ask you. Are you free?”
“Yup. What is it?”
“Do you have 20 million?” she asked.
Then, there was silence at the other end of the phone. “Yes.”
Immediately, she let out a sigh of relief. “Let me tell you something. I’m at Hostel D’Amour in Oreus, Oliver’s family’s hostel. Something happened here, and they need money urgently. Can you help?”
After a few seconds of silence, he questioned, “Did you make me leave last night so you could go there today?”
“Yes, but that’s not important right now. Just help them first, okay?”
After a long silence, a cold voice sounded. “I’ll ask Josh to pick you up tonight. Their business is none of our business.”
