Chapter 370 Want to Take a Bet?
Fiona had a blank look on her face, then surprise flashed through her eyes. She stared at Alexander briefly before regaining her senses and said hurriedly, “No. Coat it with egg liquid first, then bread crumbs.”
“Let me try.”
“The disposable gloves are over there. It’ll be easier if you put them on.”
“Okay.”
Courtney was lying on the sofa, but she still picked up on the conversation in the kitchen. Although Alexander spoke very little, it was good enough for it wasn’t easy for him to take the initiative to speak.
By dinner time, both families had arrived.
Although it wasn’t the eve of the mid-winter holiday yet, it was no less lively right then in the house.
As Courtney and Alexander hadn’t had their wedding yet, Alicia proposed that Courtney celebrate the eve of mid-winter holiday at Alicia’s house, and once they got married, they could make their own decisions on where to celebrate it.
“Courney isn’t a fussy one. I’m sure that after they get married, they’ll be able to live a good life—as long as they trust and support each other, there is nothing else I’d wish for them.”
Alicia had always been frank and straightforward in her speech—she didn’t mince her words.
“Yes, I know.” Fiona nodded. “Courtney is a good child, and I have heard from Oliver that it was not easy for the two to have come together like this—I have always felt guilty that I was never able to take care of Alex well these years, so I’m really relieved and happy that he met Courtney.”
“Okay, now. We’re supposed to have a happy evening, so there’s no need to be so wistful.” Scott couldn’t bear to see such an emotional scene any longer, so he interrupted. “I mean, who could have an easy life in this world? Aren’t we all alright now?”
“Yes.” Courtney took over the conversation. She looked at Fiona and said, “When Alex and I get married, you will move in with us and help us take care of our children.”
Fiona was stunned for a moment. “No need. I’ll just live with Dad.”
Scott snorted. “Oh, I’m used to my peace and quiet. You didn’t even come back to visit me these last few years, and as a result, I’ve gotten used to the peace. Enough of that; you just live with them and help look after their children. You can always come back occasionally to visit for a couple of days in the future.”
Due to the fact that his adopted daughter had never once visited him in the past years, the old man still held a little grudge in his heart and felt the need to take stabs at her from time to time.
Of course, he was the only one who could say that about her; if other people even dared to badmouth Fiona, they’d be ripped to pieces by him.
From this, Courtney could see that the men in the Duncan family were all protective in nature.
On the eve of mid-winter holiday, Cameron and Gale would return from America. In fact, Courtney was going to pick them up, but Gale stopped her through the call, saying that the Langley Family wanted them to go home for the holidays.
“Has your family accepted Cameron?”
“I told you about this a long time ago—my mother is very understanding, and so is my sister.”
“Don’t lie to your family, though. There’s a chance Cameron’s condition might recur.”
“I know.” Gale still sounded extremely excited on the other end of the phone. One would even think by the tone of his voice that he was jumping about in excitement. “My parents are very open-minded; as long as I make it clear to them, they would accept it once they understand. If I lied to them and they found out about it later, they would never forgive me—at least not in this life—so I wouldn’t dare lie to them! This time, they’ve really recognized Cameron as their daughter-in-law.”
“Hey, when did I say I’d marry you?”
Cameron’s scolding voice spread from the other end of the phone, and in a split second, she seemingly snatched the phone from Gale. “I’ll go over to yours for dinner later. Who said that I’ll be at their house for the holiday? I’ll stay with you.”
“Okay. My door will always be wide open for you, but I am looking forward to seeing if you are willing to come back and be separated from Gale.”
No matter what, Courtney was sincerely happy for Cameron.
After hanging up the phone, Courtney felt that the heaviness that had been weighing down on her for years had finally been lifted. She looked up to see Oliver sitting on the sofa watching TV, so she called out to him. “Stop watching the TV. I’m going out tonight to buy things for the wedding; come with me!”
“Why don’t you ask my brother to go instead? You two are the ones getting married. Wouldn’t it be weird when I accompany you instead of your fiancé?”
Oliver was smooth to address Alex as his brother, as if he had secretly practiced to call him this way for the past 20 years.
Courtney sat down beside him. “He drank a lot at the Sunhill Enterprise annual dinner last night and only came back in the early morning. How can he have the energy to come with me?”
“Want to take a bet?”
Oliver turned his head to the side and looked at Courtney mysteriously. “I bet if I shout right now, Alex will come down immediately—full of energy, even.”
“That’s impossible.” Courtney looked doubtful. “He didn’t even have lunch—I’m sure he’s really tired.”
Oliver smiled meaningfully, then rolled up the magazine on the coffee table to make a simple make-shift loudspeaker and shouted at the second floor master bedroom, “Alex! Courtney is going to buy wedding supplies. If you don’t feel like going, I will accompany her instead!”
There was no response from upstairs.
Courtney folded her arms. “I told you. He’s probably sleeping like a log—he wouldn’t wake up even if there was a fire.”
Oliver raised his hand and folded his fingers one by one.
“5, 4, 3, 2…”
Before he could say ‘1’, they could hear the sound of a door opening on the second floor. Alexander was standing at the door in home clothes; his hair was messy, but his eyes were clear while he said calmly, “You don’t have to go.”
Courtney was stunned. “Well, I’ll be damned…”
Oliver smiled and leaned on the sofa.
The communication between men never relied on words. He figured that Alexander knew what would happen if he accompanied Courtney to the bridal supply store—the clerk would definitely think that it was the two of them who were getting married. Although it would be just a misunderstanding that could be explained in a few words, knowing how petty Alexander was, he would have never let this happen, especially when it came to anything related to Courtney.
So it was a given that he’d go with her.
Since Alexander had decided to go, Courtney went upstairs to accompany him to get a change of clothes. While Oliver watched the news on TV, his expression gradually turned tense.
“A large amount of ketamine was found in an abandoned warehouse at the foot of Mount Zeke a few days ago. This case may be related to the cracked drug case in Melrose city center two months ago. The police arrested the three culprits that participated in the drug production. According to an oral statement, the leader of the gang’s main drug lord and the main culprit of the Melrose drug case are allegedly the same person, but his real name is unknown, and he is called Dragon among the industry…”
Oliver only watched the news quietly. Then, he took out his mobile phone and found a murder case in the suburbs of Melrose half a month ago. In order to avoid social panic, the police suppressed the incident, but he was notified to participate in the case investigation that time.
Dragon was the boss of a famous drug gang, the Red Scorpions. He had been in the industry for over 20 years, and no one knew his whereabouts. His own brother was among the group of people that had been arrested last time, and he was sentenced to death. As a matter of fact, his brother would be executed tomorrow; in revenge and to intimidate the police, he had killed two people.
Both of the victims were students of the Public Security University who participated in the cracking of the drug case in Melrose at the time.
When Oliver thought of this, he felt a pain shoot through his heart, and his eyes welled up with tears.
Those two people were his comrades-in-arms and classmates whom he fought side by side with, and now, they’d died tragically at the hands of Dragon. In order to avoid causing panic, even the news of their deaths was concealed.
Before Courtney went out, Oliver stopped them.
“I heard that a murderer is wanted recently. Be careful when you’re out.”
Courtney glanced at him confusingly.
“I don’t think we’ll be so unlucky! It’s almost the mid-winter holiday, so watch your mouth! Grandpa is an old man—it’s considered a taboo for him.”
