Chapter 386 Nuts
Courtney then fondled her daughter’s head, comforting, “Wait a little longer, Tina. Once the court hearing in ten days is finished, Mommy will bring you back to America, and you’ll get to go wherever you wanna go.”
Tina was dumbfounded. Mommy’s going to bring me back to America? If she does, I won’t get to see Jordan and Daddy anymore! I can’t let that happen!
The next morning, the security guard in the security room in front of Twin Peaks Manor was yawning. All of a sudden, he caught a “giant carrot” tipping its toe, trying to reach the room’s door knob.
Seeing that, he opened the door, leaving no support to the “giant carrot” that eventually tripped into the room. Luckily, the guard was swift enough and grabbed it. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Thank you, Mister.” Turned out, it was Tina sporting her tangerine Sapphire Kindergarten uniform and a matching hat with a logo of a green bean sprout. With her backpack strapped behind her, she looked at the guard with her big, shining eyes. “I’m getting late for school, Mister. Can you open the gates for me, please?”
The guard smilingly looked at the little girl, thinking how good-looking must her parents be to give birth to a girl with such a dolly look. He then nodded. “Sure I can!”
As such, Tina was thrilled. That was easy.
The guard turned around and started pressing buttons on the computer. As he was working the device, he suddenly frowned, turning around to ask, “Are you going to school alone? That’s very brave of you, but don’t your parents get worried?”
Tina confidently replied, “My parents get busy with work, Mister, so I always go to school by myself. Don’t you also have no time to send your daughter off to school, Mister? We’ve grown up, and it’s time we knew how to take care of ourselves.”
Hearing that, the guard thoughtfully nodded and couldn’t help but agree to her words. As the security guard of Twin Peaks Manor, he had to manage the entire security of the manor all year long, and could only get to see his family when it was shift holiday. “What a smart girl,” he praised, beaming. Then, he pressed on a button, opening the gates before escorting Tina to the bus stop. “Be careful, girl.”
“Goodbye, Mister.”
The guard nodded and happily headed back to the security room, which was when another guard of another shift arrived.
“Why did you leave? I saw you talking to a little girl.”
“Ah, must be a daughter of one of us. She wanted me to open the gates for her so she can go to school. I was worried so I accompanied her to the bus stop. She’s pretty smart for a five-year-old.”
“Really? Why haven’t I heard about anyone bringing their children in?” The second guard suspiciously scratched his head. “Is anyone even allowed to bring their children to stay here?”
“Why not? Except for us guards, though. All the butlers and maids are living with their family here, aren’t they?”
“Touché.”
The guards said nothing more after that.
Under the thick fog in the morning, the bus moved rather slowly as Tina was staring out the window. When the bus reached its destination, she could see the signboard of Sapphire Kindergarten. She took a deep breath before walking toward it. All I have to do is look for Jordan and ask about what happened. Daddy and Mommy love each other. There must be some kind of misunderstanding that made them fight.
Since it wasn’t time yet, the school gates were still shut. Even though Tina was still a child, she knew how to defend herself from evil strangers. As the intelligent girl she was, she headed to the convenience store opposite her school.
When it was close to nine o’clock, a familiar black sedan stopped in front of the convenience store.
Hastily, Tina swallowed her bun and grabbed her backpack, storming out the store.
Harry crossed the road. The pedestrian lights were flashing red, and Tina attempted to shout at him from the other side, but her voice was engulfed by noises from the surrounding vehicles.
Nonetheless, she was stunned by the fact there was only Harry who walked into the school. Is Jordan… not coming?
…
In Sunhill Enterprise, the board of directors was holding a contingency conference due to the fluctuation in market shares.
Alexander slammed a file onto the table. “This is what you’ve come up with in one whole night?”
Everyone was too terrified to make a response. Ever since the mid-winter holiday, their boss had been consistently irked. Every day, there were always people who were reprimanded by the president. And just within two weeks, the manager of the Planning Department had been replaced three times. Basically, anyone who dared to approach him would quickly get booted out.
“Anyone who wants to stop working, pack your stuff at once. I don’t need scrap in my company.” His speech, although not loud and heavy, was overbearing. Every single word of his was of utmost coldness, and every single soul in the room couldn’t help but shiver at it.
Out of nowhere, his assistant Josh entered the office and interrupted the conference. “A call for you, President Duncan.”
“Can’t you see I’m busy here?” Alexander glared at him. “I’ll get it when I’m finished with this crap.”
As Josh was about to add something, Alexander was already reading his documents and listing out the issues within, obviously having no intention to hear about anything else.
To be fair, Sunhill Enterprise was in an utterly turbulent situation.
One hour later, the conference was still ongoing. All of a sudden, noises were heard from outside the room.
“Miss Hunter, please. The president’s having a meeting. You’re not allowed to enter.”
“Let go of me!”
A familiar voice entered Alexander’s ears. Baffled, he swiftly walked out of his office.
Before he could reach for the door, the conference room door was slammed open, followed by Courtney’s rageous approach. Before anyone realized it, a loud smack thundered through the room.
Everyone else gasped, unable to take in what they just saw.
Instantly, Alexander’s right cheek reddened. Staring at Courtney, he was left stunned, and it took him some time to regain his senses.
“Where’s my daughter? Where did you take her?” With her eyes reddened, Courtney clutched his necktie, seemingly about to collapse. “I’ve never asked much from you, Duncan. All I wish is for my kids to grow up safely and healthily, but why do you have to force my hands? You know very clearly that Tina has asthma! She’ll lose her life if it acts up and she’s not sent to the hospital right away! She is all I have!”
Glowering, Alexander dully questioned, “What on earth are you on about?”
As Courtney was about to land another slap, she was stopped by Alexander. “Are you nuts?”
Red veins surged in her glittering eyes. “Yes, I am nuts! Tell me where you sent Tina to! Give her back to me! You took her away once, and now you’re trying to take her away again!”
Courtney was blatantly pointing fingers, raging about Alexander’s unreasonable actions, but he couldn’t comprehend why she would say such things with such a genuine expression. He ignored the sting on his cheek and revealed his stupefaction. “You’re saying you lost Tina?”
Courtney, about to faint from her wails, was shocked upon his clueless behavior, stuttering, “You… You don’t know?”
