Chapter 387 Hanging On
“President Duncan has been in meetings since last night. He never left the company.” Josh’s voice was heard from the door. While the two were arguing, he had already instructed the others to leave the room, requesting them to turn a blind eye as he did so. Sadly, only God would know whether they would.
At that moment, Courtney slowly loosened her grip on Alexander’s tie. As her face blanched, she muttered, “Impossible… Who else could it be other than you…”
Vexed, Alexander rebuked, “You can’t even take care of your own daughter and you want to seize custody of my son? You come charging at me whenever shit goes down. You’re quite the mastermind, aren’t you?”
Courtney gritted her teeth, trying to hold back her tears. “Even if you didn’t take Tina away, you don’t seem to be concerned at all, jabbering about custody and all.”
Irritated, Alexander turned to Josh. “What are you waiting for? Get her out of my sight. And stop allowing nobodies into the conference room. What are you, sick of your job?” Having said that, he left Courtney and exited the conference room.
“Miss Hunter…”
“Don’t touch me.” She wiped her tears off. “I can walk just fine by myself. I’m only here for my daughter. Since she’s not here, I don’t have to waste my time here any longer.”
As such, she left, leaving Josh standing alone in the room. Nobody’s sane in this building, huh.
After walking out of Sunhill Enterprise, Courtney received a call from Elijah.
“Courtney, I’ve checked the cams. This has nothing to do with Alexander.”
Frustrated, she scowled. “Then where is Tina?”
“She seemed to have left home by herself. The security guard thought it was a kid of his coworker and let her out. She took the bus herself, but don’t worry, we’re following the bus route to look for her.”
A few sentences from Elijah alone relieved her anxiety. Remembering how Tina would frequently go out by herself, she heaved a sigh of relief. As long as it wasn’t another “kidnapping” done by Alexander, it shouldn’t be an issue. She only found out that Tina was missing after she had her breakfast. Initially, she assumed the little girl was only playing in the manor’s playground, only to realize something went wrong when Tina never came back.
In the meantime, Alexander was changing to another coat in his office, getting ready to head out before bumping into Josh.
“Where are you heading to, President Duncan? Are you not going to the meeting?”
“There’s someone I need to look for.” Alexander gazed at Josh with his panicking eyes. “Get some men to follow me.”
“President.” Josh stopped him. “Are you going just like that? How are you going to find her in such a big city?”
Alexander frowned. “What idea do you have, then?”
“How about this, let me give Mr. Langley a call and have him ask his contact in the police force. Let them check the surveillance records of Miss Hunter’s place and see where the girl has gone. As long as she’s still in the city, every camera in every district is accessible.” Josh sighed inwardly. Boss has always been a reasonable, level-headed man, but it’s like he became another person whenever it’s about Courtney. And now he’s trying to hide the fact that he’s looking for the girl!
After twenty minutes, Alexander received a call from Gale. “How is it?”
“Hurry up, give your butler Harry a call. The girl’s in the trunk of one of your cars.”
“What?” Alexander instantly glowered as he ended the call to phone Harry.
The reason Harry went to the kindergarten half an hour ago was to manage Jordan’s school leaving procedure. Due to Jordan’s current physical and mental condition, the doctor said it was not suitable for him to continue going to school. The procedure was rather simple as all it needed was a signature from a guardian and a reason to leave. Done with the procedure, Harry entered the car and ordered the driver to head back home.
“Right, Mr. Harry. Miss Hunter’s daughter was here.”
“She’s still attending school?” Harry was baffled.
By right, with all the incidents going on, Courtney wouldn’t allow her daughter to wander off the streets.
“Beats me.” The driver shook his head. “Probably, with her uniform and backpack. She asked me why Little Master didn’t come to school.”
“And what did you say?”
“I just told her that Little Master won’t be coming anymore. That’s fine, right?”
Harry seemed conflicted. “That’s fine. Then what? What did she say?”
“Nothing. She just left.”
She just left, huh…
Now, the car reached a viaduct, and a ringtone sounded in the car. Harry took a look at his phone and quickly accepted the call. “Young Mast—”
On the phone, Alexander’s nervous voice interjected, “Where are you right now, Harry?”
“I’m on the viaduct and heading back home. What’s wrong, Young Master?”
“Stop the car, but slowly. Then check the trunk.”
“Huh?”
“Now!” Alexander sounded anxious.
Despite not knowing his intentions, Harry could only obey his order. “Pull over, Brock.”
When the car stopped, Harry quickly alighted and suspiciously opened the car trunk, only to be shocked by what he saw. “Young Master, why’s Tina here?”
“How is she?”
“She’s panting hard. This child…”
“Hospital, now.”
Harry uttered not another word and did as told.
At an emergency room in the hospital, when Courtney received a call and rushed here, the operation had already been going on for half an hour.
Alexander, in his big black coat, was sitting on the couch by the emergency room door, looking tense. Despite his emotionlessness, whenever a hospital staff exited the room, he would hastily spring up from his seat. “How is she?”
“She’s hanging on.” A nurse blurted three words and immediately shut the emergency room door.
Alexander clenched his fists, trembling out of fear in spite of his calm facade.
Compared to him, Courtney was notably calmer as it wasn’t her first time experiencing such a situation.
Tina was born with inherited asthma. When they were in America, although Courtney brought enough money with her, countless trips to the hospital cost her quite the sum. In order to sustain their lives, she had to work an extra job. Even so, five years of money and effort could never thoroughly treat Tina’s asthma.
Seeing Alexander so uneasy reminded her of her first time sending Tina into the emergency room. Despite her hesitation, she eventually uttered, “Come sit. Even misfortune knows its limits.”
Alexander nervously turned around and looked at her. After hesitating for a few seconds, he joined Courtney on the couch, inquiring, “Has this happened many times all these years?”
He knew about Tina’s asthma and made it a condition to trick Courtney into submitting Tina into the same kindergarten as Jordan. Back then, he didn’t put much consideration into Tina’s asthma, nor did he know about the mischievous little girl being his biological daughter.
“Very frequently before she was three, but not so much afterward.” After Courtney said that, her tone grew heavier. “After she was three, she understood not to get involved with extreme sports and visit crowded places, not to go out too much when it’s summer, and always to bring her medicines with her. After all, she’s a kid, and it’s only normal for her to make mistakes. Even so, her asthma acts up at most twice a year.”
