Chapter 42 She Is Not an Outsider
Early Saturday morning, Courtney was still sleeping when she was dragged out of bed by Tina.
“Mommy, it’s time to wake up.”
Courtney looked at the bedside clock in a daze and said desperately, “Tina, it’s only 7.00AM! What are you doing?”
Tina tugged on one of Courtney’s arms and puffed her cheeks. “Mommy, this is your first time going to Mr. Alexander’s house; don’t you want to dress up properly? Come on—get up, take a shower and change your clothes.”
Courtney hugged the pillow in exasperation.
Why did I give birth to such a shameless daughter who pushes me to any man she sees?
Under Tina’s continuous urges, Courtney put on some simple makeup and took out her usual T-shirt and jeans from the closet. Before she could even put them on, it was dragged away by Tina.
“Why are you wearing this, Mommy?”
“What else would I be wearing?”
“This one.” Tina pulled out a burgundy open-back dress from the closet. “This one is pretty.”
“Are you crazy?” Courtney smacked Tina’s head lightly. “It’s not like we are going to a nightclub—this is a formal dress. We’re just going to play at your classmate’s house; do I really need to put on a formal dress?”
“This one!” Tina suggested again as she tugged on a grey-blue dress. “This one should be fine.”
Courtney took the dress out and examined it for a while—it did look good, but she hesitated for a bit. “Wouldn’t it be inconvenient to wear a dress? Both of you will be jumping up and down.”
“No,” Tina raised her hand and swore. “I promise that I’ll behave today.”
“I’ll be damned if I believe you.”
Courtney wanted to ignore her, but Tina stomped her feet and refused to let her wear a T-shirt and a pair of jeans. In the end, she had no choice but to put on that blue dress.
After having their breakfast at 9.00AM, Alexander’s butler arrived downstairs to take them back to Royal Park Manor.
“The Young Master had an important meeting in the morning, so he is not at home right now. He asked me to pick you and Tina up first.”
“It’s okay,” Courtney replied understandingly.
The butler was a composed middle-aged man in his early forties, and he drove in a calm and steady manner.
“The little master has been in a lot of accidents lately, so he must be feeling quite miserable. He is still wary of everyone even when all the maids in the manor have been completely changed, so I was quite surprised when he invited Miss Hunter to come over.”
“Perhaps he’s more at ease with me because I saved him once before.”
Courtney smiled as she thought, Who isn’t surprised? I’m pretty surprised as well.
As they spoke about Jordan’s injury, Tina sat up straight from her seat and sighed heavily. It drew Courtney’s attention to her as she asked, “Why are you sighing? You’re still so young.”
“I’m sighing because of Jordan.”
Tina furrowed her brows. “You see, Jordan can’t talk and he’s so unlucky. I’ve never seen a kid more unfortunate than him! Mommy, our school teacher said that people tend to be unluckier during the year of their zodiac. Is it Jordan’s zodiac sign this year?”
“What are you talking about? You’re only five years old, and this is just a form of superstition. Which teacher taught you all of this nonsense? You even took it so seriously.”
Courtney felt helpless, but she also felt sorry for Jordan.
Although they had only known each other for two months, Jordan had already been in two life-threatening accidents. If she hadn’t blocked the chandelier back then, the little guy would have died; had he cracked his head this time, Jordan would have lost his life too.
Were all of these incidents just accidents? She began to grow suspicious.
When they arrived at the Royal Park Manor and got down the car, a small figure ran over from the doorway and hugged Courtney’s legs.
The maid chased after him. “Little Master, oh dear… He hasn’t even finished washing his face yet.”
Courtney carried Jordan from the floor. “You haven’t washed your face yet? No worries, I’ll take him to wash his face. Where is the bathroom?”
The maid quickly pointed at a direction in the house as she sized Courtney up and followed behind. Then, the maid looked at the little girl behind them and sighed. “You must be Miss Hunter—you’re so young, yet your daughter is so big already!”
As soon as they walked in the house, Tina looked around with admiration.
Jordan’s house is so big! The staircase actually divides into the left, right and center—there’s even an elevator! Whoa! Tina immediately started talking to the young maid who led them in.
Courtney, on the other hand, was clueless about her daughter’s thoughts as she took Jordan into the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth. “I brought over some snacks that I made this morning. Do you want to eat them together?” she asked.
Jordan nodded happily.
They sat at the dining table and opened the lunch box brought by Courtney. When Courtney was about to feed Jordan, the maid who was taking care of him cried out in panic, “Wait a minute, Miss Hunter! Little Master is not allowed to eat anything from the outside.”
“What?” Courtney froze as she held the snack.
Seeing this, the butler glared at the maid and scolded her. He said, “What nonsense are you spouting? The Young Master invited Miss Hunter to the house, don’t you understand? In the eyes of the Young Master and the Little Master, whatever Miss Hunter makes is probably much safer than what you all make.”
The maid’s face paled as she was reprimanded by the butler.
The butler continued, “All right, you can go about your business. The Young Master’s instructions were that Miss Hunter and Tina come and play at ease, so they will call you when they need you.”
After that, the maids quickly dispersed.
Courtney breathed a sigh of relief as she looked at the butler gratefully. “They’re finally gone. I’m quite uncomfortable when people watch me eat.”
The butler lowered his head apologetically. “It’s my fault for not instructing them properly. Please take your time to eat, Miss Hunter. Do not hesitate to call me or a servant if you need anything.”
“Sure.”
After the minor incident, Courtney finally relaxed and began to eat properly.
Jordan ate a lot during breakfast—he had a bun, two small snacks and even a bowl of porridge. The maids were startled as they watched from afar and whispered amongst themselves.
Ever since the last incident, most of them were new maids and lacked discipline, so they were bold enough to discuss Courtney’s origins.
“Why does the Young Master like Miss Hunter so much?”
“I heard that she’s the mother of Little Master’s classmate—that little girl over there.”
“Oh, that little girl is so sweet! She even gave me a candy—wait, could it be that our Little Master likes that little girl?”
“What rubbish! He’s just a little boy.”
“I’m just kidding! However, I think the way the Young Master treats Miss Hunter is special. I heard from the maid who worked here before that the Young Master never brought a woman back to the house; even his fiancée of five, six years hasn’t been here that often.”
“Hey, could it be that the Young Master and Miss Hunter…”
