Chapter 456 Are You All Crazy?
At this moment, Angie took another violent sip of alcohol before continuing in a low voice, “To be precise, I kissed him.”
Shocked, Courtney stared at the young woman. Her alcohol-drinking motions were already practiced and even somewhat mature in the way that only someone aged between the innocence of girlhood and the sexiness of adulthood could be. It had to be irresistible to men.
“What else did you do with him?” Courtney pressed, forcing herself to keep calm despite the nature of the question.
Angie’s expression twisted up into agony, and it was a long moment before she finally shook her head. “I don’t know. I was drunk.”
That evening was Elijah’s birthday party. Summer break hadn’t even started yet, but Angie had skipped class to give him a present, only to have Lilian pull her into her bedroom and force her to dress up before she could go and greet the guests. They argued for so long that the guests had arrived by the time she left the bedroom and with Elijah caught up in entertaining the guests, Angie was forced to stand in a corner and occupy herself.
And then, Lilian’s friend came over to her to make a toast, saying that she was already old enough to drink.
Young and brash, Angie was incited into getting drunk.
After that, she could only remember the evening in bits and pieces. What she recalled was that Elijah found her drunk and took her upstairs to rest…
“Lilian only showed me the video of Elijah and I kissing. I don’t know what happened after that. She said… she said I wasn’t fit to live at home anymore and that she would take the video to court and accuse Elijah of molesting his adopted daughter if I didn’t leave.” Angie’s voice was tense, revealing her stubborn nature.
“What?” Courtney couldn’t believe her ears. “You were drunk! This was a misunderstanding. Why would she want to take the video to court? Is she mad?!”
“What if something else happened?”
“But that’s impossible!” Courtney denied vehemently. “You were drunk but Elijah wasn’t, and he would never do something so improper to his own daughter.”
“But I’m not his daughter.” Angie stared up at Courtney in trepidation. “I know you can tell that I like him. I have ever since I was young, and I can tell the difference between familial and romantic love. I’ll never love another man apart from him.”
“Are you crazy?” Courtney found it hard to accept the truth. “Are you all crazy?”
“I didn’t leave America because something like this happened and I found it hard to face him. I left because I didn’t want him to end up with a lawsuit because of me. But if he and Lilian divorced—if the adoptive relationship between us was dissolved and I could absolve him of such a moral quandary—I would go for him without hesitation.” Angie was sure and fearlessly stubborn in the way that only very young women could be.
Of course, Courtney was much more affected and found it hard to calm down at the moment. She even wondered if Angie was simply being childish and impulsive. After a long while, Courtney finally struggled into a sitting position and said, “Let me think.”
The only reason she took the then 12-year-old Angie off the desert island five years ago was on behalf of Fatso. Due to issues with nationality, the only way she could have taken Angie abroad was if she adopted the girl. Then, because Courtney had to go to France for her studies, she had to entrust Angie to Elijah.
But how could Courtney have imagined such an outcome at the time? It wasn’t only that Angie and Elijah were 20 years apart but that they were separated by social status, life experience, a marriage, and moral principles that the world could never stand to see transgressed.
Even if Angie and Elijah shared no blood relation, they would find it difficult to escape the condemnation of society.
At the thought of the various ways this could end, Courtney felt a headache coming on.
Meanwhile, as the lights came on throughout the city, Melrose was painted in a layer of apparent prosperity by the darkness of night.
On the floor where Sunhill Enterprise’s president’s office was located, the elevator dinged and Caleb rushed out and strode all the way to Alexander’s office.
A short while ago, he received a call from Alexander personally, telling him that he was urgently needed and that he had to set aside all his business at hand to return to the workplace.
Despite thinking about it along the way, Caleb failed to figure out what urgent business the enterprise had that would require him to rush back after hours.
Behind the spacious desk, Alexander was looking inexplicably gloomier than usual.
“Did you need me for something, President Duncan?”
Glowering at Caleb, Alexander asked, “How’s the lawsuit with Amberport Pharmaceuticals going?”
“Amberport Pharmaceuticals?” Caleb asked in perplexity, considering for a moment before explaining, “You might have forgotten about it, President Duncan, but Amberport Pharmaceuticals was acquired by Olsapine Pharmaceuticals three months ago, so the lawsuit was transferred to Olsapine Pharmaceuticals’ name. During the transfer, you played a round of golf with Olsapine Pharmaceuticals’ president and informed us that the lawsuit would be settled out of court with one of their warehouses in the city outskirts. So, we wrote the lawsuit off.”
“Wrote it off?” Alexander frowned so hard that an indent appeared on his brow. “You say that like it’s no big deal,” he snapped. “Am I supposed to sign a contract with them now?”
After a pause, Caleb replied easily, “I’m afraid I’m not sure, as this is handled by the Business Department.”
“I’ll have you know that I’m not signing the contract. I don’t need the warehouse in the city outskirts—I was simply being courteous. The lawsuit must continue.”
The gaze Alexander shot Caleb was so furious that the latter felt like he was being consumed alive.
It confused him, but he only frowned before saying, “Alright. I’ll get started tomorrow—”
“You’ll get started tonight,” Alexander interrupted before the other man could finish.
The atmosphere in the office instantly became colder.
All along, Alexander had had an eccentric and inexplicable temper. It was something Caleb admired him for, as Caleb himself was not a businessman and had no mind for such intricacies. As the company lawyer, he only wanted to do his job well.
Thus, he only replied without rebuttal, “Alright. I’ll get started now.” As he left, a sliver of bright yellow color in the corner caught his attention. He paused in his tracks, and a hint of helpless amusement appeared in his eyes as he confirmed that his eyes were not mistaken. “Rest assured that I’ll have the lawsuit resolved as soon as possible, President Duncan.”
After Caleb left, Alexander slammed his fist onto the desk. The muffled bang echoed around the office.
Upon hearing the commotion from the next room, Eric rushed out with the Pikachu costume’s head in his arms. Because the outfit was difficult to take off, he was still wearing the pants on the lower half of his body and looking extremely bizarre as he waddled his way into the office.
Naturally, Alexander only became more annoyed upon seeing that. “Why are you still wearing that?” he shouted. “Look at the mess you made!”
Shuddering in fear, Eric explained sadly, “It was a miscalculation. We didn’t expect Dr. Hunter and Mr. Menzie to be together so late in the evening, either.”
“Shut it.”
Instantly, Eric clapped a hand over his mouth and studied Alexander’s incensed expression. Fearful that Alexander would become overheated from rage, the former couldn’t help asking, “Would you like me to bring you a change of clothes, President Duncan? It’s so hot in this outfit.”
“No. Get out!” Alexander glared at him menacingly.
Hearing that, Eric ran out like he was on skates.
It wasn’t until the assistant had fled that Alexander stood up, bracing his arms against the desk, only to reveal a pair of yellow Pikachu pants on the lower half of his body.
