Chapter 459 Revealing His Cards by Accident
The employees at Sunhill Enterprise were one hour into their afternoon shift by the time Caleb returned, and the look Eric gave him as he walked into Alexander’s office was full of sympathy.
“Please be patient if President Duncan loses his temper, Mr. Menzie. He’s in a bad mood today,” Eric was kind enough to remind him. “He’s… uh… dealing with a bit of a relationship problem.”
“Alright,” Caleb answered, but the calm expression on his face as he entered gave Eric the impression that he had not understood Eric’s meaning. “Were you looking for me, President Duncan?”
At that moment, Alexander was still livid and his anger had yet to subside even after berating three or four of the departmental heads. “It’s already 3.15 PM. Has the Legal Department found itself with a lot of free time on its hands lately, or do you have an assignment requiring you to leave the office?”
“You had me prepare for a lawsuit last night, President Duncan. This case isn’t very difficult; I researched it throughout the night and only left to gather some required materials.”
“Only to gather some materials?”
“What else would I be doing during working hours?”
Straightening, Alexander began evasively, “Someone saw you at the hospital at 12.30 PM today.”
After a pause, Caleb replied with a frown, “The employee lunch break is at 12.30. I went to deliver lunch to my girlfriend and then left the hospital at 1.30 to look for information at the Bureau of Commerce. Did I need to apply to the company for leave for that?” And then, he paused for a few seconds. “I don’t think anyone with an upstanding character would come to you over such trivial matters, President Duncan. Perhaps you should consider having HR fire them.”
Already low-spirited to hear Caleb say ‘girlfriend’, Alexander became even more grumpier upon hearing the latter half of Caleb’s advice. Impulsively, he blurted, “Your girlfriend?! Has she agreed to date you, then?”
“‘She’?” Caleb asked in surprise. “Do you know her, President Duncan?”
Just like that, Alexander was stunned into stillness.
This was the first time in his life that he had misspoken during a conversation and accidentally revealed his cards at the beginning. It was a portent that he would not win, and he couldn’t help being a little annoyed by that fact.
Meanwhile, Caleb only calmly took a sip of the tea that Eric now brought him. “To tell you the truth, I saw someone who looked quite a bit like you at the hospital today, President Duncan, and the person who went with you to the hospital must have been the person who tattled on me. Am I right, Mr. Reynolds?” With that, he even gave Eric a careless glance.
An honest man, Eric instantly denied, “It wasn’t me. I was in the parking lot at the time.”
Of course, Alexander’s glare pierced through him the moment he finished saying that.
“So, you did go to the hospital, President Duncan?” Caleb confirmed, staring intently at Alexander.
And so, the crux of the matter was revealed and there was no point in hiding it any longer.
“That’s right. I did go to the hospital.” Alexander decided that he might as well admit it boldly. “I even saw you delivering lunch to Courtney, so I called you back for that matter.”
“Last night must have been because you saw me with Dr. Hunter as well.”
The statement staggered Alexander so much that he nearly slid out of his chair and though he forced himself to keep calm, he had no idea what to say in response.
“It looks like that’s true as well,” Caleb confirmed to himself with a nod of his head before turning the conversation topic on a dime. “Did you call me here today intending to negotiate with me to stop pursuing Dr. Hunter?”
The question made the frown on Alexander’s face deepen and after a moment, he muttered, “You’re overthinking it.”
“What are your intentions, then?”
“I only wanted to ask you if you’re being sincere with your affections toward her. She has three children, one of whom is adopted. Her life doesn’t require any more emotional upheaval.”
Upon hearing that, Caleb nodded in seeming approval. “Allow me to be so bold as to ask you a question, then—what is your relationship with her?”
Frowning, Alexander spat unwillingly, “Ex.”
“I see.” Caleb stared at the other man. “It looks like you have very deep feelings for her, but how could you let go of her so easily if your feelings were truly that deep?”
“She doesn’t like it when people force her into things; otherwise, you wouldn’t stand a chance.”
“If it were the woman I loved, I would be hell-bent on finding any means necessary to get back together with her. I don’t think you love Dr. Hunter that much after all, President Duncan.”
“How dare you?!” Alexander stood up, livid.
Truth was, Caleb was the first person to ever challenge him in this way.
“Have you gone mad, Mr. Menzie?” In a low voice, Eric asked frantically as he eyed Caleb meaningfully, but the office was so large that the scene only became more deadlocked the moment his clear voice rang out.
In response, Caleb smiled affably. “My girlfriend is two years older than me, President Duncan. We were next-door neighbors when we were young and she agreed to marry me when I asked her when we were kids. Unfortunately, my parents divorced when I was ten, and I moved out with my mother. The girl seemingly forgot both me and this incident. However, almost 20 years later, I’ve found her again.”
“You must be out of your mind, Mr. Menzie! President Duncan didn’t ask you here to talk about your love life!” At that point, Eric looked terrified enough to start praying.
Yet, Alexander finally came back to his senses.
There was no way Courtney Hunter could be the person Caleb was talking about.
“What’s your girlfriend’s name?”
“Linda Hass.” Caleb gave Alexander a half-smile. “Chief of Cardiac at Melrose City Hospital. Didn’t you just say you knew her?”
Just like that, all of the grudges Alexander was holding disappeared in an instant.
Everything had turned out to be a misunderstanding after all.
“Now, there are some things I’d like to talk to you about regarding Dr. Hunter, President Duncan, but the Legal Department is a bit busy with the case at the moment—”
“Drop the case and take two days off,” Alexander interrupted tiredly before turning to instruct Eric, “Go make some tea.”
Bewildered, Eric gaped at him.
…
The consequence of angering Linda was that she would make Courtney’s life difficult for a while. However, Courtney had to admit that she had a peculiar way of going about it—the only reason she assigned Courtney to Scott was that she assumed Courtney had some kind of connection to the man.
Standing at the door of the ward now, Courtney took a deep breath to summon her courage before going in.
Because of Scott’s illness, she had already been intending to speak with him but now, thanks to Linda’s push, she couldn’t avoid him even if she wanted to.
The sound of forcefully suppressed coughing echoed inside the hospital room.
Hurriedly, Courtney stepped forward to pour a glass of water. “Have some water, Mr. Duncan.”
Upon hearing her voice, Scott lifted his head and stared at her with cloudy eyes. With some surprise on his weathered face, he noted her presence as she stood in front of him in a large lab coat. “Courtney? What are you doing here?”
“It’s a long story.” She set the cup down before helping him raise the head of his bed. “The short version is that I’m your primary care physician. Now, drink some water.”
Dazed, he took a sip of water to calm down before hesitating for a long time. It seemed there was a lot he wanted to say but in the end, he simply asked, “Where have you disappeared to all these years, child? I haven’t heard from you at all.”
Settling into the chair next to him, she explained patiently, “I’m a doctor now. As you know, I was studying medicine when I got pregnant with Tina and Jordan. I had to drop out because of that, so I’m only continuing my studies now.”
