Chapter 465 Such a Trick Is Outdated
“My calls to you were not answered earlier, so I came over straight away.”
His face was expressionless, and his usual cold-looking eyes appeared unusually tired today.
“Shay came over for a shoot today and I didn’t have the time to check my phone.” Hugging the bag of fried chestnuts, she proceeded to thank him, “Thanks for the chestnuts. But Hannah is asleep now. It is windy tonight so don’t bother to wake her up. I’ll send her back home tomorrow morning.”
Alexander frowned after he heard that. “If that’s the case, let me pick her up tomorrow morning.”
The Duncan Family had so many servants that it would never be necessary for him, the young master himself, to pick Hannah up personally. Furthermore, he had never been close to Hannah in the first place.
Thus, Courtney, being cautious, thought of a saying—when the weasel paid his respects to the hen, it bore no good intentions.
“Fine.” She wanted to end their conversation quickly. “It’s late. You should go back now.”
He appeared to be disappointed by what she said, and he held the door handle with his head slightly raised, preparing to leave.
At that moment, he began coughing intensely in the cold wind.
Hearing the unexpected sounds, Courtney halted her steps.
There was a thunderstorm alert these few days and the drop in temperature caused a lot of residents in Melrose to catch a cold. Melrose City Hospital also had a high number of flu patients.
“Are you okay?”
“I am.” He clenched his fists tightly and pursed his lips, as if he was trying hard to suppress his cough, despite his expression indicating that there was something wrong with him.
“Wait.”
With her brows furrowed, she said, “Since you’re here, go up with me so I can take your temperature.”
It had better be a common cold. If he developed a fever, he would have to go to the hospital for a check-up. The flu that has been going around these last few days was no laughing matter.
Due to the shooting earlier, all the lights in the house were still on.
It wasn’t Alexander’s first time here. When he saw the shoes on the shoe rack containing ladies’ shoes from different age groups, he had mixed feelings.
Courtney then brought the thermometer to him.
“Don’t move.”
Since she was a doctor, she habitually pressed his head and took the thermometer near his ears. The scent of the body shampoo on her filled his nose, causing him to space out for a moment.
“You have a slight fever.”
Looking at the thermometer, she frowned.
“Have a seat here first. I’ll get you some medicine.”
She remembered having some fever medicine stored in the house. However, because Angie and Tina were both messy and never put things back in their places, it took her some time to find the medicine. By the time she found the medicine, he had already fallen asleep in the living room, with a bolster in his hands.
The sofa wasn’t large, and it appeared even smaller in comparison to his body build, and it wasn’t a comfortable place for him to sleep. However, he appeared to have fallen into a deep sleep and snored lightly.
She stared at him for a while, unsure of what to do, but she couldn’t bear to wake him up. Thus, she went to the bedroom and brought a blanket out for him, then turned off the lights in the living room before returning to her room.
In the early hours, there was a thunderstorm, with loud thunder and lightning, but everyone in the house was sleeping soundly.
One of them could sleep soundly despite any noises, another was too tired from playing video games until late at night, and yet another had finally found his cure after years of insomnia.
The next morning, the early sun rays shone into the house.
When Alexander opened his eyes, he saw a small figure leaning at the coffee table across him. She was dressed in pink pajamas, her long black hair was all over her shoulders, and she was looking at him cautiously with one of her hands supporting her chin. The other hand of hers was knocking on the coffee table every now and then, showing her impatience.
Courtney, on the other hand, appeared to be preparing breakfast, with some frying sounds emanating from the kitchen.
“You’re awake?” Josephine’s voice pulled his attention back.
He immediately sat up and said, “Josie? You’re Josie, right?” His sound was full of his love toward this daughter of his.
Josephine, on the other hand, gave him a frown. “Why are you here?”
“I came to pick Hannah up last night, but it was too late and I fell asleep on the sofa.”
Hearing that, she sat up straight. After staring at him for a while, she gave him a dismissive look and said, “Such a trick was already outdated. You would never successfully court my mom if you keep on using such ways.”
He didn’t think her words were sarcastic; instead, he thought she was too adorable. In response, he asked patiently, “What ways do you think I should do then?”
“It’s impossible. Nothing is going to work.” She gave him a look of disgust and continued, “Getting married is a very troublesome thing and my mom is not someone who would bring trouble upon herself. You better stop looking for my mom from now on.”
Her words stunned him, but he remained calm and asked, “So you don’t find me annoying, but simply find getting married a hassle?”
“No,” she denied what he said and replied in a cute tone, “I hate both.”
He let out a helpless sigh. “Why did you feel this way when you’ve never gotten married before?”
“If being married is a good thing, my mom would have long married you.”
Josephine was always a candid person, similar to Courtney’s Aunt Alicia. Clearly, Josephine was brought up by her and that shaped her straightforward personality.
Previously he had always attributed her negative attitude toward him to the fact that he had not been by her side for all these years and Alicia, who had brought Josephine up, never liked him, so it was understandable for Josephine to feel the same way. It was only now that he realized, after listening to her words, that this five-year-old girl understood everything.
When Courtney came out of the kitchen after preparing breakfast, Alexander was already nowhere to be seen.
As if nothing had happened, she looked at Josephine and said, “Go and wake the others up.”
On the dining table, she had only prepared four sets of breakfast; there was none for Alexander.
She was well aware of Josephine’s aversion to her biological father. One reason for this was Alicia’s influence on her, but another reason was that she was a mature girl. Despite knowing a lot, she had very little experiences, and thus her character wasn’t a peaceful one. As Angie said, Josephine was too disgruntled.
Nevertheless, that was also a good thing. Alexander should know that what came between them wasn’t only the time that had passed, but also the hatred his biological daughter had toward him. In light of these difficulties, she hoped that he could give up on her.
It was raining outside, and the news reporter appearing on the television was reporting on a thunderstorm alert.
The drizzling raindrops were falling on the windows of the car.
Alexander sat dejectedly behind the wheel while his thoughts returned to Josephine’s words. “The world would be so unfair if everyone who did wrong could be easily forgiven.”
This immature young girl acted like an adult, feeling indignant for her mother, and confronted him as to what rights he had to ask for atonement and reconciliation.
The rain was getting heavier, and the windshield was becoming hazier.
Suddenly, there was a sharp braking sound on the street, followed by a loud crash. His entire car was forced to come to a halt due to a violent collision. Before he could react, he saw everything before him swaying, and his airbag sprung out.
