Chapter 54 She’s Your Fiancée?
Many people crowded over with the appearance of both the bride-to-be and groom-to-be, including many of the former university classmates that Vanessa had invited. Two of them were Courtney’s roommates from back then.
Vanessa silently took Isaac’s hand, seeming as though she was establishing her ownership over him.
“Isaac told me that you wouldn’t want to come, so he asked me not to call you. However, I told him that he was being petty. We were so close in the past; why wouldn’t you come to our engagement party?”
Courtney looked at her with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”
Meanwhile, Isaac was frowning as he attempted to free his arm from Vanessa’s grip. “All right, I still have to greet the other guests. I’ll be off now.”
“What’s the rush? It’s not time yet.” Vanessa pulled him back and deliberately raised her voice. “Courtney, why didn’t you come with your boyfriend?”
“Boyfriend? Who is it?” someone asked from behind Vanessa as she stepped out at the same time. She was dressed in an expensive Chanel gown, and Courtney could tell with a glance that her hair had been meticulously styled. The woman’s hair was coiled up behind her head, and the diamond necklace across her neck dazzled so brilliantly that it was blinding. Who else could this woman be other than Anna, who was dressed as though she was afraid others wouldn’t know just how wealthy she was?
Right then, Courtney remembered that the Grahams and the Hunters had always been on good terms; it was expected that Anna would represent their father at Isaac’s engagement party.
“Don’t you know, Anna?” Vanessa looked shocked. “Why don’t you know that your sister has a boyfriend? Didn’t she tell you?”
Anna raised her wine glass with a contemptuous expression. “That sister of mine has always been a lone wolf; she doesn’t even come to see us at home. Why would she tell us about her dating life?”
“It doesn’t matter if she’s seeing someone else, but she’s actually dating Alexander.” Vanessa lifted an eyebrow as her tone took a dramatic shift. “He’s the CEO of Sunhill Enterprise. Why didn’t she tell you about such a major thing?”
The crowd was sent into a furor at those words. Everyone knew that the CEO of Sunhill Enterprise took no notice of women; how could he possibly be in a relationship with Courtney?
Courtney clutched her bag tighter, her expression darkening.
She had made that up when she ran into Isaac and Vanessa and was put on the spot back then. She was lucky that Alexander had played along with her, but she didn’t imagine that Vanessa would throw it back in her face right now, especially with Anna present.
As expected, a mocking expression made itself known on Anna’s face when she heard that.
“That is the biggest joke I’ve ever heard. Courtney, don’t you think that you’re thinking too highly of yourself? You didn’t even finish your university studies before running off abroad for five years or so, and then you came crawling back. What? Were you thinking of snagging a rich husband as your financial security blanket the moment you came back? Why don’t you look at yourself in a mirror? All you think about is getting to play mother to Alexander’s son, but do you know this? I heard a few days ago that Alexander and Britney have fixed their wedding date.”
The noise of gossipy voices turned louder at that. Some were gossiping about Alexander and Britney’s love life over the past few years, while some insisted that Britney actually gave birth to Alexander’s son. Some even mocked Courtney for being a fame-chaser who didn’t know her limits—a woman who would just make things up for the sake of it.
“You’re still my younger sister, so don’t go around embarrassing me. If our father finds out how you’re so gung-ho about being some boy’s stepmother and how you’re lying to everyone by pretending to be Alexander’s girlfriend without even asking for his opinion, he might blow a gasket.”
Anna’s tone was cold and sharp, her attitude harsh. She didn’t treat Courtney like a sister at all.
The attendees here only knew Anna. Very few people had met Courtney before, so they thought that this was a squabble between members from the same elite family. They thought that Courtney might be a child that the Hunter patriarch had in an illicit affair with a woman outside of the family, so no one spoke up for her.
“I never heard that you have a sister. Who is she actually?”
“Who knows? The Hunters have money and power. It’s not strange if the head of house has a b*stard child or two.”
Courtney could put up with everything else, but the gossip that she was a child born out of wedlock clearly twisted facts into things they weren’t. Even more so, the crowd’s words poked at her painful past. She immediately balled her fists up and chided her sister coldly, “Anna, don’t you think that it’s embarrassing for you to tell me off in front of so many people?”
“Why? As the eldest daughter of the Hunter Family, I am your elder sister. Of course I have the right to chastise you.”
At that, Courtney gave a chilly laugh before she continued languidly and said, “Only someone who is on the official family register can be called the eldest daughter.”
There were many implications to that statement, and Anna’s face promptly turned stony. She couldn’t restrain her rage as she raised a hand. “Stop your nonsense.”
“That wasn’t nonsense. It’s not something that you can prove otherwise by hitting her,” said a man with a deep voice that reverberated throughout the hall. Courtney was pulled into someone’s arms when they grabbed her by the shoulder. Before Anna could bring her hand down, the mystery man grabbed her hand and stopped her in her tracks.
“Alexander?”
“Why is he here?”
The discussions got even louder.
Courtney lifted her head in surprise and saw part of Alexander’s face, which had an icy expression on it. Under the light of the crystal chandeliers above them, he looked unbothered and unharried.
“Alexander.”
Both Vanessa and Anna’s expressions had taken a turn. They had initially plotted together to make a scene and humiliate Courtney. After all, Anna did personally hear Britney say that she was going to marry Alexander. That also meant that Courtney was lying when Vanessa overheard her talking about her relationship with Alexander.
Neither woman had imagined that Alexander would actually make an appearance.
“You’re the CEO of Sunhill Enterprise, Mr. Duncan?” Anna’s expression was ghastly as she asked in confirmation, unable to help her curiosity.
Alexander’s demeanor was chilly indeed. “Do I have to show you my ID?”
“That wasn’t what I meant.” Anna hastily shook her head.
“I’m not interested in what you’re implying, but I would like to know why exactly you were about to hit my fiancée in front of everyone here.”
“Fiancée?” Anna’s face froze completely as she asked in disbelief. “How is this possible? S-She’s your fiancée?”
Courtney was also stunned. She hadn’t thought that Alexander would say that in front of such a crowd.
“What’s impossible?” Alexander wrapped an arm around Courtney’s shoulders, looking all leisurely as he did. “Who else would be my fiancée, if not her? You?”
Anna pressed her lips together before asking mutinously, “In that case, why didn’t she say so earlier?”
Courtney snapped back to her senses right then and immediately fired back. “Did you give me a chance to speak? You and Vanessa had been doing all you could to make me look bad in front of everyone. Would you have allowed me to explain myself?”
“I didn’t mean that, not at all.” Vanessa quickly cut in. It was as though she was fearful of earning Alexander’s ire.
However, Vanessa’s words seemed to have let something slip, for Anna shot a glare at her.
Now that Courney had Alexander here to back her up, she was more confident.
“Alex was just a little busy—that’s why he’s late. You kept cornering me without letting me breathe; not only that, you tried to take your temper out on me over a grudge or something. Weren’t you trying to humiliate me? Aren’t you guys my sister? My best friend? I really have to thank my lucky stars for being able to meet you two.”
