Chapter 129 A Memento of Last Night
“Are you sure it’s Benjamin? Could you have been mistaken?”
“That’s impossible! I clearly saw him.”
Late at night in an upscale villa in Westpark, Jason had a look of uncertainty on his face as he grabbed Britney’s wine glass from her. “That’s enough drinking. Even if it was him, the fact that Alexander is still willing to see you must mean that he hasn’t said anything yet. There’s still room for discussion.”
“Are you saying that he went to Alexander on purpose?” Britney asked as she was jolted back to reality. Her delicate face was tinged with drunkenness as she turned to her manager and murmured, “Just so he could use it to threaten me?”
“There’s an eighty percent chance that that’s the case. After all, money is his favorite thing, isn’t it? Who knows if he intends to use this to blackmail us? Then again, he doesn’t have any proof of what happened that night.”
“What should we do now?”
“Instead of hiding, why don’t we just negotiate with him? There’s nothing that money can’t solve.”
Her manager’s confident composure eased the hard expression on Britney’s face.
He’s right. Benjamin loves money so much, there’s no way he will turn away from it.
The next morning, Courtney was awoken by the ringing of an alarm clock. When she got up and saw the time, she nearly jumped out of bed. “It’s already eight thirty!”
Alexander came out of the living room that was hidden behind the screen, dressed in a white shirt and dress pants. With a mug of coffee in his hands, he looked calmly at her. “You have another twenty-five minutes to get ready.”
Courtney grabbed at her hair frantically, stumbling out of bed and searching for a change of clothes as she chided, “It’s all your fault…”
“My fault?” Alexander sipped his coffee, his tone enigmatic.
Courtney fished out a suit from the cupboard and shot him a fierce glare. “Because you didn’t wake me even though you’re up.”
“As your boyfriend, there’s nothing wrong with wanting my girlfriend to get a little more rest.”
“Then if I’m late, don’t reprimand me. Not a single word.” Courtney rolled her eyes at him as she went to the bathroom with her clothes in her arms.
Alexander’s voice sounded from outside the door. “As a boss, it’s only right that I’m strict with my employees.”
From across the bathroom, Courtney shot back angrily, “Switching between roles when you get off work seems easy enough for you.”
“You’re welcome.”
That wasn’t a compliment! Courtney was speechless. She muttered silently to herself as she looked in the mirror and put on some light makeup.
When she came out, she accidentally stepped on the cheongsam from the night before and she frowned. “What should we do with this?”
“Someone will come by later to clean up the place. Just have them send it to the store to get it mended.”
“Can it be mended?” Courtney seriously doubted the feasibility of this matter. After all, the slit at the side of the dress had been torn up to the underarm section, causing it to be destroyed beyond recognition.
“Whether or not it can be mended well isn’t important. You can just keep it as a memento.”
Courtney was confused to hear this. “A memento of what?”
“A memento of last night.”
For several seconds, Courtney was stuck in place. Then, she fled red-faced from the door. She was highly suspicious that Alexander had suppressed his desires for too long, so much so that his physiological needs were rushing out like savage beasts now that the brakes were released, unable to be contained any longer. They had only just started their relationship but they were already advancing really quickly.
The day’s itinerary included leading the foreign guests around the garden, which was roughly two kilometers away from Sunhill Hotel, not far at all. Courtney was responsible for the English explanations throughout their tour and her fluent translations rendered the accompanying interpreter useless.
Hans and Jennifer liked Courtney very much and they were even more impressed to learn that she had spent five years alone with her daughter in America.
“It must’ve been tough living alone in a foreign country with your daughter. You are amazing!” Jennifer grasped Courtney’s hand with a look of admiration.
“It was alright; it wasn’t that miserable. We came back not because we couldn’t bear living abroad but because my daughter and I preferred the environment here.”
“I like your country’s environment too.” Jennifer tilted her head and smiled like a mischievous little girl. “And you’re right—you weren’t miserable at all. Look at you; you came back and met Mr. Duncan. True love is hard to come by.”
“Yes; it is.” Courtney gazed into the distance and saw that Alexander was discussing the construction process of the stone bridge with Hans. She couldn’t help but smile.
As night fell, Sunhill Hotel had specially arranged an open-air music reception—which was held on the large lawn in front of the hotel—to welcome the foreign guests.
Jennifer wore a floor-length lavender evening gown, looking elegant and graceful even in her fifties. “Mr. Duncan and Miss Hunter, I’d like to introduce you to a friend of mine. She’s also from Otharia but we met in America.”
“Oh—you have other friends from Otharia?”
“Here she is.” Jennifer grinned and waved in the direction of the entrance.
A dark figure dressed in a pure black silk dress inlaid with black sequins walked leisurely toward them. Under the glow of the light, the figure seemed to shine like a black mermaid.
Upon seeing her, Courtney froze. “Cameron?”
“You two know each other?” Jennifer was surprised.
Cameron, on the other hand, was unperturbed. She smiled and explained, “Jennifer is a friend of mine whom I met in America and she’s also a big fan of my store. Courtney here is my best friend, so I knew when Jennifer told me the address of the party.”
Cameron was a fashion designer so she had many foreign friends, but it still took Courtney by surprise that she knew Jennifer as it was such a coincidence.
After they made small talk for a while with wine glasses in hand, Jennifer excused herself.
“Oh and Cameron, Gale will be coming tonight.” Courtney suddenly thought of this and looked to Alexander for confirmation. “Yes?”
On the side, Alexander gave a slight nod.
Although it was a private reception, Gale was a company shareholder so it was only natural for him to drop by.
Cameron rolled her eyes then said airily, “It’s none of my business whether or not he comes.”
“Another fight?” Courtney sighed helplessly. “Everything was fine two days ago. How did it end up like this?”
“It’s not just a fight this time. We’ve gone our separate ways.”
“You’ve broken up?” Courtney asked hesitantly.
Cameron raised her eyebrows. “That’s right.”
Hearing this, Courtney and Alexander exchanged a look, mutual understanding in their expressions.
Ever since Cameron and Gale got together, they would break up seven or eight times a month. Hence, they no longer bothered to determine which time was a real breakup and which was not.
At this moment, a familiar figure entered and started walking toward them upon catching sight of them.
Courtney tugged on Alexander’s sleeve when she saw him. “Cameron, Alexander and I have to go over and entertain the guests first. I trust you’ll be okay by yourself?”
“I’ll be fine.” Cameron waved her hand, unconcerned. “You guys go ahead. I didn’t come alone anyway.”
Courtney was stunned once again upon hearing that.”Who else is here?”
