Chapter 162 A Private Matter to Take Care Of
Gale closed his mouth abruptly, and his sentence was cut off partway.
Courtney turned back to look at Gale. Her expression was extremely sorrowful. His childhood sweetheart…
Cameron was livid. “So, you do know. Keep talking.”
Looking at the situation, Gale knew that if he didn’t cough up the truth now, he would also be held liable for the mess Alexander had caused. He weighed the pros and cons in his head, then decided to temporarily defect over to this side. “Vivian Shepherd is her alias. Her real name is Mikayla Lewis. The Lewis Family, the Duncan Family, and my family are very close. As Alexander and I are very similar in age to her two elder brothers, we used to play together a lot when we were younger. However, Alexander was relatively more introverted and didn’t like to play with us that much. We also didn’t like bringing Mikayla along with us since she was so much younger than us. Thus, Alexander took care of her most of the time.”
“Besides, the adults were happy to see Mikayla and Alexander getting along well. Alexander’s father had always wanted a daughter when he was still alive—so much so that he was always happier to see Mikayla than he was to see his own son. Therefore, he decided on their marriage. Alexander did not oppose the marriage, and the Lewis Family was happy to form a connection with a powerful family like the Duncans.”
“It was supposed to be a love that formed naturally. They were going to get married after Mikayla finished her studies abroad. However, she fell in love in France; she came back and had a huge fight with her parents just to break off the marriage with Alexander. Alas, she married the romantic French man just as she wished.”
“It was originally an inspirational love story that broke through the feudal ethical code. Unfortunately, she failed to judge that man’s character well. The French man was not only romantic but also unfaithful. Thus, their marriage broke down after a few years. After that, she got divorced and returned home.”
“And, that’s what happened back then. Don’t think too much into it. Their marriage was decided by their parents. Besides, Alex’s father passed away many years back. Meanwhile, Mikayla has since gotten married and gotten divorced. It all happened a long time ago.” Gale briefly summarized the relationship between Alexander and Mikayla, downplaying their feelings for each other. Although he eloquently tried to make things sound trivial, it was not difficult for the people listening to tell that there was a deeper story to it.
Back when the marriage was first announced, Alexander had not opposed the decision. However, he refused to get married six years ago when Scott forced him to. He had preferred to find a surrogate mother to give birth to his child than obey his grandfather. If it wasn’t due to his attachments toward Mikayla, then there was no other reason that could explain his actions.
After hearing the story, Courtney’s complexion turned pale. Clenching the smoky-grey bed sheets under her, it felt like a storm had swept across her heart and left a mess in its wake. They have been childhood sweethearts for 20 years. I had no chance of winning since the beginning.
“Courtney.” Cameron’s voice brought Courtney back to the present.
“I’m fine; I just need to rest.”
“Alright, you can sleep in your old room.” Watching Courtney leaving dispiritedly, Cameron stood motionless. She wasn’t sure what she could do. Then, a sigh came from the direction of the bed. Turning her head abruptly, she irritably said, “Why are you sighing? I haven’t even started on you yet! Alexander had such a passionate love before; why didn’t you tell me about it?! I could have made a contingency plan for Courtney!” Choosing between one’s past love and one’s current love has always been a difficult question. Who knows what a man feeling nostalgic about the past would do?
Being scolded out of nowhere, Gale bitterly said, “Those are Alex’s private matters. I thought he would tell Courtney about it himself. Who could have thought Mikayla would return so suddenly?”
“Why on earth did she come back?” Cameron sat down by the bed. “Do you know why?”
He quickly waved his hand. “How would I know? All I know is that she returned after her divorce. As for her intentions toward Alexander… Perhaps, she wants to recover what she lost.”
“Recover what she lost?” She scowled. “If she does recover what she lost, then what will happen to Courtney?”
“Outsiders shouldn’t care too much about their relationship issues.” He covered his mouth and yawned, lifting a corner of the blankets and preparing to sleep.
“Who allowed you to sleep here?” She kicked him out of the bed and huffily said, “Sleep on the sofa outside.”
“Didn’t I spill the beans just now? I betrayed my best friend. Can’t you at least give me a place to stay?” he asked sadly.
“Letting you sleep on the sofa is more than you deserve. If you’re not happy with that, scram.”
Gale said nothing in response.
After tossing and turning the whole night, Courtney woke up before dawn broke the next day. Gale was woken up by the rustling sounds he heard while sleeping on the sofa. Thus, he drowsily picked up his watch from the coffee table and glanced at it. “It’s only 5 AM. Why are you up so early?”
Courtney picked up her bags and prepared to leave. Her expression was so calm that it felt as if nothing had happened last night. “I’m going to work early. Oh, you can go and sleep in the guest room.”
He nodded drowsily, hugging his pillow as he headed to the bedroom. When he turned the corner, he went the wrong way and entered the master bedroom where Cameron was sleeping. Courtney did not stop him. She simply smiled to herself and left Cameron’s house.
What happened with Alexander had been a huge blow to her. Even so, she had to continue with her daily life, and work went on as usual. Besides, she needed to make plans to prepare for her son’s return. Since Alexander refuses to be honest with me, then the lies can continue until it runs out of control.
“Good morning, Miss Hunter.”
“Good morning.”
Along the way to the canteen for breakfast, Courtney greeted the night shift employees that were about to change shifts. She turned on her phone and immediately saw a missed call from Oliver last night as well as a text message. As soon as she read the message, she called him back directly. “Are you awake?”
Oliver’s heavy breathing came from the other side of the phone. “I just finished my run.”
“You mentioned in your text message that your itinerary has been planned. I just read it. Are you planning to leave today?”
“Yeah. There’s quite a lot of places to go. I can finish early if I start early.”
“Let’s meet up to talk. I’m at the canteen. What do you want to eat? I’ll get you a portion.”
“Anything will do.”
After that, she left the canteen with a bun and a portion of congee. She was walking toward the elevator when a familiar figure walked toward her and blocked her path. Frowning, she clenched her fingers around the plastic bag in her hand. “President Duncan, good morning. Why did you come to the hotel so early in the morning?”
Alexander breathed a sigh of relief. “I came looking for you.”
“How unfortunate. I’m about to deliver breakfast to Oliver. I have something I need to talk to him about.”
Hearing her cold and distant tone, his expression fell slightly. “Where did you go last night?”
He had searched for her the entire night. When he heard that she was in the hotel’s canteen, he immediately rushed over only to be greeted with this strange attitude of hers.
“I had a private matter to take care of.” She brushed past him and pressed the elevator button.
“What private matter?” His question rang out from behind her.
“It’s a private matter. Everybody has their own space. You don’t need to know everything about me in detail, right?”
What do you mean by that?!” He glared at her, feeling a little annoyed. “There’s nothing you cannot say. I don’t think there’s anything between us that we cannot tell each other.”
After searching for Courtney throughout the night, Alexander finally found her in the morning only to see her buying breakfast for another man. No matter who it was, it was an uncomfortable sight to see. Moreover, she just had to act so cold too.
Thus, the atmosphere between them tensed up for a while. Ding! The sound of the elevator arriving finally broke the deadlock between them. Stepping into the elevator, Courtney said with her back to Alexander, “Speak for yourself. You didn’t tell me about Mikayla either, did you?”
