Chapter 171 Who Is the Gossipmonger
That very day, Courtney’s name was listed on the notice of discipline issued by the person in charge. She was suspended without pay for a month and had to cooperate with their internal investigation into the cause of the fire. Upon receiving the notice of discipline in the early hours of the morning, the Human Resource Department bluntly rejected her letter of resignation on the grounds that ‘no resignation was allowed during the suspension period’. As a result, she had no means of venting out her anger. She couldn’t even go to the company.
Cameron brought some breakfast with her when she visited Tina and Courtney at the hospital. Tina was eating some porridge on the hospital bed, and her voice was still rather hoarse as she said, “Mommy, will Jordan be coming today?”
Courtney was blowing on the porridge to cool it. When she heard the question, she frowned slightly. “Jordan was not feeling well over the past two days and has been hospitalized. Unfortunately, he is not staying at this hospital. I’m sure he’ll come and visit you once he gets better.”
“Then, what about Daddy?” Under Scott’s instruction, Tina successfully changed the way she addressed Alexander; she now directly addressed him as ‘Daddy’.
Courtney lifted her head abruptly, a displeased scowl appearing between her eyebrows. “He is not your daddy! Don’t call him that anymore!”
The sudden admonishment frightened Tina, and her eyes immediately filled with tears. “Mommy…”
“Oh, my dear… Alright, alright,” Cameron came over to smooth things over. She pulled Tina into her arms and said, “I know you had a fight with Alexander, but you shouldn’t vent your anger on a child. Tina, don’t cry.”
Tina was usually not one to cry so easily. However, she suffered a huge scare during the fire and had been feeling jumpy ever since she woke up in the emergency room yesterday. Therefore, all it took was for Courtney to raise her voice suddenly to startle Tina to tears again.
When Courtney saw her daughter sobbing in Cameron’s arms, she instantly felt extremely remorseful. “Tina, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you. I was just—”
“You were just thinking about something else.” Cameron finished the rest of the sentence that Courtney could not bring herself to say. Then, she rolled her eyes at Courtney. “You were wronged by Alexander, and you’re not happy about that. Moreover, there’s more to the fire than meets the eye. You suspect that you’ve been set up by somebody. Still, Alexander is not a fool. He was simply too furious to think yesterday. Once the investigation results come out, he will surely regret his actions. Well, if you can’t wait for that long, you can investigate the incident yourself. Just speak up if you need help; don’t sit here with your heart elsewhere. Jordan is your son, but Tina is your daughter too.”
Courtney felt a little troubled that Cameron had hit the nail on its head about how she was feeling inside.
“I know you feel guilty because Jordan grew up without you. So, do what you need to do. Tina has me.” Cameron’s words were stern; there was a hint of anger in them.
Ever since Courtney learned that Jordan was the son that had been stolen away back then, she had been preoccupied with thoughts of him most of the time. It was not an exaggeration to say that she had been neglecting her daughter. After all, if not for her wish for both her children to get along well together, she would not have left both her children at the hotel together. By extension, Tina would not have been caught up in the fire at the hotel. Faced with Cameron’s anger, she had nothing to say in her defense.Although I truly regret my actions, I must get to the bottom of this matter! I need to investigate the fire!
“I will settle everything as soon as possible and resign from the hotel,” Courtney promised as she walked over to Cameron. “This will never happen again.”
“What about Jordan?”
“He is my son; I will do my best to get him back.”
Cameron’s expression softened slightly. Then, she lowered her voice and said, “If it really comes down to that, I will get you a lawyer.”
“Thank you.” Courtney felt the urge to cry washing over her. Only her best friend, Cameron, had remained by her side after so many years of ups and downs. What was originally a meeting of chance turned out to be a friendship of mutual support that lasted so many years.
In the meantime, the hotel issued a provisional official statement regarding the fire. They claimed that the staff in the kitchen had violated kitchen management regulations by smoking in the storeroom, which caused the incident. They also announced that compensation procedures were being carried out to reimburse their guests for the scare and for suffering monetary losses. There was not much public opinion regarding the incident online. Furthermore, the PR team promptly took action and suppressed all negative reports involving the incident as soon as they appeared. Still, that was just the official statement to appease the public. The real cause of the fire remained a mystery; nothing had been found up until now.
“What on earth happened? Was it really caused by Mr. Gideon smoking in the storeroom? Did he admit to it?” Courtney invited her assistant, Addie, out to ask about the fire.
Addie looked puzzled too. “I don’t know either. This is the statement issued by Mr. Elliott, as well as several managers from the HR department and the PR department, after some discussion. Furthermore, Mr. Gideon has taken early retirement and returned to his hometown in Eastbrook. There is no way to question him any more. If it wasn’t for his apprentice, Louie, who risked his life to save him, he would have lost his life during the fire.
“Louie? By the way, I wanted to ask you about the man who carried Mr. Gideon out of the fire that day. Why have I never seen him before?”
“Louie is from the same hometown as Mr. Gideon. Mr. Gideon brought him here about half a month ago. Therefore, you’ve never met him before. It’s not wrong to say that he entered our hotel through personal connections. At present, he is an apprentice working in the kitchen, and his salary is calculated according to internship rates. He was not part of the permanent staff at the time. However, the HR department recently broke precedence and took him on as part of the permanent staff due to his rescue efforts. He was deemed to have helped the company by reducing the number of human casualties during the incident.”
Courtney nodded and did not inquire further about Louie. Instead, she asked, “Can you get me the surveillance footage from inside the kitchen as well as the entrance to the kitchen?”
He looked slightly troubled by her request. “The police came by to collect the evidence and took away all the original copies. But, they left copies of the footage behind for the internal investigation. They should be stored in the computer in the security room. Still, isn’t asking for the surveillance footage at this point akin to telling the world that I’m guilty?”
“It’s not like the blame will fall on your head anyway.” She looked at him. “I will take full responsibility for everything. If you still consider me your boss, you will find a way to get me the surveillance footage.”
“How can you say that, Courtney? When have I ever failed to follow your instructions?” He immediately put on a solemn expression. “Don’t worry. I will surely complete my duty and figure out a way to clear your name.”
“Clear my name? For what?” She glanced at him in suspicion. “I was suspended for negligence in performing my duties. What do you mean by that?”
“Courtney, don’t you know about the rumors?” Addie opened his mouth in surprise. After hesitating for a moment, he decided to be forthright with her. “After the incident, everybody at the hotel is saying that you deliberately did not rescue the Little Master so that your own child will inherit the entirety of the Duncan Family’s assets once you married President Duncan. Moreover, everybody is claiming that you were suspended because President Duncan learned about your motives.”
“Nonsense!” Courtney furrowed her brows and continued, sounding annoyed, “Who is behind this nonsensical rumor? The first thing I’m going to do when I get back to work is to deal with this gossiping habit! How many times have I warned them about this? Why haven’t they fixed their vile habits?!”
“So, it’s not true?” He immediately broke out into a bright smile. “I knew it! These people have nothing better to do. You have such a good relationship with President Duncan; how could you possibly do something like that? They even gossiped about how you and President Duncan have broken up… It’s so ridiculous.”
“It’s true that we broke up.” A soft voice carrying considerable chill to it came from opposite him.
Addie gave a start of surprise at her words, then he felt as if a large, gloomy fog had settled over his head.They really broke up?! His expression immediately collapsed into one of despair at that realization.Why did I agree to help Courtney obtain the surveillance footage?! I’m… siding with the wrong team! I’m committing a crime!
