Chapter 175 Then, Why Didn’t He Say Anything?
Mr. Gideon did not stop Courtney from leaving. Thus, Courtney walked out of the building without stopping. Although the sun was at its strongest, Mr. Gideon’s wife didn’t seem to be bothered by the heat as she stood under the sun to feed her chickens. It was clear as day that she had been spying on them. However, she turned her head away when she saw Courtney walking out of the building. It seemed like there was a trace of hatred in her expression.
As Courtney walked past Mrs. Gideon, she heard Mrs. Gideon mutter, “Blind.”
“What?” She turned back to look at Mrs. Gideon with a frown. “Who did you say is blind?”
The woman looked up abruptly with an expression of fury. “I said my chickens are blind.”
The chickens inside the chicken coop had messy feathers. They even cooperatively cooed a few times as if they, too, were expressing their dissatisfaction. Needless to say, the woman would never be so crazy as to scold her chickens for being blind. Rather, she was pointedly insulting somebody. Since the only other person here was Courtney, it was obvious that her insult had been directed at Courtney.
Courtney looked at Mrs. Gideon and said, “A blind chicken doesn’t prevent you from cooking it. But, if a man were to be mute… that would be quite a hindrance; don’t you think so too?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“The hotel suffered considerable losses due to the fire. Somebody will have to bear the responsibility in the end. With that amount of losses, a person would go bankrupt even if they only had to pay a fraction of it. It’s not something that can be fixed just by retiring. Did you know that?”
The woman’s complexion turned deathly pale at those words.
“I’m staying at a homestay in the village tonight. If you have anything to say to me, you can find me there.” After saying that, Courtney left the Gideon Residence without looking back.
Looking at the way Mrs. Gideon reacted, it’s obvious that she knows something. Moreover, I believe this information is related to the actual cause of the fire. She already had several possibilities in mind. Now, all she needed to do was confirm her suspicions.
“Oh, you’re back? Did you manage to meet Max?” The moment Courtney arrived at the place she was staying, she received a warm welcome from the landlady, Mrs. Huff. She was staying at the house of the fisherman who led her to the Gideon Residence this morning. As the scenery in the village was beautiful, many people traveled here on holiday during the peak season. Therefore, almost every household ran a homestay.
“Yes, I did.” She smiled. “Why isn’t Mr. Huff around?”
“Alfie brought our son with him to check the fishing nets. A customer just ordered a box of seafood from us. He’ll be here soon to pick it up.”
“Is that so? Business is pretty good.” Drinking some tea, she looked out the window as the sea breeze caressed her face.
A short while later, an MPV pulled up outside. The assistant noticed Courtney immediately as soon as he got out of the car. Thus, he immediately had a vigilant expression on his face. “Why is it you again? Are you stalking us?!”
Courtney did not understand why he was so hostile toward her. Rolling her eyes at him, she supported her chin with her hand. “What are you going on about? I’m staying here. Why are you twisting the truth around?”
“You’re staying here?” A cold voice sounded from behind him. He gave a start and turned around to greet the man respectfully, “President Lewis.”
“That’s right. If you don’t believe me, you can ask the landlady.”
President Lewis did not question her further. Instead, he walked over to her and asked, “May I have a seat?”
“Sure.”
The assistant was more pretentious than his boss. Before President Lewis could take a seat, he called out, “Wait a moment, President Lewis! I’ll get a cushion for you!”
Courtney gave a heartfelt sigh at the sight of the assistant’s groveling behavior. “Where did you find that assistant of yours, President Lewis? He is even more caring than your secretary—he even cares about where you sit.”
President Lewis did not deny her words as he sat down. “I later found another wooden armchair made of red sandalwood at the Gideon Residence. It’s quite old. From its age, I believe it’s even more valuable than the chest of drawers.”
“Is that so? Congratulations on your find.”
“It’s all thanks to you. Give your account number to my assistant later; he will see to it that you receive the compensation you deserve.”
“No need for that.” She waved her hand dismissively and casually replied, “I didn’t do that much. Besides, I was just doing my own things. You don’t need to be so polite.”
Soon, the assistant returned. When he saw that his boss was already sitting, he seemed rather aggrieved as he held the cushion in his hands.
She studied the two men for a bit and suddenly understood something. President Lewis seemed to be in his early forties. He was handsome, carried himself in a calm manner, and looked to be slightly older than Alexander. Moreover, he seemed to have gone through a lot in life. On the other hand, his assistant was a sharp contrast to him. Young and lively, his assistant looked rather intelligent but spoke without thinking sometimes. This was especially apparent when facing Courtney—he seemed to consider her an enemy for some reason.
An assistant who pretends not to care, and a cold, impassive president. How interesting, she secretly thought to herself.
After a leisurely chat, Mr. Huff returned with his son and handed a box of seafood to President Lewis and his assistant. The assistant checked the contents of the box carefully before placing it in the car. Just as they were leaving, President Lewis handed a name card to Courtney. “I don’t like owing favors. You can contact me any time to receive the compensation you deserve after considering it carefully.”
Courtney took his name card, feeling amused. I’ve never met somebody who tries so hard to pay me for something. Looking at the name on the name card, she spelled it out in her heart, Casey Lewis. What a nice name.
Still, she only had time to glance at the name card before stuffing it into her pocket. That was because she noticed a figure walking over from afar—it was Mr. Gideon’s wife, Mrs. Gideon. She came faster than I expected.
“Will we really have to compensate the hotel for the losses caused by the fire?” Mrs. Gideon seemed rather nervous. She no longer looked like her domineering self from before.
“That would depend on whether the company decides to file a lawsuit in the end.” Courtney wasn’t lying. The company would never let an employee get away with causing such heavy losses with just a simple resignation letter—somebody would be held responsible for the incident.
Upon hearing those words, Mrs. Gideon’s face flushed in panic. “That won’t do! We don’t have that much money! How are we going to pay for that?!”
“You can only blame Mr. Gideon’s smoking habit for causing this predicament.”
“Didn’t the fire break out because the fire suppression system was broken? That’s not our responsibility!”
Courtney frowned and asked warily, “How did you know that the fire suppression system was broken?”
In order to prevent any public criticism, she had instructed Addie to handle the matter as soon as the fire broke out. Thus, no more than five people within the hotel were aware that the fire suppression system was broken—that number included both herself and Addie. Meanwhile, they publicly announced that the fire had been so fierce that the fire suppression system could not do much against it. However, Mrs. Gideon was so certain about that fact.
Under Courtney’s persistent questioning, the woman finally talked. “It’s my husband. He was worried that his smoking would activate the fire suppression system. Therefore, he damaged the fire suppression system. However, he did not cause the fire! He told me that he was always very careful whenever he smoked. He would ensure that the fire was completely extinguished before wrapping it up, placing it in his pocket, and taking it out of the storeroom. This time was no different!”
“Then, why didn’t he say anything?”
“That’s because—” Mrs. Gideon’s expression turned pale, and her sentence trailed off.
“It’s because of Louie, right?” Courtney finished Mrs. Gideon’s sentence for her. Her cold voice was accompanied by the cool breeze at night. “You treat Louie like your own son. Moreover, Mr. Gideon knew that he would not be able to escape responsibility since he was the one to damage the fire suppression system. After weighing the pros and the cons, he decided to assume responsibility for the incident to protect Louie. Am I right?”
By the time Courtney finished talking, the woman in front of her seemed to be panic-stricken. Mrs. Gideon stuttered, “Y-You know… everything?”
