Chapter 272 The Lost Naivety
It was five in the evening—the usual hour for employees to knock off at the Hunter Group. Courtney would also leave around that timing as well, but Alexander had to work overtime since there were many problems with the finances.
“You really don’t need me to wait for you?” She knocked on the door with a smile on her face.
He raised his head to look at her from behind the computer. Even though he was tired, he immediately felt more energetic the moment he looked at her. “No need. After I’m almost done with looking at the accounts, I’ll head back home.”
“Now, I’m quite embarrassed about this. Do you want me to increase your pay?”
“You don’t look like you’re embarrassed at all. Alexander coldly squinted his eyes at her. Then, he curled his finger before gesturing at her. “Come here.”
“Are you regretting it now?”
Courtney released her grip on the door knob and naturally walked into the office to his table. Then, she slightly bent down to look at him. “If you regret what you’ve just said, it’s not too late—I can accompany you here.”
With that, Alexander raised his huge hand and placed it behind her head. Then, he pressed her down to him and kissed her soft lips before she could react.
Courtney struggled against his hold and anxiously looked behind her while muttering, “Um… The door is still open. What are you doing?”
Initially, it had caused a huge reaction after she hired Alexander to manage the company’s finances. If someone saw them behaving inappropriately in the living room and reported it to the board of directors, it would be difficult for her to explain.
With a calm look on his face, he arched his eyebrows and answered nonchalantly, “That’s it. You can leave now.”
“Why? Are you mad?”
He shot a glance at her and gave a dry smile. “This is enough to replenish my energy. Or… Do you want to do something else?”
She quickly understood what he meant by ‘replenishing his energy’ and she blushed slightly. “Nothing. You are the one who’s thinking too much. I’m leaving now, bye.”
With that, she walked out of the office without another glance at him.
While looking at her leaving figure, the smile in his eyes deepened.
After she exited the elevator, she walked around the basement before she found her car. Just as she unlocked it, a familiar old figure walked to her steadily. “Miss Hunter.”
“Mr. Harry?” Courtney froze after she turned to see Scott’s butler, Harry. “Why are you here? Are you looking for Alexander?”
Harry nodded kindly. “Yes, Mr. Duncan has asked me to discuss some matters with Alexander.”
“He’s upstairs. If you take this elevator and head to the tenth floor, you will be able to find him there.”
Courtney respectfully pointed to an elevator afar.
“Okay, but before that, I have something to discuss with you. Are you free?”
She could not gauge what he wanted from his attitude, but since he worked for Scott, he would not harbor any ill-intentions toward her. Hence, without thinking about it, she replied, “Sure. You probably haven’t had dinner, have you? There’s a nice restaurant nearby.”
Since it was the beginning of November, winter had already arrived in Melrose City. The meteorologist announced that there would be an extremely cold season on its way. Only a few leaves hung on the maple trees on the side of the roads, waiting to completely fall off.
In a restaurant at the city center, they were seated near the windows, so they could enjoy the view of the city as the night fell.
“Mr. Harry, just say what is on your mind.”
Looking at Harry, who was seated opposite her, Courtney started the conversation.
“You are a straightforward person, Miss Hunter.” He nodded. “In that case, I’ll cut to the chase. Actually, this doesn’t have a lot to do with you, but because of your relationship with Alexander, I’m taking the liberty to tell you this. In my opinion, this is the better way out.”
“Go ahead.”
“Because of your relationship with Alexander, his relationship with Mr. Duncan is quite tense. I’m sure you are well aware of this.”
“Are you suggesting that I break up with Alexander?”
“No.” He shook his head. “Once Alexander has made his decision, even Mr. Duncan can’t do anything about it, let alone me. If he didn’t insist on this, based on your character, I’m sure you are not willing to make enemies with the Duncan Family and tolerate the snide comments from other people to be with him.”
Harry was straightforward indeed. Without revealing her stance, Courtney took another sip of the tea.
“So, Mr. Harry, what you are saying is…”
“The biggest problem between Alexander and Mr. Duncan is not you. In fact, after many years of watching Alexander grow up, Mr. Duncan has also thought that Alexander is a cold person by nature. Be it his relatives, friends, and even his own son—he has always been quite indifferent…”
“What are you trying to imply?”
“Miss Hunter, you only saw Alexander pampering Jordan and showering him with love right now. However, you didn’t see the moment when Jordan arrived at the Duncan Family. In the first few years, Alexander did not even enter the ancestral residence—not even once. To him, Jordan’s existence was a mission that he had completed. Since the mission has been completed, he has nothing to do with it anymore.”
zpon hearing that, Courtney immediately frowned.
She knew about the incident that Harry mentioned and she once commented harshly about Alexander’s past actions as well. However, after she heard those words being spoken aloud by someone else, she had no idea why she found them difficult to stomach.
“It’s not like that.” She heard herself defending him. “Alexander is not someone like this. He cares about Jordan a lot and he even treats Tina well. He’s not like what you said.”
“Jordan is probably an accident in Alexander’s life.” Harry patiently explained to Courtney. “Their relationship only started to change for the better three years ago. If it wasn’t for the accident, Jordan probably doesn’t even know who his biological father is.”
“Three years ago?”
Courtney sensed something familiar.
Sure enough, Harry continued to speak. “Three years ago, Jordan almost died from a disease and in the same year, Sunhill Enterprise had also changed their president. An outsider might not see the correlation between these two incidents, but since you are so close to Alexander now, I think you have the right to know about this.”
Tightly holding the tea cup, Courtney pretended to calmly take a sip. As she forgot to add some sugar in her tea, it tasted slightly bitter.
Everything that Harry had told her was the same as the investigative results that Oliver reported. Hence, she was not surprised to hear that. However, she was more surprised that many more people knew about Jordan’s incident back then; it was more than her expectations.
Even Scott himself knew about it, yet he simply allowed Alexander to do whatever he liked to obtain his power and his position. From the beginning until now, no one had spoken up for Jordan.
His love and care for Jordan over the past three years—is he trying to make it up to Jordan? He’s just a five-year-old. To him, how could those materialistic compensations match the loss of his naivety during the internal family fight?
After Courtney finished hearing Harry’s explanation, she could only feel sorrow and disgust sweeping over her like waves. While suppressing her discomfort, she forced herself to ask, “So, Mr. Harry, what are you trying to tell me?”
