Chapter 305 Treat You to Dinner
“Are they nuts?”
Courtney put down her cutlery and glared at Alexander angrily. “Do I look like I can afford to be someone’s sugar mommy? My heart is still aching after transferring 600,000 to Leon yesterday.”
Alexander’s nonchalant expression slowly took a darker turn when he heard her mention the money. He put down his cutlery as well. “You transferred 600,000 to Leon’s bank account?”
If netizens found out about this, it would definitely confirm the rumors at once!
Courtney realized that her words had given him the wrong idea. She hastily explained herself, “It’s not what you think. Leon sent me a pile of clothes yesterday. I had Natasha calculate how much they cost in total so I could return the money to him.”
“He sent you a pile of clothes?” The look on his face wasn’t getting any better.
Courtney took a deep breath and grabbed her coat as she prepared to leave. “I’ve only met Leon twice. It’s on you to believe it or not.”
Alexander calmly placed another pancake onto her plate. “Finish your breakfast first. Then we’ll head over to the company together.”
Courtney looked down toward him. When she locked eyes with him and saw the warmth in his eyes which were filled with affection and unbending trust, her troubles from earlier disappeared without a trace. She sat down at the table without a second thought.
“Is this funny to you? Were you teasing me?”
“It is pretty amusing, actually.”
Courtney lowered her head and finished the bowl of oats in a few gulps.
“Let’s hurry now. We still don’t know if the company’s stocks will be affected by this issue. Those old geezers on the board will start nagging again if there’s a fluctuation.”
On the way to the company, Courtney went online just to get herself updated on what was going on.
It all started when a Facebook fan page called Leon’s Harbor posted a photo of him shopping at the mall. The caption read, ‘An unexpected encounter with Leon in Pinnacle. It seems like he’s in a relationship—he’s buying his girlfriend gifts! He booked the entire store and bought everything from the winter collection. What a lavish spender! It makes me want to marry him.’
The post proceeded to go viral online. Subsequently, someone commented with a photo that was taken in front of Courtney’s office, which showed Leon’s assistants carrying shopping bags of all sizes into her office.
The caption read, ‘It’s canon—Leon’s girlfriend is our company’s boss. But she already has a boyfriend, so Leon’s probably just one of our boss’ boyfriends.’
It was that particular comment that stirred up the drama online
Various fake accounts started commenting threats, and soon, ‘Leon Got Himself a Sugar Mommy’ became a popular subject of discussion on the internet.
Since the Hunter Group had become viral in the past due to the migrant worker suicide incident, netizens quickly picked up on the familiar location in the photo. Before long, Courtney became the spotlight of this issue, and there were all sorts of opinions online.
‘Isn’t this the Hunter Group?’
‘The boss is the second young lady of the Hunter Family, isn’t it? She’s been viral on Facebook before.’
‘I knew this young man was up to no good.’
‘Is the Hunter Group a premium member of viral topics or what? They’re really something, huh?’
‘There’s nothing to say about this. I’d be his sugar mommy too if I were rich.’
The comments went on and on.
After scrolling on Facebook, Courtney was surprised to find that not many people were pointing fingers at her. Aside from a few of Leon’s fans roasting her for breaking the unspoken rule of celebrities, the internet was more focused on criticizing the young celebrity.
It seemed like this matter wasn’t as serious as she thought. However, the Hunter Group’s stocks had indeed experienced a minor fluctuation, but it was all within a normal range.
“Natasha, tell the PR department to come up with a solution to resolve this at once.” Courtney put down her phone and said with a serious tone, “One more thing—get in touch with Leon’s manager. It’s better if we work together on this problem.”
“Alright.” Natasha nodded and said, “I’ll let them know right away.”
However, it hadn’t been two minutes since she left when she returned again. “President Hunter, it seems like we don’t have to worry about it anymore.”
“Why not?”
“Leon’s management company has already issued an official statement.” As Natasha spoke, she showed Courtney her phone.
Leon had just made a statement on his Facebook page. The attached photo was a bank statement in which the personal information had been blurred out. There was a red line underneath the time of the transfer, which was way before the topic had gone viral.
‘I would like to clear up the confusion regarding some false rumors on the internet today. Back when I’d just returned from Melbourne for an advertisement shoot, I forgot to take any winter attire with me. The lady in question, who’d unintentionally gotten involved with this rumor, lent me all her winter jackets on a short notice. I simply helped her to purchase those clothes yesterday, and she’s already returned me the money. She’s a great person, so please believe me. I hope you guys will stop talking about this. Don’t argue with people who stir up unnecessary trouble, okay?’
In the meantime, Leon’s management company had also put out an announcement, stating that they had already taken legal action against the people who took the lead in slandering Leon for being a sugar baby.
The moment these statements were released, the fans online immediately quietened down and stopped firing insults.
Courtney passed Natasha’s phone back to her after taking a look at the latest news.
“Tell the PR department to take their company as an example. Take a look at how efficient they are and think about ourselves. Isn’t it too much of a difference?”
Natasha let out a breath of relief as well. “At least all is well now. I was so scared; this probably wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t dragged you to the advertising booth the other day.”
“It’s fine.” Courtney waved a dismissive hand. “They weren’t exactly coming for me anyway. This was obviously a feud within the entertainment industry and has nothing to do with me.”
“Should I still get in contact with Leon’s manager, then?”
“No need.”
Courtney flipped open a document on her desk and continued calmly, “Let’s avoid unnecessary trouble. Since they’re able to maintain the image of their people, we have nothing else to say.”
Even though she’d put it that way, Courtney’s decision was due to another personal reason in mind. She thought that it was best if she interacted with Leon as little as possible. Leon and his one-track mind. Who knows if he’s gonna pull something like this again in the future?
By noon, the inappropriate viral topics had died down.
Once the matter was thoroughly settled, Courtney took the initiative to give Alexander a call.
“Do you want to eat out tonight? I’m craving Japanese food.”
Alexander’s voice sounded quite helpless on the phone. “I’m still not done looking through the financial reports, though. There are problems with some of the dividends. But if you allow me to ignore these, I’ll be able to have dinner with you.”
“Keep looking at your reports, then.” She sighed before continuing, “If you don’t put my finance department back in order soon, I’d be too worried to let you return to Grandpa’s side. I’ll just go home and order some takeout. Should I leave some for you?”
“It’s fine. I’ll be late tonight.”
“Wow, what a busy man.” As chairman, Courtney suddenly felt like she wasn’t even as busy as the head of finance.
After hanging up, she silently tapped into the takeout app. If I order now, my food should arrive by the time I reach home.
Just as she entered the page of a Japanese restaurant, her screen flickered. An incoming call popped up and her phone rang with a melodious ringtone.
Courtney glanced at the caller ID. She only answered the call after a brief hesitation.
“Hello?”
“It’s Leon.”
“Is anything the matter?”
“I’d like to apologize about what happened on Facebook earlier. It’s my fault for not thinking it through and causing you trouble in the end. I didn’t think buying you clothes would trigger such a huge issue. I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright. I didn’t take it personally.”
“To apologize, I’d like to treat you to dinner. I’m right in front of your office now, Miss.”
