Chapter 331 They’re Brothers
Since Tessa was injured because of Oliver, Courtney felt indebted and came to the hospital with nutritious soup every afternoon for the next two days as she had nothing scheduled.
“He’s not here again?” Courtney frowned as she scanned her surroundings. “Don’t tell me that he hasn’t visited you again after I left the other day? That’s way too cold-hearted of him!”
Meanwhile, Tessa shook her head. “He has, but he usually comes at night. Our current training session is still ongoing. Although our group was exempted from it halfway through because of our involvement in the drug raid, the school has requested for Oliver to return and participate in the case. He has the difficult job of reporting the information back to them.”
“You’re just creating excuses for him.” Courtney resignedly shook her head. Subsequently, she twisted open the Thermos flask and poured out some chicken soup into a bowl before handing it to Tessa. “Try it while it’s piping hot.”
Then, Tessa took it in her hands with a beaming smile. “Courtney, your boyfriend must be a lucky man.”
“Why do you say so all of a sudden?” A slightly surprised Courtney asked.
“You’re such a good cook. All of the food that you have prepared is really tasty. If I was a guy, I would definitely court you.”
“If you’re purely after a good meal, you should marry a chef then.”
Tessa was quite stunned upon hearing that and she scratched her head after further consideration. “That’s true.”
When she noticed Tessa’s slightly clueless reaction, Courtney remained silent and switched on the TV out of habit.
The afternoon news report was coincidentally on air whereby the announcer read, “According to our latest update on the drug case that occurred at the warehouse of Sakura Group several days ago, the total amount of K powder seized is worth…’
The drug case that involved the Sakura Group had created quite a stir in Melrose City. After all, it was the largest bust with the most amount of drugs seized in the last decade. On top of that, the team in charge of conducting the raid consisted of merely a group of students from the Public Security University, which resulted in the piece of news being repeatedly broadcasted multiple times a day for the last three days.
Meanwhile, the list of entertainment centers involved in this case grew with each passing day and it came to the point where all the owners of entertainment centers were rather frantic with worry.
“By the way, I heard that during the initial search, you found a bunch of Peppa Pig watches. So, where did you manage to locate the K powder? Was it inside the dial of the watch?” Courtney asked out of curiosity.
Tessa had coincidentally taken a sip of the soup and gulped it at the same time she heard Courtney’s question. “I wasn’t there, but I heard the other team members sharing that it was eventually found in the strap of the watches. The elastic straps were hollow inside when they sliced it open and each strap contained the quantity sufficient for a person’s single use.”
As the drug had been well-concealed, no one would’ve realized that there was concealed ketamine in the pile of toys—if it hadn’t been for Courtney and Bill’s accidental discovery of some spilled powder.
As the two of them chatted with each other, there was a sudden loud sound coming from the door.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
“Excuse me. Is this Miss Tessa Reid’s room?”
Courtney and Tessa instantly turned their heads in unison to notice an elegant figure standing by the door. She was dressed in an azure-colored coat that was paired with a tan cashmere scarf while her hair was pulled into a chic bun on the back of her head. Although she was more than fifty years old, she looked like she was merely in her forties.
Meanwhile, Tessa looked at the person with a confused expression. However, Courtney was stunned because she instantly recognized who the stranger was. Then, she piped up, “Madam?”
The person was the owner of Hostel D’ Amour in Oreus as well as Alexander’s mom—Fiona Duncan.
As soon as Fiona noticed Courtney, she was also caught by surprise.
The atmosphere suddenly became rather tense. Luckily, Tessa was not a perceptive person and she turned toward Fiona while tilting her head. “How can I help you? I’m Tessa.”
Then, Fiona walked into the room and placed the fruit basket in her hands by the side table. Then, she glanced at Courtney and hesitantly introduced, “I’m Oliver’s mom. I heard that you were injured during training because of Oliver, so I came over to visit.”
As soon as Courtney heard Fiona’s words, it was as if something had suddenly erupted in Courtney’s mind. Oliver is Fiona’s son?! Then, that would make Alexander and Oliver siblings! Did Fiona conceive Oliver with another man? So, that means Oliver is Alexander’s half-brother, right?
Her mind was frazzled as she stared at Fiona in disbelief.
Meanwhile, Tessa was seemingly oblivious to Courtney’s tumultuous emotions and she looked at Fiona with wide eyes. “Are you actually Oliver’s mom?”
Fiona nodded. “Yup. Oliver mentioned that he’ll be busy with school matters for the time being and can’t spare the time to visit you. That’s why he arranged for me to come over and accompany you. I can stay here with you if you’re fine with this arrangement. If you’re not, then I’ll make arrangements on your behalf and search for a suitable caregiver.”
“I’ll be happy to have you around. Don’t worry, I’m fine with this arrangement.” Tessa nodded earnestly. This is such a sudden blessing! Gosh! Oliver has actually made arrangements for his mom to come and take care of me! Does this mean that things could work out between us?!
As Tessa and Fiona chatted with each other, Courtney found an excuse to leave the ward. However, she didn’t leave immediately and stayed close to the door instead.
Since what Fiona mentioned earlier was something important, Courtney wasn’t sure whether to feign ignorance or to inform Alexander.
She wasn’t familiar with the incident that happened to the Duncans in the past, but he mentioned several times before that his mom had something to do with the car accident that resulted in his father’s demise. The reason why he kicked his mother out of the Duncan Residence was because she had an affair.
Therefore, if one were to work backward and calculate the timing, Oliver was nineteen this year, which meant that Fiona was pregnant with a child when she left the Duncan Family.
Now that Courtney had confirmed this information, she suddenly thought of another more serious issue. Would Oliver have approached us without knowing anything? Could there be such a coincidence in this world?
Suddenly, the room door creaked open as a pair of slender fingers turned the door knob.
It was at this moment when Fiona turned to instruct Tessa to take a rest. As soon as the door shut behind her, Fiona’s expression turned solemn. Then, her gaze fell on Courtney before she asked, “Were you waiting for me?”
Upon hearing that, Courtney frowned. “Actually, I know that there are some things in which I shouldn’t ask, but I want to confirm whether Oliver and Alexander are…”
“They’re brothers,” Fiona answered as she stared at Courtney with a neutral expression. “If you have the time, let’s find somewhere to sit down and have a chat. This place is too disruptive and there’s no way we can talk here.”
Fiona was someone who spoke eloquently and gave those around her a calm feeling. She didn’t fit the characteristics of a selfish woman that Alexander described in the past. Since Courtney had a lot of doubts and questions, it was likely that only the parties involved would be able to resolve it.
They made their way to a serene little cafe that was within walking distance to the hospital. After taking a seat, Fiona noted the cafe’s embellishments and smiled softly after that. “I haven’t stepped foot into town for several years now. The design of the buildings are so different from back then. Is this the kind of style that youngsters prefer nowadays? I’m thinking that maybe I might need to change my hostel’s decorations.”
Courtney took a look at the surroundings and found that the cafe had a minimalistic design and glass windows, both of which were worthy enough to be uploaded to Instagram. Compared to the warm and homely environment of Hostel D’Amour, the cafe had a completely different vibe.
“Some people prefer this, I suppose. I reckon your hostel’s already awesome as it is, so there’s no need to make any changes.”
“Is that true?” Fiona smiled abashedly before taking a deep breath. “You’re welcome to come and pay a visit anytime. Oliver must have been quite a handful for you all this while.”
As soon as she said this, Courtney hesitated slightly before clarifying, “So, you’ve known that Oliver has been in contact with Alexander all this while, right? He must have intentionally approached Alexander.”
It seemed to be too much of a coincidence, which was why Courtney couldn’t help but feel uneasy. After all, it was because of that car accident which could have been intentionally caused that led her to introducing Oliver to Alexander.
