Chapter 37 A Pro Bono Chef
However, what Britney hadn’t expected was for Scott to challenge Alexander’s orders after the latter attempted to get Courtney to leave. “I think it’s more likely for Jordan to not need you right now,” Scott uttered in a cold tone as he glanced at Alexander disdainfully. He was hinting Alexander to take his words back.
“I think what Miss Hunter said was perfectly correct. Look at yourself—do you think you look like his father? You drank so much; where were you when Jordan fell off the stairs? You were probably fast asleep on your bed after getting drunk, right? How careless of you.” Scott didn’t hesitate to lecture him in front of Courtney.
Alexander felt guilty to begin with, and he only felt worse upon hearing Scott’s words. He no longer mentioned anything about sending Courtney away. “She can stay if she wants; you can stay if you want too.” He frowned annoyedly.
“Why should I stay here? I’m old now; I don’t have the time to clean up all the messes that you make. I want to live a long life,” the old man scoffed before he called for his butler to send him home. Before he walked out, he sneakily gave an ‘okay’ hand sign to Tina, who winked her eye furiously in return. Now, Mommy can spend some quality time with my future dad!
Once Scott had left, Courtney pulled her chair closer to Jordan’s bed before she gently touched his forehead to measure his temperature. Alexander frowned at this. “He doesn’t even have a fever. What are you touching his forehead for?”
Courtney simply rolled her eyes; she no longer concealed the contempt she felt for the man. “Kids are more prone to getting high fevers when they aren’t feeling well. Furthermore, he might get a fever if he got an infection from the surgery, and things would get worse if he gets pneumonia or other infectious diseases. What do you know?”
His face turned stiff for a moment before he sat himself down on the couch. “You’re saying all that as if you’re a doctor,” he mumbled in a softer tone.
“Mommy was supposed to be a doctor.” Out of nowhere, Tina popped up beside Alexander before she used both her arms and legs to climb up onto his thighs. He didn’t feel repulsed by the young girl’s acts; if anything, he found himself enjoying her company. He lifted her up and positioned her on his thighs as he replied without thinking much of it, “Why didn’t she become a doctor in the end?”
“Because she didn’t have the time to take care of other children after she had me. That was why she gave up on her career as a doctor,” Tina explained. She’s such an adorable and innocent girl; I’m sure Courtney must have been lying and bragging about her own career in front of her daughter. It’s time for me to embarrass her this time, he thought as he scoffed. “Well, if I remember correctly, doctors have to formally graduate from a medical school after 7 years of studying there. You can’t become a doctor just because you want to.” Courtney had been exposed for faking her academic qualifications 3 months ago during their interview. She didn’t even graduate from university; how could she dream of becoming a doctor? She’s probably just learnt some nursing skills in one of her courses and used it to impress her daughter.
Although the look on Courtney’s face darkened a little, she didn’t say anything in response. She might have even looked rather dejected. Alexander felt his heart clenching at the sight of this; he no longer found this fun and he quickly swallowed the remaining insults that he had prepared for her. Throughout the night, Courtney stayed by Jordan’s side and made sure that he was comfortable in his sleep. Soon, as her eyelids gradually felt heavier and heavier, she eventually fell asleep by the edge of the bed. By the time she woke up, the sun was pouring in from the window, and her back was aching from the posture she fell asleep in.
Right then, the scene before her eyes gave her a mixture of complicated feelings. Tina was sitting on top of Alexander’s lap as the both of them played games on their phones. Tina seemed to have gotten into some trouble in the game, for she looked up and glanced at Alexander pleadingly. “I can’t get past this stage, Mr. Alexander. What am I supposed to do here?”
He took her phone into his hands before curling her closer toward his chest as he patiently showed her how the game worked. “You have to do this. Then you have to speed up at this part…” Alexander only noticed Courtney watching them after they gamed for a long while. The gentle smile he had on his face quickly disappeared as he looked at her. “You’re awake?”
Courtney snapped back into reality then and began to stand up as she massaged her back and complained. “Yeah. I’m so tired. I have to go; I need to head back to the office and prepare the plans for the centennial celebration.”
“I can give you the day off if you’re too tired.” Alexander was in a good mood after he spent the morning playing games with Tina. All the terrible feelings he had the night before had disappeared into thin air.
“It’s fine. I’ve already been suspected of having ulterior motives even though I didn’t do anything; I’m afraid someone might think I’m trying to rely on the power and position of others to get a promotion if I don’t do my work properly. By the way, President Duncan, let me clarify myself again—I’m working purely for the sake of working, and I came to visit purely because Jordan is a good friend of Tina’s. You aren’t that attractive and wonderful; I’m not trying to impress you or anything.”
The good mood that Alexander had been in quickly switched into a terrible one as he glared at Courtney with his brows knitted. All the gratitude that he had for the woman disappeared instantly. Upon that sight, Tina hurriedly interrupted their conversation before they could start a fight. “You can go back and do your work, Mommy. I’ll be here with Jordan.”
Courtney frowned at this. “You’re not coming with me?”
“Why should I? Aren’t you going to make some snakehead fish soup for Jordan in the afternoon? It’d be too tiring for me to follow you around, and today’s a Sunday anyway.” Tina barely looked up as she spoke to her mother. She remained seated on Alexander, as if he was her personal couch.
This girl still remembers about the snakehead fish soup, huh? Courtney felt rather speechless then. She was afraid that Alexander would further suspect her intentions if she were to do such kind acts without asking for anything in return.
“I’m not going back to the company today, and I’ve cleared all my plans, so I can take care of Tina here at the hospital. It’ll be fine. You can go do your work,” he said calmly.
“What?” Courtney was surprised by his sudden kind gesture. Is he offering to look after my daughter for me?
“But you have to remember to pack lunch for all 3 of us later,” Alexander added. She felt like her heart fell instantly upon hearing that. That sounds more like Alexander. He’d never do something without getting some sort of benefit out of it—it’s pretty worth it to spend time with Tina in exchange for getting a pro bono chef to prepare his meals for him.
Cameron had specially offered to set Courtney up with a few of her friends in the advertising industry so that Courtney could ask them for details regarding event planning and management that she needed for the company’s centennial celebration. Courtney was in a rush then, so she didn’t bother to argue any longer before she left Tina behind and stepped out of the hospital. Throughout her conversations with Cameron’s friends, she couldn’t stop herself from yawning. She even had to drink a few cups of coffee that day.
After the meetings were over, Courtney rushed to the market at noon to buy the snakehead fish needed for the soup. She also prepared two other side dishes and packed them in a stacked lunch box before bringing it to the hospital. When she arrived, Jordan was awake. One of his arms was in a cast while the other arm still seemed rather stiff since it was just relocated the night before. He glanced pathetically as the dishes were laid out in front of his eyes. “I’ll feed you.” Alexander held a spoonful of soup over to Jordan’s lips.
But Jordan didn’t hesitate to embarrass his father in front of everyone else. He didn’t even glance at Alexander; instead, he shifted his gaze firmly toward Courtney. What Scott mentioned the night before was true—Alexander wasn’t needed as much as Courtney was.
“Let me do it, then.” Courtney reached her hands out to Alexander and asked for his bowl and spoon. Indeed, Jordan’s mouth cracked into a grin the moment Courtney tried to feed him, and he quickly finished a big bowl of the snakehead fish soup.
Alexander seemed a little jealous upon seeing this. “Jordan, you need to know that I’m your father,” he uttered with a straight face. The young boy glanced at Alexander for a moment before he reached his leg out from underneath the sheets and fiercely sent a kick toward Alexander’s thigh, his small face scrunched up into a look of fury.
“What are you doing?” Although Jordan’s kick didn’t hurt, Alexander still found himself getting angry at his son’s actions.
