Chapter 371 Are They the Children You Had With Me?
As soon as Courtney and Alexander went out, there was a downpour. The cold rain in the frigid winter was extremely cold, and though the shopping mall was full of heaters, Courtney still felt unreasonably chilly.
“What’s left to buy?”
“Looks like there’s nothing left.” Courtney shook her head.
“Then wait for me here; I’ll go get something.”
“What is it?”
“Our wedding rings.”
“I see.”
Courtney nodded. “Alright, off you go. I’ll just wait for you here.”
Alexander bought custom-made rings for the proposal. There were 10 different designs of bride’s rings custom-made, but the groom’s ring could not be made in time, so it had been delayed until today.
After Alexander left, Courtney sat down on one of the public sofas in the shopping mall with shopping bags piled at her feet. Right as she sat down, she received a call from Alicia.
“Are you coming back soon?”
“I’m at the shopping mall. Alexander will send me back after shopping. Don’t worry. I promised you that I will be at your house for the eve of the mid-winter holiday, so I won’t run away all of a sudden, okay?”
“Well, a married daughter is just like water that has been poured—she doesn’t belong to her family any more. So who knows if Alex will use his sweet talking to get you to stay with him.”
Courtney was obviously amused by what Alicia said. She got up and laughed while leaning on the railing. “Do you really think Alexander is capable of sweet talking?”
“Uh… Well…”
On the other side, Alexander entered the jewelry store and explained his intention to the store clerk. Soon, the store manager came out with the ring.
“Oh, Mr. Duncan, you didn’t have to make this trip in person. I could have sent someone over with this!”
Alexander glanced at the ring. He didn’t care much about the design, but he was in a good mood, so he replied casually, “I happened to accompany my wife here for some shopping, so I figured I should pick it up on the way, lest I forget about it.”
“Your wife sure is a lucky lady.”
The store manager followed Alexander’s gaze and glanced into the distance before smiling. “I saw the video on the Internet. I thought I was mistaken, but you and Miss Hunter are a match made in heaven. Who would have thought that the both of you would end up in such a good marriage because of one necklace!”
“Necklace?” Alexander’s expression changed slightly. “What necklace?”
The store manager was stunned for a moment. “Didn’t you come to the store before to ask about the necklace? Miss Hunter was the one who came with that necklace to enquire, and we told her it was yours…”
Seeing that Alexander’s expression had changed, the store manager seemed to realize that he had said something wrong, and his voice gradually weakened.
“You… didn’t know about this? I saw the wedding video on the Internet and thought you knew, so I didn’t call to tell you about this.”
Alexander frowned. He stared blankly at the woman with her back to him in the distance. Clenching the ring box in his hand, he strode over.
“Okay, I know. Alexander is collecting the ring, and we’ll leave after that.”
Out of the corner of Courtney’s eyes, she caught a glimpse of Alexander’s figure and said with a smile, “There he is. I’ll hang up first. Don’t worry. I’ll be home in a while.”
Once Courtney hung up the phone, she stretched out her hand toward Alexander very naturally. “I want to see what they look like.”
Alexander handed over the ring box and was still in shock when he thought back to what the store manager said just now.
Courtney looked at the ring. “The design is very minimalistic. That’s great! I’ll keep it for you first—we don’t want you losing things this important.”
Looking up and seeing Alexander staring at her strangely, Courtney was a little puzzled. “What’s wrong?”
It took a long time for Alexander to regain his senses, and his brows frowned slightly.
“It’s nothing—let’s go.”
“Oh, let me go to the washroom first!” Courtney smiled at him. “Wait for me. I’ll be out soon.”
Seeing Courtney trotting away, Alexander felt his heart gradually sinking. Perhaps it was a misunderstanding. If the necklace is in Courtney’s hands, and she knew that the necklace was mine, why didn’t she give it back to me? 6 years ago, when did I lose the necklace, and how did it end up in her hands?
What happened then was too long ago for him to remember, just as he couldn’t remember how the necklace was lost all these years.
In the next second, the phone vibrated in his pocket, and after looking at the caller ID, he pressed the answer button.
“What is it?”
“President Duncan, Poppy Waller opened up at the police station.”
“What did she say?”
“She said…” Josh’s voice was very hesitant, but after a while, he finally mustered the courage to speak. “She said that Britney found out that Little Master Jordan’s biological mother was Miss Hunter, and that there was a mistake regarding the girl who was set to be the surrogate mother six years ago. At that time, Miss Hunter just happened to be drugged and sent to the wrong room by her sister, and the children she gave birth to were not one, but two—they were twins…”
Alexander’s hand that was holding the phone suddenly tightened—even his knuckles turned white from how tightly he was clenching his phone. Right then, he felt as if his heart had sunk to the depths of the ocean.
“She said that before James’ accident, Britney had already found out that Miss Hunter was approaching you on purpose. Miss Hunter had met a lawyer from America who specialized in custody lawsuits, and she had already collected all the evidence that you abandoned Jordan in the old house after he was born…”
At this point, all he could hear were muffled words with a constant ringing in his ears, but he still managed to maintain his reasoning and asked, “Did she have any evidence for what she said?”
There was silence on the other end of the phone for a moment, then came Josh’s heavy voice. “I’ve checked it, and there’s nothing suspicious about what Britney said. Miss Hunter found out your identity shortly after returning, and she even has a paternity test certificate in her hand. The American lawyer was arranged by Elijah Grant, and there are various hospital records where Jordan has been injured over the years in the lawyer’s hand. If… If she fights for custody, they would probably build the case on child abuse…”
After Josh finished talking about everything, Alexander hung up the phone. He received a document from Josh, which clearly recorded everything he had investigated over the past six months.
The veins in Alexander’s hands popped out, and he almost crushed the phone with his bare hands. Without a second thought, he left behind the pile of festive wedding gift bags and strode toward the bathroom.
Courtney had just finished washing her hands and was tidying up her messy hair in front of the mirror. In the next second, the sound of the door opening came from behind, and at the same time came the voice of a woman exclaiming, “Excuse me, sir! This is the women’s washroom!”
Hearing that, Courtney looked back subconsciously. When she turned around, the man had already pushed the woman out of the washroom and locked the door.
“Alex?” Courtney looked astonished. “What are you doing?”
Alexander’s expression was sullen, and his eyes seemed to hold back a sea of fire. He kept staring at her intensely, as if he wanted to burn a hole right through her soul.
After a long time, there was a low voice in the bathroom. “Jordan and Tina—are they the children you had with me 6 years ago?”
In the huge washroom, the man’s voice reverberated like a roar from hell, and it was as if Courtney’s mind had shattered into millions of pieces. She was stunned for a moment. “How did you—”
“Are they?” Alexander took a step closer. “I’m asking you: Are they?”
It was untrue to say that she had never expected such a situation to unfold. Courtney would even think about this in her sleep—that if she didn’t confess soon, maybe one day, Alexander would find out the truth and come to question herself, just like what he was doing right now.
She had actually imagined and replayed this scene countless times in her mind.
