Chapter 383 Secret Base
In the Twin Peaks Manor in Melrose City, Elijah was settling Courtney down in the room, letting the doctor in to take a look at her.
“Torture? Alexander’s a freaking maniac! Had I not informed Old Master Duncan about him forbidding Courtney from going out, who knows what would’ve happened today!” Cameron was stomping her feet out of anger in the living room.
Beside her was Gale, who was on pins and needles. “He’s not that kind of guy, Cameron. There must be some kind of misunderstanding.”
“Shut up.” Glaring at him, she rebuked, “Defend him once more and I’ll send you back to where you belong. Hadn’t you seen how Courtney came back? If it weren’t for Elijah, the poor girl would’ve died from that psychopath’s torture!”
Gale scowled. Although he disagreed with her perspective, he couldn’t voice his argument as he was currently in her territory.
Shortly after, the doctor came out of the bedroom. Elijah, who was waiting at the door, inquired, “How is she?”
“She’s fine.” Walking into the living room, the doctor answered, “There’s no physical injury, but she’s very weak right now, and is having a fever, so she’s currently in a deep sleep. Once the fever goes away and she has gotten enough rest, she’ll wake up.”
Elijah and Gale heaved a sigh of relief in unison, a weight seemingly being lifted off their shoulders.
After seeing the doctor out, Cameron went to check on Courtney in the bedroom, leaving the two men awkwardly sitting in the living room.
As Alexander’s friend, Gale felt as if he was in a tight spot, so the best thing for him to do was keep silent the entire time. Though, he couldn’t resist. “What are you going to do?”
Hearing that, Elijah glanced at him. “What, are you Alexander’s spy?”
“No.” Gale clarified, “I just think there must be a misunderstanding amidst this incident. Cameron said that, back then, Courtney had no choice but to deliver the two children, and that Alexander should be considerate about it. But as to why he would suddenly get so pissed off about it is totally questionable. I think it’s best if we really look into this.”
“So you, too, think that his behavior is questionable?” Elijah was visibly resentful when it came to Alexander. “So what do you think it is that caused him to cruelly treat a woman, who gave birth to his own children, and also had to wander for years on the streets solely because of him?”
Gale was instantly rendered speechless. Just as Elijah said, there was no reason that could explain the sudden change in Alexander’s behavior toward Courtney. “I’ll talk to him.”
“Not that I care whether you do.” Elijah then glanced at Gale. “I have made my preparations to file a lawsuit against Alexander, so perhaps you could talk to him about how he should handle that.”
“A lawsuit?” Gale sprung up from his seat. “What lawsuit?”
“The domestic violence that took place six years ago, and the kidnapping now.”
“Are you insane?” Gale perturbedly continued, “Is that necessary? Think about it. That’ll only draw undesirable attention to Courtney. What’ll that do to her future? I highly doubt she’ll be wanting that.”
“She will. For her children’s sake.”
Elijah had always been a calm, reasonable man, but he was more than willing to charge at Alexander for this incident. Before he saw Courtney, he was still hesitating whether to take action against Alexander, but now that he had seen how low Courtney was willing to go for the sake of her children, he felt the urgency for him to take charge. “Everyone’s so concerned about one another’s feelings and decided to let Alexander off. But have you ever stopped and considered how Courtney’s been living all these years? She doesn’t need a future in Melrose City. I will be her future.”
Frowning, Gale couldn’t help but feel uneasy at Elijah’s intimidation. Oh, hell’s breaking loose.
Three days later, The People’s Court of Melrose City sent a summons to the Duncans’ household. The summons listed Alexander’s association with rape, kidnapping, and blackmail, and that he was to attend the court to plead for his case in fifteen days.
On the day when the case was filed, the police ran a search in various properties of Alexander in Melrose City. Eventually, they found Tina in the yet-to-operate hilltop theme park that was registered under Sunhill Enterprise’s name.
Elijah then brought Tina back to Twin Peaks Manor and arranged impeccable security measures around the manor to prevent any setbacks from occurring.
“The court is in the process of investigating our evidence. After this case, it is possible for us to take custody of Jordan from Alexander. Since the boy’s father was bold enough to perform a kidnapping, I’m sure the court will consider it.” Elijah revealed the news to Courtney.
Courtney had been weeping with Tina just moments ago. Now that the child had fallen asleep, her eyes were still quite red. “I don’t have to take custody of Jordan.” She lowered her head, muttering, “I just wanna know whether I’ll still get to see him.”
“Mr. Morrison said you’ll get to do that.” Softly, Elijah comforted her. “Don’t worry. We’ll fight for custody of Jordan. Worse comes to worst, you’ll still get to see him whenever you want.”
Courtney took a deep breath, seemingly anxious. Even to this day, she couldn’t figure out how things ended up this disastrously.
Late at night, under the silence in the manor, Tina just finished showering and was carried to bed by her mother. Assuming she had just gone on an adventure with a squad of policemen, the little girl was now happily playing with the new toy Elijah bought for her.
“Play time’s over, Tina. Come get your milk.” Courtney fetched a glass of fresh milk for her.
Obediently, Tina grabbed the glass of milk and chugged it down before letting out a burp, giggling about it.
Delighted by her daughter, Courtney caressed the little girl’s head. “You haven’t seen Mommy for so many days. Are you not afraid at all?”
“What for? Hasn’t Mommy been letting me stay with Great-Grandpa?” Tina was obviously talking about Scott.
“Well, that’s in the past. But now that you’re not with Great-Grandpa, there’s nobody you know there. How did you live there the past two days?”
“Daddy visited me every day!”
“Daddy?” Courtney frowned. “Which daddy?”
“Mr. Alexander, of course!” Tina pouted her lips. “I already know, Mommy, that you’ve been looking for Jordan. I also know that Jordan’s my real brother and Mr. Alexander’s my real father.”
“Did he tell you that?” Courtney was surprised.
“Yup.” Tina smiled at her. “Daddy’s been playing with me at the hilltop theme park, and we’ve been having fun these days! Daddy’s even promised me that the theme park will be our secret base, and he’ll bring you and Jordan there too someday.”
Courtney clenched her fists, not knowing how to feel. All these days, the reason Alexander was nowhere to be seen was because he’d been playing with Tina in the theme park?
“But Mommy…” As if something popped up in Tina’s mind, she looked at Courtney, confused. “Why did Mr. Policeman bring me back here?”
