Chapter 455 That Was How I Always Dressed at Home
“Hey, why did the lead Pikachu suddenly stop dancing?”
The murmurs of the crowd interrupted Caleb and Courtney’s conversation.
When Courtney glanced up, she noticed the lead Pikachu abruptly turning and leaving the group. Instantly, the formation of the rest of the Pikachus became scattered.
Since they had only stayed behind for Tina and Josephine’s sake and weren’t that interested in the childish spectacles, Caleb and Courtney went home as the Pikachus dispersed.
Meanwhile, the crowd continued to whisper behind them.
“What happened?”
“The lead Pikachu suddenly stopped dancing.”
“Oh man! I thought I saw roses nearby. They can’t have been preparing to propose, could they?”
“Oh my god!”
When Caleb and Courtney arrived home, Angie was seated on the couch with a basket of strawberries. Dressed in a yellow Simpsons tank top and a pair of very short sports shorts, she was lounging cross-legged on the couch with no regard for her image at all.
Upon seeing the group return, she bounced up from the couch and crowed, “You’re finally back! I’m starving.”
“Aren’t you eating right now?” Courtney rolled her eyes. “Go and help get dinner ready if you want to eat as soon as possible.”
After Caleb carried the bags into the kitchen, the phone in his pants pocket started vibrating. “I need to answer a call first. I’ll be back in a minute to help.”
“The balcony is quieter. It’s over there,” Courtney offered, gesturing toward the balcony before snatching the basket of fruit out of Angie’s hands and passing it over to Tina. Thereafter, she led Angie into the kitchen.
Taking measure of Angie’s barely covered body, Courtney started with a frown, “We have guests over and it’s a man, no less. Did you have to dress like this?”
Carelessly, Angie shrugged. “That was how I always dressed in America. Elijah never said anything. Can you not be so conservative in this day and age, Courtney?”
“Elijah never said anything because he’s a man and it wouldn’t have been appropriate for him to talk to you about this. Didn’t Lilian say anything?”
“Would it have mattered if she did? She also wears black lace tank tops at home and they’re the low-cut kind, no less.”
“Don’t give me that kind of nonsense. That’s her home and she’s his wife. You—” Abruptly, Courtney stopped.
She had been about to say that Angie was Elijah’s daughter but in truth, there was nothing harmful about a girl wearing short shorts and tank tops in front of her parents, especially in a place as open-minded as America.
The problem was that Angie wasn’t biologically related to Elijah.
At that thought, Courtney couldn’t help studying the young lady before her once again.
Seventeen years was a good age in terms of one’s physical development. Due to a lack of nutrition since young, Angie wasn’t particularly curvy, but she was tall and well-proportioned. Her skin was fine, her thighs powerful and well-defined. She had the sort of beauty that came with health and vitality.
If Courtney considered her through the lens of womanhood, Angie was no doubt the type of woman who would inspire the envy of many others.
All of a sudden, Courtney had an inkling as to the real reason Lilian wanted Angie to leave. “Tell me something,” she started.
“Go on.” Busy with plucking the leaves off a leafy green, Angie had yet to notice Courtney eyeing her peculiarly.
“What do you think of Mr. Menzie?”
“He’s not bad. It’s obvious to me not only that he’s a local social elite, he’s also good-tempered and good with kids.” Angie lifted her head and smirked teasingly at Courtney. “Tell me honestly—is he your boyfriend?”
“How do you think he is in comparison to Elijah?”
The instant Courtney said that, she could see Angie’s smile freeze at its edges.
Abruptly, the girl averted her eyes and lowered her head to pluck messily at the leaves. “Why are you suddenly bringing him up?”
“I’m simply making small talk. So, what do you think?” Courtney pressed carefully.
Angie was silent for a few moments before admitting dully, “To tell you the truth, I don’t think they’re comparable. Elijah is the kind of man that is rare in the world. He has a successful career and is engaged in a lot of charity work. He also treats others very kindly. However spectacular Mr. Menzie might be, he is still just an ordinary lawyer who isn’t in the same league as Elijah.”
“If it’s as you say, then, does that mean any woman should hang onto Elijah if she gets the opportunity?”
“Of course! Why else would Lilian be so crazed as to risk his wrath by chasing me out of the house if not for the fact that she wanted me farther away from him—”
Just like that, Angie stopped and the whole kitchen fell silent, a stark contrast to the sound of Tina and Josephine squabbling outside.
Finally, she lifted her head to face Courtney’s incredulous look. “I… What I mean is…”
Though Courtney had yet to speak, she had seemingly guessed the truth and was both shocked and stunned by it.
“I’m sorry, Dr. Hunter, but I have some urgent business to take care of. I have to leave now,” Caleb said from the doorway, interrupting the stalemate.
Coming back to her senses, Courtney forced a smile onto her face and saw Caleb off. When she returned to the kitchen, Angie was still standing there, clutching the leafy green vegetable with a pale face.
Upon seeing that, Courtney sighed deeply. “Talk to me, Angie.”
There had to be a reason why Lilian disliked Angie so much. Clearly, the latter’s departure from both America and Elijah’s home was far more complicated than Courtney expected.
Inside the study, separated from the sound of the children squabbling, Angie and Courtney sat down on the couch.
“You never took what Lilian said seriously, yet you’ve moved out now that she wants you to. Why?”
Twisting her fingers, Angie replied with listless eyes, “Because she has something on me. When she wanted me to leave, she showed me a video that she took.”
“What’s the video?”
“Do you have any alcohol?” Angie lifted her head and the panic in her eyes suddenly turned to pleading. “I want some alcohol, Courtney.”
After a moment of silence, Courtney finally pulled a bottle of red out of the wine cooler and poured Angie a glass.
The scarlet liquid slid down the walls of the glass and into the young woman’s mouth, following a path down her throat and into her gullet. As the alcohol muddled her brain, Angie felt her ability to reason ebbing along with it. In truth, she never had a good alcohol tolerance.
“Before the summer break, Lilian held a birthday party for Elijah at home. I got drunk during the party. We kissed when he was sending me back to my room.”
In that instant, Courtney felt like she had been struck by lightning.
After all, Angie and Elijah were nearly 20 years apart and she was legally even his daughter, but now she was telling Courtney that they had kissed.
