Chapter 94 Paying a Visit
The next day, Courtney brought some health supplements when she returned to the Hunter mansion with Tina.
The person who opened the door for them was Mrs. Bell. Since she had already heard from Lucian that Courtney was returning, she prepared a table full of food. It was rather apparent that there was joy emanating from her. “Miss Courtney, Mr. Lucian was about to call you to ask for your whereabouts and you arrived.” With that, her gaze fell on Tina with even more joy.
“This is Tina, right?”
“Tina, this is Mrs. Bell. Say hi to her.”
“Hello, Mrs. Bell.”
Tina was both cute and sweet. As soon as she spoke, she could melt one’s heart. Hence, Mrs. Bell liked her a lot, causing her tone to rise by a few pitches as she yelled into the house, “Mr. Lucian, Miss Courtney is back with Tina!”
On the second floor, the door of the study was opened before it was followed by a series of heavy footsteps that sounded quite rushed. In no time, his voice rang at the top of the staircase. Even though his voice sounded grave, he was overjoyed to see them. “Courtney.”
After Lucian walked down the stairs and saw Courtney holding Tina’s tiny hands, he looked quite flustered.
“Dad.” Courtney led Tina to him with a relaxed expression on her face. “Tina, this is grandpa.”
After appraising him for a while, Tina’s clear voice rang in the living room. “Grandpa is different from what I imagined him to be.”
“Why? What’s different?” Lucian sounded nervous after hearing that.
She tilted her head. “Grandpa’s hair should be gray and he should be an exceptionally old man!”
Mrs. Bell and the other maids around them laughed.
He sighed in relief and gave a helpless smile. Then, he crouched to lovingly hold Tina’s other hand. “Grandpa is indeed extremely old, but not to the point where all of my hair is gray. That will happen in the future.”
“I hope not.” Tina shook her head. “Mommy says that people with grey hair are too old. Old people don’t have a healthy body and they can’t eat delicious food.”
“What do you like to eat the most?”
“There is so much food that I like, but I like desserts the most!”
“I’ll ask Mrs. Bell to buy them for you then.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
With that, their conversation ended.
When Courtney heard her father’s voice becoming more childish when he spoke to Tina, she felt slightly disoriented. She was already five years old by the time she arrived at the Hunter Family, so she was able to remember many incidents. She was at the same age as Tina and he had talked to her in such a tone as well.
They initially had a pretty good relationship. However, as time passed, she gradually spoke less at home as she was afraid to be close to her father because of Susan and her daughter. Even though it was a self-defense mechanism, other people have commented that Courtney was someone who could not be warm toward her own family.
“Take a seat and eat something. Let’s chat while we eat.” Mrs. Bell invited them for lunch, but tears seemed to well in her eyes when she looked at Courtney.
However, Courtney was hesitant. “Just us?”
She had not seen both Susan and Anna since she returned.
“Anna and Susan are back in Susan’s hometown,” Lucian briefly explained, looking tired when he mentioned their names.
“What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell, Dad?”
“Nothing. Let’s tuck in.”
With that, he kept loading Courtney’s plate with food.
“How is everything? Have you found the keys to the house at Golden Water Park? Do you need me to arrange some people to help you to move? Or, should I ask people to clean it up? No one has lived there ever since it was bought. We should buy more new furniture.”
“That’s fine. I can clean it up myself.”
Courtney frowned with hesitance.
Initially, she planned to speak to her father about the house in Golden Water Park. However, since he did not look like he was healthy, she would not know how much trouble would result if she revealed that Anna was using that house to provide for a man. Never mind. Since the property is under my name, I can solve this myself.
“I’m back this time to bring Tina to meet you. That’s all—there are no other motives.”
Lucian looked relieved yet emotional as he sighed. “I actually hope that you would ask for something from me in return. I know it has been hard on you for the past few years.”
Upon hearing that, Courtney had conflicted feelings. “Don’t worry about me, Dad. I’m fine.”
He raised his hand to interrupt her. “That’s enough; you don’t have to console me. Tina is five years old today. Don’t you think that I don’t know why you went abroad six years ago? If I’ve really taken good care of you, you wouldn’t have kept such a huge incident from me back then.”
When he mentioned that, her frown deepened.
Back then, even though she was mistaken for a surrogate mother, she suspected that someone was manipulating her from behind the scenes and trying to make her do something.
However, that was not the reason for her return today and she could not possibly talk to her father about it, so she did not bring it up again.
After lunch, he brought Tina to his study to play with her. After all, he was the only family member whom Courtney had, so she was willing to let Tina spend more time with the young child’s grandfather.
When Mrs. Bell had finished clearing the dining table, Courtney dragged her to the couch in the living room for small talk.
“If Madam Cecilia is really in heaven, she must be glad to see your cute and lovely daughter.”
While they were chatting, a roar of the car engine was heard by the gate. Not long after that, a familiar female voice rang from the door. The sound of high heels clattering powerfully on the steps were heard after the car door was briskly closed. Without a doubt, both Mrs. Bell and Courtney knew who had returned.
“Where’s everyone? Take the stuff from the car right now!”
A gentler voice rang behind her. “Anna, be softer. Your dad is probably taking a nap. Let’s not wake him up.”
“What nap—”
Before Anna could finish her sentence, her expression abruptly changed when she saw Courtney sitting on the couch.
Then, Courtney stood up nonchalantly. “This is my house too. You don’t have to be so shocked to see me return.”
As soon as Anna heard that, she clenched her fists tightly. “You have the guts to call this your house? After you returned for a long time, have you ever visited us? Why are you back now? You can’t survive outside anymore? You broke up with Alexander and want some money from us?”
“Stop making everything sound so ugly, Anna. I’m here just to visit Dad.”
“Visit Dad?” Anna snorted coldly before looking behind Courtney. “Why didn’t you bring the little b*tch back here to visit him as well? Are you visiting him or deliberately making him angry?”
Even though Courtney had never mentioned to Anna that she had a child, it was not difficult for her to look it up if she wanted to. Hence, Courtney was not surprised that Anna knew about Tina.
While they were speaking, a door was opened on the second floor. Lucian walked out of his study and stood on the staircase as he said unhappily, “Anna, why are you yelling upon your return?”
