One Night Surprise - Season 2 Episode 85

“Jordan is your brother.”

Under the street lamps that exuded a dim, warm light, Courtney was carrying her drowsy-eyed daughter while choking back tears.

Three days later, Courtney handed in her resignation notice once again.

The worker at the HR department looked at her with a troubled expression, “Miss Hunter, we can’t process this. You’re still under suspension, so you have to wait for the hotel’s—”

“Then I will go to the Ministry of Labor and Social Security and request for labor protection,” Courtney cut the worker off. Her emotionless face was chilling to look at. “This is my resignation notice. Thirty days from now, whether you process my resignation or not, I will automatically be released from my post by law. That is all.”

After she said that, she walked off in front of the astounded worker without saying anything else.

“Is it all settled? Are you really not planning on coming back?” Cameron asked inside the car.

“I’ve been scheduled for an interview at two places since sending out my résumé last night.” Courtney buckled in her seatbelt and raised an eyebrow at Cameron. “Let’s go and celebrate my successful resignation. I have a month left before I officially start a new job. Let’s go shopping; I’ll treat you to a meal.”

“Are you that certain you will find a job?” Cameron was rather worried. “I’m afraid that if you resign without Alexander’s permission, it might be hard for you to find a job in the future.”

“Are all the hotels in Melrose City inferior to the Duncans? Even if I can’t find a job, I already have another plan in mind. Don’t worry.”

“Another plan?” Cameron started to drive a bit slower. “What are you thinking of?”

“I can’t say anything for now. I’ll tell you once it’s all ready.”

“You’re keeping it a secret?” Cameron chuckled and let out a sigh. “Looks like you’ve had this all planned out already. I was worried for nothing.”

Thinking about it, it made sense. Besides her career, Courtney was still a true young lady that was born with a silver spoon in her mouth. Now that she was back on good terms with her maternal family, she had another layer of protection. Why would she worry about not being able to make a living in Melrose City?

While Courtney and Cameron were on their shopping spree, it was a dreadful mess at Sunhill Enterprise headquarters.

Even though they were able to control the media when the fire broke out initially, the negligence of fire safety had garnered the attention of relevant departments. Additionally, their competitors were also trying to sabotage them both blatantly and discreetly. The hotels under Sunhill Enterprise already stopped operating for the most part, but discussions were slowly rising in the media again.

“Was this the foolproof countermeasure you came up with?” Inside the conference room, a chilling voice resounded. Each word pounded on their hearts like a drum, putting them on the edge of their seats.

“It seems like you’ve all run out of things to do in your positions. Are you thinking of an early retirement?” Slam! A pile of documents was thrown onto the table, scattering white A4 papers all over the space.

“Redo everything and be wary of the other departments as well. At this crucial time, whoever gives me trouble can pack their things and leave immediately.”

They were all at a loss for words.

“Dismissed.”

As soon as he ended the meeting, everyone looked like they had been granted a pardon. With their reports and other materials in their hands, they left the conference room with grim and disheartened expressions.

“What has gotten into President Duncan lately? He yelled at us in two meetings within three days.”

“Isn’t it because of all the things that have been going on? We suffered a big loss at the hotel since the fire broke out, but there haven’t been any follow-up countermeasures. Not to mention, his son was also involved in that fire. He almost lost his one and only son. How could he not be mad?”

“Aren’t people saying that he’s getting married?”

“Getting married?” An insider scoffed. “It seems to me that someone is wasting their breath. President Duncan treasures that mute little prince of his more than anything in the world. After an incident like this, he wouldn’t even flirt with anyone, much less get married. I heard that the lobby manager was fired right away.”

“That’s so cruel.”

“When have you seen President Duncan show anyone mercy?”

“You’re right. Did you see him yell at Mr. Harry—oh, Mr. Langley!”

Before they finished their conversation, they were both caught off guard by Gale’s appearance.

Gale simply yawned. “Good morning to the both of you. I overslept. I thought I could make it in time for the meeting, but I just missed it.”

“Consider yourself lucky.” One of the managers chuckled briefly. “You didn’t have to get yelled at.”

“President Duncan yelled at you guys again?”

“Exactly, I—” Right as that manager was about to start ranting, his partner nudged him from the side.

He came to the realization and let out an awkward cough.

“Uh, Mr. Langley, we still have work to do, so we’ll get going now.”

Gale raised his eyebrows and nodded perceptively, then turned into the conference room.

Alexander was sitting alone inside with the projector still on and emitting a blue light on the screen behind him. The room was slightly dark. As the faint blue light fell on him, it gave off a sense of loneliness that came from being in a high place.

Josh, his assistant, saw Gale come in. After they exchanged glances, Josh walked out of the room quietly and left the two of them alone.

“You seem to be going through some personal issues lately.”

The moment Gale teased him, it broke the cold and lonely atmosphere.

Lifting his head, Alexander shot him a look of annoyance. “Do you have nothing better to do? How is everything going with the proposal?”

“Don’t worry about me. I have everything planned out perfectly; I know what I need to do when I need to do it. On the other hand, you used to remain calm in any situation, but now, it looks like you’re already panicking when nothing has happened yet.”

“Panicking?” Alexander frowned, but he refused to give an explanation.

“Ever since the fire, you’ve been giving the managers from every department an earful at each meeting. Don’t tell me it’s because their work has been less than satisfactory so they deserved it.” Gale pulled out a chair and sat down sloppily. “You weren’t like this before. Even when you met Courtney and were madly in love with her, you never went out of control and acted irrationally before because of her. What happened this time?”

Alexander had assumed that Gale wanted to call him out for spending too much energy on Courtney, but he never imagined that Gale would hit the nail on the head and question him in even more detail.

After a long silence, a glum voice rang out inside the conference room. It seemed like he had gone around in one big circle but still came back with an uncertain conclusion that was full of self-doubt.

“Perhaps, she’s not the one for me.”

‘Perhaps’, ‘as if’, ‘seemingly’—these ambiguous words rarely made an appearance in Alexander’s vocabulary. There were no gray areas in his life. He always had distinct boundaries that even made it hard for friends and relatives to get close to him.

Hence, Gale felt conflicted when he heard those words.

A while later, he finally slammed down on the table and scolded, “D*mn it, Alexander. I’ve known you for almost thirty years, and I’ve never seen you hesitate before, much less look this indecisive. When we had a fallout, you told me to leave and that was the end of it; there was absolutely no room for discussion. Looks like only Courtney can heal you!”