One Night Surprise - Season 3 Episode 33

As he struggled, Jordan’s drawing board dropped to the ground with a loud crash.

“Ah…” Leaning on Alexander’s shoulder, the little boy let out huge sobs, attracting the sympathy of the servants in the courtyard.

As she couldn’t bear it any longer, Hannah plucked up her courage and quickly ran over to block Alexander’s path.

“Where are you bringing Jordan?”

The crisp voice sounded from the mouth of a thirteen-year-old girl. Her bravery was certainly praise-worthy.

Alexander shot her a look. “Move aside.”

Hannah gritted her teeth. “I’m your aunt.”

Things turned for the worse as soon as she mentioned this. Alexander’s expression turned as black as coal. “Are you looking for trouble, Hannah?”

Upon hearing this, Hannah immediately lost her courage and stepped aside while mumbling, “I was just joking. You can carry on your way. I was joking.”

Not bothering to spare her another glance, Alexander strode away.

Looking at the cracked drawing board on the floor, Hannah felt a little glum. When she bent down to pick it up, she heard the servants whispering in the corridor.

“I heard that Old Master Duncan intends to get Young Master Alexander engaged to Miss Lewis.”

“Huh? Didn’t they introduce Miss Hunter to their friends and family already?”

“Didn’t a lot of bad things befall the Hunters recently? Besides, it seems like the young master has broken up with Miss Hunter. Also, didn’t you hear? Old Master Duncan has handed the company over to Young Master James. If Young Master Alexander doesn’t marry Miss Lewis, what would happen to his career?”

“You’re right. Men value their careers, and this is Young Master Alexander we’re talking about.”

Hannah heard the servants’ gossip word for word. She picked up the drawing board, then disappeared into her room. Taking out her notebook, she dialed a number and made a phone call.

“Hello? Tina, it’s me. Is your mom there?”

“No, I’m not looking for her. I’ll just tell you. Ask your mother to give Alexander a chance; otherwise, she’ll lose him really soon.”

After hanging up the phone, melancholy overcame her.

She was a nobody among the Duncans. Although on paper she was Scott’s daughter, she was still just an adopted child. After the age of eighteen, she would no longer be under his care.

She may be young, but she had previously stayed at an orphanage, so she knew how to assess the risks in her surroundings.

Scott was old, which meant that he didn’t have much time left to look after her. In the future, Alexander was bound to be the patriarch of the Duncan family. She was incapable of getting close to him, so in times like this, her future lay in the hands of the lady of the Duncan household.

She liked Courtney’s gentle temper, and she got along especially well with her daughter. Compared to the young lady of the Lewis family who only knew how to act spoiled, Courtney marrying into the Duncan family was obviously the better choice for Hannah. Therefore, she stood on the same side as Tina.

However, Tina’s behavior on the phone just now was unlike what she had anticipated. Has that little girl really just changed like that?

It was now noon.

For the past two days, Tina didn’t go to school because she had caught a cold.

After she was done cooking, Courtney called her out to eat, only to see her walk out with a sullen expression.

“What’s wrong? Are you feeling uncomfortable?” Courtney touched her forehead on instinct. “There’s no fever.”

Stretching out her arms, Tina spoke in a childish voice that was made stuffy by the cold. “Hug me.”

This made Courtney laugh. “Are you pouting? Are you being like this because you’re sick? Or is it because I haven’t spent time with you for too long?

Tina sniffled, looking as if she was sulking.

After Courtney picked her up, she laid her head on her mother’s shoulders. “Mommy, if you don’t marry Mr. Alexander, will Jordan still be able to come and be with us?”

Patting her back, Courtney said, “Why are you asking this all of a sudden? Mommy will think of a way.”

“Weren’t we fine without Jordan? Mommy, I don’t want to stay here anymore. Can we go back to America?”

Tina’s words caused Courtney to fall silent for a brief moment. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?” She frowned. “Isn’t it good here?’

“It’s not.” Tina sniffled once more. “The people here aren’t nice at all; they all bully Mommy. You finally found someone, but he turned out to be a big baddie.”

Courtney froze. Releasing Tina from her embrace, she looked at her daughter and asked, “What do you mean ‘big baddie’?”

Talking in low mutters, Tina recounted the details of Hannah’s phone call. “He said that he was going to marry you, so why is he suddenly engaged to someone else? He’s so rotten, Mommy. The people here aren’t nice. Let’s go back to America. It’s better for you to be with Daddy.”

“Did you say that he’s engaged to someone else?” Courtney was a little baffled. “With whom?”

“That lady, Miss Lewis.” Tina then began to rant angrily, “She isn’t even as pretty as you. She’s all grown up, but all she does is act spoiled. Jordan and I don’t like her.”

She had described it in vivid detail, and the phone call was from Hannah, so Courtney believed that it was all true.

Mikayla and Alexander were childhood sweethearts. If Alexander didn’t lie to her and truly regarded her as just a sister, then there must be no other person in this world that Alexander would be willing to marry.

Mikayla was considered a potential spouse, and Courtney was unsure if she was too.

Even if she was, it was a thing of the past.

The situation had already turned into the mess that it was today. The way they could get closure in their relationship was already a problem, let alone restarting her relationship with him and trying to properly develop it. She couldn’t accept his distrust, but she couldn’t get herself to be completely honest with him. It was truly a dilemma.

Whatever the case, the relationship shouldn’t have started in the first place. A complex expression was painted on Courtney’s face. “When Mommy gets custody of Jordan, I’ll bring you both to America, okay?”

Tina nodded dully, still immersed in the tragic news that the Mr. Alexander that she respected and loved was going to marry someone else. She was so sad that she couldn’t extract herself from those thoughts.

She was angry as well, and she had the urge to tell Jordan that he should get himself a new father too, just like she did.

Courtney’s company, Citron Apparel, was operating well, garnering both online and offline sales at the same time. Since its opening, a total of three series of clothing had been introduced, and they were sold out each time.

As the saying went, ‘the bird that takes the lead, takes the bullet’. When a company was progressing well, they were bound to face competition from people of the same industry as well as brand infringement issues.

When Courtney’s assistant delivered the latest batch of clothing samples from Ivory Apparel and Designs to her, she was discussing with Bill about attending a fashion magazine reception in Shanghai.

“President Hunter, everything about this dress from Ivory Apparel and Designs—from the colors to the design—is nearly identical to the ‘Spring and Autumn’ set from our second release. The only change they made was giving it a boat neck. It’s just a plain copycat of our product.”

Taking the comparison chart from her, Courtney frowned. “Where’s our lawyer? We should get our lawyer to handle this.”

“It’s no use.” Bill didn’t even look at the chart, but his voice was calm. “Imitation in fashion has always been a problem. This is just how the industry works. When a company comes up with a new product that sells well, there will soon be countless imitations. Filing lawsuits won’t work, and it’ll just be a waste of time.”

“But, we can’t just ignore it, right?” Courtney’s frown deepened. “Do we just let them copy us?”

“Unless you’re willing to make things ugly and offend them.” Bill shot her a knowing glance. “Ivory Apparel and Designs belongs to Sunhill Enterprise.”