One Night Surprise (Courtney and Alexander)

Chapter 33

explained as she pointed her finger toward a part of the chain.

"Are there a lot of people that purchased this necklace in your store?" Courtney asked.

The manager shook her head as she beamed. "This is a valuable piece of emerald; it's dated and priceless. We don't have such designs in the store, so this client probably brought the emerald in and asked fo us to customize it."

"Can you check the details of the customer that customized it?" Courtney's face lit up in joy.

"This was probably sold a long time ago, so it might take some time for me to find the records. But we'll try our best to help," the manager uttered, upon which Courtney expressed her gratitude immediately. "No worries. You can keep the necklace for now. Honestly, this is the first time I've seen an emerald as pretty as this after working here for so many years. There's probably a record of it somewhere," the manager said.

Courtney couldn't contain the excitement that she felt even after she stepped out of the jewelry store. When she gave birth to her two children in Melrose City 5 years ago, she brought Tina home after the doctor took her other baby. After all these years, she still longed to see her other child; this necklace was the only clue that connected her to the child because she tore the necklace away from the man's neck that night. Courtney felt chills running down her spine whenever she thought of that incident 6 years ago.

She felt the shadow of another person's figure standing in her way just as she was recalling her past memories. "Courtney." The person's voice was thin and a little menacing. The look on Courtney's face changed the moment she lifted her head up to see the person who stood before her eyes.

"It really is you. I was worried that I had gotten the wrong person." The edge of the woman's lips curled up into a smirk as she wrapped her arms in front of her chest. "You haven't been home in 5 years, and you haven't contacted anyone from home recently. We all thought you had died on the streets." Anna Hunter snickered. She was Courtney's half-sister as they had the same father, and she still had the same arrogant and domineering personality even though they hadn't met one another in years. In fact, Courtney felt that she might even be more malicious and sharper with her words than before. She quickly regained her composure and glared at her sister coldly. "You seem pretty disappointed that I didn't die on the streets, Anna."

"What's there to be disappointed about? Have you been back in the country for a long while? Dad would be so heartbroken to learn that you returned without even informing your own family of it. He spent years taking care of you, yet you leave and return to the country as you please. You really think our home is just a motel, huh?" Anna didn't play along with Courtney's snide remarks and lectured her in a sour tone instead.

"That's between Dad and t; it has got nothing to do with you." Courtney muttered.

"I'm the eldest daughter of the Hunter Family, so of course it has something to do with me. Who knows what sort of people you've been messing around with all these years? You claimed that you traveled overseas to further your studies when you didn't even graduate from your university here. You were just lying to Dad, weren't you?" Anna lifted her chin and looked downward upon Courtney.

In response to her sister's harsh words, Courtney simply clenched her fists and smirked. "Wouldn't it be good news for you if I didn't further my studies and messed around with other men instead? That way, you'd have one less person as your competition for the family's inheritance; you and your mom

can probably smile even in your sleep then, huh?"

"Don't make unfounded accusations like that." Anna hissed as her face turned pale.

"Well, you know how true my words are deep down. Anyway, it's none of your business whether I go home or not. Since we don't share the same mother, you should stop bossing me around as if you were actually my elder sister. I'm not a kid anymore, so you can't bully me even if you have your mother's support." Courtney's face was stone cold as she gave the other woman a warning. Her final sentence sounded like she was criticizing her sister.

"W-Who are you criticizing now? You.." Anna's face was as pale as a sheet.

"Good dogs don't stand in the way of others," Courtney mumbled before she stepped to her side and walked past her sister. She intentionally bumped her shoulder against Anna as she left. "Just you wait, Courtney. You should just never come home if you're that great" Anna hissed as furiously stomped her foot.

Courtney looked back and sneered once she got on the escalator. "I have other things to do with my day. I'm not like you-the princess of the Hunter Family-who has nothing better to do apart from scheming to get the family's inheritance and find yourself a rich man." Her words left Anna digging her nails into her palms as she fumed with rage.

6 years ago, Anna invested all of her effort into staging an incident that would ruin Courtney's reputation once and for all. She wanted her father to despise Courtney so that she would lose the rights to inherit any of their family's wealth. However, Anna hadn't expected Courtney to escape that night, much less for her to disappear for 6 whole years. I'd been enjoying myself for the past 6 years since her disappearance, but why is she back now? What is she trying to do?

After work that day, Courtney went home and prepared a meal for Tina in the kitchen. Right then, her phone rang in her pocket. She rubbed her palms against her apron before pulling it out and glanced at the screen, but her face fell when she saw the caller ID. It was her father.

"Dad." She greeted him.

"I heard you were back." Her father's voice was deep and quiet from the other end; he sounded a little more worn out since the last time she contacted him years ago.

"Yeah," she replied softly as she ran her fingers back and forth across the home screen of her phone. She was certain that Anna was the one who had told her father about it, but she didn't know what Anna had said about her. It's probably nothing good.

"Why don't you move home since you're back here? How can you live alone for such a long time?" he asked.

She frowned upon hearing this. "It's fine, Dad. I like living outside by myself."

"I know you've always had your opinions against me after what happened with your mother, Courtney. We're still family regardless; it worries me to imagine a girl like you living alone out there. You should "But Courtney interrupted him before he could go on. "Dad. I'm doing really well now. I... I have a job, and I live really close to the company. Alright, I have to end the call now as I have other stuff to handle. I'll visit you when I'm free," she uttered.

Her father had no option but to end the call after sending her his regards. Courtney had always been a stubborn girl since she was a child. Unlike Anna, she had never been one to act in a sweet and adorable manner in front of adults. Conversely, she was seen as the 'unlucky' child since she lost her mother soon after birth; most of the adults at home didn't like her as they thought that she was a loner.

Courtney stood in the kitchen for a long time after she ended the call. "Mommy." A sweet, child-like voice brought Courtney back from the depths of her own mind, and she quickly forced a smile onto her face once she saw her daughter. "What is it? Are you hungry? Dinner's almost ready."

Tina walked in and pointed at the phone. "Was that my grandfather?"

"Yeah." Courtney nodded and stroked Tina's hair gently. "Would you like to meet your grandfather, Tina?"

The young girl obediently blinked at her mother. "Do you want to meet him, Mommy? I'll go back with you if you want to meet him. I'll follow you wherever you go, Mommy. I'm your little sweetheart wherever we go, anyway." Her words flowed through Courtney's chest like a stream of warmth. "That's right. You're my little sweetheart no matter where we go, Tina," Courtney muttered as she pulled her daughter into her

arms.

In the past, Courtney brought her baby overseas all by herself, mainly because she wanted to run away