Summer looked up at him in surprise. “You bought it?”
“In your dreams! It was my cousin.” Leonardo glimpsed at her and dug in.
He made it sound like she was yearning for him to buy things for her, but since it was Leonardo who bought it for her, she accepted it.
She discovered that a SIM card came together with the phone. She checked and found that it was her number, so she inserted the SIM card into the phone and called Jessica.
It took just one ring and Jessica answered it right away, “Summer, are you alright?”
“I’m fine. Are you back at work?” She had heard Jessica saying that she would go back to work today.
“How can I go back to work when such a thing happened to you! I’m on my way to see you.” Summer could hear Jessica packing up her things.
Summer wanted to see Jessica too to talk about what happened last night. She agreed at once. “I’m having lunch now. Give me a minute and I’ll be out to meet-”
“You don’t have to. I’m coming to you,” Jessica cut her off. Then the line went dead.
Putting down her phone, Summer looked up and saw the man before her slowly enjoying his meal.
Leonardo appeared arrogant, and he would do what he wanted as long as he was pleased, but in reality, he was careful and steady in everything that he did.
“Thank you…” Summer paused, then continued, “for last night.”
“For what?” Leonardo looked up, an indistinguishable smile under his eyes. “For pushing you away at the crucial moment?”
Summer got what he meant, her face flushing. “Can’t you talk properly?” The last hint of gratefulness she felt for him vanished at once.
By then, Leonardo had finished his bowl of porridge. Wiping his hands with a wet towel, he said, “You didn’t sound sincere enough.”
Summer thought for a moment. He was right. “What about dinner?”
“Dinner? Sounds good if it’s at the clubhouse I brought you to the last time.” He sounded serious.
That clubhouse? Summer pursed her lips. If she remembered correctly, the club was the most exclusive of all private clubs in Hoover City. No way a jobless graduate like her could afford it. Even if she had a job, it would cost a good half-year pay just for dinner to please the rich kid “Douglas”. She began to suspect that he was trying to embarrass her, thus she was upfront with him. “Pick another venue. I can’t afford that one.”
“Didn’t my cousin give you his supplementary credit card?” “Douglas” looked at her in surprise.
“Why would he want to give me that?” Summer wondered why “Douglas” was acting so strangely.
The next moment, “Douglas” took out a black card and tossed it in front of her. “My cousin gave this to me. You can use it.”
She did not take it. With an envious face, she said, “Wow, Leonardo treats you really well.” Leonardo had never appeared in public. Legend had it that he was savage and radical in thinking. Yet, he allowed “Douglas” to stay in his mansion and use his supplementary card. It was a stark contrast to her relationship with Vicky; they were like enemies.
Leonardo looked into her eyes and said, “Who knows if you try harder, he’ll treat you even better than he treats me.”
He made sure that she heard the words “try harder”. “Such an arrogant and shameless man!” Summer said quietly to herself. Ignoring what he said, she tucked in and took the black card. Using Leonardo’s money to buy “Douglas” dinner… There was nothing wrong with it, she thought. She was sincere at first, but since “Douglas” was trying to embarrass her by choosing an expensive venue, he should not complain.
…
When Jessica arrived, Summer was still struggling with her room door, wondering what had happened.
A bodyguard came up to her, saying, “Madam, Miss Jessica is here.”
Summer left the door alone and went downstairs. Jessica ran up to Summer the minute she saw her. “Glad to see you’re okay!”
Summer smiled at her. “I’m okay. You?”
The viral video had been spreading like a wildfire last night. Even Jessica’s manager had watched it and forwarded it to her.
The function that Jessica attended the night before was a business meeting. For security reasons, her manager had taken some group photos and posted them on social media in case someone with evil intentions tried to smear her good name.
It was only when she uploaded the photos that she saw the many missed calls, and it was not until Carl Jones called her that she found out Summer had gone to the Violet Gold Club to look for her.
Upon hearing what Jessica said, the penny finally dropped. It was 99% a trap to lure her to that place. The only suspect she could think of was Vicky because she was the only person she had offended.
News about her and Vicky had gone viral online recently. Knowing that Summer would go online more often and Jessica was Summer’s bestie, Vicky must have devised an elaborate revenge plan to set her up.
Seeing that Summer had sunk into deep thought, Jessica asked, “What’s going on?”
Summer looked up. “It has to be Vicky. I’ve long found out that she’s a promiscuous party girl and a member of a private club, but I didn’t know that it was the Violet Gold Club.” Had she known that Vicky was partying at the Violet Gold Club, she would not have taken the bait.
As hot-headed as Jessica was, she knew what she should and should not do. She would not go to a place like that. Jessica frowned and just as she was about to say something, a familiar ringtone was heard. She took out her phone, but it was not hers that rang.
Summer waved hers in the air, saying, “It’s mine.”
“You finally changed your phone!” Jessica was wide-eyed. She had been nagging Summer about it for a long time, but Summer was afraid that her mom, Karen would not be too happy, so she refused to get a new one.
Summer’s eyes brightened up. It was an obvious sign that she was happy. Drawing close to Jessica, Summer whispered into her ear, “It was Leonardo who gave me the phone.” She probably thought that it was a sign of Leonardo gradually opening up to her.
She was the one who willingly married Leonardo in the first place, so she hoped that she and Leonardo could get along well.
It was apparent that Jessica had questions to ask, but Summer pointed at her phone. “I need to take this call.” However, when she saw the all-familiar number on the screen, her face was all scrunched together.
“Summer, I’ve booked a table in a restaurant. Come and have lunch with me.” Karen sounded strangely gentle. When someone not fond of you suddenly smiles at you, you better watch out.
“Just you and me?” Summer asked with a smile.
Karen was hesitant for a while, then said, “Of course, just you and me. We’ll have a private mother-daughter moment and lunch.”
Hell no. Summer did not trust her in the slightest.