Summer left the mansion and ran a far distance before she stopped. She wanted to get as far away from “Douglas” as she could because she thought he was too dangerous. While that was on her mind, a vehicle stopped beside her. She reflexively looked over and saw the window being wound down with Leonardo looking at her.
They were now eye-to-eye. Summer was stunned before she half-jogged away. Leonardo drove at a snail’s pace, keeping his car level with her and calling out in a commanding voice, “Get in.”
“No.” Summer glanced over and moved forward.
Leonardo finally understood; Summer did not want anything to do with him.
After a while, Summer sensed that his car was no longer following her. She paused her steps for a brief second, fighting the urge to look back, but she could not help it. She glanced back and noticed that Leonardo had gotten out of his car and was walking toward her, his face terrifyingly cold.
Since he had long legs, he caught up with Summer in no time. Without saying a word, he lifted her in his arms and shoved her into the car.
Summer was dumbstruck, half angry, half smiling. “Douglas, stop fooling around!”
“Who’s fooling around here?” Leonardo shot her a glance, then kept driving.
“It’s you, of course!”
Leonardo ignored that and demanded, “Location, please!”
Summer refused to tell him, but it was too late; Leonardo had reached out with his long arm and fished her phone out of her jacket pocket. He got into her messages and found the one Karen had sent her.
“Have you been eavesdropping on me?” If not, how did he know that she was seeing Karen?
…
Soon, they arrived at the restaurant where she would meet Karen. Before getting out of the car, Summer could already see Karen sitting at a table near a vast window pane. She was checking her watch and casting her eyes outside from time to time. No one was beside her.
Seeing that Summer was just looking at Karen with no intention of going inside to see her, Leonardo asked, “Are you going to continue to sit here and watch?”
Summer glanced at him but said nothing. She wanted Karen to wait and get a taste of her own medicine.
Leonardo cast his eyes in another direction and saw a restaurant across the street. He drove over into the restaurant’s parking lot. He then dragged Summer out of the car, went inside and up to the second floor. They sat down by the window where they could get a vantage view of Karen in the restaurant across the street.
A waitstaff came up with a menu. Leonardo pushed it in front of Summer, and she looked at him. Although she had said nothing earlier, he seemed to know what she was thinking.
“What? Let’s order something.” Leonardo’s voice jolted her out of her thoughts.
He was obviously looking at his phone the entire time; how the heck did he know she was looking at him? Since they were already there, Summer decided to order something to eat. So Leonardo did too.
While waiting for their orders to be served, Summer involuntarily looked down at Karen in the restaurant across the street and had mixed feelings. “Douglas” rarely talked except for when he made fun of her or threatened her.
“This is the first time she’s asked me out for lunch.” Before her voice trailed off, she saw a car stopping in front of the restaurant across the street, then a woman emerged from the vehicle. It was Vicky. She scoffed, “I knew she wouldn’t ask me out for lunch for nothing.”
Vicky headed straight into the restaurant to the table where Karen was sitting at. But due to the distance, Summer did not know what they were saying. Judging from their gestures, she could roughly make out that Vicky was throwing a tantrum while Karen was pacifying her. The two seemed to be quarreling as Karen picked up her phone. A moment later, Summer heard her phone ringing. She picked it up and answered, “Hello?”
“Summer, are you here already? Aren’t we having a lunch date today?” Karen was apparently toning down her angry voice. She had actually lost her patience.
“I’m on the bus. The traffic is a little crazy today,” Summer said.
Karen audibly breathed a sigh of relief. “Be quick, then.”
The line went dead. Summer could see Karen talking to Vicky again. Then Vicky spun around and left the table but not the restaurant.
Vicky already could not wait to see how wretched she was after getting gang-raped last night, or so she thought. That was why Vicky made Karen her agent to ask Summer out. If that was the case, shouldn’t she show up and give Vicky a slap in the face?
Just then, the waitstaff started to serve their food. Again, Leonardo’s voice brought her out of her thoughts.
Summer suddenly recalled the time when “Douglas” fell ill. He kept calling his mom in his dreams. She was curious. “You’ve been staying in Leonardo’s house all this while… Where are your parents?”
The moment her voice trailed off, she saw “Douglas” pausing halfway while reaching for the food. His expression changed. Summer felt like she had asked something she was not supposed to ask. Trying to butter him up, she began to serve him food, but they ended up finishing their meals without saying a word.
Just as Summer proceeded to pay the bill, Leonardo pulled her back, and he shoved himself to the front to pay. He then looked back and said, “It’s the man’s duty to pay for the woman.”
“The elder brother’s wife is akin to the mother of his younger siblings. So by the same token, it’s also his wife’s duty to pick up the bill,” said Summer matter-of-factly.
“But I’ve already paid. If you feel sorry,” Leonardo leaned closer and said in a whisper, “then give me a kiss.”
She would rather die than do that, Summer said to herself. Flinging his hand away, she stormed out of the restaurant. Leonardo looked on with a smile across his face.
…
In the end, Summer did not go to see Karen. She went home with “Douglas” straight away. Karen had been calling her phone, but she did not pick up.
The day passed, and she thought things were over. Early the next morning, she received a call from her dad, Lynn.
“Summer, have you been looking for a job recently? Why don’t you come and work for our own company? You don’t have to be at someone else’s beck and call!” He made it sound so sincere that Summer almost believed him.
“Oh, but I have a job now,” Summer said absent-mindedly. Between Jarrett Group and Tip Top, she would not hesitate to work for the latter. She would not even think twice.
Lynn was silent for a moment, then as if he had made up his mind, he said, “You’ll get shares in the company if you come and work for us. What do you think?”
Summer thought she heard wrongly and straightened up involuntarily. Both Vicky and her elder brother held shares in Jarrett Group and enjoyed dividends every year. Even Karen had shares in the company albeit a lot lesser.