Warren Smith had also come in, smiling politely at Summer, saying, “Me too.”
He then sat down at the dining table as if it was a matter of course, with Carl Jones coming up and sitting down right next to him. The only one who had not come over was Leonardo, who stood at the doorway looking as if a dog had just farted on his face.
Summer was wondering about the strange atmosphere now.
Finally, Leonardo came over and sat down at the dining table. Seeing that, Summer wanted to go into the kitchen for two additional sets of tableware.
Without a warning, Leonardo lifted his leg and gave each of them a good kick on the leg. “Shouldn’t you two do that yourselves?”
She was his wife, and he was the only one who could order her around. Carl Jones and Warren Smith got up and went into the kitchen right away.
Summer was wide-eyed as the two big men yieldingly went to get their tableware in the kitchen. It surprised her to see “Douglas”, who seemingly dawdled about most of the time, bossing around the two men of such stature. In her eyes, it looked more like they were submitting to “Douglas”.
Summer sat down and was just about to dig in, noises of chopsticks clashing came. She looked up and saw the three were fighting for food, with “Douglas” being the great bully, competing for who got to eat what first.
Summer took a mouthful of rice. She started to suspect that the three big men sitting across from her must be kindergarteners getting stuck in man’s bodies.
Warren Smith was first to notice Summer’s stare, and he said apologetically, “Please forgive my presumptuousness. I’ve not gone home and eaten a home-cooked meal for three years.”
“There has been so much work that I have to call food delivery every day,” Carl Jones quickly chimed in.
“Don’t listen to their bullshit,” Leonardo barked.
Carl Jones and Warren Smith bowed their heads and buried their faces in their plates. By the looks of it, it was “Douglas” who bullied them.
Summer nudged “Douglas” with her elbow. As he looked over at her, she said, “Since you have asked them to stay for the dinner, knock it off and start eating.”
Since when he had asked them to stay? Leonardo looked across the table at the two with a sly smile and said ghastly. “Enjoy your meal.”
Summer’s hand jolted; she had a gut feeling that war would break out among these men.
…
Sensing the strange atmosphere, Summer finished her meal and went to the living room. She could not understand these men.
As soon as Summer left, things in the dining room turned harmonious. Carl Jones finally got the chance to ask the question that lingered in his mind. “Summer… What is it about?”
When Leonardo shot him a glare, Carl Jones mimed a zipping gesture across his mouth.
Warren Smith was occasionally aposiopetic, probably as a result of mingling too much with Carl Jones. But he was still staid most of the time, especially when it came to business.
He was here not just for the dinner but also something more serious. His face was solemn as he began. “The share transfer agreement that Lynn drafted was dubious, full of low-class, underhanded mistakes.”
“As cunning as Lynn is, Summer isn’t stupid either. If she joins Jarrett Group, she is going to wreak havoc there for sure. Sooner or later, they will invite Jarrett Sr. back to take charge of the situation.”
Back then, not long after Leonardo and his mother were rescued from the kidnapping, the Emerson family and the Jarrett family had suddenly made an engagement with the senior Jarrett resigning from his chairmanship of Jarrett Group and going living abroad.
In terms of stature, even if Leonardo was disfigured and impotent, it was never the Emerson family’s prerogative to decide who the fiancee was.
Due to the timing of the engagement and how things looked too weird to be normal, he suspected that something had got to do with the kidnapping incident that happened over ten years ago somehow. This was the reason he did not object to it when his dad, Michael Emerson arranged the marriage.
Back then, his plan was that he wanted to make use of Vicky, his then-fiancee, to investigate the Jarrett family. But then things messed up when his wife turned out to be Summer, a half smart, half dumb woman with secrets.
Leonardo leaned back; what was done was done, he just had to accept it. What was more, the dishes that Summer made tasted just the same as what his mom used to make, so he could not help drawing himself closer and closer…
Carl Jones knocked his hand on the dining table. “I think it’s better to get the Jarrett Sr. to come back now.”
“No. It’s not the right time yet.” Leonardo was confident of himself. “Something fishy must have happened when the Jarrett Sr. left to live abroad. It has been fifteen years since and I don’t mind waiting a few more days. I want to draw everyone who has got something to do with the case out of the hole.”
Drawing them all out of the hole? Then what was next?
Although Leonardo did not elaborate, Carl Jones knew that Leonardo would let no one off the hook.
He suspected that someone within the Emerson family had colluded with the kidnappers. After the incident, he ran many scenarios in his mind and followed the leads to come to his conclusion.
…
It was Monday; Summer was reporting to work at Jarrett Group for the first time. She was not concerned about what position Lynn would arrange her; after all, she had got shares in the company. Why be afraid?
Since she no longer needed to put up that ugly makeup, she did not need that same awful clothes.
Every woman needs to look good; it is in the gene.
She now had beautiful clothes. Some she bought for herself and some Jessica bought for her.
Jessica came from a well-to-do family. During her high school years, she was a school bully. She had many followers, so too those who hated her, and most of them were girls.
When it comes to girl versus girl, the mean is always low-class and nasty.
At last, they ambushed Jessica when she was alone. They dragged her to an abandoned school building, forced her to bark like a dog, and threatened to take nude photos of her.
At that time, it happened that Summer was feeding the strays nearby and heard the noise. Finding what they were doing, she picked up a rusty trowel and threatened, “People who kill due to mental illness won’t go to jail.” Those girls’ faces turned pale, and they fled like women possessed. She and Jessica had been best friends ever since.
Summer had picked a red overcoat with a black wool sweater underneath and a pair of matching black leather shoes. She looked smart and capable.
When she came down the stairs with her handbag in her hand, she saw “Douglas” sipping a cup of coffee and reading the paper.
Hearing footsteps, he looked up. Her red overcoat made her skin look even fairer, eyes brighter and lips lustrous with her long hair cascading down her shoulders. The coat’s length was just right at an inch above her knees, revealing her beautiful long legs.
Leonardo looked at her for a few seconds, his eyes squinting and his voice not that friendly. “You are going out to hook up with other men while my cousin is not around.”
He was using a declarative sentence instead of an interrogative one.
When Summer looked at the mirror, she was pleased with how she looked and now in a good mood.
She came before Leonardo, looking down at him with disdain. “Even if I were to hook up with someone, it would only be with Leonardo. Stop looking at people with your dirty mind.”
Leonardo’s hand jolted involuntarily, spilling his coffee onto his expensive suit.