Leonardo looked down at her long fingers holding on to his arm. He did not try to shake them off. “Wasn’t it proper to investigate you? You think we the Emerson family could tolerate the hanky-panky going on in the Jarrett family?”
His expression was rare this grave and cold. Summer nearly got another chill up her spine.
Leonardo had sent someone to investigate her on the first day of their marriage. He knew everything about her, including the fact that she liked Jerome, except for her faking of her appearance. That one had been happening since time immemorial; no way he could find out about it.
Summer was transfixed for a moment, then the thought came. “Was it Leonardo’s idea?”
“You bet.” Leonardo spun around, now facing her and looking down at her eyes. She looked shocked. So without saying another word, he went inside the Golden Cauldron.
Leonardo’s original plan was to sit in a private dining room. But fearing that he might have some dirty trick up his sleeve, Summer requested to move to the main dining hall. They found a table by the window and sat down.
Done with ordering, Summer asked, “When will Leonardo be back?”
“I don’t know.” Leonardo sensed her doubt. He folded his arms across his chest, looking at her with not much expression on his face. “Even if I know, why should I tell you?”
Fair one. Summer looked down and fiddled with her phone, thinking, Leonardo bought her a new phone might mean nothing, and his sudden disappearance only meant that he did not want anyone to find out his whereabouts.
She sighed and seemed to feel him; his life must be hard, she thought.
Across the table, Leonardo glanced at her. Seeing her sad face and knitted brows, thinking she must have felt hurt by his words. He thought for a moment, then uttered a string of numbers.
“What?” Summer looked up at him, puzzled.
Leonardo frowned as if he had lost his patience. “His number.”
Summer got upbeat. She switched on her phone and scrolled to the contact menu, fingers at the ready. “Can you repeat that?”
Seeing the excitement on her face, Leonardo repeated the number.
“Thank you!” Saving the number on her phone and with a bright smile on her face, she said, “Do you want to order more dishes?”
“No.” Leonardo gave her a cold reply. He was right here in front of her, but he could not tell her he was Leonardo. How ironic. A tight feeling rose within him, and he was gloomy during the entire course of the meal.
Summer could not have cared less; her mind was thinking whether she should call Leonardo or just send him a message.
She thought she better send him a text message; it was too awkward to call, and he might hang up on her, or worse still, send her into blacklist numbers.
…
After dinner, Summer and Leonardo got up and left in tandem. She proceeded to the cashier counter, which was at the entrance. There, she bumped into Vicky and Jerome again.
Jerome gave Summer a gentle smile.
Summer just nodded at him, not intending to talk to him.
Seeing their eye contact, Vicky gritted her teeth and forced a smile. “Jerome, we should pay for Summer.”
“No. Thanks, but I’ve got this.”
As soon as her voice trailed off, the cashier lady handed the Black Card back to her and said politely, “Here’s your card and thank you very much.” It caught the attention of Vicky and Jerome.
Summer took the card from the cashier lady. “Thank you.”
The twos’ eyes caught hold of the Back Card in Summer’s hand and were shocked. The Black Card was exclusive and only available to super VIPs with certain social stature.
As the wealthiest family, the Emerson family owned a diverse portfolio of assets, including banks. Even then, not everyone in the Emerson family had a Black Card. Summer was holding one. Although it was only a supplementary card, it showed the importance that the Emerson family placed in her.
Noticing their stares, Summer looked down at the Black Card in her hand. The card must be very special, she thought.
She looked up, nodded at them and left. Back in the car, Summer asked “Douglas”, “What is so special about this card?”
“It buys you stuff.”
The card felt like a hot potato to her. Upon hearing his perfunctory reply, she shoved the Black Card back to “Douglas”. “Now I’ve bought you dinner. Take back your card.”
Leonardo shot her a sideways glance and threw the card back to her.
“What are you doing?” She shoved it back to him again.
Leonardo tossed the Black Card out of the window. “You may as well toss it.”
The way he said it sounded as if he was passing comments on the dinner just now.
Summer got out of the car and picked up the card. She would not give the card back to him, in case he did something stupid again. She might as well pass the Black Card to Leonardo when he came home.
…
The next day, Summer boarded a bus and headed to work in Jarrett Group. Taking a cab was too expensive. The minute she alighted, she again bumped into someone in her the-last-person-I-want-to-see list.
“Summer!” Jerome walked up toward her.
Summer stepped back. “Anything?”
Sensing her indifference, Jerome felt disheartened. He looked depressed, but his voice was polite. “I just want to see you. Can I have a minute with you?”
Summer’s reply was much colder. “I don’t think so. I have work to do.”
It was true that she used to like Jerome very much. But that was only because she was blinded; she was biased and thought everything about him was good. But now she knew it better and that to her, Jerome was only Vicky’s boyfriend.
Jerome smiled, very self-deprecating, and his voice depressed. “I’m happy for you seeing that he is good to you.”
Not even Karen would say things like that to her. How did Jerome get the nerve to say this?
“Get your brain checked if you’re this free.” He must suffer from some brain damage, she mocked in her mind.
Watching as Summer disappeared from his sight, Jerome got rid of the last hint of disappointment from his face as he was determined to win her back.
In his mind, Summer wanted to avoid suspicion and misunderstanding from others, and that was why she kept a distance from him. No way she would suddenly have a change of heart when she had been liking him for so long.
When Leonardo had even given Summer the exclusive Black Card that only certain members of the Emerson family could get, it meant only one thing: Leonardo was treating her very well.
The Patel family was on the path of decline for the past few years. But so long as he could coax Summer into helping him, persuading Leonardo to do the Patel family a good turn, they might bounce back.
…
Summer came to her cubicle. Just when she sat down, Vicky came up, seemingly gloating over something. “Dad asks for you in his office.”
“Did he say about what?” Summer took her phone, got to her feet and looked at her.
“You’ll know when you get there.”
When Summer arrived at Lynn’s office, the first person she saw was the marketing manager whom she had stunted with her Taser yesterday.