Summer was cutting the tomatoes and some beef to make beef noodles. While she was at it, Leonardo stood on one side, and after a long while, he said, “Do it slowly.”
A male chauvinist who had never cooked a meal, Summer thought to herself. She started to slice the beef even faster than before. After she placed the beef cubes on a plate, she turned to look at him.
“Get out. You’re only slowing me down.”
Perhaps the night made people feel lonely because Leonardo did not want to wait in the dining hall. He just wanted to stay there and watch Summer do her stuff. He cheekily found himself an excuse.
“I need to stay here and see if you’re really putting any poison in there. I don’t want to die yet.”
“As if I’m an idiot. If I kill you, I won’t be allowed to live either! Don’t forget, I’m expensive. I’m worth three hundred million!” Summer said self-deprecatingly.
She may not have meant what she said, but Leonardo did not feel the same. He felt the urge to explain himself this time.
“This is an arrangement between the parents. It has nothing to do with Leonardo.”
“I’m not blaming him or anything. Why are you getting so worked up?” Summer looked at him, finding it weird. “I still remember my first day here. You were calling Leonardo a cripple in front of me, but now, you’re putting in good words for him. I wonder how your relationship with him is.”
“What do you think?” he asked back.
I think you’re a shameless psycho.
It did not take long before Summer brought two bowls of beef noodles to the dining table. Maybe because it was late at night, but both of them let down their guards, eating and chatting away. However, most of the time, it was Summer who did the talking. She asked mostly about Leonardo while “Douglas”‘s replies mostly comprised of “No”, “No idea”, “Probably”, and so on. As a result, Summer started to suspect that their cousin ship was merely skin-deep.
…
The next morning, Summer scrambled out of bed; she had overslept. She cleaned up and flew into her clothes at warp speed before she stumbled out of her room.
Just as she reached the stairs, she bumped into “Douglas”, who looked as fresh as a daisy. She began to wonder why. Since they had both woken up at night and ate the same supper, why did she look like a wretch while he was full of beans? She could not help but suspect that he was a Man of Steel once again.
Seeing her droopy eyes, Leonardo frowned. “Didn’t get enough sleep?”
He was just showing off, she thought. She looked down at her watch and said, “I have to go. I’m late. I won’t be preparing breakfast today.” With that, she hurried down the stairs.
Leonardo jumped and caught her collar. “Let me give you a ride.”
Summer did not like the idea, but she would likely be late to her office if she took the bus. In the end, “Douglas” did not get to give her a ride, as he had received a phone call. Before he left, he directed his bodyguard to send her to work.
…
Leonardo went to a private tea house in town. As soon as he arrived, Liam who had been waiting at the entrance approached him and respectfully said, “Young Master, Mr. Emerson Sr. has been waiting for you inside.”
While he spoke, he turned to lead the way. Inside the private tea room, Michael was sitting at the tea table, his face as calm as water.
“What’s so urgent that you have to call me here?”
Leonardo found a settee farthest away from Michael and sat down, his voice unaffectionate as if he was not talking to his father. However, Michael was used to it. He looked at Liam.
“Let him have a look!”
Liam took out a tablet and brought it to Leonardo. A news headline filled the screen. It was fresh from the newsroom that morning, telling him that Young Master Moo’s wife was seen acting very intimately with his cousin. It seemed to imply something, yet leaving enough room for the imagination. The news had gained an unusually high click rate.
As he scrolled down the page, the article seemed to indicate that Leonardo’s cousin and his wife were in an improper relationship. There were two photos showing him and Summer in close proximity as if something was in the air between them. The background was outside the restaurant where they had a meal with the Jarretts.
“Please explain yourself,” Michael said.
Leonardo nodded, his voice solemn. “The shot was taken from a bad angle, and our faces were away from the camera. Not to mention, the picture’s blurry.”
“Leonardo!” Flying off the handle at his son’s perfunctory reply, Michael smashed the glass on the floor. “You have been at loggerheads with me all these years just because of your mom! I have been turning a blind eye to your rebellion just because you’re still young, but you keep escalating things! You’re doing this because you still blame me for not bringing back your mom, aren’t you?”
As the head of the Emerson family, Michael had lived up to his reputation with his stately persona. Liam could not help but involuntarily step back a little.
Yet, Leonardo did not flinch one bit as he looked at his father with a calm face. His voice reeked of mockery when he said, “What are you talking about? My mom died in the hands of the kidnappers. What does that have to do with you? Don’t be so quick to assume responsibility.”
Before he could find out the truth, no one would be blamed. But if he found out who was responsible for his mother’s death, that person could not dream of getting away. Michael carefully studied his son. Due to the incident involving Leonardo’s mother, he and his son had not been able to talk to each other nicely for years. Every time they met, things would end up in an argument.
“Leonardo, I’m getting old. Sooner or later, you’re going to take over the helm in Moo Corporation, and you will have to reconcile with me. I’ve met Summer once, and she’s a good-hearted girl. But if you don’t feel like spending your life with her, you can seek a divorce and marry someone else after you take over the helm.”
The Emerson family was big, and many of its members coveted the throne of the company. The purpose of the sudden marriage arrangement was to quash the supposition that Leonardo was impotent and incapable of running Moo Corporation.
Since the death of his mother, Leonardo had never appeared publicly. Not even the other Moo relatives had seen him since then. Michael had been sending women, all pretty and good-natured, to Leonardo. However, all those women suffered miserably and were returned. Leonardo did not touch them or anything.
Michael had run out of options and was forced to arrange a marriage for Leonardo to shut the other Emersons up.
He knew there was nothing wrong with Leonardo’s health. He reckoned Leonardo would understand that what he did was for his own good one day, and Leonardo would continue their lineage.
“Whatever happens between me and Summer is our business. You better not overreach your hand and get your fingers burnt, not to mention sprain your back!”
Leonardo figured that Summer may not have read the news before she went out. He kicked himself for underestimating Vicky’s courage to die for leaking the photos to the media.