The president’s office, Tip Top Entertainment.
Carl entered the room, looking at Leonardo who was sitting behind the desk. He pushed his glasses up his nose and pushed a stack of documents across the desk to Leonardo.
At the same time, he mimicked his secretary’s voice. “President Emerson, you need to sign these documents.”
That was supposed to be the secretary’s job. Carl was obviously up to no good. The moment he put down the documents, Leonardo barked, “Get out.”
Carl did not take that as an expulsion. He took off his glasses and cocked an eyebrow, appearing like an unruly rich kid. He then shook his head and said sympathetically, “Leonardo, I pity you. You’ve gone all the way to get yourself a wife. Now your wife’s cheating on you with your cousin. Let me interview you, how do you feel right now?”
Leonardo looked up at him, and his expression was icy. “Do you fancy working in Africa?”
Carl’s face fell, and he shook his head from side to side. “Not-Not at all!” The last place he wanted to go was Africa.
“Then get your ass out of here!” Leonardo pulled a face. The last thing he wanted to hear was the cheating issue.
As always, Carl behaved like a d*ckhead rubberneck. “If Summer starts to take a liking to’Douglas’ and loses herself, sleeping with’him’ in the process, she’ll find out you are’Leonardo’-”
“Impossible,” Leonardo cut in.
“Impossible to know that you’re Leonardo? Do you really think you can keep this from her forever?” Carl knew what Leonardo was capable of, but he also knew that he was not omnipotent.
“She’s not that kind of person.”
While his reply was simple, Carl knew what he meant. Carl mimed a fan in front of his nose and said, “How long have you known her that you’re so sure she isn’t that kind of person? You stink of jealousy…”
Just then, Warren came into the room. Hearing the last sentence, he curiously asked, “Stink of what?”
With a meaningful look, Carl said, “It doesn’t concern us. We’re bachelors; we smell good.”
Rich but without a girlfriend, Warren could not make head or tail of what Carl was talking about.
Carl rolled his eyes at him. “It stinks of jealousy. Serves you right for still being a bachelor!”
Warren’s mother had been calling him every month for a few years now, demanding to know when he would get married. So, he was very open to the topic. Laughing like a jerk, he said, “What about you? You and her have been like two peas in a pod since you were little, but you let her slip away from you. How do you feel?”
The expression on Carl’s face vanished. He pounced and whacked him, giving him some “good news” while barking, “I don’t see myself walking out of here alive today!”
Carl knew a woman, and they had been very close from the time they were kids. He liked her very much but had let her slip away from him.
Leonardo thought for a moment, and it struck him that the woman could be Jessica, the B-list actress and Summer’s bestie. That was how her name came to mind.
With a devil-may-care attitude, Carl was considerably young and dangerous. The battle ended with him pinning Warren to the floor. Leonardo was used to that. Once the farce subsided, he looked up.
“You two, clean up before you leave.”
The two had no choice but to comply, still feeling resentful of each other.
…
The gossiping carried on without respite for the rest of the day. Perhaps when people got bored with the subject, they would stop talking about it.
After work, Tim called Summer, telling her that the traffic was horrible and that he could be late in picking her up. She left the office and planned to find a place where she could hang around while she waited for Tim.
Just then, a voice called out to her, “Summer.”
She turned around and saw that Karen was behind her. Surprised, Summer asked coldly, “Anything?”
“I just wanted to ask, is the report in the news about you and Leonardo’s cousin true?”
Karen sounded unusually concerned. Summer sensed something was off. She looked at her with suspicion. “What’s wrong?
No matter how bad Karen had treated her, she could not bring herself to brush off her mother. Karen smiled in a way that could easily disarm her.
“It’s nothing. I saw it online; those people were so critical of you. I’m just a little worried about you…” There was a pause. She then sighed and continued. “It’s my fault. If I didn’t force you to marry into the Emerson family, things wouldn’t have come to this, and you wouldn’t be in such a situation…”
As Karen’s words became increasingly outrageous, Summer grew even more suspicious. “Can you please get straight to the point?” She doubted Karen had repented.
“Tell me, you and Leonardo’s cousin, are you two together? Last time, I saw you two in the car…”
“I wonder why you’ve suddenly become so concerned about me?! What do you want from me?” Sensing that Karen was harping on the issue, she brought her guard up.
“Summer, I know I didn’t pay enough attention to you in the past, but I’m still concerned about you…”
At that moment, Summer’s phone rang. Tim was calling. She answered, “I’m right at the entrance. You can come over now.”
The call ended, and before she could tuck her phone away, Karen grabbed her by the arm, her voice desperate. “Who is that?”
“Leonardo’s bodyguard is here to pick me up.” Summer found that Karen was starting to behave strangely. Just a while ago, she was still touched by what Karen said. But now, coming to think of it and looking at her face, she was fed up with her.
“I don’t know how Vicky’s going to use you against this time around, but let me kindly remind you to think for yourself more. Don’t rely on Dad.”
Vicky would never be filial to Karen. She just treated her as a woman who warmed her father’s bed. Karen was rooted to the spot after what Summer said.
Summer got in the car and looked at her through the glass window. Karen was still standing there with her head lowered. She had difficulty making out Karen’s expression, but she could sense her hesitation. However, what was she hesitant about? Was she unsure about helping Vicky to screw her up?
It was apparent that her mom was sounding her out earlier. Karen had been living a good life all these years and was not as observant as Summer. She did not even realize that she had been exposed.
Summer knew what she was up to and was cautious to evade her questions about “Douglas”. She did not care what other tricks were up their sleeves. She would deal with them as they came.