Back in the mansion, Summer first checked if there was any news article or gossip about her online. When she found none, she went into the kitchen and prepared dinner.
At dinner time, Leonardo did not come downstairs as usual while “Douglas” was nowhere to be seen. Only then did she realize something; when Leonardo was at home, “Douglas” would almost always be extremely busy. He would not be at home to have his dinner.
Summer found it strange when “Douglas” was not around. She shook her head, thinking that she must have gone insane.
The next morning, Tim came on time as always and sent Summer to the Jarrett Group. Upon returning, Tim saw that a car was parked in front of the mansion’s gate. He parked and asked the bodyguard, who was standing by the door, “Has someone come to see the young master?”
The bodyguard nodded. “The woman said she was Mrs. Emerson’s mother.”
Due to Leonardo’s special circumstances, he had a bunch of bodyguards guarding the mansion twenty-four seven all year round. He had never appeared publicly, and his movements were always a secret. He also had no acquaintances, hence there were rarely people looking for him. Even if there was, meeting him was difficult.
Tim stepped into the living room and saw Karen sitting on the couch. From the information he had last gathered for Leonardo, he knew who Karen was. He just did not expect Mrs. Jarrett to look more attractive in person than in her photos. It was easy to see that she had to be beautiful when she was young.
Tim instructed one of the bodyguards, “Bring Mrs. Jarrett some tea.”
With that, he went to see Leonardo in the study room. Leonardo had, for the past two days, directed Tim to send Summer to work before he went to Tip Top. So, he was still in the room at that time.
Tim went in and reported, “Young Master, Mrs. Jarrett is here.”
“Which Mrs. Jarrett?” Leonardo did not look at him, apparently still clueless about which Mrs. Jarrett Tim was referring to.
“The mother of your wife, Young Master.”
Leonardo raised his head. He pondered for a moment and could almost guess why Karen was there. This will be interesting.
“Bring her in.”
…
Karen thought she could finally meet Leonardo, but when she entered the room, all she could see was him sitting with his back to her.
“Please, Mrs. Jarrett.” Tim gestured for her to speak.
Karen fiddled with the corner of her clothes, looking embarrassed. “Young Master Emerson, I’m here to apologize on behalf of my daughter.” She left a gap, waiting for Leonardo to respond. However, she received nothing, so she continued, “It’s my fault for not educating her enough that she did something wrong against you. She should be grateful that you did not further pursue the matter of her taking her sister’s place to marry into the Emerson family. Instead of showing her gratitude, she has cheated on you with your cousin…”
Now, even Tim was perplexed, let alone Leonardo. Were Mr. and Mrs. Emerson not getting along well? What was happening? Why on earth would a mother want to badmouth her daughter in front of her son-in-law?
Leonardo had long known about the sh*t that was going on in the Jarrett family. He heard that Karen did not love Summer. She had been giving her whole heart and mind to the other son and daughter. It was not until today that he saw it with his own eyes.
Just as he was about to speak, the door suddenly swung open, slamming against the wall with a loud bang. Leonardo’s face tightened. He could already guess who it was.
Karen and Tim looked back and saw Summer barging in. She should have been in the office now, but there she was, standing at the doorway. She was staring dead at Karen, their eyes meeting.
“Mom, shouldn’t I be allowed to defend myself while you badmouth me before my husband?”
“I-I thought you were in the office?” Color drained from Karen’s face. She could sense that Summer was not as submissive as she used to be. Sometimes, the way Summer looked at her gave her goosebumps.
“If I hadn’t come back, I wouldn’t have known that you were putting in so much effort to’take care’ of me!”
As she spoke, Summer slowly stepped toward Karen. She had gone to her office was assigned fieldwork that day. When she realized that she had left her phone at home, she returned for it. Walking past Leonardo’s study, she overheard Karen’s voice.
“You’re apologizing to my husband on my behalf?” Summer sneered. Her face was full of scorn. “You truly are my dear mother.”
Karen involuntarily took a couple of steps back and brought out a device. “I-I have proof!”
Upon closer look, it was a recording pen. Then it hit her; Karen came to see her yesterday was for this. It was almost impossible for a timid woman like Karen to come looking for Leonardo. There was no surprise who the mastermind behind the idea was-it had to be Vicky, doing it behind Lynn’s back.
Lynn had been hoping that Summer would help him persuade Leonardo to inject capital into his company. Had he known what Vicky was up to, he would not have allowed it to happen.
Karen hit the play button. Out of the entire recording, which was not long anyway, two sentences stood out the most.
“Tell me, you and Leonardo’s cousin, are you two together? Last time, I saw the two of you in the car…”
“Does that have anything to do with you? So what if his cousin and I are together?”
What the heck? Summer could vividly remember what she had said. It was something like, “I wonder why you’ve suddenly become so concerned about me! What do you want from me?”
She was using such an underhanded tactic with a lousy synthesized voice to smear her good name. Earlier, Vicky had leaked Summer and “Douglas’s” photo to the media, but the whole thing turned out to have little effect on Summer. In desperation, she thought it would be a good idea to bring the matter straight to Leonardo.
“Mr. Emerson, I think you’ve heard it. Summer has admitted to it in the recording! It’s my fault for not teaching her enough as a mother. I’m willing to bring her back and reeducate her. What do you think, Mr. Emerson…”
Summer was half angry and half smiling, but she said nothing. She looked over at Leonardo. Silence filled the room for some time before Leonardo’s hoarse voice echoed.
“Since she’s married to me, she’s my woman. Who are you to teach me what to do?”
“But, she…” She was not prepared for that. Things were not unfolding according to the script. Vicky had told her that as soon as she produced the recording, it would surely anger Leonardo, and he would surely kick Summer out.
Summer knew that Leonardo would not trust the fabricated recording. Nevertheless, what he said still touched her heart. Her voice sounded soft when she said, “I’m sorry for causing you such trouble.”