“Thank you.” Summer looked at Karen with a faint smile.
Karen felt something in her smile. It was as if telling her that she knew everything. A chill ran up her spine. She dropped her chopsticks on the floor.
Summer bent down to help her pick them up. “Mom, hold the chopsticks tightly. Next time, if you drop them again, I might not be around to pick them up for you.”
Summer’s voice was soft and slow, but she still found there was more to what she said. Her brows were knitted together as she thought. Putting up a smile again, she said, “I was careless.”
“Really?” Summer smiled, standing up. “I’m finished. Please excuse me.” But she had not even eaten anything.
Lynn looked on as Summer walked out. He wrinkled his forehead, feeling something strange with Summer.
…
As soon as Summer left Lynn’s office, her smile evaporated, face icy cold. She knew Karen was buttering her up, but she was unmoved at all.
She had been living in her own lie for these years. If Karen had the slightest love for her, she would not have bought her any clothes when she was small. But she did not. Karen would not have come down on her knees, begging her to marry Leonardo, whom they said were impotent.
Karen was trying to make up with her only because since the kidnapping, Karen only discovered how much she cared for her. Karen had found something she could exploit. She would have forgiven Karen had this happened in the past. People usually get back their senses when the illusion disappears. No matter what Karen did, it would not affect her. She had given up on her. No one could tolerate repeated betrayals and still acted as if things were fine and dandy.
Summer came to a quiet spot, sending a text message to the paparazzo whom she knew through Jessica earlier.
Jarrett Group’s latest kitchen towel is made from inferior materials that contain toxic elements harmful to the human body.
Household products were Jarrett Group’s bread and butter. Two years ago, there had been a similar exposure, but someone had quickly put a lid on it. Back then, Summer was still a high schooler. Upon reading the news about it, she sneaked into Jarrett Group’s factory and found that the problem indeed existed.
This paparazzo was one of the more reliable and ethical. But as a paparazzo, he could still sell the news to a third-party media outlet.
“Are you sure?” the paparazzo replied.
“Of course, I’m sure. But you got to sneak into the factory and get the images by yourself. I will send you the address. Blending in and getting images were their forte.”
“Cool.”
Due to the relationship of the Mu family with the Emerson Family, things about Jarrett Group were newsworthy to a certain extent. The paparazzo was more than happy.
Summer tucked away her mobile and went to her cubicle. As she got there, Vicky was coming back from lunch outside. Since Karen frequently delivered her home-cooked meal to the office, Vicky was tired of it and preferred to go to a restaurant. Vicky called to stop her, face proud.
“Didn’t you say you wish to learn from me? I’m going to a meeting soon. You can come along.”
Right now, Vicky already got her senses back and thought she knew Summer enough. If Summer knew she was the one behind the kidnapping, Summer would not have been so calm. But she was not too much. So she wanted to keep Summer around for now.
“Why not?” Summer agreed with a smile.
…
In the conference room, Summer was sitting right next to Vicky, absentmindedly listening to the discussions but understanding none of them. She could sense that too in Vicky; she knew nuts about what those people were talking about.
Vicky looked at the blank expression on Summer’s face and felt proud of herself. That was how a dumbbell looked like, she said to herself.
Summer did not give a hoot what Vicky was thinking. Because soon, all projects of Jarrett Group would come to a halt. When the meeting ended, Vicky asked her to stay.
“You can’t even understand a word of what has been discussed in the meeting. I suggest you should go back to the Marketing Department!” Vicky’s voice was full of derision, the same with her face.
“We’ll see.”
Summer shot Vicky a glance and left. What irked Vicky most was Summer’s haughty look. Looking balefully as Summer left, she wondered if Summer would get that lucky each time. Sooner or later, she would trample Summer to the ground.
Back in her cubicle, Summer went checking online. There was new news about Jarrett Group. Could the paparazzo have screwed up or yet infiltrated the factory and got the story? But soon, she knew her worries were unnecessary.
It was just before the day ended when the company’s top management called for an emergency meeting. The atmosphere in the company went hectic with telephones ringing continuously and everyone scrambled about.
A rookie in the Project Department, Summer mostly did trivial tasks. But she was nice to everyone, so those co-workers, who were switched-on, would not boss her around. All the more so because of her complicated identity. Now she was the idlest person in the company.
Switching on her phone, she leisurely surfed the net. A news headline caught her eyes. It was an exposure of a corporate scandal with the headline went:
“Exclusive: Undercover reporter uncovers ugly truth about factory of household products.”
“When it comes to household products, people would inevitably link them to Jarrett Group. Our reporter got into a factory owned by Jarrett Group and uncovered the hidden ugly truth… most ingredients are recycled from the dumpsite… pose a grave threat to people’s health…”
Summer scrolled past and down to the comment section.
“I have been using the products, from towels to mops, from this company for ten years. But I stopped using them two years ago. The reason? Those who have used them know…”
“I have just bought a new package from this company. Can I get a refund?”
“Do you guys still remember the sex video? The protagonist was the daughter of the president of this company. When the president could not even teach his daughter proper conduct, how could you expect he would conduct his business with ethics?”
“+1. I fully agree with you!”
“+2…”
“+ID number. Should have known it earlier, the truth would come to light!”
One comment about Vicky’s sex video had tens of thousands of replies. It just got the tempo up a notch, further reinforcing people’s negative perception of Jarrett Group.