The shameless man was holding her hand and touching her face the minute she got onboard. Mind you, Tim and Douglas were sitting in front. He was embarrassing her.
After whisking his hand away for God-knows-how-many times, the despicable man chuckled.
“You look so lovely today. I just want to touch you, that’s all.”
“Am I a cat that you can caress whenever you find her lovely?” Summer looked at him with a plastic smile.
“Of course, not.” Leonardo lightly pinched her hand. “Caressing isn’t enough.”
Scoffing, Summer turned and looking at the two people in front. Tim and Douglas were sitting rigidly, their eyes looking straight ahead. However, she saw their shoulders bobbing up and down—they were laughing their heads off.
She stomped her heel on Leonardo’s foot. It did not hurt, but he knew he should not drive her up the wall.
…
When the car stopped in front of the mansion, Summer jumped out at once and flew into the house like a possessed woman. When Douglas quickly tried to follow her, he heard what sounded like the King of Hell’s pursuing voice.
“Douglas, see me in the study.”
He stopped dead in his tracks, looking back at Leonardo with a flattering smile. “I promise I won’t get into a fight next time.”
Leonardo gave him an “Mm” reply, but that did not mean he was exempted from going to the study room. So he went, waiting like a cat on hot bricks. Then, Leonardo came in.
“Now, explain why you got into a fight.” Leonardo came and sat down across him, his voice calm like a pond of water. From his stone-cold face, those who knew him well could easily sense the emotional changes underneath.
“It was just a little squabble with my classmates, and it ended up in a fight.” He paused, then continued, “Leonardo, I know I shouldn’t have done that. I promise I won’t get into a fight with them next time.”
His pledge did not stop Leonardo from pursuing the matter. “My question is, why did you get into the fight?”
Leonardo stared at him, his eyes seemingly seeing through his skull but not revealing any emotion. He felt like he was naked in front of Leonardo. Despite that, he knew if he told Leonardo the truth, it would break his heart. So, he kept mum and Leonardo did not pursue it.
Douglas had spent his childhood with Leonardo for a very long period. He was a troublemaker, and Leonardo was the one who cleaned up his mess every time. Yet, he never admitted his mistake, not once.
Today, not only did he apologize, but even Summer was unusually silent on the matter. A stubborn mule, Summer would have been very strict about dealing with children fighting. Her behavior was out of character. She called him today, probably to tell him about Douglas fighting in school but proceeded to remain silent about it. It seemed weird.
“Aren’t you going to tell me?” Leonardo waited for a moment. When there was no reply, he said, “Then I’ll have no choice but to call your class teacher.”
“Please don’t!” He looked up. If Leonardo made the call, his class teacher would surely divulge everything. Instead of letting an outsider break the news, he should be the one telling him the truth. Hence, he gritted his teeth.
“They said aunt was… to death.” His voice was so soft in the middle part of the sentence it was almost a whisper. As young as he was, he knew a thing or two about what to say and what not to say.
There was a depressing silence. Douglas clenched his fists, not saying a word again. He did not dare look at Leonardo either. After a long while, he heard Leonardo telling him in a hoarse voice, “Leave me alone.”
“Leonardo…” He looked up at Leonardo, trying to catch a glimpse of his expression, but Leonardo had risen to his feet. He walked toward his desk with his back to him. Worried, Douglas looked at him for one last time before he turned and left.
Summer had gotten changed and just exited her room. She was heading for the stairs when she walked past Leonardo’s room and Douglas was coming out.
She walked up to him. “Your cousin has seen you?”
Douglas nodded, hesitating before saying, “I’ve told him everything…”
Summer was startled. It was only after a few seconds that she asked, “Then, he…”
Douglas shook his head.
She glanced at the tightly shut door. She hesitated, then knocked on the door. “Leonardo, what would you like to eat for dinner?” But there was no response.
Douglas was worried. “Mom said after my aunt’s incident, he locked himself in a room and withdrew into himself for a very long time.”
However, Summer was thinking of something else. Leonardo’s abnormal reaction only showed that what Ben Burton said was true. Summer did not know the details but had heard about Leonardo’s mum; she was highly educated, pretty, and multi-talented, even admired and envied by all the celebrities in Hoover City. She married into the Emerson family, and her life was a legend in itself. All that aside, had she really been ravaged to death?
Summer’s throat and eyes felt dry. “What happened then?”
“Then?” Douglas ruffled his hair with his hand, feeling embarrassed. “Mom said it was because of me, when I was born… He wouldn’t talk to anyone but liked to play with me. So I spent more time with him than with my parents.”
Summer had never known this until now, but judging from the interactions between these cousins, she could vaguely feel that they were very close. No one ever knew what was in his mind. When Leonardo lied to her, impersonating Douglas, it showed that Douglas meant something to him.
Summer glanced at the tightly closed door. She did not knock on the door again but went downstairs into the kitchen. She remembered he liked something heavy, so she made him a few dishes—all salty and spicy. She then went upstairs and knocked on the door once more.
“Dinner’s ready.”
She waited for a long while, but no one answered. Just when she thought Leonardo was not going to respond, his hoarse and stern voice came.
“Stop bothering me.”
His response startled her this time. From the time he was a lukewarm “Douglas” to the time he became Leonardo, he had never talked to her like that. But she did not blame him; he was just in a black mood. In a very patient tone of voice, she said, “Should I send your dinner up here?”