When the two women saw that it was Summer, they appeared to panic but tried hard not to show it.
“Hello, Mrs. Emerson.”
“What are the two of you discussing? Don’t mind if I join you?”
Summer helped herself and sat down between the two of them, holding her head high. She sat with her back straight and her hands on her lap, crossing her legs. It was the loveliest and most noble way to sit. If not for the etiquette classes she attended during her university years, she would have been very nervous at such a party.
The two women looked awkward, probably realizing that Summer had heard what they said. Anyone with a sense of shame would find it awkward when caught red-handed badmouthing others.
“Mrs. Emerson, it’s our pleasure,” One woman quickly said, trying to make up to Summer.
The other woman followed suit. “Mrs. Emerson, your skin is so beautiful. How do you maintain it?” Summer’s skin was undoubtedly fair, so much so that the woman started to envy her.
“Maintain it?” Summer turned to face her, her cat eyes wide open with a surprised look on her face. “I’ve never practiced any skin upkeep. I was born with it.” After she said that, she glanced over at the other woman, then leaned closer to take a curious look. “You’ve got a beautiful chin. Is it natural?”
“Of course, it is.” The woman looked proud.
“Oh, yeah? Is it alright if I poke it?” Summer seemed keen. There were tons of women with natural beauty in the film academy. She could identify who had had a face job just by looking at them.
The woman’s face changed. “My-My chin… I hit my chin on something recently, it still hurts. Mrs. Emerson, please be gentle…”
“No worries.” Summer smiled, but her smile was turning the woman into a bag of nerves. Just as Summer reached out, the woman moved her hands up all of a sudden, trying to cover her face. She was probably too nervous and struck herself on the chin.
“Aaah, my chin!” The woman shrieked, lunging to her feet and scurrying away.
The other woman’s eyes were on stalks. “Is-Is her chin fake?”
“Yes, it is.” Summer looked at her, blinking her eyes as she leaned over like she was telling a secret. “I tell you what, her boobs are fake, too.”
The woman opened her eyes even wider now. “That b*tch told me she was all natural! She obviously got a face job and stole my man! Damn it!” Following that, the woman got up and left, looking extremely pissed off.
Summer looked on, speechless. She just wanted to dig at them as revenge for their impertinent remarks about her having a face job. She never thought that they would fight among themselves.
“I’ve been looking for you. I didn’t expect to see you here.”
Adams’s voice was suddenly heard. When Summer brought her gaze up, he had come before her. His face was flushed, likely from drinking too much. She shuffled aside, making space for him to sit down.
“My brother, did you see Douglas?” She was thinking of leaving. There was nothing to do there after all.
He shook his head. “No, I didn’t see him and have no idea where he is. We can call him afterward.”
“Alright.”
As a waitstaff walked past, Summer caught him. “Could you please bring me a glass of warm water?”
The waitstaff then returned with a glass of warm water. Summer took it and handed it to Adams. “My brother, you must have drunk too much.”
Adams was startled for a second, then replied, “Just a little.” He reached out to receive the glass from Summer, but he ended up catching her hand.
Summer instinctively tried to retract her hand, but Adams managed to grasp it. She was still holding the glass. Summer felt nauseous as the foreign hand held her. Thinking that Adams was tipsy from the drinking, she patiently said with a frown, “My brother, you’ve caught my hand, not the glass.”
As if he had not heard her, Adams held her even tighter, seemingly with no intention of letting her go. She tried to pull her hand back but to no avail. She frowned, wanting to get up. Just then, a figure she found familiar appeared, and someone chopped down on Adams’s wrist with his hand. Yet, Adams still did not budge. Summer looked up and saw Leonardo’s gloomy face.
Seeing that Adams was still not letting go, Leonardo grasped her hand and forcibly pulled it back. Adams’s firm grip left red pressure marks on her hand, and it hurt. Water also splashed from the glass onto her dress as her hand was pulled away, and the thin fabric of her red gown was drenched, sticking to her body. It embarrassed her.
“Rachel…”
Leonardo took off his jacket and put it on Summer, then turned around and said, “Send my brother home.”
Only then did Summer see Tim standing behind Leonardo.
“You—” Summer wanted to ask him something, but before she could do it, Leonardo had dragged her toward the rear door, which was not far from where they were.
He was walking fast in front while Summer, whose legs already hurt, was struggling to keep up with her high heels on. However, it seemed like Leonardo had shut his ears to her, ignoring her protest. Just after they exited from the back door, Summer sprained her ankle. She sucked air through her teeth from the pain, but Leonardo, marred by anger, did not notice her condition and continued to haul her toward the elevator. She then wrenched the other ankle. She was almost in tears as she shouted at him, “Let go of me!”
Leonardo finally stopped and looked back at her with that same gloomy look on his face. When he saw her teary eyes, though, his face changed, and he looked down at her. “Did you sprain your leg?”
“Thanks to you!” Summer scoffed.
As he crouched down to take a look at her ankles, Summer braced for the pain and took a step back. She bent down to take her shoes off and threw them at him before she staggered away barefooted.
A hotel staff, who walked past, looked at her curiously.
Summer glared at the waitstaff. “Have you never seen someone walking barefooted?”
The well-trained waitstaff of the seven-star hotel quickly bowed and apologized, “I’m sorry, Miss. Would you like me to call the medic?”
She looked back at Leonardo, who stood stock on the spot with an expression that no one could figure out. The snarl on her face told him that even a waitstaff was more thoughtful than he was.