Leonardo paused his eating as his expression changed. Putting down his chopsticks, he reached for his mobile phone. But Summer took over his mobile phone before he did.
“Finish your meal first. Carl should have taken care of it.” She did not exactly know if things had been taken care of. She thought earlier that it was Leonardo who ordered Carl to handle it and believed that Leonardo must have been on it. So she had taken her mind off the matter and concentrated on making him dinner and waiting for him to come home.
But he was adamant. Taking back his mobile phone from Summer, he called Carl.
Just lying down after a busy day, Carl was woken up by the ringing phone. Without looking at the phone, he answered, “Who the heck? Do you know what time it is now?”
“It’s me,” Leonardo replied.
Carl was fully alert now. After a moment of silence, his voice became softer as he spoke. “Young Master, do you know what time it is now? Why not go find out who did the Adams trending topic if you have the time? It’s got Summer involved now. I have not slept for the past couple of days because of this.”
Because of their close relationship, Carl would not beat around the bush when it came to business.
“The motive of the person who did this is still unknown. But I’m sure the person knows the relationship between Summer and you. Otherwise, the person would not have targeted Summer and put her up on the trending topic every time. This makes handling the case a little tricky.”
Summer did not know what Carl said, but she could see Leonardo’s grim face. After hanging up, they sat there silently. No one spoke a word for a long while.
“I bumped into Adams in the office today.” Summer broke the silence. Leonardo looked up at her, his brows knitted slightly together.
“No worries, I said nothing.” Summer wore a half-smile. “He didn’t mention the trending topic incident either.”
“I’m done.”
Leonardo started to get to his feet. She followed and spoke, her voice a few octaves higher.
“Leonardo, stop deceiving yourself and others. You know it was your elder brother who did it, but you chose not to believe it and lie to me, saying that you’ve found nothing.”
She had been wanting to say that for a long time. Leonardo stopped in his tracks, looking back at her. He neither denied nor admitted it this time.
“I will handle this,” he said with a cold voice, his eyes devoid of any emotion. Summer could not help but shudder upon seeing his expression, or rather the lack of it. Her words were stuck in her throat. She found him strange and distant.
Rooted to the spot, she started to think that perhaps she had never been into his inner world. He had never told her about his problems. Whenever she asked, he would put on a cold face as if telling her to mind her own business.
Tonight, they slept in the same bed with their backs facing each other, no hugging, no talking.
…
It was a busy day at work. Summer did not get too much sleep last night. She went into the pantry during lunch break to pour herself some coffee. She came to her senses when her mug was overflowing.
Taking a sip of the coffee, she took out her mobile phone to check her Weibo. It was Friday and there was still no news from the person who claimed to know her identity. Carl must have done something yesterday, she thought.
She tapped on her mobile phone screen and opened Weibo. Before she could see anything, her phone rang. It was Carl. Why was he calling her? He called her because he couldn’t find Leonardo again?
She picked up the call and before she could say anything, Carl asked, “Summer, where are you now?” He sounded anxious.
“I’m in the pantry. Anything?” Hearing his worried voice, she thought about Jessica and her heart skipped a beat. Probably something had happened to her.
“Stay where you are and don’t hang up. I’m coming for you,” said Carl.
Why did he sound like she was the one in trouble? She tried to sound him out. “What happens?” At first, she thought Carl was either looking for Leonardo or concerned about Jessica. But she could not make sense of why he was looking for her.
“Don’t ask. I’m coming right away.” He panted as if he was running.
Summer was a little numb to it after becoming a subject of gossip on the trending topics recently. Her gut feeling told her that something big must have happened. Otherwise, Carl would not have behaved this way.
She kept the line open as she opened Weibo. She got the shock of her life when she saw her photos plastered all over Weibo. She was rooted to the spot, her ears ringing, mind blank.
The photos of her alone, the intimate interaction of her and Leonardo, her dining with Adams, her coming into and going out of Tip Top Entertainment, and her previous ugly makeup.
Not only that, but there was also a copy of the marriage certificate. It was clear and sharp. But she had to look at it several times to confirm. The names on the marriage certificate were Leonardo and Vicky.
The mobile phone suddenly weighed a ton in a hand; it slipped from her hand and dropped to the floor. Just then, someone pushed open the pantry door. She had not noticed it; she had lost a sense of her surroundings, hand still in its prior position. She froze in place.
Carl knew things were not good when he saw her expression. He came up and saw her mobile phone lying on the floor. The screen was still intact and on, showing a copy of the marriage certificate. He picked it up, switched it off, and walked Summer out of the pantry.
“Let’s get out of here.”
Summer walked like a doll without consciousness, going wherever Carl brought her. At the office entrance, security personnel escorted them out as Tip Top employees gesticulated behind them. They were uttering harsh words against her but stopping short of hurling eggs at her. Summer felt naked.
Most of the top ten trending topics were talking about her, with #The most shameless mistress# topped the list. From the beginning when she was forced to marry into the Emerson family to become a “mistress”, she did not know what wrong she had done to deserve these.
All she knew was she had a mother who did not love her, and she just wanted to love a man she married. But why did everything seemingly go haywire?