“I’m not going.” Summer tilted her head, appearing helpless but firm.
Leonardo was startled. She reached out to take his hand off her jaw. “Don’t clench my jaw. It hurts.”
Her resentment was plain to see, and Leonardo squinted at her. “Summer, what do you want?”
“I want to work on my screenplay. I’ve had inspiration recently.” She pushed him away, got up, and went upstairs. The media had published her photos, and she had not been out for the past few days.
She may not be able to go back to Tip Top Entertainment again, and she did not know what to do besides writing scripts.
Leonardo looked on as Summer scurried up the stairs, his dangling hands on either side clenching into fists.
…
Gossip about Summer quickly died down after Leonardo pulled a few strings.
There were no shortages of sensational news in the entertainment world, so no one was going to remember it once it became old news.
That was also the reason many celebs bought their way to the headlines and trending topics to gain public exposure.
What surprised Summer more was Adams’s post of an explanation about his dining meeting with her on his Weibo account.
Making up an excuse to justify the meeting, things finally subsided online. But offline, in the actual world, Summer’s life did not seem to be going well.
A week had passed since the incident, and Jessica was asking Summer out. Meanwhile, Summer and Leonardo had been in a cold war because they did not agree on the wedding.
Leonardo was busy and seldom home, whereas Summer buried herself in her script writings. They were living under the same roof and sleeping on the same bed, but there was no communication.
Nonetheless, once Leonardo knew that Summer was going out, he still arranged a chauffeur and some bodyguards for her.
However, she rejected them without even thinking. “That won’t be necessary. I’m just hanging out with Jessica.”
She felt a depressing air behind her as she finished talking. She stopped her in her tracks for a second before she walked toward the door, face calm.
However, the poor bodyguards were not so calm. They stood aside quietly, not even daring to breathe.
Taking a deep breath, Leonardo asked, “What did I just say?” He was forcing the words through his teeth.
The bodyguards shook like leaves and replied in unison, “Aye!” They all then ran out like possessed men.
The moment Summer stepped out of the mansion, she heard a series of synchronous footsteps behind her. Before she could turn around, they were already in front of her.
A black car pulled up before her, and a bodyguard opened the car door. “Mrs. Emerson, please.”
The other bodyguards approached and stood around her as if they were escorting her into the car, when in fact, it looked more like they were scared that she might run away.
She pulled a half-crying, half-smiling face, thinking, Like master, like bodyguard.
It was useless to reason with them, the same way it was useless to reason with their master.
“Fine, you’re dismissed. I’ll get into the car myself.” As she finished talking, she got in.
It seemed that Mrs. Emerson had read their minds, those bodyguards thought to themselves.
…
Hanging out with Jessica had become a high-profile affair with a bunch of bodyguards tailing them. The bodyguards followed them wherever they went, and there was no way they could keep it low-profile.
Jessica was wide-eyed upon seeing an army of bodyguards behind Summer. “It looks like a queen’s birthday parade here.”
Summer looked back at the bodyguards behind her, but they quickly looked everywhere else but at her.
She sighed. “What queen? This is obviously ‘Leonardo gone mad’.”
With so many bodyguards following them, Summer and Jessica had no choice but to cut their shopping spree short.
They found a restaurant, got a private dining room for the two of them, and a table for the bodyguards in the main dining hall.
The bodyguards must have been starving after escorting them for half a day. They gobbled up their food as soon as they sat down.
While the bodyguards were eating, Jessica peeked at them from behind the door gap, hurrying Summer to get changed before sneaking out with her. It looked rather odd to have a group of bodyguards behind them while they were hanging out.
After giving the bodyguards the slip, the two of them slid away through the back door and went to the night market behind a high school. They sat at a BBQ stall and ordered two sticks of grilled mutton as they chatted away.
“Sometimes, I miss our high school days.”
“Why?” Jessica asked as she grabbed a piece of tissue paper to wipe the oil on her mouth.
Summer smiled and said, “Because life was simple back then.” Other than going to classes, she was an invisible person in the Jarrett family. It was not that bad, after all.
As though something crossed Jessica’s mind, she binned the unfinished BBQ mutton in her hand. “I don’t miss my high school days.”
Just as Summer was about to ask why, a familiar-sounding voice could be heard behind her.
“Summer.”
It was a male voice. It sounded a little familiar, but she could not recall who it was. She turned her head and was surprised to see Jerome. They had not seen each other for quite a while.
Jerome smiled when he saw Summer from afar. He navigated through the crowd and ran toward her. “It’s really you!” There was excitement in his voice.
Before Summer could say anything, Jessica came up and stood in front of her, facing Jerome. “Why are you here, Jerome?” she demanded. The night market was not situated in a bustling area, and the things sold around there were cheap. The crowd comprised mostly of local residents and some students, so Jerome’s appearance in the area was obviously not a coincidence.
“Jessica, you’re here too!” He looked surprised.
Jerome and Jessica were distant relatives, but how close they were, Summer did not know. Her impression of him was mostly from family parties and meet-ups.
They knew each other, but there was no love lost between them. Jessica despised Vicky and would naturally detest Jerome, who had once hooked up with her.
Jessica crossed her arms and cocked one of her eyebrows. “I’m asking you a question.”
Jerome probably noticed that Summer was not saying anything, so he explained, “I thought I saw you two in the restaurant over there a while ago, but I wasn’t so sure. Hence, I followed you two.”
“Why did you follow us?” Jessica demanded again.
Jerome’s expression changed. He was seemingly annoyed by Jessica, so he ignored her and turned to Summer. “Summer, can I have a word with you?”
“What’s this about?” Summer looked at him with little expression on her face. She did not think that Jerome had anything nice to say to her.
Jerome gave Jessica a look, telling her to excuse herself, but there was no way she would go away.
“If you’re not going to say anything, I’ll leave now.” Summer grabbed Jessica, wanting to leave.
“Wait a minute.” Jerome stopped her, his voice sounding nervous. “Summer, do you want to be with me?”
Both Summer and Jessica looked at him as if he was mad.