Summer picked up her mobile phone to call Leonardo, but thinking that he was working in Emerson Corporation at the moment, she did not want to disturb him. She thought better of it and called Carl instead.
Carl did not answer her call. He was probably busy too, but after some time, he returned her call.
Before Summer spoke, Carl said, “I know you want to find out about Adams’s termination. Am I right?”
“That’s right.”
“Leonardo called me early in the morning. He told me he wanted to terminate Adams’s contract, and he instructed me to leak the news out. I thought I could finally take a vacation, then this came. Damn!”
Carl complained to Summer for a while, and she said a few words in an attempt to comfort him. After she hung up, her mobile phone rang again. She took a peek and saw that it was Lynn calling.
He had not called her for a long time, so what was he up to? Was the call about Vicky? Thinking about the possibility of Adams getting Vicky out of jail, her stomach churned.
Vicky had tried to kill her many times. Now that Vicky was finally going to jail and feeling remorseful for what she had done, Adams had to come and ruin the party. Summer was tempted to think that she should have allowed Leonardo to torture Vicky to death, but she was frightened by the idea.
Stroking her tummy, she mumbled, “Sweetie, Mommy shouldn’t have such a thought. It’s not right. Don’t you learn this…”
While she was still in her own little world, the ringing stopped. Summer then put away the mobile phone. She was not going to return the call. If there was anything important, he would call again. Sure enough, Lynn called again a few minutes later, and she answered it this time.
“Have you seen your mom?” Lynn’s voice sounded cold.
“What’s wrong?” Summer had not heard from Karen since they talked over the phone last time.
Lynn was silent for a few seconds before he said, “She’s been missing for a few days. Did she ever look for you?”
Summer had vowed to not be bothered by Karen again, but her heart sank the moment she heard that.
“No,” she replied.
Karen had extraordinary patience toward the Jarretts, and under normal circumstances, she would not have left the family. But now, Lynn said Karen had been missing for a few days.
“What have you done to her?” Summer asked.
“What could I have done to her? She ran away!” Lynn sounded angry, his voice so loud that it nearly broke her eardrum.
“If you’re not the cause, why did she run away? Do you think I’m a fool?” Summer retorted. She was getting worked up now.
“Didn’t you say you weren’t’ going to care about her? Are you questioning me now? You’re so heartless to send your own sister to jail. You’re not my daughter!” Lynn was fit to be tied when he talked about that.
“Oh, what a coincidence! I don’t really want an elder sister and father who try to kill me.”
“Don’t say such a dreadful thing. Vicky didn’t mean it. Aren’t you still alive and kicking? You know she’s been spoiled. Can’t you just accommodate her?”
Lynn still blamed everything on Summer. You know she’s been spoiled. Can’t you just accommodate her?
Summer tightened her hand around her mobile phone, her knuckles turning white and veins appearing on the back of her hand.
“Who will accommodate me when I accommodate her? You know she’s been spoiled, so now she will be sent to jail and learn from her mistake. It is all your fault. What a good father you are. You have never taught her what is right, and others would have to do the honor on your behalf. You spoil her, yet you don’t have the ability to control her. Take a guess; does Vicky hate you now?”
Lynn had been spoiling Vicky to the maximum, and he did not think that he had done anything wrong; he always passed the buck. What Summer said hit a raw nerve with him because Vicky had called him useless when he saw her yesterday. Now that he could not find the words to respond, he hung up on her.
Summer put down her mobile phone. After pondering for a while, she decided to make a police report.
Since Lynn told her that Karen had been missing for days, it seemed things had really gone wrong. After she made the report, she thought that she should not just sit and wait there but do nothing. So, she decided to visit the Jarrett family. Leonardo did not stop her on the condition that she brought along bodyguards.
…
The car stopped in front of the Jarrett family’s residence, and her bodyguard opened the car door for her. As her legs stepped out of the car, a sports car zoomed past, inches from the bodyguard. It happened so fast that the bodyguard was frozen for a few seconds, not knowing what had just happened.
When the bodyguard finally came to grips with the situation, he asked, “Are you all right, Mrs. Emerson?”
She was not out of the car yet, what could have happened to her?
“Are you okay?” Summer asked, shaking her head.
“I’m fine.” The bodyguard shook his head.
However, she noticed that the bodyguards’ steps were unsteady; he must have been scared out of his wits.
Summer got out of the car and looked in the sports car’s direction. It was out of sight, but as she pulled her eyes back, she heard the same sports car engine again.
It was coming back and making an abrupt maneuver midway.
The car screeched and slid at a ninety-degree angle before it stopped in the middle of the road. The driver was a young man. He took off his sunglasses and swung his hair back, as though that made him look cool before he spoke in Summer’s direction. “Hi, are you all right?”
He sounded anything but sincere. His car was a Ferrari, and his hair was immaculately groomed in the lastest style, held up probably with the help of an entire bottle of hairspray. Besides, he was wearing an expensive outfit from head to toe, looking like a model. Summer knew the young man.
“Hey, woman, you look familiar to me. What’s your name?”
While he spoke, the young man jumped out of the Ferrari cabriolet and walked toward her. When he got a closer look at Summer, he whistled at her.
“Wow, what a stunning lady.”
The bodyguard came up and stood in front of Summer, ready to confront the young man.
Summer frowned. “Elder Brother, it’s me, Summer.”
The young man before her eyes was her half-brother and Vicky’s natural brother, Spencer. He had been studying abroad all this while.
“What?” Spencer looked surprised. “Who did you say you were? You’re Summer? I haven’t been home for many years, but I know she doesn’t look like this.”
Spencer had spent seven or eight years abroad. It was only natural that he could not recognize her.
By then, Lynn had come out of the mansion upon hearing the sound of the sports car. “Tim, have you gone street-racing again?”
When Spencer saw Lynn, he jokingly said, “Dad, this pretty lady says she’s Summer!”