Michael’s chest heaved up and down in anger. He stared daggers at Leonardo for a while before he forced a word through his teeth. “Great!”
Summer was on pins and needles as she looked on. Fortunately, Michael was still healthy enough to take the jab.
“You know very well Emerson Corporation’s situation now. Those old men have usurped half of the powers to themselves and cooked the books! Don’t you know that?”
If not for the mess in the company, he would not have had to work his butt off every night.
Knowing that what Leonardo said was true, Michael could not find the words to respond. He let out a sigh and said, “Let’s talk about Adams.”
Leonardo cocked an eyebrow, narrowing his eyes while waiting for Michael to continue.
“You’ve founded a movie production company, and Adams has been an artist under your company for all these years, right? Tell me, are you the one terminating his contract?”
The rumor outside was that Adams was the one initiating the contract termination, but Michael was not fooled. His questioning of Leonardo sounded odd.
“Are you defending him?” Leonardo asked, his face impassive.
Realizing that his tone did not sound right, Michael softened his voice. “Your aunt and I are siblings, while you and Adams have been close since childhood. Many people in the Emerson family are eyeing the position you currently hold. If you can keep a good relationship with Adams, you two can watch each other’s back in the future—”
“Watch each other’s back?” Leonardo scoffed. Feeling that the conversation was just not worth his time, he got to his feet. “I’m not sticking my nose into your business, and you’d better do the same.”
Leonardo then turned to Summer and held her hand. “Summer, let’s go home.”
Unlike the way he looked at Michael, which was icy cold, he was gentle and passionate with her.
Summer placed her hand in his, and they walked out of the room. After that, they heard stuff being smashed and thrown around inside the room.
Summer worriedly looked at Leonardo. He smiled at her, telling her not to worry. There was a hint of a sneer in his eyes. “Let him be. He is just smashing his own things.”
Summer was still worried. Leonardo and Michael were at loggerheads with each other. And this had been going on for years. But this should not be going on forever. She could see that Michael wanted to make up with Leonardo. A man like Michael would not have his own wife kidnapped. She felt that there must be some misunderstanding between the father and the son. This misunderstanding, which had piled up over the years, would take some time to resolve.
…
When they went downstairs, Douglas jumped to his feet from the sofa, gaping at them. “Leonardo, Summer, you two want to leave now?”
“Yeah. What’s up?” Summer could see that Douglas had something to say.
He scratched his head, hesitating. “It’s been a long time since I last went to your place. Could I stay at your place for a few days?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
Two voices said simultaneously, with Leonardo saying “no” and Summer saying “why not”.
Summer stared at Leonardo. “Did you say ‘no’?”
Leonardo was tempted to nod his head, but his gut feeling told him if he did, he risked getting kicked out of the bedroom by Summer tonight. So he shot a glance at Douglas and gave in. “Sure,” he said, his voice unenthusiastic.
Summer ignored his lack of enthusiasm and smiled at Douglas. “Have you told your mom?”
The relationship between Adams and Leonardo had gone sour, but Douglas was still young. He should not be dragged into this.
“I’ve told her.” Douglas nodded frantically.
…
Douglas used to stay in Leonardo’s place, so his clothes and stuff were still there. He did not even have to pack up but just go and move in.
As if Douglas was afraid that Leonardo might change his mind, he scurried and jumped inside the car, then waved. “Summer, get in quickly.”
Leonardo shot a glare at him again, and Douglas shut his mouth. Just as Summer was about to get inside the car, Leonardo stopped her. He first got into the car, then only waved at her, signaling her to get in.
Summer rolled her eyes. Why was this man so petty? She got into the car. He was sitting between Summer and Douglas. Summer and Douglas looked over at each other and found disdain for Leonardo in each other’s eyes.
Summer thought of what Alisa said at the dining table. Adams was being smeared again. So she checked online using her mobile phone. It was worse than she thought.
Leaning close to Leonardo’s ear, she asked, “Really it isn’t your doing?”
Leonardo still looked impassive as ever, but he sounded arrogant. “Do I have to do this petty thing?”
To understand a person’s character, one just needed to look at the petty things that person did; it normally showed. The gossip about Adams abusing a puppy had gone viral. There were photographs of it, purportedly catching him in the act. But the photographs were not clear enough. By the looks of the body contour, it clearly was Adams.
The photographs were taken via burst shots. Adams had lifted a puppy and then threw it to the ground. There were five sequential photographs of the act.
To the netizens, this was the evidence. Most of them were critical of Adams. To a superstar like Adams, who had almost no negative news, this exposure could be damaging to his acting career.
“His public image is ruined!”
“I’ve wondered why Adams had never had any negative publicity.”
“This is the outcome of turning his back on Tip Top Entertainment. He isn’t content staying with Tip Top Entertainment. As soon as he tore up his contract, his bad deed got exposed as if karma caught up with him.”
That last comment attracted Summer’s attention. She knew how dark the showbiz world was. Adams was a top actor for sure, but it was only because of Tip Top Entertainment, the top dog in the industry, his career had been a smooth sail. Once he terminated his contract, he was losing the protective shield of Tip Top Entertainment, and his rivals would not hesitate to bring him down.
Success was built on the failure of others. Everyone was competing against each other to the top. But there are only so many places at the top. And to make sure one’s success, people trample down others as they climb their ways up.
Adams had only taken 10 years to become the youngest, most successful actor. Those who were jealous of him had long wanted to trample him down.