Summer was surprised. She tagged Eliza first, and when she logged in again later, she noticed that Eliza’s status was “writing”. The next moment, she received a message from her.
“Summer, you’ve finally thought it through?”
Eliza seemed to remember what she had said before, so Summer got straight to business.
“Yeah, does the deal still stand?”
“Of course.”
Eliza followed up with another message.
“What genre are you working on? Send me an excerpt so that I can take a look, but I’m busy right now, working overtime. Wait for my message, probably after the Lantern Festival.”
Summer’s first impression of Eliza was that she was a spoiled princess with distorted thinking. Yet, while she currently found that Eliza’s way of thinking may not conform to the normal, acceptable way of life, Eliza had her own thinking.
There was no absolute right or black and white in this world.
People like Eliza had her own approach to life. She did whatever she wanted and was probably the type who lived her life to the fullest.
“I got it. Thank you.”
Summer was sincere when she said that.
“Don’t thank me first. If your script turns out to be crap, I can only get you a crappy director.”
Summer was not offended at all by Eliza’s straight talk.
“That’s fine.”
“I gotta get working. Super busy. Catch you later.”
Just as Summer wanted to reply with an “I’ll leave you to it”, she noticed that Eliza was composing another message. A few seconds later, the message came through.
“Are you in the Emersons’ old residence? Has Alisa been coming home alone?”
“What do you want to know?” Summer asked. The last time Alisa and Eliza fought, Alisa had mentioned Bowen. Starting out as a child actor, Bowen was a veteran actor and model worker. His works were shown on screen every year, and he was quite popular. Judging from what Alisa said, it was apparent that Eliza liked Bowen too.
With a smile on her face, Summer wrote, “She’s come home alone, don’t worry.”
“What’s to worry about? That b*tch has no takers!”
Alisa had no takers? She had the looks and a good family background with her.
“Who are you texting with?”
Leonardo suddenly came out of nowhere. She quickly logged out from the chat screen and surfed the Moments section.
“Summer.” He sat down facing her, his voice sounding serious. She could not help but look up at him.
“Who did you talk to on the phone before breakfast?” Since she said nothing, he decided to interrogate her.
“It was my mom.” She was honest with him at least.
“And?” When Leonardo recalled the way she looked at him, he could almost guess what Karen told her.
“She just asked when I would go home for a New Year visit. She also mentioned that she had come looking for me earlier.” She said it so casually as if she was not concerned at all.
Leonardo squinted as he studied her expression, but he could see nothing unusual. Of course, he did not think that there was anything wrong with sending Karen away and not telling Summer about it. He thought of what the doctor said; women had unpredictable mood swings during pregnancy. With that thought in mind, he did not take a second guess of what caused Summer to be so grumpy.
“In her dreams!” Karen still had the nerve to call Summer, asking if she would go home for the New Year.
Summer did not make her stand. She just faintly said, “Just ask someone to send some hampers to the Jarrett family.”
“It’s up to you.” Leonardo looked up.
…
During New Year’s Eve dinner, everyone in the Emerson family was present.
The old residence building was so large that other than a dining room for everyday use, there was another larger dining hall used for huge gatherings. The place was so spacious that it could easily hold a small social party. In fact, with so many family members coming together tonight, it was already a small party in every way.
There were so many people that Summer had to whisper to Leonardo, “I can’t even remember who’s who.”
He held her hand with a fleeting smile on his face. “It doesn’t matter. What really matters is that they know who you are.”
She thought he had a point. Summer would give every child a red envelope as they came up to greet her. The envelopes were provided in advance by Grandpa Emerson through a maid, and that just showed how good Grandpa Emerson was toward Leonardo.
The atmosphere in the dining hall was merry, and everyone had a smile on their faces. After dinner, they sat together, chatting, and holding a vigil.
However, Leonardo had no plans on spending time with these people. Holding Summer’s hand, he said to her, “Let’s go.”
“Go where?” She looked at him and quickly figured out where. He wanted to go back to his room and sleep.
She was pregnant, but the doctor said she was very healthy. The vigil would end at midnight, which she could still manage. Leonardo must have thought that she was too squeamish.
Summer glanced at Grandpa Emerson and said to Leonardo, “I’m fine. The vigil will only last until midnight, and everyone is here. Ask yourself, how long have you not spend time with Grandpa during the New Year?”
Summer had apparently persuaded Leonardo; it showed on his face.
“Then, let’s sit with Grandpa over there.”
Summer held him, and they walked over with Douglas on their tail.
“Summer, let’s play poker!” Out of nowhere, Douglas took out a stack of poker cards.
“Okay, how about I let your elder cousin take my place?” Summer smiled.
Douglas’s expression collapsed at once. “Forget it, then.”
When it came to poker, Summer was a noob, but she was a dab hand at dice. In contrast, nothing was too difficult for Leonardo.
“You should all go and have fun. Why are you sitting around an old man like me?”
It was probably because of New Year, but Grandpa Emerson looked less serious, appearing gentler and more avuncular.
Summer quietly pushed Leonardo over so that he would sit beside Grandpa Emerson. As Leonardo sat down, Summer noticed Grandpa Emerson smiling at her. She felt a little embarrassed but still returned his smile.
“I think I need to go to the washroom. Please excuse me.” The urge of visiting the washroom was part and parcel of pregnancy.
She got to her feet and walked out of the hall. As she was not too familiar with the house, she decided to go back to the bathroom in her room. As she walked up the corner of the stairs, she saw Michael and Violet. One walking behind the other, cautiously checking their surroundings as they went about their business.