There was a public toilet next to the milk tea shop. Summer carried her backpack and went inside one of the cubicles. As soon as she closed the door, she heard cars stopping outside, followed by a series of footsteps and a voice she recognized.
“If the tip-off is legit, Mrs. Emerson should be inside.”
Summer instantly identified the voice as belonging to Tim. She became nervous, because judging from what Tim said, Leonardo must have come along. Sure enough, she heard Leonardo’s familiar impassive voice.
“Search the place!”
It had only been a day since she set the mansion on fire. But hearing Leonardo’s voice now, it felt like a lifetime had passed.
Summer leaned her back against the door inside the cubicle, nervously listening to the footsteps as they went away. Only then did she hurriedly do her business before leaving the toilet quickly.
As soon as she came out, she saw the familiar-looking Rolls Royce parked up by the roadside. She turned her head and looked in the other direction. Leonardo and his men were face-to-face with Eliza.
Eliza was facing Summer’s direction while Leonardo and his men were standing with their back to Summer, so they had not seen her. Eliza saw Summer, who put up a finger to her mouth to mime a “shush” before she hid behind the car.
She then heard Leonardo questioning Eliza, “Did you see Summer?”
Eliza looked up, quietly glancing at the spot where Summer had been standing a while ago. She then folded her arms and looked provocatively at him.
“Does it matter whether or not I’ve seen her?”
“I may not want to hit a woman, but that doesn’t mean I won’t do it,” Leonardo scoffed.
There was a subtle change of expression on Eliza’s face.
“You…” She sulked, then continued, “I haven’t seen her. She is not my wife. It’s not my duty to look after her.”
Still hiding behind the car, Summer heard what Eliza said and could not help wishing her good luck. She could even sense Leonardo’s murderous air from this distance.
“Really?” Leonardo sounded a little stern now.
Summer peeked from behind the car. Eliza’s face had turned pale as she took two steps back and spoke with a quivering voice. “She’s gone. I don’t know where she is.”
Summer knew that Eliza would be intimidated. Before she even spoke, Summer had gone around the back of the vehicle and disappeared into an alley. When Leonardo and his men looked back, Summer was nowhere to be seen.
Leonardo looked around and ordered his men, “Find her.”
Tim brought the bodyguards and off they went, leaving Leonardo standing alone on the spot. He felt that Summer was still somewhere in the vicinity.
Earlier, in the midmorning, Carl called him, informing him that someone had sent a parcel to Tip Top Entertainment. In the recipient field of the courier slip was two characters “XN”, so he figured it must be for Leonardo. When Leonardo arrived at Tip Top Entertainment, he opened up the parcel and saw the box and the fountain pen inside. Who except for Summer would send her this?
He had calmed down after exchanging blows with Carl yesterday. He had figured that Summer could not have committed suicide; she must have escaped. But he would still be worried as long as he did not find her. It was not until Leonardo received the parcel that he was able to breathe a sigh of relief. As it turned out, Summer had escaped.
Not long after, Tim came back with the bodyguards.
“Young Master.” Tim came up to Leonardo and saw the anticipatory look on his face, but he still had to break the news to him. “We didn’t find Mrs. Emerson.”
After saying this, he bowed his head, not to look at Leonardo’s expression.
Leonardo could not sleep last night. When he got the parcel the next morning, he was excited. He thought he would find Summer when he got here. But he was disappointed.
Not far away, Summer quietly turned around and left. It was just as easy to find a person as hiding from one in this world. As long as you had the will, it was not that difficult.
She went to the bus station and just in time to board the last bus leaving for Lin City. Summer was half-asleep as the bus trundled for four hours before reaching Lin City.
By the time she disembarked, it was already late afternoon. Summer used the bank card that Eliza gave her to withdraw some cash, then found a place to fill her face. Inside the restaurant, the TV was still showing news about the Emerson family.
“According to reports, the woman who set the mansion on fire has not been found. There is nobody at the scene. The mansion had been burned to the ground, though. According to reliable sources, the woman might have perished in the fire…”
Summer was a little surprised. She was apparently still alive, yet judging from the news report, someone seemed to guide the narrative toward the suggestion that she was dead in the fire. Could it be the work of Leonardo?
Could it be that Leonardo knew what was in her mind and decided to play along, leading the media in this direction? But Summer did not really know what Leonardo was thinking.
After leaving Hoover City, she felt more at ease. It was less likely that Leonardo would track her to this place. But soon, it turned out that she was too naïve. Leonardo was a person who did nothing by halves. His determination was fully manifested in the way he looked for Summer.
While sleeping at night on the same day, Summer heard footsteps in the corridor outside. She heard voices, too. Cautiously and quietly, she got up, went to the door, pressed her ear against the door, and listened. Shen then went to the window.
She was on the second floor; jumping out of the window was not an option.
Should she use the trick as shown in the movie, tearing up the bedsheet and tying them together into a rope as an escape tool? She could take the risk, but not the baby in her womb.
Just as she was hesitating, the door was slammed open from the outside, followed by the flick of the light switch. Summer’s eyes had not adapted to the sudden bright light and reached to cover her eyes. When her eyes finally adapted to the light, she turned to look in the door’s direction and saw Leonardo.
“Summer.”
He stood at the doorway, the white fluorescent light shone on his face, his feature sharp, looking piercingly cold. His eyes looked as if he was a beast that finally got its prey in the jungle.
Summer knew her fugitive life had ended. Leonardo had found her in less than thirty hours. However, she did not want to admit defeat as she stood stock on the spot.
“Come to me,” Leonardo calmly.
She did not want to do that, but what else could she do now? As she walked toward him, the corner of Leonardo’s lips turned up. He swept her up in his arms, turned around, and carried her out of the room.