Summer wanted to confirm if Leonardo had been secretly arranging everything, so she went back to the rented house she had been staying earlier.
As she was about to arrive at the front door, she saw police vehicles and police lines outside the front yard of the house next door. One police officer saw her and asked with a frown, “What are doing here, lady?”
She walked over and pointed to her rented house next door. “I live over there.”
The police officer turned to talk to his mate in an indistinct voice, then looked back at her. “Lady, we would like to ask you some questions.”
“Okay.” Summer was curious about what was happening, so she was very cooperative.
The police asked her some routine questions, and she answered them all. She finally learned what had happened. Those teenagers staying next door had criminal records: causing the death of others by speeding, theft, and even rapes. The police did not tell her so specifically, but Summer had figured it out from their words.
She thought of the girl who had knocked on her door asking to borrow the toilet the other day. Had she not been cautious by not letting the girl in, she would have probably been dead by now. A chill ran up her spine as she thought of this.
Adults would think of the consequences of their actions, but teenagers might not. They will not think about the consequences, but most of the time act on impulse.
The police officer saw she was pregnant and her face screwed together, he asked, “Is your husband at home?”
Summer hesitated for a second, then said, “He’s busy at work.”
The police officer nodded in acknowledgment. “You have a nice day, Lady. It’s safe now.”
“Thank you, Officer.” Summer returned a smile.
Although the police told her that the place was safe, Summer had no intention of staying there anymore. She chose the place because of the serene surroundings where she could spend her time while waiting for her confinement. But she was due soon. Another reason was Leonardo.
Summer had been staying here for over four months. But all her belongings could be stuffed into just one luggage. When she came back out with her luggage, the police were still there, but no one had noticed her.
After she left, a few burly men emerged from the other side. One of them said to the other, “Call Mr. Tim.”
…
Inside a private dining room of the Golden Cauldron, Carl sat on a chair, staring in the door’s direction, his eyes looking as if almost piercing through the door.
The door opened from the outside as Leonardo came in. Carl immediately got to his feet and pulled out a chair for him.
“Now even I have to make an appointment to have lunch with you…”
Leonardo sat down and said nothing, not even looking at the menu. He just impassively glanced at Carl. “What is it about that you want to see me?”
Carl rolled his eyes. “I just want to have lunch with you. The last time I saw you was last year.”
Leonardo was silent. After a while, he said, “It was a month ago.”
“I think you—” Suddenly, Carl’s mobile phone rang. “Allow me to take this call.”
He took the mobile phone out of his pocket and was surprised to see that it was Tim. He glanced at Leonardo as he answered the call, “Why are you calling me?”
“Are you with the young master now?” Tim asked.
“Yeah, we are together in the Golden Cauldron. Do you want to talk to him?” While speaking, he glanced at Leonardo again.
Leonardo frowned. “Is that Tim?”
On the other end, when Tim reached to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead when he heard Leonardo’s voice. He had just gotten the news that not only Summer did not rent the apartment unit they had prearranged for her, but also she had left the first rented house. That meant Summer could have smelled Leonardo’s involvement now. If Leonardo knew that the men he sent had screwed up, he would surely fly off the handle.
Tim dared not tell Leonardo this directly, so he thought of getting help from Carl. But it turned out that Carl and Leonardo were together.
Carl did not know what was in Tim’s mind, so he asked again, “Do you have something to discuss with Leonardo? Do you want to talk to him?”
Tim had strong survival instincts, and his tone was rigorous as well as serious. “That won’t be necessary. Just tell him that the men he sent have screwed up; Mrs. Emerson has found out…” Before his voice even trailed off, Tim hurriedly hung up.
Carl put his mobile phone to one side and looked at Leonardo in bewilderment. “He told me to tell you, your men have screwed up, and Mrs. Emerson has found out.” He only realized what was wrong after he said that.
“What Mrs. Emerson?” Carl then answered his own question. “Summer?”
Was Tim not talking about Mrs. Emerson? Was it not Summer? Carl had only seen Leonardo less than a handful of times for the past six months. Leonardo had been busy attending various business functions, meetings, business trips, and such—so busy that even Carl had to make appointments with him before he could see him.
He had never gotten the chance to ask Leonardo about Summer. While he still wondered why Leonardo did not go looking for Summer, Leonardo had been secretly working on it.
“A bunch of trash!” Leonardo blurted out, his frosty voice reeking of depressed anger.
Carl had quickly put two and two together. Seeing Leonardo’s grave expression, he said, “Summer’s due soon, isn’t it?”
“Early July.” Leonardo did not look at him as he got to his feet.
“You’re leaving now? We haven’t had lunch yet!” Carl got up, too.
But Leonardo ignored him.
“Summer has found your men are following her. It is not a problem; or is it? You can always send faces that she couldn’t recognize to—”
“No,” Leonardo said. “She is very switched on. Once she finds out the first time, it will be very difficult to follow her again.”
Carl scratched his head and frowned. “Since you can’t secretly follow her, why not just bring her back? After all, she’s due very soon.”
Leonardo hesitated. It was not that he did not want to. He had been thinking about it every day, bringing Summer back to him, then keeping her beside him every minute of the day.