Leonardo did not say a word, and Summer’s expression gradually evaporated. Taking a deep breath, she buried her face in her hands as tears kept rolling down her cheeks.
Leonardo drew her into his arms, saying nothing and not letting go even though she was hitting and kicking him in a fit of anger. A while later, Summer was exhausted, and she fell asleep. After all, they had just taken a long flight home.
Leonardo carried her into the bedroom and placed her on the bed. He had been sleeping alone for the past half a year, and now, the lady of the house was finally back.
He sat on the edge of the bed and looked at Summer. Shortly after, he got up, went into the bathroom, and came out with a towel to wipe her face. The tears had dried on her face, and she would feel uncomfortable if the dried-up tears were still on her skin when she woke up later.
While he was doing the wiping, his mobile phone rang. He turned it into silent mode, then looked at Summer. The noise did not seem to have woken her up, so he got to his feet and went outside to answer the telephone call.
The call was from Tim, who had stayed back in Sydney for the past month, looking for the child. However, he had still found nothing. The fact that she was a newborn made her even harder to find.
Leonardo walked to the vast glass window and answered, “Give me the good news.”
“I’ve gotten some leads, but I am not entirely sure yet. The case seems to have a direct connection with the Emerson family…” Tim could not reveal too many details over the phone.
Leonardo was silent for a moment before he said, “Come over and we’ll talk about it.”
Tim arrived in no time and greeted Leonardo as he came in. Leonardo glanced at him, told him to keep his voice low, and instructed, “Wait for me in the study.”
Tim nodded in acknowledgment, and off he went.
Leonardo went back into the bedroom. Checking to see if Summer was still asleep, he closed the door and went to the study room. At this time, Summer suddenly opened her eyes. She was already wide awake when Leonardo cleaned her face, but she just pretended to still be asleep.
It was strange that Leonardo kept refusing her request to see the child. He may have looked cold on the outside, but he treated her really well when decided to be kind. Hence, his insistence on refusing to let her meet her child was odd.
She quietly got out of bed and left the bedroom. Earlier, she had heard the opening and closing of a heavy door, which she supposed was the main door. That was why she could hear it in the bedroom.
She went to the vestibule and took a glance. There, she found a pair of men’s leather shoes, which belonged to Leonardo. The only other man who could come to Leonardo’s living place was either Carl or Tim.
Carl was a talkative person; if he was around, the house would not be so quiet. If it was not Carl, then it had to be Tim.
She glanced over in the reading room’s direction, then tiptoed over. The door was made of solid wood; when she turned the handle, it created little noise. Peeking through the gap in the door, she could see Leonardo and Tim facing each other and talking. Tim handed a file to Leonardo and said, “Young Master, this is the movement of funds in the Emerson family that I’ve found. It looks abnormal. One of the transfers was from your elder cousin to a bank account in a foreign country. I suspect that it may have something to do with the vanishing of the little young lady.”
Leonardo did not respond. After a while of silence, he said, “What about other family members?”
Tim closed the file and shook his head. “I have not found any abnormal fund movements in terms of other family members.”
The two started to talk about something else that Summer could not understand, so she closed the door. Her mind was a little confused.
She knew that the elder cousin Tim mentioned was Adams, but what about the “little young lady”? Did Tim mean her daughter with Leonardo? It was not Leonardo who masterminded the kidnapping of the child? But what did Adams have to do with her missing daughter?
When she first found out that her child was missing, her first reaction was to assume that Leonardo took her child. That was because, back then, she could not think of anyone else who would take her child.
If Adams was the one behind the disappearance of her child, what did he want? Did he do it just because he had something against Leonardo? If it was Adams, how would he treat her daughter?
Summer felt a chill creep up her spine, and she could not help but shudder. If it was Leonardo who took her child, at least she knew her child would be safe. But if it was Adams, then…
While the thought crossed her mind, she almost tripped over herself. She scrambled to support herself against the wall to prevent herself from tumbling to the floor, yet she still could not stop thinking. She could not imagine what Adams would do to her daughter.
When she heard voices coming from the door on the inside, she finally remembered that she was still standing outside. She came to her senses and scurried back to the bedroom.
There was no need to feign her sleep anymore. She leaned on the headboard and fiddled with her mobile phone as if she had just woken up.
Leonardo opened the door and came in. Seeing her awake and playing with her phone, he approached and sat down on the edge of the bed.
“You’re awake?”
“Yeah.” She did not look at him. Her eyes were glued to the mobile phone but she could see his reaction from the corner of her eye.
Leonardo raised his hand, as though he was about to touch her head. However, his raised hand stayed there for a few seconds before it went back down. She then heard him speak with a flat voice.
“Are you hungry? What would you like to eat?”
Summer finally looked up at him. “You mean you’ll cook?”
The question surprised Leonardo; he did not expect Summer to talk to him so calmly, so he was stunned for a while. He then hemmed to clear his throat.
“I’m cooking, but I’ll have food delivered from the Golden Cauldron.”
“Are there any ingredients left in the fridge? If yes, I will cook,” she said.
Leonardo shook his head.
“Then let’s go out together and buy some stuff.” Summer got out of bed.
He quickly stood up but did nothing other than fix his eyes on her. Summer wanted to go out with him and buy groceries? It was not a big deal in the past, but after the long cold war between them, it felt almost too good to be true.
Summer had put on her slippers. Seeing that he was still standing on the spot, she asked, “Why? Am I not allowed to go out?”
Leonardo said nothing but held her hand and headed out, driving her to a nearby hypermarket. She knew what Leonardo liked and disliked. When it came to buying ingredients, she did not have to ask for his opinion. She just grabbed and tossed things into the shopping cart.
Leonardo pushed the cart and followed her from behind. A tall and mean big man like him now looked like a tamed lion.