How could he not think of that when Summer could?
Despite expecting the worst, when he gradually tore down the obstacles and came close to the truth, he still found it unbelievable.
After all, blood was thicker than water. Violet had treated him well all along, Adams was his best elder brother, plus he used to have wonderful childhood memories of his dad.
He was cold but not cold-blooded. When everything pointed him to the possible truth, he had hesitated. Instead of verifying his findings, he waited because perhaps, there could be a turnaround.
Yet, when even Summer could think of it, what further turnaround could there be? It had affected enough people throughout the years. He had to end this once and for all.
…
After Leonardo went out, he never returned. Tim tried to call him, but there was no answer.
He knew Leonardo would lose his senses when it came to Summer. They must have had a nasty fight judging from the number of cigarettes Leonardo had smoked. Tim became more worried the more he thought about it, so he had no choice but to call Summer.
Summer was a little surprised when she saw the caller ID; it was Tim.
“Is there anything, Tim?”
“Mrs. Emerson, has the young master gone over to see you?”
Tim was used to calling her “Mrs. Emerson”. Although Summer had corrected him several times, he still called her that, so she let him be.
“Shouldn’t he be in the office? Why would he come and see me?” She was looking up information on the computer when she heard that, and she knitted her brows involuntarily. “Isn’t he in his office?”
Tim became even more worried after he heard what Summer said. He wanted to ask her if they had a quarrel but felt too embarrassed to do so.
“Just cut to the chase if you have something to say.” She pushed her laptop aside and focused on talking to Tim.
Tim gritted his teeth and asked, “Did… you and the young master have a fight?”
He did way more than what was required of a special assistant. Besides Leonardo’s whereabouts, itinerary, and daily life, he had to take care of his private relationships too.
“No, of course not! Who would want to fight with him?” Summer denied it immediately.
The last thing she wanted was to quarrel with Leonardo. When she angered him, most of the time he would just kill her with his eyes. A fight? It never happened.
“No?” This time, it was Tim’s turn to be shocked. “The young master smoked an entire pack of cigarettes in the office this morning.” It turned out that Leonardo did not smoke because he had a fight with Summer.
She could not help but stand up upon hearing that. “What happened?” she asked as she grabbed her handbag, changed her shoes, and headed out.
“I’m not sure. The young master went out in the morning and has not returned since.” Tim sounded grave. Leonardo was an extremely disciplined and focused person. He had never left abruptly halfway through work. Of course, if it had something to do with Summer, it would be an exception.
“I know now. I’ll find him,” she said.
After Summer hung up, she went downstairs and drove off. Something must have happened to make Leonardo smoke an entire pack of cigarettes. Everything was still fine when he left home this morning. What changed in the office?
Summer called Leonardo while she drove, but there was no answer. She texted him and received a short reply.
“Anything?”
She asked him where he was, but he would not answer, so Summer first went to his apartment, then the Golden Cauldron. She searched all of the places she could think of. In the end, she called Carl.
“Can I help you with anything, Summer?” Carl had finally learned that Leonardo was the man kissing Summer in the car. He had been feeling bad about his prior misunderstanding, therefore, when he received the call from Summer, he sounded especially earnest.
“Have you seen Leonardo?” she asked.
Leonardo had replied to her text message, which was an improvement over his non-reply the other night, but Summer did not feel any less worried. Judging from Tim’s description, she could deduce that something was wrong with Leonardo’s emotions.
“No, it’s easier to see a king than meet him. Unless he was looking for me, I couldn’t have seen him!” Anger rose as Carl spoke of him.
“I understand.” Summer sighed.
Before she hung up, Carl quickly asked, “What’s up? What happened to him?”
“I don’t know. I just can’t figure out where he is. I’ve searched all of the places he’s supposed to be at to no avail.” Summer sounded helpless. She thought she knew Leonardo, but now, she realized that she did not understand him as much as she thought.
“Hmm…” Carl thought for a moment, then said, “There’s one more place you’ve definitely not searched!”
“Where?” she quickly asked.
“The cemetery!”
…
Summer and Carl rendezvoused at the entrance of the Golden Cauldron, then headed to the cemetery where Leonardo’s mom was buried.
Leonardo had never brought her there. On her way, Summer passed by a florist and bought a bouquet.
Carl was sitting in the front passenger seat, and seeing the flowers, he said, “That’s so thoughtful of you.”
They headed toward the cemetery with Carl as her passenger. She smiled faintly.
When they arrived, out of nowhere, the sky decided to open up. Luckily, Summer had an umbrella ready in the car. Carl offered to bring her into the cemetery, so they shared the umbrella and went in.
The cemetery was quiet at this time, and not a single person was around. The cemetery was built on a hill, and as Summer made her way up, she could see a tall figure up ahead in the distance.
“It’s Leonardo!” She ran toward him.
Carl had the umbrella with him as he followed her. “It’s raining. Don’t run! We can just walk and get there!”
Summer ignored him. Carl had no choice but to run after her with the umbrella in his hand. The thing was, he found that he could not catch up to Summer.
“Leonardo!” Summer carried the flowers in her arms and ran over.
The sky was pouring, and Leonardo was soaked from head to toe. His hair was sticking to his forehead like a drowned mouse, but Summer was no better.
Seeing that Leonardo was safely standing there, she could not manage the words as she turned to face the tombstone. She almost could not open her eyes because of the heavy rain.