After the beating, Michael spurted a few mouthfuls of blood and had difficulty talking.
“You…” As soon as he opened his mouth, blood would gush out of his throat.
“Leonardo, stop beating him. You are going to kill him…” Violet came up and tried to stop Leonardo but was flung to the ground. She pulled herself to sit up with her hand on her chest. “Leonardo, I know we have done a terrible mistake, but—”
Leonardo let go of Michael and turned to shoot her an icy glance, his voice grim. “Why did Nathan have to die?”
Violet heard the question, a suspicious look flashing in her eyes. “Wasn’t it an accident?”
She looked at Michael. “Brother, was it you?”
Michael was lying on the ground, gasping for air. He would not be able to answer her question now.
Violet buried her face in her hands and cried again. “I have never wanted to harm Nathan. I have never wanted to harm anyone. But we made one mistake and told one lie, then things snowballed and we had to cover the one lie with more lies…”
Leonardo was in no mood to hear her confession. Some mistakes are forgivable, but some not, no matter how hard you try to make up for it. His mom. Adams’s life. Some sinners are just unforgivable.
Leonardo stood up and headed toward the door without looking back.
When he opened the door, Tim and the bodyguards were still outside. They greeted him as Leonardo emerged.
“Get a doctor to attend to him. Keep him alive,” Leonardo said.
“Aye.” Tim took a glimpse of the situation inside.
The next moment, there was a loud bang coming from the inside. Leonardo did not look back, but Tim, who stood facing him, took a peek.
“Mrs. Wilson hit her head on the wall trying to kill herself,” Tim said.
There were no apparent changes in Leonardo’s expression. “Go check if she is dead.”
Tim knew that Leonardo and Violet used to have a warm relationship; the ugly ending really surprised him. He glanced at Leonardo, whose stony face gave out not a hint of his emotions, so cold that he looked more dead than alive. Tim felt a chill run up his spine before going back into the basement to check out Violet’s breath.
He then came back out. “She is still breathing.”
“Keep them alive.” Leonardo left. Death was too easy for them; it hardly quenched his hatred.
…
Leonardo went to the other bathroom to have a quick shower, get changed, then come back to the room looking for Summer. But there was no one there.
His expression changed, turning ashen in an instant. “Where is Summer?”
“Mrs. Emerson has gone to see Grandpa Emerson,” said a bodyguard.
Leonardo turned around and off he went, looking for Grandpa Emerson in the courtyard.
It was dusk, and the air was cold. Summer and Grandpa Emerson were sitting side by side under the eave. Grandpa Emerson was still demented, sitting in a wheelchair with his head tilted sideways, eyes glassy. Summer was sitting beside him, talking to him softly.
Grandpa Emerson smiled occasionally, looking more like giggling than having understood what Summer said. Leonardo strode toward them.
Sensing someone coming in her direction, Summer looked back. “Leonardo.”
He came up in front of her, his face darkening with a hint of anger in his voice as he spoke. “Didn’t I tell you to take a rest in the room?”
“I couldn’t sleep, and I was thinking of seeing Grandpa. I have not seen him since I last came back from Sydney.” She was holding Grandpa Emerson’s hand. Grandpa Emerson used to be a dignified elder. It was sad to see him ending up in this state.
Leonardo glanced at Grandpa Emerson and instructed the bodyguard, “Bring Grandpa back inside.” He then brought Summer back to the room.
“I still want to stay here for a while…” Not wanting to go with him, Summer looked back at Grandpa Emerson. Leonardo lifted her up in his arms and carried her away. As he came to a corner, he glanced back toward Grandpa Emerson’s room. Perhaps Grandpa Emerson’s current condition was a blessing in disguise.
…
Back in the room, Leonardo placed Summer on the bed. “Take some good rest. I will be here with you.”
Ever since she was abducted and hurt by Adams, Leonardo had become even more careful to the point of paranoia.
“This is just a minor injury.” Summer had tried to explain to him several times for the past few days. Leonardo just glanced at him, reaching his hand to pull the blanket over her body as he sat quietly at the bedside. It looked like he would sit by her side until she fell asleep.
Summer had no choice but to close her eyes. After a while, she still could not sleep. So she opened her eyes. Just like before, Leonardo was still staring at her, his eyes squinting dangerously.
She closed back her eyes and said, “Are you going to sit here all day? Aren’t you going to find Adams?”
“He will find me tomorrow.” He cocked an eyebrow. “Now, sleep.”
“I can’t sleep,” she took a deep breath, “whenever I think about Rosie still in Adams’s hands.” She had experienced firsthand how perverted Adams was. He was stark raving mad. Whenever she closed her eyes, the scenes of Adams abusing Rosie would flash across her mind. She would not even dare to bank on her luck.
Leonardo had been keeping a close eye on her for the past days. She appeared cooperative, taking her medicine, and trying to sleep, but she was still suffering from insomnia. Whenever the light went off and she closed her eyes, her mind was awake and a chill would attack her body as she thought of Rosie. She told herself not to have hope for someone with one foot in the grave.
Leonardo clenched his jaw, tightening his hands on the bed.
“I will bring you to see someone tonight,” he said calmly.
“Who?” She opened her eyes.
“You will know tonight.”
…
Summer came downstairs during dinnertime. As she came to the dining room, a woman was already sitting at the dining table. The woman stood up with a smile upon seeing Leonardo and Summer come in.
“Hi, my name is Rachel Hill.”