Leonardo scoffed and strode through the doorway.
When Kate got out of the car, she saw Amber’s car too. That idiot!
Everyone knew that Leonardo was very fond of Rosie. Amber had nearly lost Rosie when she brought her out the previous day. The weird thing was, she still had the nerve to visit the Emerson family today. She should not have come; it was equivalent to suicide.
The moment Leonardo stepped into the house, a maid immediately took his jacket from him and told him before he even spoke, “Rosie and Ms. Rachel are in the kitchen.”
All the maids in the house knew that the first thing Leonardo did when he returned from work was see Rosie. While Leonardo was venturing into the kitchen, Amber was talking to Rosie and cutting fruits on the countertop.
“Eating more fruits will make you look prettier…”
Meanwhile, Rosie was sitting on the countertop with her little legs dangling off the edge. She grabbed a slice of the watermelon. Heaven knows if she had heard what Amber said. As she shoved the watermelon into her mouth and looked back, she saw Leonardo.
“Leonardo!” she mumbled with the watermelon in her mouth, spreading out her arms for Leonardo.
Leonardo got closer and lifted her in his arms, reaching out to wipe the red juice stains at the corner of her mouth. “Call me Daddy,” he said helplessly.
“Daddy!” Rosie said loudly. That had become an obligatory interaction between them every time Leonardo came home. She was never tired of challenging the authority of her president dad.
“Leonardo.”
Leonardo heard the voice and looked at Amber, who put down the menu in her hand and smiled gently at him. He returned her smile, but Amber had no idea what his smile meant. But at least he did not appear as angry as she had anticipated. Delight flashed across her face since her decision to used Rosie as an opening was right. At least, that was what she thought.
It was better when Rosie was still a baby who could not talk or walk, just like any other child. However, now that she was bigger, she was beginning to look more and more like Summer. Due to this, her hatred for Rosie increased, and the evil thought of getting rid of Rosie grew in her.
Yesterday’s incident was just an attempt to test the waters to see how important Rosie was to Leonardo. Since Rosie was so important to him, she could first get Rosie to like her, then make Leonardo like her too. Once she finally married him and had their own child, she would think of a way to get rid of Rosie. She thought this was an impeccable plan.
…
Leonardo carried Rosie to his reading room. As he put Rosie on the desk, she leaned over to grab a pen holder.
“Stop moving!”
Leonardo snapped softly. Rosie retracted her hand and looked at him anxiously. Pulling a chair over, he sat down so that his eyes were now level with Rosie’s. The way he looked at her was no different from when he was negotiating a contract.
“Do you like Mommy?”
Rosie already had a vague idea of what “like” meant. After she blinked and looked at Leonardo for a few seconds, she nodded solemnly. Her reaction was expected. He leaned back with his arms crossed and rephrased his question.
“Who would you choose between Mommy and the pretty lady?”
Rosie’s eyes brightened up instantly. She shrugged, appearing shy, but the delight on her face was unmistakable. “The pretty lady!”
Leonardo did not expect to hear that answer. Amber may not have spent enough time with Rosie, but at least, she visited Rosie from time to time. He never thought Rosie would choose Summer.
He reached out to tidy up the messy bangs over her forehead as he casually asked, “Then who would you choose between the pretty lady and Daddy?”
“Daddy!” Rosie replied without hesitation.
Leonardo looked down and noticed that Rosie was looking up at him with a heart-melting smile. As his heart softened, the scene of one of his staff members shopping with his kid came to mind. He remembered his staff calling his child “Sweetie” or something. That child was a sweetie? Rosie was the real sweetie here.
With one of his hands, he swept Rosie into his arms. “What do you think if we become the pretty lady’s neighbor?” It sounded like he was consulting her.
“Yeah!” Rosie nodded her head.
“Do you know what a neighbor is?” Leonardo chuckled. He then brought Rosie back to her room and started to pack her belongings. Halfway through, he suddenly froze, wondering if he had done this before. He realized that he had been doing this for the hundredth time. He carried their luggage and held Rosie’s hand as they went downstairs.
Just as Amber wanted to inform Leonardo that dinner was ready, they came down the stairs with their luggage in hand.
“Where are you going with all this luggage?” Amber was startled.
Leonardo had wanted to say something, but he suddenly decided against it. He glanced down at Rosie, then shot Amber a look yet said nothing. He carried Rosie with one hand and held the luggage with the other as he walked toward the door.
Amber’s expression collapsed, and she went to inform Kate in the dining room. When Kate came out, Leonardo and Rosie were already inside the car. Kate ran up to them and knocked on the window frantically.
“Leonardo, where are you going?”
Leonardo lowered the window. “Going somewhere quiet.” After that, he rolled up the window and sped off, leaving behind Kate, who was screaming like a madwoman.
“Leonardo! Leonardo! You better get back here!”
She totally lost it, running back into the house and ordering the bodyguards, “Bring him back to me!”
She could not let Leonardo get out of her sight. If he did, there was no guarantee of what was going to happen. He might recall what happened in the past and believe in people like Carl.
Amber did not expect Leonardo to be so heartless, and she tried to comfort Kate. “Don’t worry, Leonardo—”
“Shut up!” Kate’s face darkened. “It’s all your fault! Leonardo’s been angry because you nearly lost Rosie yesterday. Yet, you still have the nerve to come and see him today!”
Amber came from a well-to-do family, and everyone had always tried to butter her up since she was young. She had basically been living a smooth-sailing life.
With the exception of Leonardo, no one had ever yelled at her like that. She fought back her anger and said, “All I want is for Leonardo to accept me. I have been waiting for three years! How many ‘three years’ does a woman have? I’m already thirty!”