When he was eating, Leonardo did not say anything, but Summer sensed that Leonardo was somewhat weird today.
It was only late in the evening, after Summer coaxed Rosie to bed, that she came out to see Leonardo standing by the door.
Summer did not expect that and was surprised.
She took a deep breath and glared at Leonardo angrily. “What are you doing standing here?”
He wore a cold expression on his face and did not make a sound as he simply stood by the door. No one knew what he was thinking or about to do.
“Follow me.”
Leonardo said those two words before he turned to leave.
Summer was confused but she still followed him.
After both of them entered the study, Leonardo took out the recording pen.
He then pressed the play button before her.
The recording pen was the one that Kate gave Leonardo earlier.
A familiar conversation soon played.
Summer never thought that Kate had recorded the conversation, while it was a third-rate move, but with Leonardo’s nebulous character, who knows what he would think when he heard the recording.
When Leonardo came back in the afternoon, Summer told him she had pissed Kate off. The latter did not say anything, and she thought the matter was over.
She never expected Leonardo to be waiting for her there.
The content of the recording had finished playing as Leonardo crossed his arms and casually stared at her.
He did not say anything or displayed any expression on his face.
Summer had no idea what he was thinking, and could only stare back at him without saying a word.
“What amount will meet your fancy?” Leonardo asked coldly.
Summer recalled what she had said and was temporarily at a loss for words.
Leonardo narrowed his eyes slightly and took a step forward, the tip of his shoes had touched against Summer’s.
The two were so close that Summer could feel Leonardo’s cold aura.
She wanted to take a step back, yet under Leonardo’s gaze, her legs seemed to have been rooted in place, and she dared not move any further.
Leonardo’s black eyes narrowed ominously as his voice rang out above her head. “In other words, how much do you think I’m worth?”
Summer said with a very clear head, “Pri-Priceless.”
Given that she was nervous, she stuttered.
Leonardo raised his eyebrow and was surprised that Summer would say such a thing.
Seeing no response from Leonardo, Summer felt a little nervous.
Were her words too obviously hypocritical that he did not buy it?
But what Leonardo did next dispelled her doubts.
He suddenly reached out and gently traced Summer’s lips with his fingers.
Immediately, Summer heard Leonardo’s deliberately lowered voice. “Such sweet words, your mouth must be sweet as well.”
His voice was originally very low, and when he deliberately lowered it further, it gave him a mature man’s appeal.
Summer’s body stiffened as Leonardo’s finger lingered on her lips. The slightly passionate movement did not feel all that fleeting when it was Leonardo doing it.
Summer was stunned for a good ten seconds before she abruptly reacted. She patted Leonardo’s hand away as she took a step back. “Mr. Emerson, please be more aware of your identity. Don’t always act this way.”
“Oh,” Leonardo responded faintly.
Summer had no idea whether he heard what she said or not, and explained to him, “The words in the recording were meant to piss your sister off, don’t take them seriously.”
Leonardo nonchalantly replied, “Yeah.”
Summer took a deep breath as she kept herself calm.
Forget it, given that she could never tell what this man was thinking, she should just not bother at all.
After Summer left, Leonardo rubbed his fingers lightly as a smile appeared on his face.
…
Kate’s past few days were not terribly good.
Ever since she went to Leonardo with the recording, Leonardo had begun to consolidate power in the company.
All of the decisions and direction the company had taken for the past few years were all with Leonardo at the helm.
Those shareholders all understood that it was under the leadership of Leonardo that they were able to make more money.
In the past three years, Leonardo had not expressed any desire to monopolize power, and those shareholders naturally did not say anything about it.
Now that Leonardo wanted to consolidate his power, those shareholders would naturally align themselves with Leonardo.
There were no pure friends or enemies in the field of business, only common interests.
Almost immediately, Kate’s position in Emerson Group became somewhat awkward.
While she was still the vice president, she had no say or any real power.
The things that she usually handled were all insignificant contract items.
Suddenly, she was stripped of all her authority, and she became a disposable person in Emerson Group.
Kate pondered hard before finally deciding to meet Leonardo.
However, just as she got to the office, she was stopped by Leonardo’s secretary. “Vice President, we have a few senior executives reporting on their work in the office.”
“Are you implying that you want me to wait outside?” Kate swept her eyes over the secretary, and she immediately shut up. Yet, she did not make way for Kate.
At that moment, the senior executives who were reporting to Leonardo came out of the office.
When they saw Kate, they greeted her, “Vice President.”
Kate nodded with her usual look before entering the office.
The moment the office door was closed, she walked furiously toward Leonardo’s desk. “Leonardo!”
Leonardo raised his head from a pile of documents and looked impassively at Kate.
Kate, whose flames of anger were roiling, suddenly lost half of her initial vigor the moment Leonardo stared at her like that.
“Leonardo, what is the meaning of this? Are you sidelining me? All those shareholders are about profit, can you trust them? I am your blood relative, I am the one that you should trust the most!”
Tim was carrying documents in, and he heard Kate’s words as he pushed the door open.
Noticing the timing was not right, he wanted to leave.
Yet, Leonardo had already caught sight of him and said, “Bring them over.”
Tim could only send the documents to Leonardo’s desk.
With an outsider around, Kate did not continue what she was saying earlier.
She was waiting for Tim to leave before she continued, but just as Tim was about to leave, he was stopped by Leonardo. “Wait.”
Leonardo was talking to Tim and totally ignoring Kate.
Kate suppressed her anger and waited for Leonardo to finish talking to Tim.
However, by the time Leonardo was done talking with Tim, he added, “Please see the vice president out.”
Leonardo’s recent actions in the company were known to Tim.
He walked up to Kate and gently asked her to leave. “Vice President, the young master still has work to attend to.”
Kate did not even look at Tim as she went directly to Leonardo and tossed the documents in front of him aside. “Did you hear what I said just now?”