Jerome was putting Summer in a hard place. She had always been very clear-cut about relationships, and she pondered for a moment.
“Jerome, let’s think about it from another angle. If you and I were together and Leonardo were in your place, would you allow me to continue my friendship with him?”
The smile on Jerome’s face receded like the tide. He could no longer keep his gentlemanly appearance, and his face collapsed.
He swallowed hard and looked up at the night sky, his voice turning hoarse. “I really envy Leonardo.”
Summer did not want to continue the conversation, so she returned his jacket. “Thank you again for tonight.”
Jerome said nothing as he took the jacket from her.
Summer then turned around and walked away in the other direction.
Looking on as Summer left, Jerome took a deep breath. Shortly after, he departed in the opposite direction.
…
Back at home, Summer was dog-tired.
It was already midnight when she arrived home after passing God-knows-how-many traffic lights.
She dragged herself into the bathroom to have a shower. She later thought that she would crash out, but that did not happen. Instead, she had insomnia.
People would easily get all pessimistic when they were near exhaustion.
She had been living a rough life for the best part of twenty years or so. Her marriage, career, relationships, and family—not one of them had been ideal.
She tossed and turned the entire night and woke up early in the morning to shop for a car with Jessica.
Incomparable to a rich man like Leonardo, Summer was, nonetheless, rich in her own right. At least, she could now afford a car to make going around easier for her.
Once she chose the car she liked, she drove straight to Leonardo’s house.
She went there just to visit Rosie, not expecting Leonardo to be home at that time. However, when she arrived, she only found Leonardo at home.
Only then did she realize that it was a non-working day—a Saturday.
She stood at the doorway to the living room. Seeing the man sitting listlessly on the sofa, she suddenly did not know what to do.
She looked around, but Rosie was nowhere to be seen, so she walked up to him. “Where’s Rosie?”
Leonardo ignored her as if he did not see her.
He may have had a powerful personality, but in truth, he was a petty man. He was likely still unhappy about the day before.
Thus, she sat beside him, tilting her head to look at him. “I had to leave Rosie at your place because I had something on. Aren’t you also her dad?”
She did not think that she had done anything wrong, at least in this case.
She loved Rosie and was willing to sacrifice for her. But that did not mean she had to give up her career.
It had to be Summer, then only Rosie. She needed to take care of herself before she could take care of Rosie as her mother.
Leonardo sneered as he got to his feet. “Of course, an old lover is more important than a daughter.”
Summer was transfixed for a few seconds before she stood up. “What do you mean?”
Leonardo took a newspaper from the coffee table and threw it in front of her. “Famous screenwriter meets her first love, reigniting their passion. Ms. Jarrett, what do you have to say about this headline?”
Ms. Jarrett? He had to be damned angry to sound that distant.
Summer glanced at him and picked up the newspaper.
Splashed across the front page was the photograph of Jerome putting a jacket on her when she was ambushed by the reporters. At that time, she looked up at Jerome because she was surprised.
Yet, the media’s interpretation was “an affectionate gaze”, “couldn’t hold back her feelings”, and other sensational words of that nature.
She browsed through the content and found that the news article was a calculated act. It also mentioned what happened years ago when Vicky accused her of stealing her fiancé.
It was no secret that she married into the Emerson Family on Vicky’s behalf. Anyone who cared to look would have found the news. However, not everyone knew that she used to like Jerome.
Summer’s social circle had always been small. No one except Vicky would have leaked such a petty thing to the media.
It looked like Vicky would do anything to hurt her. She would pounce on any opportunity she could find to cause trouble for Summer.
While Summer was reading the article, Leonardo was observing her.
He noticed that Summer frowned before she quickly eased up her expression. She did not explain herself immediately.
Leonardo’s face darkened further. He even appeared grim.
He did not know why, but it was like something wanted to burst out from his chest. He was close to losing his mind.
After Summer read the article, she looked at Leonardo only to see the horribly grim expression on his face. It made her shiver.
She pursed her lips and put down the newspaper. “Don’t you know that the media likes to spin things nowadays, Young Master Emerson? How can you take what they say at face value?”
Summer chuckled. “I didn’t know that Young Master Emerson was so naive.”
She was saying Young Master this and Young Master that, which was grating to his ears. His face rightly reflected it.
Despite that, Summer did not back down as she looked him in the eye.
All of a sudden, Leonardo clutched her jaw. “Summer, do you really think that you can do whatever you like just because I allow you to be around me? You must think too highly of yourself.”
His hand was hurting her, but she just frowned and remained silent.
Seeing her reaction, Leonardo tightened his grip. “Not talking now, eh?”
Summer pointed at his hand that was clutching her jaw, telling him it was too painful for her to speak.
Leonardo furrowed his brows and took his hands off of her.
Feeling her jaw with her hands, she thought that he was going to crush it earlier.
Leonardo looked on as she bit her lip and breathed lightly. He then looked away.
At that moment, Summer explained herself. “I used to like Jerome, but—”
Before she could finish, Leonardo cut her off. “Shut up! I’m not going to listen. Leave me now!”
He found it hard to swallow the first part of her sentence, so he was not prepared for the rest. He was not in the mood to listen to the woman talk about other men.
“I—”
Summer refused to leave just because Leonardo demanded it, but as soon as she opened her mouth again, he manhandled her toward the door.