The bodyguard could only groan and bear it as Leonardo hit him. He looked down and dared not say a word.
Did the young master not tell them to throw the woman out? They did as they were told, yet he was not happy about it. It was hard to understand what the young master was thinking.
The bodyguard cautiously glanced at Leonardo. “Young Master, you mean…”
Leonardo’s brows were knitted together as he raised his hand, signaling the bodyguard to shut up and leave him.
After the bodyguards left, Leonardo stood on the spot and stared at the door for a while before he walked over to the doorway with a stony face. Summer was already gone.
He clenched his fists with a hint of anger on his face.
…
While Summer drove home, she received a call from Jerome, who had also learned about the news report.
He tried to comfort Summer. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll have it fixed.”
Jerome was now in control of the Patel Family. With his ambition, Patel Corporation had been doing really well for the past three years. He was a rising figure in the business world, an upstart in Hoover City with his own way of dealing with the media.
Summer was aware that it was not Jerome but the media’s fault. He did not have to do that.
His offer to help had touched Summer.
“Thank you so much.” Nonetheless, she was in a conundrum.
She initially did not want to have further contact with Jerome, but things happened, and she could not do anything about it.
It was difficult to maintain a relationship between two people. Sometimes, it was hard to draw the line and say one did not owe the other anything. There was no perfect way to deal with relationships.
“I’m partly at fault. If I hadn’t gone to see you, the media wouldn’t have photographed us and spun things out of proportion. I was the one who failed to be more thoughtful.”
Summer pursed her lips, not knowing what to say for a moment.
“Patel Corporation is growing now, and my personal image is important in that regard. Even if the media spotted another woman instead of you with me, I would still have to fix it.”
Summer was stunned for a second. “I know.”
She still felt like she had implicated him.
“Something’s come up. I’ll hang up now,” Jerome said.
As the line went dead and Summer placed her mobile phone down, she received a call from Stanley, who went straight to the point. “Where are you now? What’s all the news about? Are you okay dealing with all of this?”
Summer knew that Stanley’s call would be about the same issue.
“I’m fine. Someone’s on it.” She smiled.
There was a moment of silence on the other end. “You’re talking about Jerome?”
Summer was not surprised at all that a person as observant as Stanley had guessed that it was Jerome on the case.
“There’s really nothing that can evade your eyes, Dr. Li,” Summer said half-jokingly.
“I just see things from a logical perspective, that’s all.” Stanley paused before he continued, “If Leonardo were on it, the news wouldn’t have even made it to the headlines.”
Summer kept quiet. When she thought of the events that transpired in Leonardo’s mansion earlier, she could not help but feel depressed.
“I’m driving now. Let’s talk later.”
Stanley knew that she did not want to talk about Leonardo judging from the tone of her voice, and he knew when to stop.
“Drive safe, then.”
“Mhm.”
Summer put her phone aside and ran her fingers through her hair in frustration as she stepped harder on the accelerator pedal.
She drove back to her neighborhood, and the moment she stopped her car, she saw a familiar figure alighting from a vehicle in the parking lot.
She got out of her car and walked over. “Jessica?”
Jessica looked back, placing her hands on Summer’s shoulders and carefully scanning her. “You’re back! Are you all right? I saw the news. Did the big boss do anything to you?”
Summer had woken her up early in the morning so that they could shop for a car together. She only had time to get changed and was unaware of the news. It was not until they parted and Summer drove her car to find Leonardo that she saw the news about Summer and Jerome.
By then, Summer had probably arrived at Leonardo’s place. She wanted to call Summer to warn her, but it was probably too late. So, she figured that it was better to just wait for Summer at her place.
“What do you think he’s done to me?” Summer looked at Jessica with a serious expression.
Jessica thought for a moment. “Scared you to death with his eyes?”
Summer rolled her eyes.
Jessica pondered for a moment again. “Don’t tell me he threw you out of his house?”
Summer raised her lips in a half-smile as she walked toward the elevator.
“What does that look of yours mean?” Jessica followed closely behind. “He-He-He really threw you out of his house?”
Summer entered the elevator, eyes on the lit button that showed them which floor they were on. “Uh-huh.”
Jessica still could not believe it. “You’re joking, right?”
“It was mainly because I slapped him.” As soon as Summer finished, Jessica looked at her, wide-eyed.
Struck dumb for a few seconds, she tried to organize her thoughts. “Wait a minute, let me get this straight first. You slapped the big boss, and he ordered his men to throw you out. That’s what happened?”
“Uh-huh.” Summer nodded.
Right then, the elevator doors opened, and Summer walked out with Jessica still tailing her.
“I can’t imagine the big boss being slapped. It must have been a scary scene. Yet, you’re standing in front of me after slapping him. I can’t help but think that he really had mercy on you.”
Summer stopped in her tracks and looked at Jessica in confusion. “Is Leonardo really that frightening in your eyes? He may be ill-tempered and ruthless, but he wouldn’t harm the innocent…”
She stopped because she suddenly realized how hard it was to reason with Leonardo in the present. He just would not talk sense.
Jessica did not say a word when she noticed Summer’s expression.
Summer poured Jessica a glass of water once they were in the house. “His temper’s worse than ever. He seemed to be furious when the media made up stories about my relationship with Jerome. I slapped him only because he said something nasty.”
“Well, looking at it from another angle, he got angry because he cared. Don’t you think so?” Jessica bluntly said.