Summer looked the other way and categorically denied it,”No, he isn’t looking at me.”
“He’s supposed to be looking at me, then, if not you?”Jessica scoffed.
“Maybe.”
Leonardo only glanced in Summer’s direction for a second before he pushed Michael forward.
He sat down after he told Tim something.
Tim gave a quick speech and announced the commencement of the banquet.
He immediately noticed Summer’s presence as soon as he finished.
“Your wife is here too, Young Master.”Tim turned around and whispered to Leonardo.
“So what? Does it have anything to do with me?”Leonardo looked down with a glass of champagne in his hand. His voice was distant.
Tim knew that he was in denial.
A commotion suddenly erupted on the other side.
It was incomparable to the scene of Leonardo’s arrival, but it was hard to miss.
“Who is that?”
“Rumor has it that she’s the young master’s fiancée!”
“It’s been reported as such in the news, but Leonardo has never responded to the allegation. They never had an engagement dinner.”
“How could it not be true? I heard that they already have a daughter…”
“Who said that? Is it true?”
Summer tilted her head sideways and listened in on the chattering of several women.
When she heard the content of their conversation, she sneered.
Jessica did not hear what those women said.”What’s wrong?”she asked when she saw Summer’s unhappy look.
“Amber is here.”Summer put her glass of champagne aside and sorted her gown.”I’m going to freshen up.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“No need.”
Summer went into the washroom alone.
Standing in front of the mirror, she reapplied her makeup. She only walked back out with her handbag in her hand after she made sure that she looked impeccable.
The moment she reemerged from the washroom, she bumped into Stanley.
“Summer?”
Stanley spotted her first.
Summer looked back and was transfixed.”Just arrived?”
“Yeah, I just arrived. I didn’t see you inside the hall just now. I thought you weren’t coming.”Stanley caught up with her.
He then followed her pace and walked beside her slowly.
“I visited the washroom earlier.”
Walking side by side, they both returned to the banquet hall.
There were even more people in the hall now, gathering in groups and having conversations softly.
The largest group of them all was gathered around Leonardo. Michael was sitting next to Leonardo. He was still in his wheelchair with his lips pressed together and face solemn, not saying a word. People who came up to him would only give him a perfunctory hello before they turned to talk to Leonardo.
Stanley looked in the direction of Summer’s gaze and sneered,”People are certainly opportunists. They only associate with those who can bring them benefits.”
When Michael was still helming Emerson Group, people were scrambling to get close to him. But now, with Leonardo in charge, the very same people naturally shifted their focus and set their eyes on Leonardo.
They had forgotten how they badmouthed Leonardo, the victim of a kidnapping, after the abduction incident.
People could become hard-hearted as much as they could become soft-hearted.
“You seem to see things clearly based on your words.”Summer turned to look at Stanley with a hint of inquisitiveness.”And you seem to know the Emerson Family well.”
Stanley’s smile froze for a second before his expression returned to normal.”Do I?”
Summer looked at him for several seconds.”Were all the things you told me in the past true? You told me I saved your life before, but I can’t recall any of it.”
In her subconscious, she trusted Stanley. But the fact that Stanley could find her and Leonardo so soon was enough to arouse suspicion.
Yet, Stanley did not answer her question directly.”Are you suspicious of me?”
Summer reached out to take a glass of juice from the tray in a waitstaff’s hand.”Your discovery of me and Leonardo in such a short time means that you’ve been monitoring me. Even if you did it because of gratitude and my safety, don’t you think you went a little overboard?”she said after she pursed her lips.
She looked over at him with penetrating eyes.
She was not going to blindly trust Stanley.
Just as Tim said, Stanley had a dubious background. While Stanley had saved her life before, he possessed many secrets too, and she knew that those were two separate things.
Stanley just smiled. He did not look embarrassed or anything even though Summer had exposed him.”I won’t do it again since you’re not happy.”
He then glanced in Leonardo’s direction.”How’s it going between you and Leonardo?”
When Summer looked in the same direction, Amber had gone up to talk to Leonardo.
He was sitting in his chair while Amber was standing, blocking Summer’s view of the expression on Leonardo’s face.
Summer had no idea what Amber was saying to Leonardo, but she was surprised that Leonardo was patiently listening to her.
For the past three years, the media had been spreading the news that Amber was Leonardo’s fiancée, and he never denied it.
Hence, people naturally assumed that Amber was really Leonardo’s fiancée.
Even without an engagement ceremony, there was something between them at the very least.
“I told you that there’s bound to be some b*tches who will try to get in bed with…”As Jessica approached, she choked back her words when she saw Stanley beside Summer.
Stanley saw Jessica and nodded at her politely.
Jessica returned a polite smile, then went up to Summer and spoke at a volume that only the two of them could hear.”What’s up with Stanley? Why is he here?”
“Leonardo invited him,”Summer said absentmindedly, her voice cold.
She was talking to Jessica, but her eyes were on Leonardo.
Jessica looked back and saw that Amber was now seated next to Leonardo. They had no physical contact, but it meant something when Leonardo allowed Amber to sit beside him.
“B*tch and the beast!”Jessica blurted out after she tried to fight back her anger.
“It’s time to go over and say hi.”Summer held Stanley’s arm after she spoke.”Would you like to go with me?”
“Sure,”Stanley said after he took a glance at her expression.