Emery sneered after hearing that and said, “If that’s the case, there would be no more criminals left in the world.”
Even though things were not friendly between them, at least they stopped arguing and decided to ignore each other completely.
After a while, Holden spoke once again. “Summer, if you really want to come back, I have quite a few great connections. Maybe you can think about it.”
At present, Emery just calmed herself down, but what Holden said immediately triggered her again. “I knew something was off! So, you just wanted her for yourself! There’s an order for everything, Mr. Taylor. Don’t you dare think I, Emery Moore, am like those cheap girls you meet that gets pushed around!”
“I’ve said nothing of the sort.” Holden shrugged nonchalantly. “I had that idea ever since Sienna came back and told me about the incident with flowers. You only got the chance because I overslept. I’m not sure you’d win if we really talked about the order.”
“You…” Emery was at a loss for words because of how mad she was. An eloquent person like her was no match for someone as thick-skinned as Holden. All she ended up doing was gritting her teeth and calling him a shameless bastard.
Holden smirked, unbothered.
“What are you guys talking about?” Anthony came back and asked while handing his coat to the maid.
“You better take good care of your kids. There’s already a devious man plotting to use them,” Emery said sarcastically.
Hearing what she said, Holden sat up straight and wanted to refute Emery’s claim. But before he could do that, Anthony approached and asked as though he heard a funny joke, “Oh? Who has that much guts?”
Anthony sat down beside me and instinctively wrapped his arm around my shoulders. “Are you getting bullied, Summer?” he asked while looking at her.
“No, Daddy.” Summer smiled and explained calmly, “Aunt Emery and Uncle Holden were just thinking of letting me tag along to learn how to do business from them.”
Anthony nodded in understanding and asked, “What do you think then? Are you interested?”
Summer pursed her lips and looked like she was still undecided.
Anthony was extra patient. “You don’t have to think about what others think. Just follow your heart. You’re still young, so it doesn’t really matter if you don’t want to. If you want to continue learning, I’ll support you.”
“Thanks, Daddy.” Summer seemed to have gotten some bravery from her father’s words and smiled. “I’ve actually been thinking about doing business for quite a while now. I was just afraid that Daddy and Mommy won’t agree to it.”
Just as I thought, the girl was hiding so much from me, and I did not even realize. All I ended up doing was putting up a resigned smile. “Let’s hear it then.”
At that moment, Anthony raised his hand on my shoulder for a bit and placed it back down. It felt like he was comforting me, so I looked at him, only to find him with no reaction. Maybe I’m just thinking too much.
“I want to open a bar!” Summer told us.
“The largest one in the whole city!”
“A bar?” I blurted out before Anthony had a chance to speak. That prompted me to recall all the things that happened that rainy season.
This time, the pat on my shoulder was more apparent, so I could confirm that Anthony was indeed trying to comfort me. But this time, my eyes were glued to Summer, so I did not react to it.
Having lost her parents since young, Macy, me, and my grandmother relied on each other. Macy was like a seed that fell into a crack on the wall, living tenaciously while growing up. She worked hard and became the youngest bar owner in J City, casting her pride and dignity aside in the shady parts of the city to amass some hope for our future. In those dark days, Macy was my shining star.
Alas, fate was cruel to the Leeroy family, and she left us at the best time of her life.
Every time I thought about this, I could feel my heart constrict. It was suffocating.
So, at that moment, I was instantly engulfed in horror. I was afraid that Summer was going down the same path Macy did. Start a bar, become the owner, meet a selfish man, and regret it forever.
“Yes, Mommy.” Summer’s eyes were burning brilliantly with passion and sincerity. “I’ve been to quite a few of them with my friends when I was overseas and had always been fascinated by it. I wish to build something that’s like a club. A place where we can maintain the atmosphere while still allowing for maximum privacy. A place for the customers to relax or talk about top secrets without worries. I did some research and found out that there aren’t many bars like that in the country. So, it should be a great prospect.”
“You little devil!” Emery was ecstatic after hearing Summer’s proposal. “You really are something special! That’s a bold idea! I like it! I’m in!”
On the other hand, Holden rested his head on his hand while leaning back on the sofa. He did not go against Emery and merely kept his eyes on Summer. It was apparent that he was scheming up a storm in his head with how he looked at the moment.
With how Holden did things, he would surely hit Summer up when Emery was not looking if he was interested. Emery would not even know when and how she lost.
But that was all an afterthought as I only had Summer’s intention in mind. I was more worried than anyone present, but I did not want to show it. So, I did my best to hold it in and kept my voice calm. “Summer, tell Mommy, besides liking it, is there any other reason why you would like to open a bar?”
When the question left my mouth, I instinctively clenched my fist. I was afraid that I might hear the answer in my head, that she knew.
About her past, about Macy, and about how she died.
That said, Summer remained smiling and looked at me innocently. There was not much change in her expression when she said, “Mommy. Isn’t that enough? This is the only thing I like besides math. Can I do it?”
At that moment, my sight became blurry, and I kept seeing Macy’s face overlapping with Summer’s. It was like time and space no longer bound me, and that person sitting in front of me was not Summer but Macy.
“A bar is challenging for a woman for sure, but aren’t other jobs the same? Rather than working our lives away for someone else, let’s work for ourselves. You know, Letty. I like that dreamy feeling under the flickering lights. It helps me forget about all my insecurities. And sometimes, I get to see people I missed.”
That was what Macy said that convinced me.
Because she liked it, I supported her. Because she liked it, I sent her over to Jared. Because of all that, she never got to experience true love until the day she died.
Even if everyone was safe, I still feel that thorn in my heart rooted there, unremovable.
There was a fog over my eyes, and I could no longer differentiate the real from the surreal. As a mother, I should be supportive of my children’s dreams, but I could feel something weighing me down, forcing my mouth shut so I could not speak.
Maybe it’s Macy. Maybe she and I have the same idea. I’m sure of it.
“Your mom and I understand.”
Anthony’s deep voice cut through my thoughts and snapped me out of them. The next second, he grabbed my hand and pulled it over, placing it on his lap as he fiddled with it.
“That said, you should know that opening up a bar is not an easy task. Disregarding the initial funding, those complicated under-the-table connections won’t be easy to handle. Let Joseph gather some information first, and we can discuss it from there. Okay?”
Summer and Audrey were different. She was not as stubborn, so she was easier to talk to. “That will do.”
“Alright.” Anthony gave a faint response and said, “Since you’re bored of staying at home, maybe you can plan out the project the company has at Wenville?”
“Of course I can,” Summer replied with a smile. It was like nothing was going on in her life worth grieving. “But I would like Mr. Cress to help me. Will that be okay?”
Summer was referring to Jared. After he sent her back, Jared had rented a place in K City and would pay short visits to the kids every day.
“It’s your project. So you decide.” Anthony gave her the green light to anything she wanted.
As he spoke, he pulled me up and headed to our room. “If you need anything, just ask Joseph.”
“Got it. Thanks, Daddy. Good night, Mommy.”
“Good night,” I replied in a daze, with a voice that was no louder than a kitten’s while I let Anthony drag my body up the stairs.
When we got to our room, he locked it and took me into the bathroom, where he undressed me without uttering a single word.
Facing each other with our naked bodies, he turned on the shower and tested the temperature before pulling it over my head.
As the hot water flowed, he started massaging my head with the tip of his fingers. The warm sensation it gave me was enough to let me forget about even resisting.
After he dried me off, Anthony wrapped me in a towel and carried me back to the bedroom. He lifted the cover and gently put me down on the bed. Then, he came from the other side of the bed and embraced me from behind.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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