Chapter 171: Chapter 171: Mutual Misunderstanding
"Director Lancaster, the President isn’t in the office!" The secretary looked troubled. Normally, no one dared to stop Summer Lancaster.
Summer Lancaster stopped in her tracks. ’Why isn’t he at the office at this hour?’ she wondered. ’But it’s also possible he went to another company to discuss a partnership or is on a business trip.’
"Is Pres... Is President Yates on a business trip?" Summer Lancaster asked after a few seconds of thought.
"Um, we’re not sure about that. You could ask the chief secretary!" The secretaries genuinely didn’t know. They were usually only responsible for internal company matters. Once it involved anything outside the office, Eleanor Grant and Zane Fletcher were in charge.
"Oh, I see!" Summer Lancaster’s heart was filled with anxiety, as if something was caught in her chest. She went downstairs, her mind uneasy.
In his office, Kenneth Yates watched the external security feed and rubbed his temples. He wanted to see her, but he still didn’t know the truth of the matter. He was torn. ’Should I believe Summer Lancaster? If it’s true, then what am I supposed to do?’
A tall, slender figure stood before the floor-to-ceiling windows, silhouetted against the sunset’s afterglow. A cunning smile played on his lips, as if victory was already within his grasp... All he had to do now was wait. Wait for the prey to walk right into his trap, wait for them all to fall into his snare...
KNOCK KNOCK! Someone knocked on the door. The man turned. "Come in!"
"President Bell, your evening schedule includes a meeting with Elsou from Francelia..."
"Cancel it!" Caleb Bell cut the secretary off before she could finish. ’I need to make a move tonight. How could I miss such a good show?’
The secretary hesitated, wanting to say more but stopping herself. Elsou had been trying to schedule this for days. Today was finally free, and they had already agreed to the meeting. Canceling now seemed inappropriate. But since Caleb Bell had given the order, what more could she, a mere secretary, say?
"Yes, sir!" The secretary bowed respectfully and left the office.
「Yates Group」
Summer Lancaster spent the entire afternoon in a daze. She’d tried calling Kenneth Yates’s phone, but it was always off. Exhausted, she headed downstairs. ’He has to go home eventually, right?’ she thought. ’Maybe he’s at home waiting for me right now.’
Just as she got in the car, her phone rang.
"Caleb? What’s up?" Summer Lancaster’s extremely weary voice sounded even fainter over the phone.
"Summer, have you forgotten you promised to treat me to dinner? Let’s do it today. Clocksburg, seven o’clock. Be there or be square!" An unnatural light glinted in Caleb Bell’s eyes.
"Caleb, I’m really tired today. Can we do it another time?" Summer Lancaster was dragging her exhausted body and really didn’t want to rush around anymore. All she wanted was to lie down in her warm bed and not get up, to sleep until the end of time.
"Summer, last time I let you go, I thought you would think things through. But from the looks of it, you haven’t. Have you forgotten what Asher told you? And now you’re back together with that hypocrite Kenneth Yates. Summer, when you get hurt, you’re supposed to put your guard up. Do you want him to hurt you again? Stop kidding yourself." Caleb Bell clenched his fists. ’It’s like she completely forgot how much I despise Kenneth Yates at the Bell Residence after she left last time.’
Summer Lancaster thought, ’How could I forget such a painful memory so easily? I just want to make him happy for as long as I can stay by his side. As for getting hurt... I’m scared, but it’s nothing compared to my desire to be with him.’
"Caleb, I get it. See you at seven! I think we need to talk." Summer Lancaster was starting to waver. She didn’t understand why Kenneth Yates was avoiding her. She hoped she was just overthinking things and that he wasn’t doing it on purpose.
Since his phone was off anyway, Summer Lancaster decided to just turn her own phone off as well.
Kenneth Yates stood on the rooftop, watching coldly as Summer Lancaster’s car drove out of the underground parking garage and onto the main road. But it wasn’t heading toward Veridian Community. It was going in the opposite direction. In other words, toward the Bell Residence!
A piercing light shot from his eyes. He shoved his hands into his pockets, his gaze a mixture of sorrow and bloodlust.
At seven o’clock sharp, Summer Lancaster appeared in the ancient, quaint Clocksburg. The man, it seemed, had been waiting there for a while.
"Caleb, have you been here long?" Summer Lancaster sat down across from Caleb Bell, greeting him with a smile. She picked up a teacup from the table, filled it to the brim, and drank the whole thing in one go.
"Slow down, you’ll choke!" Caleb Bell patted her head dotingly, his eyes overflowing with a tenderness so obvious that even a stranger could see how important this girl was to him.
"It’s fine. I’ve been in a fog all day, my brain’s starting to feel rusty. I must look like a total mess, huh?" Summer Lancaster set the cup down on the table with a THUD and gave a nonchalant smile.
"Did something happen?" Caleb Bell stroked his cup, his head lowered, a mysterious smile on his face. It was obvious he was asking a question he already knew the answer to, but Summer Lancaster didn’t suspect a thing, nor did she notice his smile.
Summer Lancaster’s smile froze on her face as she remembered what Caleb Bell had just said.
"No, not really. Just a busy day at work!" Summer Lancaster waved her hand, feigning composure, but her grip inexplicably tightened on her utensils.
Caleb Bell put down his utensils and folded his hands on the table. "Summer, do you really think you can fool me?"
The piece of food Summer Lancaster had just lifted to her lips fell to the floor. She was at a complete loss. "I... I just don’t want to leave him. I love him, so I want to be with him." Summer Lancaster’s expression was heartbroken, and tears welled up in her eyes but didn’t fall.
"But does he love you?" Caleb Bell slapped a stack of assorted photos onto the table. Summer Lancaster was bewildered, having no idea what Caleb Bell’s intention was.
"Go on, take a look!" Caleb Bell crossed his arms, scrutinizing Summer Lancaster’s every move. Summer Lancaster picked up the photos. The very first one was of Kenneth Yates kissing another woman. And it looked like he was the one initiating it, as his hands were tightly holding the woman’s head, his ecstatic expression radiating pure lust.
Shocked, Summer Lancaster quickly flipped through the rest of the photos. Every single one, right down to the last, was of him and that woman. There was even a picture of them kissing passionately in a hotel hallway.
Summer Lancaster threw the photos aside and covered her eyes as silent tears began to fall. She truly never imagined that Kenneth Yates still had another woman on the side. The date on the photos was from last night. Wasn’t he supposed to be with Dominic Thorne? Could Dominic Thorne have lied to her?
’Heh, how ridiculous. Of course they’d cover for each other!’
Summer Lancaster’s chest heaved. It took a long while for her to calm down. "These photos... how did you get them?" The evidence was so perfect it was almost too perfect, making her feel as if someone had set the whole thing up, just waiting for Kenneth Yates to walk into the trap.
"A friend of mine was at a club and happened to see it. You can go to Vexx right now and ask. The staff there should all know about it. After all, Kenneth Yates is a pretty famous figure. You still don’t believe me?" Caleb Bell slammed his hand on the table to show his indignation.
Yes, she believed him. It was undeniable.
"I just don’t know what to do now!" Summer Lancaster’s tears fell without warning. She tried to stop them, but they were beyond her control. Caleb Bell stood up slightly to wipe them away for her.
Not far away, a man’s sharp eyes widened slightly, then narrowed as he observed everything happening there. The cigarette in his mouth had burned down to the filter, but he made no move to take it out. He waited until it burned out and fell on its own, then fiercely exhaled a cloud of smoke. ’That scene just now... it was clearly an intimate kiss.’ He started the engine and drove away from Clocksburg without a moment’s hesitation.
A black aura seemed to radiate from the man, his eyes cold and ruthless. ’So it’s really true. Summer Lancaster, I was wrong about you!’
Summer Lancaster gently pushed Caleb Bell’s hand away and wiped her own tears. "Caleb, I’m going to have a proper talk with him. Thank you for telling me all this. He’s probably always had other women on the side, and I... and I never knew a thing."
"Summer, you’re exhausted today. Let’s talk about it tomorrow. Just stay at my place tonight. If you decide to go see Kenneth Yates tomorrow, I can go with you." Caleb Bell’s heart ached for her. ’Summer is always getting hurt by that man, but the more he hurts her, the closer she gets, only to end up covered in wounds and then thrown away!’
Summer Lancaster’s mind was a mess. They were both probably running on high emotions right now, and talking about this could lead to worse consequences than she imagined. ’I’m not running away,’ she thought. ’I just want to know the objective truth, so we should both wait until we’ve calmed down to talk. Really, I’m not running away.’
"Then, Caleb, thank you. I should go visit your grandmother. She’s the one who saved my life!" Summer Lancaster had regained her composure, but the light that was in her eyes when she arrived was gone, replaced by gloom and sorrow.
The pitch-black night enveloped the sky without warning. Tonight there was no moon, nor were there any stars to accompany it. The pure black nightmare was only just beginning. The man sat on the sofa, chain-smoking. It was already past one in the morning, and the woman hadn’t returned. She probably wasn’t coming back. The man turned off the lights, sinking into the darkness. He thought about all the little moments they had shared. The image of him sweetly proposing to her in the rose field seemed to flash before his eyes, but now, he only found it laughable.
He had always thought Summer Lancaster was the pitiful one in love, pining since childhood for someone who paid her no mind. And then, when he finally turned around and noticed her, he discovered that he was the one being played for a fool by love!
