Kyle panicked. "What? How could you not say anything? The situation isn't like the rumors at all! What if Ms. Hartford misunderstands? She has such a strong personality. She's definitely not someone who will just settle for less."Kyle's impression of Summer wasn't particularly good or bad. Those few days on the island actually changed his opinions of Summer a lot. At least right now, he couldn't think of anyone else in high society who was worthy of Mason—only Summer.The most important thing was that Mason clearly liked her, too. But the fiancée situation was like a ticking time bomb.He had been worried about it since they left the island. Sure enough, something happened after just a few days.Mason said proudly, "You're underestimating the future Mrs. Hunt too much. Summer's not the kind of woman you think she is."After that, Mason walked away.Kyle stood in place, completely baffled. "What does that mean?"He didn't explain anything, but he still seemed so happy? Was there
Most of the time, Summer was the one who communicated with Lindsey about the character designs.Summer and Lindsey had similar artistic tastes. When it came to the character drafts, what would have normally taken a month only took a week to complete.Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, Power Construction's bidding event arrived.Summer arrived at the company early in the morning."What are you doing here?" Lionel asked. He was in charge of the project, and Saul, who wasn't involved, was absent."I'm just coming with you guys to watch the drama," Summer said."Does anyone from Power Construction know you?" Lionel asked."I'm just going to wear a hat and observe. It's no big deal," Summer said."Alright, then. Let's head over!" Lionel called over two other programmers from the company and headed right to the bidding event venue. Power Construction might not be a major corporation, but its platform had decent traffic. Even if it was put together on short notice, plenty
Bard from Power Construction was present at the event as well. He had been watching for a while, but seeing that none of the projects were particularly impressive, he was planning to leave.However, when Eridanus took the stage, the reaction from the panel of judges made him stay. Watching the judges' faces light up in admiration intrigued him.Yet, at that moment, Duco stood up.Lionel had been waiting for that exact moment. It was the inevitable accusation.The room grew noisy as everyone looked over. Duco went right on stage as he pointed at Lionel and said, "Everyone, Eridanus' design is a plagiarized work!"Lionel laughed at that. "I was wondering who it was. So it's Duco! Just the other day, I was just wondering what company offered you 5,000 dollars a month to poach you away."Then, he looked at Anthony and put on a shocked expression. "Aren't you Mr. Lawson? So, Duco is working for your company now?"The audience instantly understood the situation. So, one of Eridanus' e
Lionel was fiercely protective. Even though he hadn't known Summer for long, he found her both incredibly skilled and easy to get along with. He saw her like a sister from another family.He didn't know what happened between Anthony and Summer, but stealing Summer's codes? He wasn't going to let that slide."Mr. Lawson, why aren't you saying anything? Are you unwilling to compare the codes?" Lionel asked.Duco played the part of a clueless teammate perfectly. "How could that be? Mr. Simmons, is this how Eridanus operates? You snatch codes from others and have a few experts tweak them before you claim them as your own?""Mr. Squire, you should be careful with your words. There are a lot of people listening, so you'll be legally responsible for what you say," Lionel warned.Duco was someone who had high ambitions but little real skill. At his previous company, he always felt like he wasn't treated fairly. Then, when he joined Eridanus, he wasn't even allowed inside the core areas.
"The coding originally started earlier, but it was only completed six months ago," Anthony explained stiffly.He let out a sigh of relief after that. He had thought that the timestamp would show it was from six months ago. If that happened, wouldn't that confirm his plagiarism?Thank goodness…"Wait a minute." Someone suddenly raised a hand.Everyone looked over."I think there's a signature on the code!"Some programmers had the habit of signing their work whenever they wrote programs. Of course, their signatures weren't the traditional kind. Most would use symbols and tags that were personally meaningful.Duco snapped, "What signature? Stop talking nonsense! The case is already clear. Eridanus stole Mr. Lawson's code!"Lionel said calmly, "Mr. Squire, there's no need to rush. Many people here might have already guessed, but the founder of the company is X, who has been trending lately. "The popular game After School and both sets of the original codes were created by her. S
"That concludes today's bidding event. Thank you all for attending. The final results will be posted on our official website, so please exit the venue in an orderly fashion," the judge said.Someone from the crowd shouted, "But the plagiarism issue hasn't even been resolved! How can it end just like that?"No one gave an explanation. Security soon began escorting the crowd out. Only the people from Eridanus and Anthony's teams remained."Mr. Simmons, right?" Brad got up and slowly walked to Lionel."Mr. Sullivan Senior, what is the meaning of this?" Lionel responded politely enough.Brad said with a smile, "I think my future grandson-in-law must have been scammed by someone. How about this? Our company will take this project, and both your teams can work on it together. As for the compensation, we're open for discussions."Lionel smiled faintly. "I don't really understand. Why should we partner with someone that stole our work?"Brad wasn't surprised by Lionel's reaction. He pat
"Let's go." Summer and the other staff members stood up and followed Lionel out.Anthony's gaze fell on Summer, and he felt like he had been struck by lightning. "Wait! Don't go!" he shouted and tried to chase after her.But Brad slapped him hard across the face. "You disgraceful bastard!"Anthony was completely stunned.Patrick hurried on stage. "Dad! Don't hit him. Let's talk this through.""You and Janice claim that you're in love, so I tolerated that scandal. I set aside family pride and agreed to your engagement and even set the stage for you to enter the family. And what you do instead is pull such a petty scheme!" Brad scolded furiously.Anthony had never been so humiliated in his life. He clutched his cheek as his body froze."Is fair competition so hard? You even ended up poaching an idiot from another company! You stole someone else's design and told me you wrote it yourself, then you changed the story and said you bought it. Anthony, is there a single word of truth
Anthony clenched his fists tightly.Eridanus wanted to come after him? He'd show them.…Summer and the others got back to the car. There was a brief silence before the group erupted into cheers and high-fives."Oh, my God! Did you see Duco's face? That was so satisfying! You have no idea how much he annoyed me the week before he resigned! He was yelling at me every day!" Lily, who had come to help with the presentation, beamed."Well, don't get too excited. After all, we didn't win the bid," Lionel said cheerfully. That mature, professional act he put on stage just now was completely gone."Stop pretending. You're obviously the happiest one here," Lily said with a smile.Summer raised her hand and announced, "I enjoyed the show, too. So, I'll treat you all to a seafood feast!""Yes! I haven't had seafood in forever!" Lily nodded.And just like that, Lionel led the group straight to a seafood restaurant. They feasted and drank to their hearts' content and even packed up some f
"What does it have to do with you?" Mason sneered."You…" Snow was shocked by his indifference.She'd just caught them doing something inappropriate. Shouldn't he be panicking? Shouldn't he be begging for her to keep their secret?Then, Mason forcefully pushed the door, shoving Snow outside and slamming it shut.Snow stomped her foot on the ground furiously, but there was nothing she could do. She thought to herself that she would go look for Summer tomorrow. If Mason didn't care, surely Summer would have some shame.Then, with a huff, she yanked up the pajama top that had slid down her shoulders and stormed back to her room.…Early the next morning, Summer woke up, washed up, and went to knock on Mason's door. After that, the two of them went to have breakfast in the dining room.Snow, as a volunteer, was in the dining room as well. When she saw the two of them walk in and how attentive Mason was to Summer, she felt a surge of jealousy in her heart."You still haven't gotten
Summer sat on the bed while Mason knelt at the bedside. He carefully applied ointment to her bites with visible concern.Summer reassured him, "It's just mosquito bites. They'll be gone after a good night's sleep.""Plenty of people have gotten sick from mosquito bites," Mason said.Summer reached out, grabbed his wrist, and attempted to pull him up. But she lost her balance and tumbled backward onto the bed, almost dragging Mason down with her.Luckily, he braced himself with both hands on either side of her, narrowly keeping them from falling. Now, he was hovering above her, and their eyes met.The scent of herbal balm filled the room, somehow making for a strange atmosphere."You got bitten on the cheek, too," Mason said as he looked at her face."Don't put that green stuff on my face. It's weird," Summer said."No…" Mason protested.Summer blinked. "It'll be fine. If you're really worried, just kiss it. Saliva has antibacterial properties, too."Mason said nothing as he l
Otherwise, Mason truly didn't know what he would do.Would he try to snatch Summer away? What if she hated him for it? What if she was never happy again because of it?That wasn't what he wanted. All he wanted was for Summer to live a happy, joyful life. Whether or not he was a part of that life didn't seem to matter much."There are some water lilies over there. They might still be in bloom, so let's go check them out." Summer's cheeks were flushed, and she was still slightly out of breath."Alright." Mason nodded.The two of them walked over side by side and even held hands for a while. By the time they reached the water lily pond, Summer let go.There were two couples by the pond. One pair was leaning close to the other, while the other was taking photos.Mason looked at them, finding the scene both dazzling and enviable. Once again, he regretted accepting to pretend to be her brother."Look! There are so many water lilies!" Summer didn't notice Mason's gloom as she grabbed
Once Snow was gone, the other women started to whisper among themselves."I bet she's going to look for Betsy. She probably wants to switch rooms to be next to that handsome guy.""For sure. She probably went to take a shower and doll herself up, too.""She's always throwing herself at guys but still acts so high and mighty. I really don't get what's going on in her head."Summer and Mason had already walked quite far ahead.Summer couldn't hold back her laughter anymore. "What do we do, Mason? It looks like that pretty girl has a crush on you."Mason glanced at her.Before she could react, he suddenly pulled her into his arms, lowered his head, and kissed her hard. "You're very happy, aren't you?"There were quite a few guests walking around the farm at that moment.Summer was startled and tried to break free, but Mason only held her even tighter."Mr. Hunt, it was my fault!" Summer surrendered immediately.Mason said nothing."If that woman comes looking for you, I'll hel
Mason was visibly pleased when he heard Summer say that there was still plenty of time. He nodded without hesitation.After dinner, Summer and Mason took a leisurely stroll outside.The countryside at night was far quieter than the city. The farmland was in full bloom. With everything growing strong and lush, they walked along a small path, and when they looked up, the sky was filled with stars."There are so many stars!" Summer exclaimed.Mason looked up as well. He wasn't really interested in them. Rather than stars, he was far more interested in looking at Summer."You liked stars a lot when you were a kid," Mason said.Summer looked at him before she shook her head in disbelief. "We met just once when I was young. How much did I tell you?""You told me quite a lot," Mason said.Summer shook her head again. "It looks like I've always been weak to good-looking people. I told you everything, I guess."That made Mason's grin even wider. "So, is that a compliment?""Isn't that
"Hello," Mason greeted politely.Randall instantly lit up with the same warm smile as before. "No need to be so polite. The dishes are almost ready. Would you two like to eat inside the house or out in the open area out front?""What do you think?" Summer asked.Mason never expected that Summer treating him like her brother could have this sort of effect. "Whatever you like.""Let's eat inside first. We can walk around after dinner," Summer said.The owner chuckled and immediately had someone arrange it.It was the summer break, so there were quite a few guests at the farm, but not many were staying overnight.Summer had arrived late. Most people had already eaten and gone out for a stroll.Summer asked Mason softly, "What do you think? Do you like it? We can sleep here and go catch some shrimp tomorrow. There are many fruits and vegetables to pick, too. "When I came with my parents, they almost picked a whole carload and insisted on bringing them home. In the end, they gave
"How would you know where I want to go?" Mason asked with a smile."I just do!" Summer answered confidently.After passing what used to be the flea market, the road opened up into the countryside. Mason could see stretches of fields rolling by.On the way there, a call came in from the company.Summer glanced at Mason before she answered the call.Very quickly, she heard Lionel's voice. "Summer, have you eaten yet?""I still haven't. What's up?" Summer replied. Her tone was totally different from the one she used with Mason."There's a problem with the structure of the Escape From the Asylum project. I kept calling Hunt, but he hasn't been answering. Could you try contacting him later?" Lionel said.Hunt naturally referred to Saul.Ever since the restaurant incident, Saul had rarely shown up at the company. Summer had been so busy lately that the two of them barely crossed paths. Even so, they had kept in touch on the phone."I got it. If it's getting too late and you can't s
Even putting everything else aside, the incident that had taken Xena's life, according to Luke, had been a result of an internal family conflict. Xena had simply been caught in the crossfire.Cynthia had lost Xena—her sister—and then spent years in a vegetative state. If Mason ignored her, that would have reflected really poorly on his character. It would have meant that he had no sense of responsibility.Mason gave her a gentle smile. "That was a close call.""Let's go out for dinner tonight," Summer said suddenly.Mason was taken aback for a moment. "Go out? Aren't you afraid someone might see us?"Of course Mason wanted to, but Summer had always seemed reluctant to be exposed publicly like that.Summer said as she pulled Mason up. "No one will. Take off your suit. I'll bring you to a nighttime flea market. No wealthy folk will be there."Mason looked a little lost. He had never been to such places.While he went to change, Summer pulled out two baseball caps from a drawer an
In the blink of an eye, a busy month came to an end.That afternoon, Summer received a call from her apartment management. Someone from the floor below had complained about a leak from her unit, and they asked her to check it out.Summer immediately drove over.The moment she stepped out of the elevator, she didn't see the neighbor or the property staff. Instead, she was greeted with the sight of a massive bouquet, as well as Mason waiting for her right next to the door."You're back?" Summer's eyes lit up as her face bloomed with joy. She skipped over to Mason excitedly."I thought you said you wouldn't be back until next week?" Summer asked."I missed you so much that I came home early." Mason shifted the flowers aside and opened his arms.Summer lunged into his embrace with a radiant smile, wrapping her arms around his waist. "Welcome back, Mr. Hunt!"Mason held the bouquet with one hand as he gently stroked her head with the other. He lowered his head and kissed Summer on t