Supreme Mars

Chapter 29 A Gift for You

"I see..."

Upon hearing Dominic's name, Leo's expression began to darken.

Nadine stepped on the pedal lightly and the car slowly accelerated.

Leo looked out of the window with a gloomy expression.

It had been three years. Was she still unable to move on?

The pain in his heart began to tug at him.

He took out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it with trembling hands.

Amid the swirling smoke, he felt as if he had returned to that stormy night three years ago.

That night, he lost a comrade-in-arms who was like an older brother to him.

That night, Sharon cried until she passed out from exhaustion.

That night, he went on a killing spree...

Even the rainfall that night felt like it was stained red...

His comrade-in-arms was Sharon's fiancé.

They could not find Dominic's body on the battlefield. No one knew if he was dead or alive, and thus

the case went cold.

Since that day, he had been investigating the mysterious organization that had kidnapped Dominic.

He had finally made some progress after two long years. He found out that it was an underground

organization with the codename "Phantom".

Another reason why he had retired from the army was to investigate this organization.

Looking away from the window, he put out his cigarette, and a solemn look reappeared on his face. He

said earnestly, "Tell all my subordinates not to leak a word about my whereabouts."

"Yes," Nadine said, driving the car. "But knowing Sharon's skills, I don't think she'll just give up. Now

that Dominic is gone, you're the only one that keeps her going..."

"Then don't make her aware of it." Leo interrupted her. "I don't want to get her involved."

They did not speak for the rest of the car ride.

Nadine drove them to a scenic villa, which acted as Leo's temporary residence.

Lydia had only offered to let him stay for the night, for fear that he had nowhere else to go.

Fresh out of a cold shower, he glanced at the bedside.

There was a three-person photo there, one of which was a young man—him from three years ago.

In that photo, he and an older man were smiling widely. The aloof-looking woman in the middle had a

faint smile, but her eyes had a hint of mischief in them as she cast a careless glance at him.

Love, it was said, could sprout out of nowhere and grow with each passing day. Where there used to

be hatred, there was no more. With love, one could laugh about past grievances and move on.

But the longing for a beloved, separated by death, was not something that could be erased!

Leo let out a quiet sigh. He covered the photo frame, laid on the bed, and spent all night sleepless.

When the first ray of sunlight appeared in the sky, he got up.

He had developed the productive habit of waking up early after five years in the military. After washing

up, he went to the yard and did one-handed push-ups.

His posture was rigid and his speed was uniform.

For most people, the more push-ups they did, the more worn out they became.

That was not the case for Leo. The more push-ups he completed, the more relaxed and faster he

became.

"998..."

"999..."

"1,000!"

He counted every push-up he did, and when he finished his thousandth push-up, he jumped up from

the ground with ease. He was not even gasping for breath.

Without rest, he began to jog around the villa.

This was his daily workout routine.

He spent the entire morning like this, and by the time he was done, it was already past noon.

When he finished taking his customary cold shower, he heard his phone ring.

He frowned at the caller ID but he still answered the call.

"Hey, Leo. Where are you?"

The moment the call got through, he heard Caroline's nonchalant voice in his ear.

"Pineview Mountain," he answered honestly.

"What are you doing there? That's a nature reserve." Caroline paused and then smiled. "Did you spend

the entire night on the mountain?"

Leo looked back at Allendale Villa, which covered an area of more than 5,000 square feet and was

worth more than 30 million, and said emotionlessly, "Yeah, I slept on the mountain."

"That's horrible. I can't believe you had to sleep in the wild."

Caroline did not consider that he might be sleeping anywhere else but in the woods themselves. She

mocked him a little before adding, "I'll give you an hour to meet me downtown. I have something to

discuss with you."

"Can't we talk about it on the phone?" Leo's frown deepened. He did not really want to go downtown.

"Stop moaning! Just do as I say!" Caroline said rudely and then hung up the phone.

Leo shook his head. Then, he put on his clothes and walked out of Valendale Villa.

"Mr. Cohen, should I drive you?" Nadine asked, following him out of the villa.

"It's all right. I'll just take a taxi," Leo said, smiling.

It took 55 minutes to drive from Valendale Villa to downtown Emerdale. The address that Caroline gave

him belonged to a cafe in a commercial plaza.

When he arrived, Caroline and Rebecca were already seated and drinking coffee in a leisurely manner.

"Mom, Caroline."

Leo greeted them first and sat down in front of them.

Caroline ignored him, but Rebecca greeted him with a smile.

"Leo, order whatever you want to drink," she said.

"It's all right, Mom. I have something to do later." Leo rejected the offer.

He had only one plan for his entire afternoon: picking up Emilia from kindergarten.

Rebecca did not insist and continued to smile. "Leo, I didn't call you here for anything serious. I just

want to say thank you for winning the partnership with Atlas Beauty on our family's behalf."

Leo smiled and waved his hand nonchalantly. "It's no big deal, Mom. Don't worry about it."

"Don't say that. I know how to be grateful when someone is kind to me. I know what you've done for

us."

Feeling that she had made enough preparation to set the stage, Rebecca said in roundabout way,

"Since you've helped us win the partnership, why not help us till the very end? Leave us in charge of

the project. You don't know anything about packaging and marketing anyway."

She added, "Caroline just graduated from university this year. She’s a marketing major, so she knows

her stuff. If she's given a leadership role in the project, it'll be a great experience for her..."

"Okay, I'll leave it you."

Without waiting for Rebecca to finish her pitch, Leo readily agreed.

Rebecca and Caroline were taken aback. They did not react in time and looked at him in shock. "Le...

Leo, what did you just say?"

"The project is yours. Is there a problem?" Leo repeated himself, looking relaxed.

"Are you serious?" Caroline's breathing quickened. She still found it hard to believe.

"Of course."

Caroline and her mother looked at each other and smiled happily.

Both of them were laughing riotously on the inside. They expected no less from an uneducated fool

who did not realize the benefits that came with being in charge of the project.

They thought they would have to say a lot of flattering nonsense to convince Leo, so it was a pleasant

surprise that victory had come so easy.

Caroline took out the transfer agreement at once and asked Leo to sign it. "Remember, you said it

yourself. You can't go back on your word now."

"I never go back on my word."

Leo smiled as he signed his name with a pen. "I was wondering how to dump this useless baggage

yesterday, and you both immediately came to my rescue. You've actually done me a big favor."

Caroline and Rebecca's delighted expressions faltered in an instant.