Leonardo and Samantha took the elevator to the top floor.
Leonardo was carrying a few shopping bags. With his hands full, he signaled to Samantha with a look. "Open the door."
"Okay," Samantha responded obediently and walked over to try the fingerprint sensor.
The screen showed that the fingerprint wasn't recognized. She didn't dare say a word and quietly switched to entering the passcode instead, but it was still rejected.
Leonardo stood off to the side, watching as Samantha fiddled with the lock for quite a while. She still couldn't get the door to open.
He asked, "Does it take that long to open a door?"
Samantha looked up with frustration in her eyes. "I might have… forgotten the passcode."
"How can you forget the passcode when you come in and out every day?" Knowing that he would hurt her if he spoke too harshly, Leonardo forced himself to swallow the rest of his words.
He dropped the shopping bags against the wall and stepped over to try the fingerprint scanner himself.
The device beeped twice, indicating that his fingerprint wasn't recognized, either.
Leonardo let out a sound of confusion. He refused to give up and tried again.
The screen still showed that the system rejected his fingerprint again. He glanced at Samantha. "Did you delete my fingerprint?"
Samantha shook her head, looking a little pitiful.
Leonardo gave up on the fingerprint scanner and went straight for the keypad. It was no surprise that it was wrong too.
Leonardo stood there, utterly silent. The air seemed to freeze in that moment, and everything around them fell into dead silence. What followed was a long stretch of stillness.
The atmosphere was so tense it made Samantha's heart race. Her body stiffened involuntarily, and she gripped the hems of her shirt tightly. She didn't even dare to breathe too loudly.
Finally, Leonardo slowly turned his head to look at her. His gaze carried a hint of danger, and the corners of his mouth curled up into a half-hearted smile. "How long was I gone for? Yet you've already sold the place?"
"My mother? How would she know if you don't?" Leonardo asked angrily.
Samantha lowered her head again at his question. She clutched the hem of her shirt and said nothing.
As Leonardo stared at Samantha's bowed head, he fell into a deep thought. After a while, he came to a conclusion—Laura must have caused trouble for Samantha again while he was away.
He took a deep breath, trying to suppress the anger surging within him. He asked coldly, "What exactly happened?"
Samantha moved her lips as if to speak, but she didn't know where to start. She didn't want to cause more trouble between Leonardo and Laura, but she didn't know how to hide the truth when faced with his relentless questioning either.
Seeing that she refused to speak, Leonardo said it for her, "Did my mother kick you out?"
Samantha's eyes widened in surprise, but she remained silent.
Leonardo got the answer he was looking for from her subtle reaction. His anger flared up even more.
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This doesn't have an ending...