Supreme Mars novel Chapter 36

Leo's expression softened, and there was a hint of gentleness and regret in the way he looked at Lydia.

To him, the past five years of conquest had been his rebirth, but to Lydia, it was akin to a nightmare.

No one knew how frightened she was when she discovered that she was pregnant. No one was there to give her a hug when she was tired and hurt. She dealt with everything by herself, even when she gave birth to Emilia.

She had long become accustomed to shouldering everything by herself in silence. Even if she was hurt or bullied, she wouldn’t show weakness in front of anyone.

This was something that would not change, even if Leo had returned.

He did not blame her; he merely felt guilty about it.

The two of them needed time to re-establish their relationship. His only consolation was that there was their daughter, Emilia, connecting them both.

For her daughter's sake, Lydia was willing to let down her guard and try to understand this unfamiliar man.

Emilia had already fallen asleep in Lydia's arms.

The little girl looked adorable while asleep, drooling with her mouth slightly open. She looked as if she was dreaming of something beautiful, as evidenced from the soft smile on her face.

Lydia carefully wiped away the saliva at the corner of her daughter's mouth before she recounted what had been troubling her as of late.

Leo listened attentively with an earnest expression.

It turned out that his speculation was pretty much spot-on: a well-known large company was taking its sweet time paying its debt to Atlas Beauty, dragging it out for months until even Lydia finally lost her patience.

The company, Cleo Entertainment, ran an entertainment hub consisting of a hotel, karaoke lounge, nightclub, and casino. Some third-rate celebrities would frequent the place or act as resident guests. It was very popular, so it was somewhat of a get-together for those in the entertainment industry.

However, their business was not completely legitimate.

They had worked with many other companies, but there were often cases in which they would use their authority among various underground organizations to target their debtors. It was not the first time that they had defaulted on their debts.

The company was so problematic that they would be in trouble with a quick check by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Under ordinary circumstances, Lydia would never have worked with them. However, some time ago, a company executive was desperate to complete a project and signed a contract with Cleo Entertainment behind her back.

When the project was about to be completed and Atlas Beauty requested the final payment, Cleo Entertainment kept dragging things out and refused to pay. The debt was 10 million in total; not exactly a small sum of money for Atlas Beauty.

When Lydia found out, she lost her temper in meetings more than once. She had already fired that greedy executive, and later declared that she would dismiss the other people in charge of the project if they could not recover the remaining payment by the end of the week.

Her face looked frosty as she retold the story. It was clear she was deeply furious about how it was handled.

Her reaction was understandable. Even ignoring the fact that 10 million was a significant amount of money, she could not accept her executive's deceit at all. She swore to herself that she would not give up until she recovered the money.

"That's what's been troubling me, but what's the point of letting you know about it now?" She looked at Leo with a rather aloof expression.

Even so, Leo smiled. "What if I can help you settle it?"

She shook her head and looked at him seriously. "Do you know what upsets me about you right now?"

"What is it?" Leo's expression changed.

"You make promises that you don't intend to keep."

Lydia looked away and said coldly, "I don't care if you're poor or unemployed. I don't mind supporting you, but you're still a man. As a man, you should take responsibility for what you say. I know you're trying to comfort me, but the way you're going about it right now reeks of disingenuity."

Leo looked at her in a daze. There was a wry smile on his face but he did not explain himself.

"Let's go home."

Lydia turned around and walked out of the meeting room with Emilia fast asleep in her arms.

In the dim meeting room, Leo's eyes changed and his gaze became as sharp as a vulture's.

He took out his phone and dialed a number. "Investigate a company called Cleo Entertainment."

"Yes, Mr. Cohen."