After that, Sonia stopped texting and placed her phone on her lap.
Charles sounded a little jealous as he smirked at her. “Well, that took quite some time.”
She could sense the acrimony in his voice, to which she responded by rolling her eyes. “Alright now. Aren’t you going back to your office? Why are you still hanging around?”
“Hmph, you woman! The only thing you like to do is to drive me away!” He stood up and left a puzzling remark.
She was both amused and speechless at his reply but did not pay any more attention to him. Instead, she turned around and picked up a file to read.
……
At the Gray Residence, Julia was stunned and helpless after learning of her husband’s arrest. At that moment, she could do nothing but cry.
Slumped on the sofa, she had a box of tissues on her knees. In front of her, the coffee table was already littered with a heap of crumpled tissues.
“Tina, what can we do?” With swollen eyes, she looked at her daughter, who was seated across from her.
Tina did not cry, but she bit hard on her lower lip tensely. “I don’t know either. Let me make a call to the guys in the company. I’ll ask if they have any way to bail Dad out.”
“Quick, go make the call.”
Julia urged her to do so. As a full-time stay-at-home-mom, she had been living comfortably on Titus’s generous provision. Now that he was arrested, she felt as though her world had collapsed.
Tina pulled out her phone and made a call to a shareholder who was quite close to their family. Soon, the call was picked up, but a few minutes later, she put the phone down with a sour expression.
Seeing that, Julia had a bad premonition about their attempt, but she still asked her daughter with hope, “How was it?”
Tina shook her head helplessly. “Mr. Renault told me that Dad had destroyed a museum that was built by the authorities. Since there is solid evidence of the crime, he can’t post bail.”
The truth came as a shock to Julia, whose face paled immediately. She felt the world spinning around her. Placing a hand on her chest, she sobbed even louder and wailed, “Why did this happen? Why would your dad want to destroy the museum?”
Tina kept quiet and lowered her head to hide the contorted expression on her face.
She was confused by the situation. Titus had asked that Sonia’s factory be destroyed, but how would he end up destroying a national museum instead?
What exactly went wrong?
“Tina, you should look for Toby.” An idea popped up in Julia’s head, and she desperately clutched her daughter’s hand. “Look for Toby?” Tina looked at her.
“That’s right! Since your dad can’t post bail, the only way to release him is to ask the authorities for help. Isn’t Toby a good friend of Zane Coleman? Have him talk to Zane and get your dad released,” Julia nodded and explained.
Tina’s eyes sparkled with excitement, and she stood up. “I will find Toby now.”
No matter what, she was determined to save her dad. If not, once Titus was kept under arrest for a long time, his position as the chairman would definitely be removed through the joint decision of the Board of Directors. Even if he had the majority shares in his hands, he would lose control and influence over Triforce Enterprise.
By then, her status in the socialite circle would plummet.
A handbag in her hand, she left the Gray Residence for the Fuller Residence.
When Toby returned from work, he found Tina chatting with Jean at home.
“Toby!” When Tina saw him, she stood up with a wide smile. “You’re home.”
Jean smiled too. “And I was wondering why Tina suddenly went silent. It turns out that she was focused on you! Okay then. An old lady like me shall excuse myself.”
“Madam White!” Tina promptly blushed in embarrassment. Jean covered her mouth and chuckled as she left.
“Why are you here?” Toby placed his briefcase down and stared at her. She walked up to him and took his arm affectionately. “Why? Can’t I pay a visit?”
“No. I mean, if you want to pay a visit, you can tell me ahead of time so that I can pick you up.” He led her to the sofa, and both took a seat.
She poured a glass of water for him. “That’s fine. I can drive here. You don’t have to pick me up.”
He grunted, and his eyes gleamed. “Did something happen to make you pay a sudden visit?”
She hesitated for a while before asking, “Toby, have you heard about my dad’s arrest?”
“I know.” He took a sip of water. “So, are you meeting me to discuss that matter?”
“Yes.” Tina nodded. “Toby, could you please help my dad out? He did not intentionally destroy the museum.”
Titus did not intentionally destroy the museum?
His eyes flickered with a hint of mockery that disappeared within seconds. Shaking his head gently, he confessed sincerely, “I can’t help him this time. In fact, I have asked around about your dad. From what I know, there is solid criminal evidence, and the government forbids him from posting bail.”
“I know. I’m not asking you to bail him out. I just wanted you to put in a word with Mr. Coleman. I believe that if the Coleman Family interferes, Dad could definitely be released.” She stared at him with misty eyes that shined with hope.
He frowned at her. “Indeed, the Colemans could help to save him, but they won’t do so. Once they offer help to a suspect, their enemies would grab the opportunity to ruin them. Do you understand, Tina?”
On top of that, it was the time of the year when Seafield underwent its change of city leadership, which the Colemans were eyeing. Therefore, they would never allow themselves to take the wrong step at such a critical moment.
“I don’t.” Tina’s eyes welled up with tears. “You have not even talked to them! How would you know that they won’t help?”
His frown deepened. “Tina, do you think that I’m lying to you?”
“No, that’s not it.” Her eyes wavered in guilt as her voice was soft. Still, Toby immediately picked up her white lie. He pursed his lips and felt a wave of fatigue washing over him. “Anyway, keep out of this matter. Titus—”
“How can I keep out of this matter?” Clenching her fists, she cut him off. “He’s my dad! I can’t just watch on as he gets sent to prison. If you don’t want to help me, I will think of a way myself!”
With that, she ran out of the residence crying. Toby wanted to call out to her, but for some unknown reason, he could not open his mouth.
On the second floor, Tyler leaned against the balcony railing and watched as the drama unfolded beneath him. “Toby, aren’t you going to run after her?”
“No. It’s good to give her some space to calm down.” Toby rubbed his swollen and throbbing temples.
Tyler smirked and added, “Ah, well, Tina is really something. You did not say that you wouldn’t help her, but she took it as a rejection. You must be thinking of another way to save Mr. Gray, but she doesn’t get it. Not only that, she gets angry at you. How unreasonable!”
“That’s enough. You should talk less,” Toby reprimanded his sibling impatiently.
Tyler scoffed and continued, “I am going to say it anyway. Look, I can tell what’s going on perfectly fine. After you turned down her request to meet with Zane, she started blaming you secretly. Now, I can finally see the whole picture. Tina is not as nice as she tried to portray herself as—she’s incredibly petty!”
To that, Toby merely lowered his gaze without a word. When Tyler observed Toby’s lack of rebuttal, he stared at his brother agape. “No way, Toby! Do you also agree that she’s petty?”
This time, Toby shot him a cold look. Instead of feeling fear, Tyler ran downstairs in excitement. “Toby, since when did you know that Tina is petty? Since you know about it, why would you still love her? What is it that you see in her?”
What is it that I see in Tina?
Toby’s eyes gleamed with doubt and suspicion. When he thought about it, he could not recall the qualities that made him fall for Tina. He was in love with the girl that he exchanged letters with, an angelic being who was kind, lovely, and as vibrant as the sun. She radiated a warm energy that could cheer up everyone around her.
To his disappointment, he rarely observed any of those qualities on Tina, causing him to doubt himself a couple of times. Is Tina really the girl I exchanged letters with?
But who else could she have been if she was not Tina?
“Toby, what are you thinking?” Tyler sensed that he was distracted and waved a hand in front of him.
He pursed his lips. “Nothing. I’ll go upstairs for now.”
“Toby, you haven’t answered my question!” Tyler trotted behind him closely.
Toby couldn’t care less about his gossipy brother and closed the door in Tyler’s face.
