Charles’ expression grew abruptly cold, and his icy gaze swept over the other five people in the room before it finally landed on Tina. “The mare Sonia picked out was the tamest of the bunch, and I know this because I deliberately asked the stable attendant about it. Logically speaking, it’s impossible that the horse would go crazy all of a sudden, so I figured something fishy must be going on here.”
“Are you saying that someone did something to President Reed’s horse, President Lane?” Rebecca was quick to catch on as she asked with wide eyes.
“It wasn’t me,” Tyler interjected defensively with a shake of his head, waving his hands as though to bat away any accusation or suspicion that might be thrown his way.
Zane was calm as he sipped his tea and quipped, “It wasn’t me, either.”
“Well, it definitely couldn’t have been me,” Rebecca said, raising her hands.
As such, Charles’ gaze fixed on the remaining duo, who had yet to voice their denial. “That just leaves President Fuller and Miss Gray, but seeing as President Fuller went to Sonia’s rescue, I’m sure that he was not the one who pulled the dirty trick. After all, it’s not as if he would purposely start trouble only to solve it himself—no one has the time for that, which means…”
“Which means you’re suspecting me,” Tina continued his sentence for him. She dug her nails into her palms and looked so flustered that she might be on the brink of crying.
Charles clapped in a flamboyant display of mockery as he sneered, “It looks like you are perceptive after all. You’re right—I am suspicious of you because out of everyone here, you’re the only one who would most likely go out of her way to hurt Sonia, and you have a track record to prove it.”
“I didn’t do anything!” Tina’s tears streamed down her cheeks. She grabbed Toby’s hand and pleaded, “You have to believe me, Toby! I didn’t do it!”
“I believe you,” Toby reassured her and squeezed her hand gently, signaling her to calm down.
Upon hearing that he still believed in her, she nodded and regained her composure.
Charles, on the other hand, rolled his eyes in exasperation as he accused, “Well, of course, you’d believe her. She could commit murder, and you’d let her get away with it as soon as she breaks out the waterworks. It’s not as if everyone here is oblivious to how overly-indulgent you are toward her!”
Rebecca and Zane nodded in silent affirmation to this fact.
Not even Tyler could deny this, and he nodded along as well. Toby does spoil her every now and then.
“I believe in Tina not because I indulge in her every whim, but because she has a solid alibi,” Toby argued, though he did not seem angry even while everyone else refused to stand on his side. He eyed Charles darkly as he elaborated, “She did not come into contact with Sonia’s horse at any point of time, so why don’t you tell me how she managed to pull off a sabotage?”
In the beginning, Toby wondered if Tina’s other personality had been the one to orchestrate this incident, but upon careful analysis, he concluded that the opposite was true; the other personality never did come out at any point in time.
Meanwhile, Charles bristled at Toby’s argument, but as soon as he gave it some thought, he realized that the latter was speaking the truth.
Tina had indeed been nowhere near the stable when Sonia picked out the horse, and it wasn’t as if she could pull off the sabotage beforehand, given that there was no telling which horse Sonia would pick out of the bunch in the stable; Tina might be devious, but she was no prophet.
He allowed the possibility of Tina taking it upon herself to sabotage every single horse in the stable, but if that were the case, their horses ought to have gone crazy as well. However, they rode around the tracks unscathed. Could this really be just an accident, then? Charles thought uneasily.
Zane was the first one to offer a solution. “Why don’t we get one of the stable attendants to come over and ask him about this? We’ll know what happened as soon as he runs a check on the horse.”
Toby shrugged indifferently. “That’s fine by me.”
It wasn’t long before the attendant came over as asked, and when Charles pressed them on what had happened to Sonia’s horse, they simply answered, “Miss Reed’s horse was in heat.”
“What?” Everyone gaped at the attendant in surprise.
Tina was the only one who lowered her head to conceal the smirk on her lips.
“Did you just say the horse was in heat?” Charles was bewildered. “But it isn’t mating season for the animals!”
Zane, Rebecca, and Tyler were staring at the attendant, waiting eagerly for his explanation.
However, he only shook his head as he pointed out, “The season might be over, but it doesn’t mean the animals would not go into heat. Sometimes, there are other factors that might stimulate the animals to go into heat.”
Toby queried in a low voice, “So why did Sonia’s horse go into heat in the first place?”
The attendant pondered on this momentarily, then replied, “We can’t say for sure, but perhaps the horse picked up on any particular scent or took in a stimulant or something. There’s no certainty for now, but these are the few possibilities I can come up with.”
“Well, the second possibility is not viable, seeing as the horse didn’t eat anything when it was led out of the stables,” Rebecca chimed.
She had been there when Sonia picked out the horse, so she could attest to this fact.
Charles rubbed his jaw as he suggested, “So the horse probably picked up on a scent?”
Zane chuckled suddenly. “Please tell me the scent wasn’t Sonia’s perfume.”
Everyone made various noises of doubt as their lips twitched, but none could deny the plausibility of this.
Rebecca turned her palms up as if resigned. “Does this mean that whatever happened to President Reed is just an accident?”
As reluctant as Charles was to admit this, he was compelled to. Without another word, he turned to go up the stairwell.
Having dismissed the attendant with a wave of his hand, Toby called out to stop Charles in his tracks, “Hold on.”
Charles stopped and asked stoically, “What is it?”
Zane, Rebecca, and Tyler—and even Tina—turned simultaneously to look at Toby in curiosity.
Toby took Tina by the hand as he insisted coolly, “Now that the situation has been cleared up, shouldn’t you apologize for wrongfully accusing Tina earlier?”
Charles narrowed his eyes at this and laughed incredulously. “Apologize? You want me to apologize to her?” He jabbed a finger in Tina’s direction.
Toby eyed him steadily and demanded, “Do you not want to?”
“Yeah, I’m not apologizing, and why should I? I admit that I wrongfully accused her this time, but I didn’t for all the things she did to Sonia in the past. Has she apologized to Sonia for all the other stuff? No. You were the one who apologized on her behalf.”
There was a disdainful sneer on his face as he glowered at Toby defiantly. “She uses you as a shield after all that she did to hurt Sonia, and she never once bothered to make reparations. But you don’t see me demanding an apology for Sonia like what you are doing now for Tina. So what right do you have to force an apology out of me?”
Upon hearing this retort, Toby grew sullen.
Tina, on the other hand, was embarrassed as she fixed her gaze on the tips of her shoes.
Meanwhile, Zane had his hands behind his head as he watched the show. He was entertained, and he encouraged Rebecca to sit back and enjoy the drama as he did.
Tyler was the only fool who blinked and asked, “Toby, what did Tina do to Sonia, and why did you have to apologize on her behalf?”
Anger flashed in Tina’s eyes when she heard this. Of all the times for Tyler to bring this up, he has to pick now? Is he trying to make things worse for me on purpose?
“Shut up,” Toby barked coldly, frowning.
Tyler fell into resentful silence at this. He only wanted to know the truth of what had happened, and he could not understand why he was asked to shut up instead. Why does he get to tell me to shut up?
Seeing how unhappy Tyler was, Charles seized the opportunity and crossed his arms in front of his chest as he offered, “Hey, kid. If you want to know what happened, I can tell you.”
Tyler visibly perked up at this, and his eyes shone as he said, “Okay.”
“Toby—” Tina anxiously tugged on Toby’s arm, as though asking him to stop Charles from speaking.
However, it was too late, for Charles had already started off the narrative. “Listen, kid. Your gorgeous soon-to-be sister-in-law is as insidious as they come. She used public opinion to accuse Sonia of running her down with a car six years ago, and thankfully, Sonia managed to clear her name by getting her hands on the camera footage from back then.”
“And also, there was that time at the resort when she squirted shower gel all over the bathroom floor and caused Sonia to slip and fall, thereby hitting her head. Two days ago, she even pushed Sonia down a flight of stairs in an attempt to kill her. So now you know all that Tina has done to Sonia in the past. What do you think, kid?” Charles was clearly satisfied as he stared at Tyler, who appeared to have gone into shock.
Zane and Rebecca, too, were astonished, given how they had no idea of any of these.
“Are these all true, Toby? Did Tina really do all those horrible things to Sonia?” Tyler clenched his fists as he glared at his brother with hostility. All this time, he had been so focused on basketball that he did not know what Sonia endured.
Toby was grim, but he said nothing.
Tina, on the other hand, gripped his arm tightly, and she did not make to defend herself either.
At the sight of this, Tyler understood immediately that Charles had been speaking the truth.
In recent times, he had realized that Tina was not as wonderful as he initially thought, but he certainly didn’t think that she was more vicious than he imagined. How could she be so despicable as to do all those things to Sonia?
