“Since everyone has agreed to go mountain climbing, what are you still waiting for? Why don’t you go back and change your clothes?” Zane looked at the attire of the others and rolled his eyes.
Charles looked down at the silk floral shirt he was wearing, and the corners of his mouth twitched. “This attire of mine is indeed not very suitable for climbing.”
“Then go and change.” Sonia waved her hand, signaling him to go quickly. She would not need to change because when she came down, she was already wearing sportswear, which was just right for climbing.
“Toby, then I’ll go back to my room to change too.” Tina looked at the skirt she was wearing and spoke to Toby.
Toby lifted his chin slightly. “Go ahead.” He did not need to change either; although he was not wearing sportswear, his current attire would work just fine.
“Wait for me.” With that, Tina turned around and went back upstairs. The others also went back to their rooms to get changed, while Zane went outside to prepare the car.
Only Sonia and Toby were left in the dining room. This was perfect for Sonia because she had something to ask him. “President Fuller.” Sonia suddenly spoke up.
Toby looked at her. “What is it?”
“Was it you who sent me back to my room last night?” Sonia looked back at him, her eyes calm.
Toby nodded. “It was me.”
Sonia’s face fell. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”
“I did.” Toby’s thin lips slightly opened. “But you slept too deeply, so you did not wake up.”
The corners of Sonia’s eyes twitched at that. “Is that so?”
“Mm-hmm.” Toby nodded, and she could tell that he was serious and not lying, so she felt a little embarrassed. She couldn’t even wake up? Just how sleepy was she?
Coughing awkwardly twice, Sonia collected her composure and added, “Well, thank you, but…”
“What?” Toby took a sip of his coffee while she lowered her eyes, then looked at him with a stern gaze. “But did you do anything to me in my sleep?”
“Do what?” Toby raised his eyebrows and locked eyes with her. “Exactly what are you referring to?”
“For example, did you wring my neck or something?” Sonia asked as she took a deep breath. She couldn’t ask him directly if he had kissed her, so she could only ask that. Besides, she deliberately mentioned the neck, so he would definitely understand what she was really referring to.
Toby gripped his cup again and replied lightly, “No.”
“Really?” Sonia frowned slightly; she was obviously not convinced.
Toby looked at her. “Why would I do that to you?”
Why? How would I know why?
Just when Sonia was feeling exasperated, Toby sipped his coffee and said again, “Don’t worry, I didn’t do anything to you. I put you in the room and left.”
His expression was cool, without the slightest hint of guilt. Sonia looked at him steadily for a while and did not see anything wrong with him, so she could not help but believe his words. Maybe the hickey on her neck really wasn’t his doing. But if not him, then who else could it be? It was hard to believe that after he left last night, there was another person who entered her room.
Thinking about this, Sonia clenched her palms, her chest heaving violently in anger. She really did not expect…
“Darling, I’m done changing.” At this time, Charles’ voice came, interrupting Sonia’s thoughts.
Sonia looked at the man who came over and asked in a low voice, “Did you go out in the middle of the night last night?”
“Go out?” Charles blinked. “No, I slept until morning; why are you asking me this?”
Sonia looked at his bewildered face to make sure he wasn’t lying, then waved her hand. “It’s nothing.”
There were only four men here. Besides Toby and Charles, there were Zane and Tyler left. It should not be Tyler as he was only a teenager, so Zane was the only possible suspect left.
Just when she was thinking about Zane, he appeared, jingling the car keys in his hand. “The car has been filled with gas, and I also had the chef put a lot of food in the car. At noon, we will eat our lunch at the top of the mountain. You…”
Before he could finish, he felt a sharp, probing gaze on him, rendering him speechless. “Sonia, why are you looking at me like that? Is there something on my face?” Zane touched his face suspiciously.
Sonia narrowed her eyes at him. “Did you go out in the middle of the night last night?”
“No, why would I go out?” Zane had a very strange expression on his face.
Sonia felt that he was also telling the truth, so her face sank. If it wasn’t Toby nor Charles nor Zane, then who could it be? Last night, there were only a few of them in the villa and no outsiders, so could it be that she had really misunderstood and the mark on her neck was not a hickey but a mosquito bite?
For a moment, the expression on Sonia’s face was a bit dazed, and then she left the dining room in a trance. After that, Charles and Zane looked at each other. “What’s going on?” Zane asked.
Charles shook his head, indicating that he didn’t know either. Then in the next second, he suddenly thought of something else, so he narrowed his eyes and looked at the man who was still sitting at the table drinking coffee. He questioned in a harsh tone, “Did you bully my darling?”
The words ‘my darling’ felt excruciatingly grating to Toby’s ears. With a cold face, he stood up, ignored everyone, and walked out of the dining room.
“What’s with his attitude?” Charles pointed in the direction Toby left, looking annoyed. However, Zane shrugged and did not say anything.
Soon, the group of people gathered outside the villa. There were two kilometers from the entrance to the start of the hike, and it was too slow to walk there, so it was better to drive. Thus, the group of seven people in two separate cars headed toward the foot of the mountain.
Sonia and the other four sat in one, while Toby and Tina sat in the other because no one wanted to sit with them, not even Tyler. Thus, it was obvious how much the others disliked them.
When they arrived at the foot of the mountain, they got off and started to hike up the mountain. Tina looked up at the top of the mountain, a slight hint of hesitation appearing on her face. “It’s so high up, Toby. Are we really going to climb up there and not take the cable car?”
Before Toby could answer, Charles spoke first. “What? You want to take the cable car up the mountain?”
“No?” Tina looked at him, her large eyes filled with innocence.
Pursing his lips, Charles replied, “It’s not impossible, but we’ve agreed not to take the cable car up the mountain before. We’ll take it down the mountain; otherwise, it won’t be a hiking trip!”
“But it’s too high up.” Tina bit her lip, her tone full of resistance.
“So go back then. Don’t stay around and ruin our mood,” Charles impatiently said.
“You!” Tina’s face turned red with anger, and then she looked at Toby.
Toby asked, “Tina, do you want to go back? If you want to go back, I will send you back.”
“I—”
“Hey, Miss Gray, can’t you even go through a little hard work?” Before Tina could answer, Zane interrupted her.
When Tina heard that, she had a flash of bad premonition surged in her heart. Then, Sonia and Rebecca looked at each other and smiled. They knew that Zane was up to something.
“Mr. Coleman, what do you mean?” Tina squeezed her hands tightly, barely maintaining a smile on her face as she looked at Zane.
The corners of Zane’s mouth hooked up into a playful smile. “I don’t mean anything other than you being too weak and pretentious.”
“Zane!” Toby pursed his lips and looked at him unhappily.
Zane spread his hands. “Toby, I’m not wrong, am I? If your fiancée thinks the mountain is too high and doesn’t want to hike, then she shouldn’t have come in the beginning. Isn’t it pretentious of her now that she’s here but wants to give up even before trying?”
Toby furrowed his eyebrows. Although he did not like Zane’s attitude, it was undeniable that what Zane said was the truth.
