“Why can’t I?” Tina frowned.
“Miss Gray, you say we’re the culprits, but did anyone see that?” Sonia smiled.
The question caught Tina by surprise, and she gritted her teeth. “No.”
There were only seven of them in the villa. Toby was sleeping then, while the chef and the turf club’s staff didn’t live with them, so nobody saw Sonia and the gang beating Tina up.
“Good. Then how did we beat you up, and where did that happen?” Sonia asked again.
Tina clenched her fists. “You guys drugged me and took me to the turf club in a sack. I was beaten up in the turf club.”
“I see. So where’s the drug now? And where’s the sack?” Sonia smiled at her.
It was a nuisance, but Tina answered, “It must be in one of the rooms here. If it’s not, then you guys must have disposed of it.”
“In other words, you don’t know whether we have any substance or sacks.” Sonia looked at her. “Since you aren’t sure if we have any of those things, and nobody saw us beating you up, that means you’re trying to blame us for something we didn’t do. That’s slander.”
“I’m not slandering you guys! All these injuries on my body, you guys did this to me!” She pointed at the bruise on her face.
Sonia shrugged. “Are there any fingerprints on your injuries? If not, how are you so sure we’re the culprits?”
“That’s right,” Charles agreed, and the others nodded.
“You can’t possibly leave any fingerprints on the skin!” Tina’s voice trembled with fury.
“Then that’s settled. You can’t prove that we’re the culprits, so if you keep accusing us, we’ll sue you for slander.” Sonia grinned.
“Why you…”
Tina wanted to retort, but Toby stopped her. “Enough, Tina. Let’s go back.”
Tina stared at him in disbelief. “Go back? Toby! They beat me up! How can we just go back?”
“What else can you do, then? You don’t have any evidence, do you?” Toby looked at her. He knew Sonia and the gang did this to Tina, but it was a perfect crime. Since Tina didn’t have any evidence, she couldn’t do anything to them even though she knew they were the culprits.
In the end, Tina quieted down and left with Toby. But before they left, Toby turned back to look at Sonia for a while. In response, Sonia squinted at him and pursed her lips.
Just then, Charles came up to her. “Why’d he look at you like that, darling?”
Sonia shook her head. “No idea.” We beat Tina up after all. He should have been looking at me in disgust, but he didn’t. He didn’t look at me that way. In fact, there was something else in his eyes, something I couldn’t put my finger on.
“What a madman,” Charles muttered.
Sonia covered her mouth and yawned. “Alright. It’s still early, so let’s get back to sleep.”
“Let’s go, people.” Zane and the others nodded, then they went back to their rooms.
On the other hand, Tina was standing with Toby outside her room. “I can’t let this slide, Toby.” She flung his hand away.
“I know. But what else can we do? They obviously planned this beforehand, so they left no evidence,” Toby said.
Tina teared up. “So we’re just letting this slide?”
“What else can you do? Your alter ego left no evidence when she set that snake on Sonia this morning. Obviously, they were getting back at you for that. Just let this slide and forget about it.” Toby massaged his temples in exhaustion.
Tina stared down in silence. Forget about it? I can’t just forget about it. Only I get to trip people up, not the other way around. Oh, so you’re getting back at me, are you? Fine then, two can play the game, Sonia. She was planning something devious, but she followed Toby’s advice on the surface. “I understand.”
Toby was glad that she took his advice, and he patted her head. “Alright, we should get some sleep now. I’ll take you to the hospital tomorrow.”
“Okay.” Tina nodded with a smile.
Toby pulled his hand back and went to his room. The moment he was out of her sight, the smile on Tina’s face was replaced by a look of fury and malice.
After everyone had breakfast the next morning, they packed their things and got ready to leave. It wasn’t a perfect weekend, but it was still relatively fun for them.
Charles took both his and Sonia’s luggage to the car, while Sonia was on the sofa, having some juice as she waited for Charles to come back for her. At the same time, Zane and the others were packing their things in their rooms.
“Miss Reed.” Tina suddenly came over to her.
Sonia looked at her calmly. “Anything, Miss Gray?”
Tina put her hands behind her back and smiled at Sonia. “I bet you’re really happy right now, Miss Reed.”
Sonia arched an eyebrow. “I don’t understand. Why should I be happy?”
“Well, you guys beat me up last night, but I can’t show anything for it. I bet you’re really happy because I got what I deserved.” Tina sneered.
A smile curled Sonia’s lips. “Weren’t you listening last night, Miss Gray? I told you we didn’t do it, so stop pestering me, or I’ll get angry.” She placed her juice down and went to see what Charles was doing. What’s taking him so long?
But before she could get out, Tina stomped her foot and stopped her. “A minute, Miss Reed.”
“Anything else, Miss Gray?” Sonia looked back at her.
Tina squinted. “There’s just you and me here, so you shouldn’t lie, Miss Reed. Don’t you think that’s a bit hypocritical?”
That made Sonia smile. “Is that so? Ah, so you think denying something I didn’t do is hypocritical, huh? I see.”
“But you did do it!” Tina raised her voice.
Sonia’s smile didn’t falter. “Remember what I said yesterday? You’d need evidence to back yourself up. Accuse us without evidence again and I will sue you. Good day.”
As soon as she said that, Sonia left, while Tina glowered at her, as if she wanted to tear Sonia apart.
Tina took her phone out, and she glared ahead darkly. The phone was recording everything, so obviously she was trying to weasel the truth out of Sonia and post it online so that the court of public opinion would swarm Sonia again. Tsk! I can’t believe she didn’t take the bait! That sly woman!
“Tina.” Toby came over with their luggage.
Almost instantaneously, Tina put on a smile and turned her phone off. “Oh, you’re done, Toby?” She turned around.
“Yeah. Let’s go.” Toby nodded.
Tina held his arm and left the villa with him.
The moment they came out, they heard Sonia laughing. Toby looked at her direction to see what was happening. Apparently, Charles got something black squirted on his face, while Sonia was in tears from laughing too much.
Charles wiped the smudge off his face as he told Sonia off in mild exasperation. “Stop laughing, darling.”
“Sorry, sorry. My bad. I’ll stop.” Sonia quickly nodded, but when the smudge on Charles’ face got bigger the more he tried to wipe it off, she laughed again.
The corner of Charles’ lips twitched. “Darling…”
But Sonia didn’t hear him. She was clutching her sides from laughing too much.
Charles sighed. “Forget about it. Laugh all you want.”
