Sonia squeezed her brows together. “Did Grandma ask you to send me home?”
“Yeah.” Toby’s eyes glinted for a moment as he spoke.
“She told you to send me home when we were in the ward earlier, but she no longer insisted on it after I rejected the offer. Why would she change her mind and make you come after me? You aren’t lying, are you, Toby?” Sonia eyed him with a suspicious look.
He pulled the car door open as he spoke. “No. It had turned dark, and Grandma was worried about you walking around on your own, so she told me to come after you and send you home. Alright, just get into the car. You don’t want Grandma to get worried, do you?”
Sonia fell silent for a while before she let out a sigh. “Fine. Okay.” She lowered her body and got into the car. Toby relaxed his eyebrows a little when he saw her entering the car. It looks like she believes what I said. He closed Sonia’s door for her before going around the front of the car and getting into the driver’s seat. “Are you heading back to the Bayside Residence?”
Sonia’s gaze was fixed on the view outside the window as she gave him a soft grunt of agreement. Toby pressed his lips together before he started the car. On the way home, Sonia didn’t say a single thing; she didn’t wish to talk to him, nor did she have much to say to him.
Meanwhile, Toby tried to steal a few glances at her through the rearview mirror. However, her expression was barely visible due to the dark shadows in the car. He wasn’t used to Sonia being this quiet. They would ride in the same car in the past, during the six years they had been together. Back then, Sonia still loved Toby; she would always try to start topics of conversation with him while they were in the car. Toby, on the other hand, wouldn’t pay much attention to her. Sometimes, he would even tell her to keep quiet when he felt like she was talking too much. That’s exactly what she’s doing now—she’s keeping quiet, and she’s no longer trying to initiate topics of conversation with me, Toby thought. He felt his chest tightening.
With that thought in his mind, Toby’s lips twitched for a moment before he spoke up. “Are you and Charles planning to get married?” He surprised himself by starting a topic; he had no idea what made him do it.
“Hmm?” Sonia froze for a second. She was clearly puzzled by his abrupt question. “I don’t know,” she said while shaking her head.
Toby’s eyes lit up immediately. Before he could conceal the slight joy in his eyes, Sonia continued with the rest of her words. “I guess I might get married to him in the future. He’s really good to me; even his parents are really nice to me. I’m sure I’d live a really happy life if I get married to him.”
Toby tightened his grip on the steering wheel as a rather displeased look found its way to his face. He could tell that she was mocking him and the Fuller Family. However, he couldn’t deny the fact that Charles was indeed good to Sonia. Toby knew that Sonia would live a better life if she got married to Charles. That was the truth, yet Toby felt uneasy and frustrated whenever he thought about it. He loosened his tie before he spoke in a hard and cold tone. “Is that so? I wish you the best then.”
“Thanks, President Fuller. I wish you and Miss Gray a long and loving relationship as well,” Sonia said with a smile. He pressed his thin lips together and kept quiet after that. A long and loving relationship? Oddly enough, Toby disliked the good wishes that Sonia had just offered him. It wasn’t because there was something wrong with the term itself; it was simply because he didn’t want her to be happy for him and Tina.
Both of them fell silent on the trip home after that. The atmosphere in the car seemed even heavier than before. Sonia could sense that the man was in a bad mood, but she couldn’t—nor did she wish to—understand why. She simply decided to plug in her earphones and listen to music instead. Toby could tell that the mood was getting rather gloomy in the car. She was the one who made him unhappy, yet she heartlessly listened to her music without showing any concern for him, and that made him mad.
Soon enough, they arrived at the Bayside Residence. After Toby pulled the car over, Sonia opened the door and got out. She stood by the side of the road for a short moment before she let out a soft cry. Then, she fished her purse out once more before she pulled out a bill and knocked on the car window. Toby rolled down the backseat’s window before he turned to look at her from where he sat on the driver’s seat. “What is it?” There was a hint of anticipation in his voice.
“It’s nothing. I just forgot to pay you for the car ride.” Sonia gave him a perfunctory smile before she threw the money in through the car window. She then strode off in the direction of her building. Toby glanced at the back of her figure before he turned to look at the money lying on his backseat, which made him frown and purse his lips.
The next day, Daphne came into Sonia’s office after Sonia arrived at work. “Mr. Coleman is here to see you, President Reed.”
“Zane Coleman?” Sonia halted her movements just as she was about to put her bag down.
“Yes,” Daphne said with a nod.
“What’s he doing here?” Sonia pulled her chair back to sit down.
“Mr. Coleman didn’t tell me much, but he said that he has something he’d like to talk to you about,” Daphne replied.
“Got it. Please send him in,” Sonia uttered as she turned her laptop on. Zane wouldn’t visit me for no reason. It seems like what he’s about to tell me must be important, Sonia thought. Moments later, Zane walked in with a file in his hands. He didn’t look anything like his usual lazy and playful self. Sonia couldn’t get used to the stern expression on his face.
“Please take a seat,” she said as she pointed toward the chair before her. “Please get Mr. Coleman some coffee,” she told Daphne as she turned toward the latter.
“Alright,” Daphne replied before turning to leave the office. Zane and Sonia were the only two people in the room after that. “I heard that there’s something you’d like to talk to me about. What is it?” Sonia looked at him.
“Do you remember that time when you nearly fell off a horse?” Zane asked as he pushed the documents toward Sonia.
“Of course,” Sonia uttered with a nod. Her soul nearly left her body when that happened; how could she forget such an incident? “What you’re about to tell me… Does it have anything to do with me falling off the horse?” Sonia asked.
Zane nodded. “It wasn’t an accident that you fell off the horse.”
“What?” Sonia froze just as she was about to look through the documents. “Did you say that it wasn’t an accident?”
“That’s right. Someone was behind it,” Zane replied with a serious expression.
“How could that be? Charles told me it was an accident. Furthermore, you were around while we were investigating it.” Sonia frowned.
Zane leaned back in his chair. “That’s right. We did conclude that it was an accident when we first investigated the matter. However, when I went out the second day to walk the horses…” Zane told her all about his encounter with the musk pills.
Sonia clasped her palms together after she heard the story. “I see,” she muttered. Controlling a horse’s behavior from afar, making it lose control and throw me off… Such a tactic would indeed make others assume that it was an accident. No one would link this to Tina, and they wouldn’t have proof to show that it was Tina even if they managed to connect the dots. Tina never went to the stable, and she never laid hands on any of the horses, after all. This is exactly like the time when Tina used a poisonous snake to harm me. It looks like the beating she got that night wasn’t enough for her! That’s okay. I’ll combine all of Tina’s attacks and put them together with the Gray Family’s actions. I’ll get revenge all at once!
“What’s in here?” Sonia took a deep breath to contain the anger within her before she asked Zane that question, and he looked at her. “I thought you’d lose your temper after finding out about this,” he uttered.
“Well, of course I’m mad, but there’s no point in losing my temper. I’d rather add this to the list of things she has done before I get even with her once and for all,” Sonia hissed through gritted teeth.
Zane chuckled. “That’s really smart of you. The documents consist of DNA fingerprinting comparisons. The fingerprint on the glass bottle belongs to Tina.”
Sonia hastily pulled the documents out and went through them. “This is proof of Tina hurting me intentionally. Would you be nice enough to hand them over just like that though? Tell me; why did you help me investigate all of this? What are your intentions?” Sonia didn’t believe that Zane had gone through all this trouble just because he cared about a friend and wanted to protect her. They weren’t even good friends, anyway.
He clapped his hands as he let out a laugh. “Ah, it’s definitely easier conversing with smart people. You’re right; I do have other motives. However, I don’t think I’m asking for anything too much.”
“Tell me about it.” Sonia lowered the documents and crossed her arms in front of her chest.
Zane’s expression grew serious once more. “I’d like you to hand this case over for me to handle it. You’re the victim here. That’s why I came all the way here to inform you of this and give you a heads up. What do you think? I’ve shown you enough respect, right?”
