Since Toby allowed it, Tom didn’t need to hold back anymore. He nodded and said, “Miss Gray showed up not long after I accepted Miss Reed’s proposal. She was here to hand in her company’s proposal as well. Halfway through, I had to leave to make some coffee for Miss Gray, so I left all the proposals in the room, and there wasn’t anyone besides her back then.”
There was no need for further explanation from Tom, since everyone could see Tina was the one who did the switcheroo. Toby stared down, disappointed in Tina’s behavior.
“Nonsense!” Titus shot up and glared at Tom. “How dare you slander my daughter! Toby, your assistant is spewing lies!” Titus knew his daughter was the one who did it, but he couldn’t admit to it no matter what.
“President Gray, I’m an honest man. I didn’t lie at all. If you don’t believe me, I can show you the surveillance camera’s footage,” Tom rebutted unhappily. He worked to his bone to get to where he was, so he wouldn’t slander anyone, or he would have been fired a long time ago.
All the color drained from Titus’ face when Tom said he had evidence to back him up.
Sonia mocked, “What a nice daughter you have, President Gray. She went really far to get this deal, didn’t she?”
“True. This is an… eye-opening experience, so to speak,” someone agreed.
Titus was fuming, but he couldn’t do anything. All he wanted to do then was find some place to hide, for there was nothing but humiliation for him here. He had never felt so embarrassed before, not even when he was arrested.
After all, nobody knew what he did to warrant the arrest, but this time, it was different. Everyone knew Tina did a switcheroo, and they even thought Titus was behind it. He could imagine how everyone in the circle would view him after this.
Rage was filling Titus up. He hated Sonia for exposing the truth, for not taking the hit like he wanted her to. He hated Toby for exposing him publicly, but most of all, he hated Tina for doing this.
“President Fuller.” Since Titus had lost the battle, Sonia lost interest in him. So she turned to Toby. “Now that the truth is clear, what will you do, President Fuller? Will you keep working with President Gray, or…”
Toby interrupted, “Now that we know the truth, I hereby announce that we shall no longer be working with Titus Gray. President Reed shall be our new partner from now on. Any objections?” He looked at everyone.
Everyone shook their heads. “No.” Titus’ spot belonged to Sonia in the first place, and not to mention Sonia’s proposal was a decent one.
“What about you, President Gray?” Toby looked at Titus.
Titus forced a smile. “No, not at all.” Not that I can do anything even if I do.
Toby nodded and turned back to Sonia. “You heard them. What do you think?”
“Great.” Sonia was delighted, for she finally got the partnership after going through so much. Yes! I won the bet. In your face, Asher. She clenched her fists in excitement.
A smile curled Toby’s lips as he shared her happiness, but the smile only lasted a moment. He was about to say something, but then Sonia blurted, “But this isn’t enough, President Fuller.”
Hearing that, everyone in the room buzzed with excitement. Oh ho. Seems like she’s a greedy one. She’s not satisfied with just the proposal and the deal, huh? Someone’s in trouble.
Titus barked, “Don’t push your luck, Sonia!”
Sonia glanced at him calmly. “What do you mean ‘push my luck?’ I’m the victim here, so why shouldn’t I get fair compensation? That reminds me, President Gray. You’re the perpetrator here, and not only are you not apologizing, but you’re even yelling at me. That’s a bit too much, don’t you think?”
“Why you…” Titus’ eyes were starting to roll to the back from fury.
But Sonia ignored him and turned back to Toby. “President Fuller, I handed in my proposal in your company, but yet someone still managed to switch it out. You’re the boss, so take some responsibility here. You don’t want everyone losing their trust in the Fuller Group, do you?”
“President Reed is right.” Someone nodded. “You should take some responsibility here, President Fuller.”
Toby sat up straight. “We take full responsibility for this fiasco. I sincerely apologize for our staff’s mistake, Miss Reed.” Then he stood up, put his hand on his belly, and bowed at her.
Tom did the same thing. “This is all my fault, Miss Reed. I’m really sorry for this.”
Sonia’s mood took a turn for the better after they apologized, then she looked at Titus. “President Fuller has apologized. What about you, President Gray?”
“You want me to apologize too?” Titus stared at her in disbelief.
Sonia smiled. “Why not? Yes, you weren’t the one who did it, but you could potentially be the mastermind. Even if you aren’t, you wanted to sweep this under the rug and pretend the proposal’s not mine. If Mr. Brown didn’t bring up the fact that he has evidence, you would have insisted that my proposal is yours. Shouldn’t you apologize for that?”
“President Reed is right, President Gray. You insisted that the proposal’s yours, not hers. Everyone saw that too. We know what you were planning, so you’d better say sorry before things get worse for you.” Someone laughed.
Titus was shivering with anger, but he couldn’t retort, or everyone would think of him as a joke even more. He took a deep breath, held his fury down, and glared darkly at Sonia. “Fine, I’ll apologize. I’m sorry. Happy?”
“You don’t sound too willing to me, but it’s already good enough that you apologized. I’ll reluctantly accept your apology, then.” Sonia chuckled.
That almost knocked Titus out. What do you mean ‘reluctantly’? I’ll get back at you for this one day!
“Tom,” Toby said all of a sudden. “Tell everyone that Tina will have to make an appointment every time she wants to come to the company from now on. She’s no longer allowed to come and go as she pleases.”
Tom adjusted his glasses. “Yes, sir.”
“Toby, you can’t…” Titus gawked at Toby, for he couldn’t believe what he just heard.
Sonia couldn’t believe it either.
Toby looked at her for a moment before turning his attention to Titus. “This is the price Tina must pay.”
Titus wanted to argue, but he couldn’t.
From then on, Sonia’s opinion about Toby changed a little, since she never thought he’d actually punish Tina when all he ever did was spoil her. Looks like it’s gonna rain gold today.
Titus took a deep breath and said, “I don’t feel so good, Toby. I will take my leave now.” He’d only get humiliated further if he stayed any longer.
Toby knew he was just trying to escape the humiliation, so he nodded. “Send President Gray off, Tom.”
“Yes.” Tom grunted in obligation, then he invited Titus to go with him.
After Titus was gone, Toby clapped. “Let’s continue the meeting, then.”
Thus, Sonia sat down and went on with the meeting.
On the other hand, Titus stormed back home, obviously upset.
Julia was in the middle of her skincare routine when he came home. She was shocked to see him looking so angry. “You’re early today, dear. Is the meeting done already?”
“That’s no meeting. I would have had a heart attack if I stayed there any longer.” Titus slammed his briefcase down on the sofa.
Julia took her facial mask off. “What happened?”
