“Are you new here?” Tina glared at the receptionist.
The receptionist shook her head. “No.”
“Why are you stopping me, then? Do you know who I am?” Tina pointed at herself. I’m Toby’s fiancée, future CEO of the Fuller Group and wife of the president. How dare a mere receptionist stop me?
The receptionist was feeling a lot of heat from Tina, but she forced herself to keep a smile. “I know who you are, Miss Gray,” she answered apologetically. “But I can’t let you go upstairs. President’s orders.”
“Toby said that?” Tina froze up, but then she clenched her fists. “What did he say?” she asked coldly.
“President Fuller said you must make an appointment if you want to see him from now on. We can’t let you in if you don’t have an appointment. You can call him if you don’t believe me, Miss Gray.” After that, the receptionist bowed to Tina and stood before the exclusive elevator. Obviously, she wouldn’t let Tina up.
Tina’s face was flushed with anger. Just you wait. I’ll get Toby to fire you. She snorted and went to the lounge area to call Toby.
Toby was still in the meeting when Tina called him. He frowned, but still he looked at who was calling. However, when he realized it was Tina, his face fell, and he ended the call.
Tina was shocked that the call was cut off so abruptly. He hung up on me. She was angry, but also scared. What is he doing? Why didn’t he pick his phone up? Is he mad at me for the switcheroo? Or…
Tina bit her lip, then she called Toby again without any hesitation. I have to get through to him no matter what.
“There’s that then. Let’s talk about the details and the rules. I—” Toby’s phone rang again before he could finish his sentence. His face fell when he realized it was from Tina again, and there was a hint of impatience in his eyes as he cut the call. But Tina called him again a few moments later.
The president on his right took a glance out of curiosity, and he smiled when he saw who the caller was. “President Fuller, you should take it. It’s from your fiancée after all. Maybe it’s something urgent.”
Sonia was sitting at the other end of the table, the spot furthest from Toby. When she heard who the caller was, she arched her eyebrow. Tina? She looked at Toby in interest.
I thought he loved her, but now he won’t even take her call? And he’s impatient with her too. Did something happen between them?
Sonia wasn’t the only one who was thinking about that; the other presidents were too. Everyone saw what Toby did, so if he truly was going to break up with Tina, they would have to reconsider their relationship with the Grays. Ever since the Grays managed to ally themselves with Toby, during the past two months, they had been acting all high and mighty. That attitude got on everyone’s nerves, so it was good news if Toby dumped her.
“My apologies, everyone. I’ll have to stop the meeting for a while. I need to take this call.” Toby didn’t know what everyone was thinking, of course, but he knew Tina would call him again if he didn’t take her call. Even if he turned his phone off, she’d call Tom, so Toby stood up with his phone in hand.
“Understandable. Work is important, but so is family. Take your time, President Fuller. Don’t let her wait.” All the presidents smiled at him.
Toby nodded at everyone before going out of the room, then Tom followed him out.
Everyone burst into discussion after the two of them left.
“President Fuller is a business genius, and a young one at that too. Shame he doesn’t have any taste in women. Of all the women he could pick, he picked Tina. Did you guys hear how she wouldn’t stop calling him? That’s going to be a problem. President Fuller won’t be having it easy with her.”
“You can say that again! She’s just like the mistress I used to have. She wouldn’t stop calling me if I missed even one call. What a nuisance that one was.”
“President Reed.” One of the presidents suddenly looked at Sonia.
Sonia was having some tea while hearing the presidents spilling tea on Toby and Tina. She was having fun, but she never expected anyone to call her.
“Yes, Mr. Ziegler?” She put her teacup down and smiled politely at the president who called her.
Mr. Ziegler said, “You’re prettier than Tina. More capable as well. It’s a shame President Fuller divorced you for Tina.”
Tina stared at him for a few moments, then she realized what he was getting at. He was jealous that a young woman like her managed to get the partnership without much effort when he, as a veteran, did everything he could to earn the spot, so he was trying to fan the flames between her, Toby, and Tina so that they’d be tearing each other apart down the road. Shameless old git.
Sonia cursed him silently, but she put on a smile nonetheless. “Oh, you flatter me, Mr. Ziegler. It’s not a shame at all, no. President Fuller is blessed, in fact. He found his true love after all. Besides, the love story between a prince and a naive princess is all the rage now. President Fuller loves clueless, naive ladies like Tina, while I…”
A grin carved itself on Sonia’s lips. “While I’ll be the queen. After all, you said I’m prettier and more capable than she is. In that case, I’m getting myself a cute, naive young lad. They know how to make me happy, and they’re young. The divorce is great for both me and President Fuller, so please don’t bring it up anymore, Mr. Ziegler.”
“Y-You’re right, President Reed.” A vein in Mr. Ziegler’s forehead popped. What a shameless woman. She mocked President Fuller and that Tina girl. She’s making President Fuller look like an incompetent old fool who has no taste in women. On top of that, she’s saying that President Fuller doesn’t know how to make a woman happy, and that Tina is the reason why he has no taste in women. As if that’s not enough, she praised herself to high heavens in the end. Gosh.
Mr. Ziegler wasn’t the only one who thought so, since everyone else shared that sentiment. However, they also realized that Sonia was not to be trifled with. She’d retaliate if anyone tried to provoke her. Well, Titus wouldn’t have lost out to her if she was easy prey.
Since everyone had stopped talking, Sonia picked up her teacup once again, concealing the smile she had behind.
At the same time, Toby was outside the conference room, taking Tina’s call. Before he could say anything, Tina complained, “Why didn’t you take my call, Toby?”
A frown creased Toby’s forehead, and he answered calmly, “I was in a meeting.”
Tina bit her lip. “But you used to take my calls even when you were in meetings. Are you mad at me, Toby?”
Toby looked down at the ground, his gaze dark. “Then tell me, why am I mad at you?”
“Because I switched Miss Reed’s proposal out,” Tina whispered.
Toby pursed his lips. “So you knew.”
“Yes. Dad told me that after he came back.” She nodded. “I came straight away so I could explain myself, but I couldn’t go up. Did you tell the receptionist to stop me, Toby?”
