“Don’t be angry. Take a seat.” Tim pulled out a chair for Tina.
Thud! She flung her bag violently onto the table. “How could I not be? I could have ended Sonia today. Once she’s gone, I won’t have any troubles in the future. But you—”
“Toby is at the hospital,” he cut her off.
Tina was visibly shocked. “What? He is at the hospital?”
“Yes, that’s right. Plus, he was right outside the operation theater, and he clearly saw me entering. Think about it, if I were the surgeon, and Sonia lost her life in the end, don’t you think he’d get suspicious and look into it?”
Learning about the unexpected news, she bit her lip. “You’re right. We can’t kill her right away. Still, you could have aborted her baby. Why didn’t you do it?”
She shot the man an angry glare, but he calmly poured a glass of water for her. “Don’t worry. We have plenty of chances to do that. Do you not trust me?”
“I’m just worried that if this drags on, Toby might acknowledge the baby and remarry her,” she replied with her fists clenched.
A smirk crept up to Tim’s face. “You’re overthinking. Toby thinks differently from Sonia. He knew that the child was his, and he personally waited outside the operation theatre for her surgery to end. From there, you could tell that he’s not particularly fond of the baby. That’s why your worries will not come true.”
“Better be sorry than safe! Don’t forget what I have told you before—his true love is Sonia,” she answered solemnly.
His eyes sparkled. “By the way, I have never asked you the reason behind your envy and hate for Sonia. Since she has divorced Toby and it does not look like she’d rekindle the relationship, not to mention that Toby will not get back together with her even though he still loves her, why, then, are you so worried about her?”
Upon hearing that, she dodged his gaze guiltily and remarked impatiently, “You shouldn’t have asked that question.”
She would never tell anyone about the fact that she’d pretended to be Toby’s pen pal, especially to Toby and Tim. If she accidentally let that slip, God knows if Tim would start to suspect if she was truly the person who saved him back then.
“Is that so? Oh well, whatever.” He shrugged in a manner that looked uninterested.
Just when she was about to sigh in relief, she was struck by his other question. “Oh, right, Tina, do you still remember when exactly was our first encounter?”
Panic flashed across her eyes. “Why the sudden question?”
“Nothing. I was just feeling a little nostalgic.” He took a sip of tea and smiled while she was frustrated and angered by the ambush. Why would a grown-up feel nostalgic for no reason? Is there something wrong with him?
Regardless, she kept a smile on her face and replied, “Of course, our first encounter was the day I saved you.”
Hearing that, Tim gently tapped his fingers on the table and said nothing.
Tina’s heart immediately tightened, and the smile on her face almost fell apart. Clutching her hands, she suppressed the panic in her and replied calmly, “Isn’t that right?”
Seven years ago, when they first met, he excitedly told her that he had finally ‘found her’.
At that time, she expressed that she did not know him, but he said it was fine; after all, that was only their second encounter. From the clue, she guessed that their ‘first encounter’ must be the time she had ‘saved him’. Therefore, it was impossible to give the wrong answer.
Tim suddenly broke into a smile. “Of course, you’re right—our first encounter was the day you saved me.” Intentionally, he emphasized the keywords.
Tina was oblivious to the change in his tone and breathed an enormous sigh of relief. Out of nowhere, however, he added, “Do you remember the place where you saved me?”
Her heart that had just calmed down started to beat anxiously again. She could almost kill him for the anxiety he stirred. More than that, she was gripped by nervousness and fear.
What is he implying? Why is he suddenly asking me those questions? Could he have found out that I was faking my identity as his ‘savior’, and he is now trying to sound me out?
She paled at the thought of the possibility. Suddenly, she was at a loss because of the panic. This time, she had no answer to his question, for she had no idea where his savior had saved him. She was even more clueless about the situation in which he was saved, something that he had never told her before as well. As such, how could she possibly answer him?
But she couldn’t just ignore his question because that would be an indirect admission of her pretense. After giving it much thought, she finally offered a safe answer, stating, “I’m sorry, Tim. I can’t really recall the details.”
Yes, she merely said that she forgot about their first encounter; she did not admit to not knowing. Therefore, he must not be able to tell whether she was lying.
Just when she was losing whatever’s left of her confidence, he grinned and said, “That’s fine! It’s normal to forget the details after ten long years. You were too young at that time, anyway.”
When Tina realized that he did not suspect her account, she exhaled in relief. Looks like I took the right step. Following the startling episode, she wrapped her arms around his and said, “Tim, why don’t you tell me again? Where did we first meet? I promise I won’t forget about it again.”
“Sure.” He stared at his feet to hide the chilling look in his eyes. “We first met at a theme park. At that time, I fell down and injured myself. When I couldn’t walk, a human trafficker came up to me and wanted to kidnap me. It was you who showed up and scared the man away.”
Ah, so that was what happened. Tina narrowed her eyes and slapped her thighs in her act. “Tim! After you brought it up, I could recall some memories. You’re right. We first met at a theme park. I did not know how I got the courage to confront the human traffickers. Now that I think of it, I can still feel the fear.”
“You were courageous,” he complimented her with a smile, but his eyes suggested otherwise. They were full of darkness and contempt. Did she actually fall for a story that I made up? Guess a fake is a fake after all.
When she confirmed that it was his usual beam, she could finally get some breathing room. It seemed that Tim did not suspect that she was pretending. He had asked all the questions out of nostalgia. Otherwise, he would have immediately called her out instead of tolerating her lies.
While thinking, she picked up the glass in front of her and took a huge sip of water. Then, she stood up and excused herself. “Tim, um, I need to meet with Toby later. I’ll leave now.”
She could not afford to stay around any longer. If he suddenly popped any tricky questions, she’d get herself into bigger trouble. After all, she could not successfully make up lies each time.
“Okay.” He stood up at the same time while nodding, so she hurried out of the room. He looked on as she left until she disappeared into the corridors. Then, he wiped away the smile on his face and replaced it with a cold and murderous look.
“Tina, how dare you pretend to be my guardian angel? I’ll make you pay for it,” he mumbled in a menacing voice. Indeed, he was partly to be blamed for taking Tina for someone else, but she should have known better. She should have known if she had saved him before.
Even so, she did not correct him. Instead, she shamelessly pretended to be the guardian angel and received his favors without any feelings of guilt. This deception was humiliating enough to make him vow to take revenge on her. Staring at Tina’s teacup, Tim flashed a wicked smile. Next, he sent a text to Sonia.
The moment Sonia read his text, her brows crinkled up into a furrow.
