Zane ignored the gloomy face Toby was giving and asked again, “Also, why did you ask someone to send mangoes to Paradigm Co.?”
Toby furrowed his brows. “I didn’t.”
Toby’s face darkened even more after Zane explained how Jean scolded Sonia because of the matter about the mangoes. Then, he quickly called Four Seasons Orchard to look into it.
After looking into the matter, the person-in-charge quickly apologized, “I’m sorry, President Fuller, the delivery man wasn’t aware of your divorce and thought Miss Reed was still your wife, so he delivered the mangoes to Miss Reed’s company instead. My sincere apologies about that.”
Toby had put his phone on speaker, so Zane––who was sitting across from him––heard the content too. “Oh, poor Sonia. She was wrongly accused by your mother.”
Feeling vexed, Toby rubbed his eyebrows. He had never thought that someone would have the guts to secretly take pictures of him at Sakura Heights. Besides that, he had not expected that the mangoes would be delivered wrongly, which caused Jean to confront Sonia at Paradigm Co.
After waiting for the waiter to serve the dishes and walk out, Toby asked Zane, “Has Sonia talked with the person-in-charge from Rentoor?”
“Yeah. She’s going to visit Rentoor’s factory on Thursday.”
Zane even praised Sonia. “I think even if you didn’t give Rentoor a heads-up, they will still be willing to collaborate with Sonia given her eloquence. Although she has just entered the business circle, she’s a fast learner, and that is really something.”
“You think so?” All of a sudden, Toby felt like it wasn’t that he didn’t know Sonia well enough, but he just had not paid attention to her at all.
After having married Sonia for six years, all he could remember was the scene of Sonia being busy at home. As a responsible wife, she would prepare delicious dinners for him and iron his clothes.
Toby had never expected that besides doing house chores, Sonia was outstanding in other aspects too.
Zane shrugged. “You’ll understand when you see it for yourself next time. Your ex-wife is really something. But I don’t understand, Toby. Isn’t Paradigm Co. going to sign a contract with Dwells soon? Why did you still introduce Rentoor to them?” Zane asked. “You would owe Rentoor a favor by doing so, and Rentoor would surely bother you to return this favor in the future.”
“This overseas order is very important for Paradigm Co., which is currently very unstable,” Toby replied indifferently while eating. “Dwells is good at dealing with overseas orders, but Rentoor is even better, and they are more well-known than Dwells. If Paradigm Co. can establish a long-term collaboration with Rentoor, they won’t have to go look for orders as the business with Rentoor will be profitable enough.”
“Did I hear it right? Toby, are you helping your ex-wife to build connections?” Zane rubbed his chin.
Toby remained silent for a moment and said nonchalantly, “She did not ask for anything when we divorced. I’m doing so as compensation to her.”
“This compensation is too stingy. She has stayed with your family for six years. Having been ordered around by your mother every day for six years straight––if I were Sonia, even a billion is too little of a compensation.” Zane chuckled.
Before Zane could finish teasing Toby, the latter suddenly put down the cutlery and grabbed his blazer on the back of his chair. “I’m heading back to the office.”
Seeing Toby walk out, Zane yelled, “I’m just spitting facts. Did that bother you, Toby?”
As a response to him, Toby flung the door closed with a loud bang.
“Go ahead and fling it. I don’t have to pay for any damage caused anyway.” Zane shrugged and summoned the waiter to order more food.
…
Some staff of Paradigm Co. had secretly recorded the video of Jean causing a scene in the company, and that particular video had spread across the business circle.
Everyone was surprised that Toby, who was resolute and honorable in the business circle, actually had such a ferocious mother. Meanwhile, some thought Sonia was too much for treating her ex-mother-in-law that way after watching the second half of the video which had been deliberately edited.
Some even came up with theories that Sonia had already been together with the model from Vashine Entertainment long ago, and that Toby had divorced her upon finding out her betrayal.
All sorts of conspiracy theories started going around the business circle. Nonetheless, Sonia couldn’t bother less about the rumors. After settling the agendas in the company, she went to Norfolk on Thursday. Rentoor’s factory occupied a large area in Norfolk.
After Sonia greeted Rentoor’s boss, she followed him to visit the production line, to observe how the overseas goods were made and to inspect the final products. Both of them negotiated from lunch at noon till 2 in the afternoon. Finally, they came to an agreement and the contract was signed by both parties.
Sonia wore a relaxed smile the moment she saw Rentoor’s stamp sealed on the contract. She then shook hands with Rentoor’s boss. “I’ll count on you for the orders then. The New Year is coming soon—I’ll ask my secretary to send some gifts to you and the staff later.”
“No problem. You’re too kind, President Reed.”
Later, Sonia turned down the boss’ invite for dinner and bought a plane ticket at 3 P.M. It was 4.30 P.M. when she arrived back at Seafield.
While walking along the boarding bridge, a passerby who was walking in a rush beside Sonia accidentally bumped into her, causing her to almost lose grip of her phone.
“I’m sorry.”
Seeing that the other party had apologized, Sonia didn’t think it was necessary to make a fuss. She quickly picked up the scarf from the floor and passed it to the person. Just then, the person lifted her head and Sonia realized it was someone she knew, so she greeted her politely, “Hi, Mrs. Gray. What a coincidence.”
Julia’s originally gentle-looking face darkened when she saw Sonia.
Without thanking her, Julia quickly grabbed her scarf and said coldly, “We’re having dinner with Toby’s parents tonight to decide the date for Toby and Tina’s engagement. Miss Reed, since you’ve already divorced Toby, please stay away from him.”
Hearing that, Sonia smirked slightly. “I’m so sorry. If it wasn’t that I asked President Fuller for the Ocean’s Heart, he and Miss Gray would have been engaged long ago.”
“You!” Julia glared at Sonia with a sullen look.
“Don’t worry, Mrs. Gray. I’ve never regretted any of my decisions and will definitely not get back with President Fuller. He and Tina are a good match.” With that, Sonia brushed past Julia and walked away resolutely.
Initially, Julia wanted to give Sonia a warning, but she was irritated by her in return. With a gloomy expression, she walked out of the airport with her luggage and coincidentally saw Sonia talking to her secretary. Sonia’s side profile caught Julia’s attention when the former was getting into the car as she thought it looked rather familiar.
Julia gazed fixedly at Sonia’s car until it disappeared from her sight.
“Honey.” Titus walked over in a hurry and took the luggage from Julia. “Sorry I’m late. The traffic was terrible.”
Seeing as she was ignoring him, Titus asked, “What happened?”
“N-Nothing.” Julia retracted her gaze and walked to the car with Titus while asking him, “Where are we going for dinner?”
Titus opened the door to the backseat and escorted Julia in. “At Sheraton Hotel under Fuller Group. It’s just a dress; you could’ve asked someone to send it here. Why bother to go all the way to Norfolk to get it? That’s too tiring.”
“This is Tina’s favorite dress, and she wants to wear it tonight. I was worried that the others would be careless and ruin it. She has to be at her best appearance tonight when having dinner with Toby’s family,” Julia replied.
“Yes, yes. I know you love Tina. Let’s go.”
After getting into the car, Julia realized there was a bouquet of baby’s breath at the other end of the seat. Her smile disappeared at once as a complicated look spread across her face.
After Titus got into the car, his eyes turned dim when he saw Julia holding the bouquet of flowers.
“It’s Rina’s death anniversary today.”
