“I have announced it in front of the press, so it’s definitely true!” Charles raised his eyebrow. “I’ll bring some candy over tomorrow to celebrate the good news while sharing it with you too, Daphne.”
“Umm, sure…”
As Charles had always been behaving like he was joking, Sonia was used to it. She pushed his hands away in response and impassively strode into her office.
“Get us a pot of tea and a cup of coffee with no sugar, please.” He followed her into her office after instructing Daphne. “Babe, once you’re done with your work, can we talk about the takeover of Continental Co.? I have just conducted an investigation on the company this morning…”
Meanwhile, Daphne kept her eyes on Charles as he walked into the office and she saw the door shut behind him shortly after he entered. His voice was no longer audible due to the closed door. At that moment, she tightened her grip on the documents in her hands while she had a forlorn expression on her face.
…
Sonia’s mind was still in a state of mess from last night’s fling. She just couldn’t focus on her work while his words went above her head. In the end, she was so annoyed by his chatter that she kicked him out of her office.
It was only at noon that she was able to finally calm down. I’m divorced from Toby, which means I’m currently single. Even if I have a casual fling with a random stranger, it’s not a big deal! The only thing that stumped her was that her tolerance to alcohol was quite good but oddly enough, that wasn’t the case last night. I threw up in the bathroom last night while being fully conscious, so how did I end up in a drunken state?! Furthermore, she couldn’t even recall how she met that man and subsequently made her way into his room.
Sonia suddenly realized that she had torn off that piece of paper on the notepad with his phone number earlier this morning. She subsequently took it out of the pocket of her jacket and searched for his phone number on Messenger.
The other party soon approved her friend request. She immediately flicked a message to him without even waiting for him to initiate the conversation.
Sonia: ‘We’re both adults, so last night was just a fun thing for us. Let’s forget about it. That would be best for the both of us.’
Sonia: ‘Successful transfer of 88888.’
Toby was busy taking care of Tina in the hospital at that moment. Upon hearing the news of her being rushed to the emergency room last night, he was engulfed with worry. He arrived at the hospital only to be told that she was fine and had merely injured her forehead with a slight fracture on both of her legs, so she had to be hospitalized for a short period of time.
Tina soon regained consciousness. At that moment, her eyes were rimmed red as she held his hands before she sobbed, “Toby, I’m scared. Can you stay with me?”
Toby couldn’t bear to say no to her, so he arranged for Tom to send Julia home while he himself stayed with Tina. He noticed that Tina’s face still remained deathly pale in the morning, so he had no choice but to instruct Tom to bring him a laptop. By doing so, he could accompany her while dealing with work in the ward.
It was in the middle of the afternoon when Toby’s phone had suddenly vibrated to indicate a notification on his Messenger. He tapped into the app and realized that it was a notification for his private number, so he deduced that it was Sonia who’d added him as a friend before he switched accounts to have a look. He had only just approved her friend request and was considering how to bring up last night’s incident when he received her message followed by a transfer of funds.
Toby stared at her message and his brows gradually furrowed while his expression darkened. This woman…
All of a sudden, there was a piece of news that popped up on the front of his screen. As he noticed that the news referred to Sonia, he subconsciously clicked on it to see Charles with his arms around her as he cleared the air about the rumors of Sonia and Carl to the members of the press. After that, Charles overtly announced his relationship with her and he even managed to throw in a snide remark about Toby at the same time.
This piece of news combined with Sonia’s drunken words from last night made Toby feel rather frustrated and annoyed.
At this moment, Tina was in good spirits as she had finished her video call with Julia. She was just about to ask Toby what was for lunch when she noticed that he was in a foul mood; his expression was as dark as a thundercloud. She instinctively clutched at her blanket. Could it be because of Sonia?
“Toby,” Tina called out to him softly. “I noticed that you’ve been staring intently at your phone. Are you quite busy? Why don’t you head back to work at the office? I’m fine by myself.”
Toby peeled his eyes off from his phone upon hearing that. “I’m not busy. I’ll keep you company here today.”
“Okay.” Tina smiled. “What would you like to have for lunch?” Then, she took the initiative to order food and unlocked her phone to do that. At that moment, she accidentally clicked into the news app on her phone before she glanced at the current news. She exclaimed in shock, “Toby, have you seen the news? Miss Reed is in a relationship with Charles!”
“Yeah, I just saw that news pop up on my feed.”
“I previously felt sorry toward Miss Reed when she insisted on getting a divorce, but my heart’s now at peace,” she mentioned. “She has finally found her own happiness and maybe her wedding might be held before ours.”
Meanwhile, Toby’s expression darkened even further as he was at a loss for words. Suddenly, he responded, “Charles isn’t a good match for her.”
Tina was momentarily stunned, but she soon smiled and replied, “How is that so? They grew up together. Besides, his mom has always treated Sonia as her daughter-in-law. Charles had previously mentioned to his bunch of friends that he was just waiting for Sonia to agree. Even if she decided to get married on a whim, he would be there waiting to take her as his wife.”
“Toby, are you feeling upset that Miss Reed has entered into another relationship?” she questioned gingerly, her pale complexion making her look weak and pitiful.
“No,” Toby denied. Whether Charles suits her or not is none of my concern. Ever since she sent that message asking me to forget about last night with no obligation on my part to be responsible, then there’s no need for me to care about this.
He made his way to her bedside and ruffled Tina’s hair with his hand. Then, he spoke with a low voice, “Charles is known to be a flirt. That was just my casual comment. I married Sonia because of you, so I have no feelings for her. You’re the only woman whom I’m concerned about and appreciate.”
Toby leaned forward to kiss her on the forehead. “Darling, rest well. I’m sure you wouldn’t want to attend our engagement ceremony in a wheelchair, right?”
Upon hearing that, Tina shook her head and muttered, “Of course not! That would be mortifying. I think I should skip lunch. I’m worried that I won’t be able to fit into any gown if I continue to maintain this sedentary lifestyle. What do you want to have for lunch? I’ll order some food for you.”
Meanwhile, he tapped on his phone and swiftly ordered some lunch. “You shouldn’t skip your meals. I’ve ordered all of your favorites.”
“Toby, you must be intentionally trying to fatten me up so that I’ll be ugly.” Tina pummeled him lightly with her fists and her tone of voice was evidently quite coquettish. At this moment, she leaned against Toby’s chest and felt rather content in his arms.
Actually, she’d woken up in the middle of the night when he was sound asleep. She had attempted to receive the photos from the other party and leak them to the press, but the opposite happened. Not only did the other party refuse to send the photos, the said person even refunded the money to her. Fortunately, the other audio recording had caused a stir in Sonia’s life and Tina realized that she owed her gratitude to Charles as well.
“Let’s have a look at what you ordered.” Tina was in good spirits and she took hold of Toby’s phone. However, when she saw the dishes that he ordered, her smile froze on her face. All these aren’t my favorite food…
“You must be surprised, huh?” Toby smiled. “You were unconscious for many years, but you mentioned all of your favorite items and food in our exchange of letters. That’s why I remembered everything. I know you love mangoes, so I ordered a mango pie too.”
Those letters were burnt to a crisp, so why is he still obsessed with the contents of them and mindful of his penpal?! She tried hard to suppress her jealousy as she wrapped her arms around him while mentioning in a gentle voice, “Toby, it’s quite normal for one’s taste and preference to change. From now on, you should just take note of the food I currently enjoy, alright?”
Without a second thought, Toby grunted his approval. Tina was quite content with his response. At the same time, she lifted her head to stare at his lips. Suddenly, she reached out to hug him and pulled him toward her as she attempted to kiss him on the lips.
