Chapter 497 Rose’s Interrogation
“Who’s getting engaged?” Toby wasn’t at Fuller Group today—he had decided to stay home and rest in the penthouse that he was temporarily staying in. He was dressed in a black pajama set and was resting on the couch by the balcony when he received Zane’s call. He had been flipping through a finance magazine, but any calm and peace he felt disappeared once he heard Zane’s words, and he frowned.
Zane responded to Toby while staring at the huge television in front of him. “You, of course. You’re getting engaged to Lily.”
“Why aren’t I aware of my own engagement?” Toby’s sulked, and the air around him seemed to turn a few degrees colder. What’s up with this guy? He isn’t just starting rumors about my engagement; he’s even matching me with that disgusting woman from yesterday. My taste is way better than that!
When Zane heard what Toby said, he paused for a moment before he calmed himself down to speak. “Toby, are you saying that you’re not arranging a marriage with the McRae Family? The engagement is just a false rumor, right?”
“I’ve never said anything about arranging a marriage with the McRaes, so how could I possibly be engaged?” Toby pursed his lips. “Who told you about this engagement?”
“The Internet,” Zane replied. “It’s all over the news. All of the websites are claiming that you and Lily are getting engaged. I called to ask you right after I saw an article. I can’t believe it’s all fake! Sh*t. The media site that started this sure has some guts! How dare they report fake news?” Zane continued rambling about media ethics, and a flash of anger surfaced in Toby’s gaze as he narrowed his eyes.
People are spreading false rumors about my engagement with the McRae Family on the Internet, huh? How did false statements like these get onto the Internet? A steely look formed on Toby’s handsome face as he ended Zane’s call and left the couch to walk to his study. He turned his computer on to search for the news articles related to his engagement.
A number of articles with similar contents popped up once he ran a search. He scrolled through the titles to find more than ten thousand comments on each of the articles that reported about his engagement with the daughter of the McRae Family. The attention and fame that this piece of news was getting were no less than the top celebrity scandals in the country.
Toby twisted his face into a frown, and he exuded a forbidding aura as he continued scrolling the news. He had never been someone who enjoyed publicity, so he was thoroughly annoyed by all of the comments he saw online. However, he knew that he wouldn’t be able to get the situation under control when it was still such a hot topic. All he could do now was wait.
He shut his eyes to suppress the frustration he felt, and he only opened his eyes when he felt slightly calmer. When he clicked on one of the posts, he immediately understood the reason for all the false rumors about his engagement with Lily. There was a picture online that seemed to be taken from an odd angle which made him look as if he were hugging Lily. The image of him giving Lily a ‘fond’ gaze had been snapped by some paparazzi, and the paparazzi immediately assumed that he was in a relationship with Lily. It seemed like that was how all of the rumors started.
Once Toby figured that out, he quickly noted a few media companies’ names. There were still sparks of anger in his eyes as he took his phone over to give Tom a call. However, before he could dial Tom’s number, he received an incoming call from Rose.
“I saw some articles about you getting engaged to that girl from the McRae Family, Toby. Is that true?” Rose asked in a stern voice. Before Toby could say anything, Jean’s worried voice sounded through the call. “It’s false news, isn’t it, Toby? You can’t get married to someone from the McRae Family. Their family is going downhill, and a union of our families would only—”
Before Jean could finish speaking, she was cut off. Moments later, Rose’s voice sounded through the call. “Just ignore your mother, Toby. I want you to be honest to me. What’s going on here?”
“It’s false news,” Toby uttered as he massaged his temples. Rose’s expression didn’t change on the other end of the call—she looked as stern and strict as she usually did. However, her tight grip on her walking cane loosened a little after she heard what Toby said. “So… You aren’t getting engaged to Lily, right?” Even her tone sounded gentler than it did before.
“Yeah, I’m not.” Toby nodded.
“That’s good,” Rose replied with a smile. I knew it! My precious grandson would never fall for a girl like Lily. The McRaes might not be as sly and cheap as the Grays, but they aren’t much better than them. If Toby really decided to get engaged with Lily, I would genuinely suspect that he has some sort of mental issue.
Jean had been listening to the call from beside Rose, and she felt herself relaxing once she heard that Toby had no intentions of getting engaged to the girl from the McRae Family. “That’s great,” Jean uttered as she patted the spot in her chest where her heart had been pounding. “I’m glad that it’s a lie. What could the McRaes do for us if they were to become in-laws with us, right?”
Rose gave Jean a disdainful stare. “Benefiting from others is the only thing you have in your mind, huh? I want you to get out of my sight!” Rose smacked her cane against the ground to make loud clanging sounds. Jean had always been afraid of her mother-in-law, so she shrank back when she saw Rose losing her temper. Before Rose could say anything more, Jean scurried away to avoid her.
Once Jean was gone, Rose shifted her focus back to Toby. “Well, if it’s a fake, then how do you explain those pictures? Why were you hugging that girl?”
“The pictures aren’t fake, but they aren’t real either. Those images were taken from a different angle, so they managed to make us look intimate with each other. However, the truth is that Lily tripped and fell, and she clung to my arm as that happened. I didn’t touch her at all.” Toby shot an icy glare at the pictures as he spoke.
Rose was rather surprised to hear his explanation, but she quickly nodded. “I see. If it’s all false rumors, then you should step forward to clarify it soon. Things won’t look good if you take your time to do this. People might start thinking that it’s the truth. Furthermore, aren’t you trying to go after Sonia? Your chances of success will be lowered if Sonia sees the news.”
Toby’s facial expression stiffened upon Rose’s mention of Sonia. That’s right. Sonia. I’m sure she has seen the articles about my engagement by now, right? How did she react to it? Is she unhappy about it? Does she feel uncomfortable because of it? I doubt so. She’s probably happy to hear that I’m getting engaged—she’s finally able to get rid of me, right?
“Toby? Toby?” Rose shouted into the phone when Toby went silent for a while. “Are you there?” she asked.
Toby came back to his senses before he lowered his gaze and spoke in a rather husky voice. “Yeah. I’m here,” he replied.
“Take my advice and clear your name as soon as possible, okay?” Rose repeated herself. “Okay,” Toby replied with a nod.
“That’s all, then. You should drop by the house tonight. I heard Jean saying that you haven’t returned to the Fuller’s Residence in nearly two weeks. You’ve been out so much. You should come over for dinner and a reunion tonight,” Rose uttered. Toby agreed to visit before he ended the call and lowered his phone from his ear. He was about to call Tom when he realized that there was a new text on his phone.
It was a text from Tyler, and Toby opened it to find a 20-second-long voice note. Toby couldn’t contain his curiosity, so he tapped on the voice note to play Tyler’s loud and worried voice. “Sh*t! Sh*t, bro! What’s wrong with you? How could you get engaged to Lily just like that? Didn’t you say that you liked Sonia? Aren’t you supposed to chase after Sonia? Did you change your mind already?”
