Tyler spent a huge amount of money to treat Sonia and Zane to dinner, and he was evidently quite proud of himself as he swaggered into the house.
He had already signed the contract for tryouts. Meanwhile, both Zane and Sonia had promised to keep this a secret for the time being. By the time he passed tryouts and officially joined the national basketball team, Tyler would no longer be fearful of Toby’s wrath because it would be insignificant. And so, Tyler hummed a tune as he walked into the foyer to change into his bedroom slippers. However, he entered the living room and was caught by surprise upon seeing Toby sitting on the couch. The latter was dressed in loungewear and was currently smoking a cigarette quite relaxedly.
“T-Toby!” Tyler jumped up in fright and stammered slightly, “W-Why are you back so early? I thought Tina’s still in the hospital. Why aren’t you there to see her?”
Toby glanced at him. “Have you had your dinner?”
“Yes, I have.”
“Come over here.” Toby flicked the ash off his cigarette by the side of the ashtray using his index finger. “Let’s chat.”
Just then, Tyler could feel a cold sensation run down his spine. D*mn! Did Tina tell him that I’m going to join the tryouts? Tyler clutched his backpack and walked forward with trepidation. Then, he took a seat on the couch next to Toby, but his whole body remained quite tense. “Toby, it’s all my fault—” he started.
Tyler had planned to admit his mistake and take full responsibility for everything. The worst punishment he can inflict on me is to make me face the wall, so that’s not a big deal. Tyler wanted to prevent Toby from investigating this any further, lest the latter confronted Sonia about it.
“Go ahead and play basketball if that’s what you’re really keen to do.” Tyler had barely said anything but was interrupted by Toby before he even finished his sentence.
Tyler stared at the other man in disbelief and he wondered whether he had misheard something. “Toby, did you agree for me to… play basketball?”
“Yeah, go ahead,” Toby replied nonchalantly. “Do whatever makes you happy. I won’t stop you from it, and that includes playing basketball too. I’ll talk to Mom about it.”
Toby had rewatched the two video clips sent by Zane when he reached home at night and he had contemplated the situation for quite some time because of Sonia’s words. Finally, he managed to come to terms with everything. He had entered the family business when he was in school because of his exceptional talent for business. Furthermore, he wasn’t against it either. However, Tyler disliked finance and clearly had no intention to work for the Fuller Group.
Earlier on, Toby had rung up the coach who had gone to Tyler’s school today. The former could sense the coach’s strong liking toward Tyler from his words. The coach had praised him throughout their conversation and insisted that such great talent should be cultivated well and someday, Tyler would definitely shine in the athletic world. Just then, Toby realized that he shouldn’t force Tyler to take over the family business if the latter was reluctant to. Otherwise, he might end up hating him. Besides, he didn’t want to stifle Tyler’s talent in playing basketball either.
“Is this for real?” Tyler’s eyes sparkled. Feeling shocked, he couldn’t quite believe his ears. “Tony, you’re awesome! You’re the most liberal-minded brother in the whole wide world! Don’t worry! I won’t let you down. I’ll definitely make it into the national team and win lots of medals!”
Upon hearing that, Toby responded, “This is the path you choose for yourself so you have to persevere in it. Don’t bring yourself or the family name into disrepute.”
“Noted!” Tyler nodded vehemently before serving Toby a glass of water and some fruits. “Toby, did you win a tender today? I feel like you’re way more patient and understanding than normal.”
“So, what were your true thoughts of me previously?” Toby revealed a half-smile and glanced at him. “Fierce?”
Meanwhile, Tyler scratched his head and replied in a low voice, “Not really. In the past, I felt more like one of your subordinates working for you. Listening to you speak could be quite nerve-wracking.”
Toby laughed out loud and maintained his silence for a short while before saying, “It’s because a woman taught me an important lesson today.” Throughout all these years, I’d assumed that I knew everything but after listening to Sonia’s words today, I realized that I never paid attention to Tyler’s actual thoughts. I always maintained an authoritative stance in front of Tyler and never showed him any concern as a brother, so we never really had a close relationship.
“Wow! What sort of woman would dare to behave so insolently and tell you off?” Tyler questioned with a surprised tone of voice. “Was she your discipline teacher from school?”
Toby chose not to answer. Instead, he casually asked, “What did you have for dinner with Sonia tonight?”
“We had hotpot for dinner and it was amazing. I ate four platters of meat just by myself…” Tyler was full of praise for the dinner he had eaten that night and he chatted incessantly about it. Suddenly, he realized that something was amiss and he immediately stopped mid-sentence.
“Uh—I have some unfinished homework to do… Toby, I’ll head upstairs first!” Tyler grabbed his backpack and hurriedly left the room. As soon as he reached the top of the stairs, he turned back and yelled, “Toby, don’t smoke so much! Sonia mentioned that smoking too much hastens one’s death!”
Toby shot him a cold look upon hearing that. Frightened, Tyler lowered his head and scurried off.
As for Toby, he stared intently at the half of a cigarette in his hand. He distinctly recalled that night he had with Sonia and the kiss filled with cigarette smoke that they shared. Just then, he felt his crotch tighten. Suddenly, he lost his urge to smoke and flung the cigarette into the ashtray.
……
Sonia dialed to ask Charles for the time. Then, they caught a flight early in the morning, five days before the spring festival, to head back to Norfolk.
Mt Buller Resort was located at the northern tip of Norfolk. Being one of the largest ski field resorts in the country, every year during wintertime, there were plenty of people who flocked to the resort for a ski trip.
There were many cabs waiting outside the airport to send passengers off to the resort. In the cab as they were along the way to the resort, Sonia took in the pretty snow scene outside the window. She then asked Charles, “Don’t you feel cold skiing outside in a temperature below freezing point?”
“Of course not. We’re clad in ski attire!” Charles was well-aware that Sonia didn’t enjoy being among crowds so she didn’t have much experience in such extreme sports. He responded by lifting his brows. “I was once the national champion in skiing. Would you like me to be your instructor and give you some tips? What do you say?”
She merely rolled her eyes at him. “We’re here on a business trip. We’re not here for fun!”
“Alright, alright. Business is much more important than me!” He heaved a sigh. “The schedule of the boss of Continental Co. should be a well-kept secret. How did you manage to get hold of this private information?”
“Don’t ask. It’s good enough to know that he’s here.” She turned her head in the other direction to look outside the window and ignored him. I can’t quite mention that it was my casual fling who gave me the information!
As soon as they arrived at the resort, Sonia and Charles proceeded to the hotel to check into their rooms.
She was lost in thought on finding a way to strike up a conversation with the boss of Continental Co. when she noticed that he had just walked in with his friends after a skiing session. Coincidentally, they bumped into each other while walking into the hotel.
“President Drew.” Sonia moved forward and greeted the man standing in front. “My name is Sonia Reed and I’m the vice-president of Paradigm Co.”
Sonia had looked up the background of the boss of Continental Co.—Ryan Drew—upon receiving the information. She found out that his father was also an entrepreneur but he had amassed his fortune by starting up his own business. He refused to accept any help from his father due to their conflict and would rather let Continental Co. go into receivership than accept any money from his father.
This was a good thing though because it provided her with the perfect opportunity.
“I know you. You’re Paradigm Co’s newly-appointed female vice-president.” Ryan extended an arm and shook her hand, a faint smile on his face. “It’s such a coincidence meeting you here.”
“It’s not a coincidence. Actually, I came here specifically to see you.” Sonia realized that he wasn’t completely clueless about things so there was really no point in hiding anything. “I noticed that you just came back in from skiing. Could you spare ten minutes of your time for me once you’ve caught your breath? I would like to discuss something with you.”
Ryan responded by saying, “Sure, I’ll contact you after I’ve taken my rest. See you later.” Then, he left immediately upon saying that.
“He didn’t even ask for your phone number. There’s no way he’s going to call you!” Charles snorted by the side. “Why don’t we go after him right now and make him have the discussion with us? His company will eventually go into receivership anyway so wouldn’t it be easier if he just agreed to our merger?”
“Do you think that everyone is as shameless as you?” Sonia muttered annoyedly. “Perhaps he has our company number.”
Charles gave an icy chuckle in response.
In the end, Sonia did not receive any call from Ryan although one full day had gone by.
Meanwhile, Charles didn’t hold back with his snide remarks either. “Baby, look at that. I told you he was going to ignore you but you didn’t believe my words. Do you trust me now?”
Sonia, on the other hand, was seemingly at a loss for words. “Stop rubbing salt into my wound!”
“I’ve asked the front desk and he’s gone skiing with his friends again.” Charles placed his arms around Sonia’s shoulders and steered her toward the ski field outside. “Let’s go, then. Let’s go look for him at the ski field!”
“The ski field is huge. Are you sure we’ll be able to locate him?”
“If we can’t locate him then we’ll just enjoy ourselves skiing.”
Upon hearing that, Sonia was at a loss for words.
As they walked out of the hotel, the elevator door opened from behind them and out walked a man and a woman.
