Sonia had never expected things to go so smoothly with the government. It only took an hour for a contract to be signed. As thanks to her for a few years of free land use rights, they promised to help her build her factory and have a machinery plant set up for her.
By the time she exited the department, the sky was already dark. As if on cue, her stomach grumbled loudly. Hearing it, Charles threw an arm around her shoulders. “How about we have steak for dinner, baby?”
“Sure.” She nodded in agreement.
“Let’s go!” Still with his arm around her, he lengthened his stride in the direction of their car.
Half an hour later, they arrived at one of Seafield’s most famous restaurants. The moment they walked inside, Sonia heard a familiar voice behind her. “Miss Reed, Mr. Lane, we meet again.”
Instantly, Sonia’s smile faded. Much less politely, Charles rolled his eyes. “Why is it you both again?”
It was none other than Tina and Toby. With a gentle smile, Tina asked, “You don’t wish to see us, Mr. Lane?”
“You don’t need to ask to know that,” he retorted, spreading his arms.
Nonetheless, her smile stayed on her face. She didn’t seem angry. On the other hand, Toby was silent. His gaze was fixed on the bandage on Sonia’s head with an unreadable look in his eyes.
Feeling his stare, Sonia gave him a curious glance and quirked her lips. “Aren’t you afraid your fiancee will get jealous of you staring at me like that, President Fuller?”
At her question, the smile on Tina’s face finally slipped. While Tina knew Sonia was purposely trying to provoke her and Toby, she had no way of denying that Sonia was telling the truth and that Toby had, indeed, been staring at her. Even though jealousy flashed across Tina’s eyes and brewed even more potently in her heart, she made an effort to bring a smile back to her face.
“What are you saying, Miss Reed? How could I possibly be jealous? You’re standing in front of me and Toby, so it’s not so strange that Toby is looking at you. Not to mention, he’s seen plenty of female employees at Fuller Group every day. If I got jealous of every one of them, I’d be very busy. Wouldn’t you say, Toby?” She wrapped her hands around Toby’s arm.
Feeling the force of her grip, Toby frowned slightly but didn’t pull his arm away.
“That’s very magnanimous of you, Miss Gray.” Sonia pretended not to see Tina’s forced smile.
After yawning, Charles said, “Baby, why are you still talking to them? I thought you were hungry. Let’s go get ourselves a table.”
“Of course.” She nodded.
With that, Charles put his arms around her waist and followed the waiter.
As Toby watched them walk away intimately, he lowered his eyes and pursed his lips into a straight line. All of a sudden, he had an urge to rush up and separate them. Nonetheless, he held back. Keeping his head lowered to hide the expression in his eyes, he said to Tina, “Let’s go.”
“Alright,” she answered cheerfully.
On the way to their private room, Charles couldn’t resist grumbling, “Do you think Tina gets tired of faking a smile when she’s clearly jealous of you but pretending she isn’t?”
“Do you get tired of eating and sleeping?” Sonia asked without answering.
Perplexed, he shook his head. With a smile, she pointed out, “Well, there you have it. Some people consider pretending as a vital part of their survival––just like eating or sleeping. So, why would she feel tired?”
“That’s true.” He curled his lips. After a moment of thought, he grinned playfully. “Baby, what’d you say if we tore away her fake mask; wouldn’t she––”
“That’s enough.” She gave him an elbow. “She hasn’t done anything to us at the moment, so we’re not going to do anything to her.” Of course, if Tina made the first move, it would be a different matter altogether.
Just then, they reached their private room. The couple ordered the restaurant’s famous steaks. Halfway through the meal, Sonia wiped the corners of her lips and stood up. “I’m going to the restroom.”
“Do you need me to accompany you?” he teased playfully, waggling his eyebrows.
She gave him a faint smile. “What do you think?”
Seeing the dangerous glint in her smile, he shuddered and chuckled, “Heh, forget it. Come back soon.”
Humming her acknowledgment, she picked up her purse and left. After using the toilet, she tidied her clothes and headed to the sinks to touch up her makeup.
All of a sudden, the stall behind her opened and Tina stepped out. When she saw Sonia, her first reaction was to pause. Following that, she walked up to the sinks with a smile and pulled some makeup powder out of her bag to apply to her cheeks.
“What a coincidence, Miss Reed,” she greeted as she fixed her makeup.
Currently, Sonia was reapplying her lipstick and only answered mildly, “It is indeed, to run into each other even in the restroom.”
Closing the lid of her powder case, Tina looked up at the bandage on Sonia’s head. “Are your injuries any better?”
Sonia pursed her lips without even bothering to look at Tina. “Far from it, thanks to you.”
“Do you still blame me?” The rims of Tina’s eyes abruptly grew red.
Nonetheless, Sonia only found that amusing. After all, she hadn’t done anything to Tina. Why was Tina crying like she had been bullied?
Toby’s taste certainly is unique, she thought to herself. I can’t believe he could like such a phony.
Of course, given that she was once in love with him, her own taste wasn’t necessarily good. Fortunately, she was correcting course now.
Twisting the cap back onto her tube of lipstick, she then tossed it back into her purse. “Of course not. I’ve already been handsomely compensated. How would I justify continuing to blame you? However, I am curious why you asked that question. Are you saying I’m petty?”
“No, no!” Tina waved her hands. “It’s just that your attitude is so cold that I assumed you must still blame me.”
Turning her head, Sonia regarded Tina with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Well, I’ve always treated my friends and my enemies very differently. If I liked you, I’d be very warm toward you. Naturally, if I didn’t like you, I’d be cold toward you. What I don’t understand is why, Miss Gray, when you already know that I don’t like you, you keep offering yourself up as a punching bag?”
At the question, Tina heard someone laughing from within one of the stalls, and she reddened with anger and indignation.
Nonetheless, Sonia merely looked away from her. “So, I hope you’ll stay far away from me when you see me in the future, Miss Gray. Stop making things hard for yourself. Haven’t you realized that you’ve never been able to beat me whether in speech or in deeds?” With that, she zipped up her purse and walked past Tina out of the restroom.
Left alone in the restroom, Tina bit her lower lip and glared with a hawk-like gaze in the direction of the door. Internally, she sneered. Yes, right now, she was constantly losing. But the future was another matter.
At that thought, she picked up her purse and exited the bathroom. In the corridor on the way back to her private room with Toby, an ordinary-looking waiter walked toward her. Right as he reached her, he suddenly pulled out a handkerchief and covered her nose and her mouth with it.
Shocked, she let out a muffled cry and stared at him with wide, terrified eyes, but passed out before she could struggle.
Meanwhile, after finishing their meal, Charles and Sonia were preparing to pay the bill and leave. Right as they stood up from their seats, someone knocked on their door.
When Charles walked over to open the door, he saw Toby standing outside. At this moment, Toby looked tense and was frowning tightly. There was an almost imperceptible urgency in his eyes.
Since she knew him so well, Sonia instantly started to wonder if something was wrong.
However, Charles blocked his way and asked rudely, “Why are you here?”
Ignoring Charles, Toby looked straight toward Sonia. “Is Tina here?”
