Chapter 705 Changing the Public’s Opinion
While Sonia was working on uploading her post, Toby got to work as well. He pulled his phone out and logged onto his social media accounts before typing a few sentences and posting it online. He was a well-known businessman, so he had a large following. His followers ranged from regular citizens to other wealthy entrepreneurs. The moment he made a post, there were a lot of people who received notifications on their phones. These people were shocked as Toby was a man who barely used social media. How could one not be surprised when he suddenly updated his status?
Toby’s followers hastily tapped on their notifications to check his post, and they all gasped in astonishment when they saw what he wrote. ‘I’m writing to ask everyone to stop tagging me. I also hope that you guys will stop claiming that @Sonia doesn’t match up to my standards or that she’s bad or manipulative. I’m not as blind as you guys think I am. Being in the position I am, do you guys think I’m clueless about this matter? It’s a fact that she hasn’t done any of those things that others accused her of, but she’d still be the best woman in the world even if she has done such a thing!’
His status was like a huge rock being flung into a peaceful lake—it created huge waves that impacted everyone on the Internet. ‘Gosh, the big boss actually spoke up! His vegetated account is finally back in use! Sonia’s riding on his coattails!’ someone commented.
‘Our big boss, who never uses his social media accounts, is doing it for his ex-wife… No, they’re back together now, so she’s technically his girlfriend. Why is this so touching? Especially when he said that she’s the best woman even if she had made some mistakes… Gosh, this is just too sweet! He’s like the domineering CEO who makes an official announcement for his lady in TV shows… That explains why Sonia wants to get back with him. I’d also do it if I were her,’ someone else commented.
‘Hey, hey, hey! Aren’t you guys getting off topic here? We should be talking about whatever Jessica accused Sonia of! According to Mr. Fuller’s post, it seems like Jessica is lying. Am I getting this right?’ someone asked.
‘You’re right. Mr. Fuller does seem to be claiming that Sonia hasn’t done whatever Jessica accused her of,’ another person replied to the previous comment.
‘That’s fun. One claims that she did it, while the other says that she didn’t… Who’s telling the truth?’
‘Personally, I have more faith in Mr. Fuller. The Fuller Group is huge—Mr. Fuller wouldn’t risk being exposed for saying something that isn’t true just because of his personal favoritism. The public’s opinion has power over everything, so even an important figure like President Fuller would be impacted if the public were to go against him. I believe the person in charge of such a huge company would know better than to put himself in such a risky position,’ someone stated.
‘I agree!’ someone replied to the comment above. ‘I’m on Mr. Fuller’s side too! Jessica, who popped up out of nowhere, is much less reliable than Mr. Fuller. What Mr. Fuller said is right—it’s impossible for a man of his status to not know the sort of person Sonia truly is. He must know what she has or has not done, right? Furthermore, if Sonia had done such a thing in the past, why didn’t Jessica point it out earlier? Why is she doing it now? There’s clearly an issue here.’
‘I think you guys should pause your discussion temporarily. The other person involved just posted a status announcing that she’ll be hosting a press conference. Go take a look!’ someone commented. It only took a short while for Toby’s social media account to blow up—it wasn’t just netizens who were commenting, but there were also a large number of media and marketing accounts who were reposting his status to rub off on his fame.
However, it was an undeniable fact that Toby’s post had allowed many netizens to gain some perspective on the matter. On the other hand, once Sonia made an announcement about her press conference, she received a pop-up notification with a headline that was bolded by some news site. The headline was too eye-catching for her to ignore. “Fuller Group’s president updated his social media account?!” Sonia couldn’t help but read the headline out in surprise when she saw the bolded words.
“Hmm?” Toby looked up at her when he heard her talking.
“Did you post something?” Sonia lowered her phone as she stared at him.
“Yeah,” he replied.
“What did you post?” Sonia felt her heart racing. Her gut feeling told her that his post was related to her.
“Why don’t you look at it yourself?” he asked as he chuckled.
Sonia lowered her gaze to search for the post and read it. “You…” She felt tears welling up in her eyes.
The smirk on Toby’s lips deepened. “Are you touched?”
“No.” She bit her lip. She had been touched for a short while when she first saw the post, but Toby ruined the moment for her by speaking, and she no longer wanted to feel moved by his actions. After all, these were the sort of feelings that should’ve been experienced in a discreet manner. However, Toby had exposed her emotions without any hesitation, so she felt too embarrassed to continue feeling touched.
After taking a deep breath and calming down a little, Sonia spoke up once more. “You didn’t have to do this. You may not be a public figure, but you have more influence than some famous people, so you should be more careful with the things you put out there. Otherwise, you might cause trouble for Fuller Group and the Fuller Family. Although your statement seems pretty decent here, I’m afraid there may be some ill-intentioned individuals who may choose to misunderstand and twist your words. Some may see you as a person who’s blindly protecting someone who has flaws, and that might impact the public’s view of you,” she explained.
“I know,” he replied with a nod.
“If you knew, then why did you—” Sonia widened her eyes.
“But I don’t care.” Toby held her hand and kissed the back of it. “You may not want me to do anything, but I feel like it’s my responsibility to take action. I’m your man—I can’t just sit around and do nothing when I see my woman being attacked by the public. What sort of man would I be if I did such a thing? On top of that, do you think I care what the rest of the world thinks of me? The only thing I’ve ever cared about is how you see me.”
It had taken some effort for Sonia to suppress her feelings of gratitude for the man earlier, but all of those emotions filled her chest once more after she heard his words. “Thank you,” she uttered as she relaxed the muscles around her brows.
“You don’t have to thank me.” Toby stroked her hair. “I believe you’d do the same for me if I were involved in such a thing, right?”
“Of course!” Sonia nodded. Since they were back together, she would definitely take action if Toby encountered any issues.
“Exactly. I feel the same way,” Toby said as he pressed his forehead against hers. “So, I don’t want you to say that you don’t need me to do such things in the future, okay?” His forehead was cold, yet Sonia felt oddly warm as their heads touched. “Okay.” She beamed as she gave him a firm nod.
“Alright. You should get some rest. Since we’re going to resolve this tomorrow, we shouldn’t think about it now. You seem rather tired. Go to bed,” Toby uttered as he massaged Sonia’s temples for her.
She half-closed her eyes in response. “You’re right. I feel pretty drained.”
“Go to bed.” Toby pulled the sheets aside and gestured for her to get into bed. She rubbed her eyes as she lay down in her spot, and he tucked her into bed before he walked around to slip into bed from the other side. Once he lay down, he reached his arm out to wrap it around Sonia’s waist in a practiced manner.
Then, he gave her a gentle tug to pull her closer to him. This was precisely the way Sonia would pull her dolls closer to her when she lay in bed as a child. The corner of Sonia’s lips twitched as she thought about this. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at the thought she had, but she didn’t protest or resist his actions. Instead, she lay obediently in his arms without budging at all.
After a short while, she shut her eyes and faded into a deep sleep. Sleep was a contagious thing—Toby pressed Sonia’s head against his chest before he shut his eyes and drifted to sleep as well. On this end, the main figure of discussion and the victim of cyberbullying, Sonia, was having sweet dreams as if everything on the Internet had nothing to do with her.
Meanwhile, the mastermind of this controversy, Jessica, was the one who couldn’t seem to fall asleep.
