Sonia smiled as she stood up. “Thank you, Rebecca. If it weren’t for your help, I wouldn’t know what to do.”
Paradigm Co. needed at least a billion in order to operate at any given time. She wouldn’t know where to amass the necessary funds if the banks insisted that she should repay the loans. Therefore, she was grateful that Rebecca had settled the problem for her.
Upon hearing that, Rebecca waved her hand. “You don’t have to thank me, President Reed. I’m your employee, so it’s only natural that I should help relieve you of your burdens.”
Sonia let out a chuckle as warmth coursed through her heart. Then, Rebecca’s lips moved, for she was about to say something, but her phone rang right at that moment. She picked up the call with a serious expression after checking her phone. “Hello?”
“Miss Harper, we found another place that the young master might have spent time at. Would you like to visit the place?”
“Sure. I’ll buy an air ticket right away.” After hanging up, Rebecca glanced at Sonia. “President Reed, I have to apply for a leave again. I have an important errand…”
“Go on.” Sonia chuckled before speaking. “I’ll be waiting to buy you a meal after you come back.”
“Thank you, President Reed. I will be taking my leave after arranging for a driver to pick you up.” With that, Rebecca tucked her phone away and left the room.
Meanwhile, Sonia took her cutlery and continued with her meal. When she figured that the driver that Rebecca had arranged for her should have arrived, she paid for the bill to get ready to return to her company.
Right when she stepped out of the room, the door across from her room opened to reveal Toby and Tom walking out from within. Both of them were startled when they saw Sonia, and the same could be said of her, for she wasn’t expecting to see them there.
“President Fuller.” Sonia was the first to break the silence by greeting Toby a little apathetically, while Toby nodded in response to that.
Tom pushed his glasses up before smiling at Sonia. “Miss Reed.”
“Hello, Tom.” Sonia returned the gesture.
All the while, Toby furrowed his brows, uncomfortable with their exchange. She would smile at Tom, but she always greets me with a poker face. He emitted a chilly aura that caused Tom to shiver before subconsciously putting distance between them.
Since Sonia had no intentions to speak to either of them, she left for the elevator after greeting them. Toby also marched forward. Then, they waited for the elevator in silence. None of them spoke, so the atmosphere between them was depressing.
Tom felt pressured when he glanced at Toby, who was on his left, and then at Sonia, who was on his right. Why must they bump into each other? Tom rubbed his temple to soothe his headache.
A chime indicated that the elevator had arrived. Sonia entered first, with Toby and Tom following behind. Upon entering the elevator, Tom made a conscious choice to stand in a corner and diminish his presence.
After the elevator doors were closed, they started to descend through the floors. Suddenly, the lights on the ceiling flickered a few times, and noises of electricity zapping could be heard.
Tom raised his head while he gulped. “Will the elevator be alright?” He sounded uncertain.
As soon as he said that, the elevator shook violently. Sonia let out a shriek as her face paled due to fright. Because she was wearing heels, she couldn’t keep her balance when the elevator rocked. Not only did her body sway around, but she even sprained her ankle. She could even hear the sounds of her bone dislocating.
Sonia was getting cold sweat, while her face contorted with pain. Right when she was about to topple over, an arm looped itself around her waist from behind her, and that made her freeze in place. “What are you doing?” Her voice was hoarse from the ordeal.
Immediately, Toby pulled her into his arms so that her back was against his chest. “Don’t move. Lean against me and stand still,” he ordered in all seriousness. Seeing that Sonia tried to pry his arm away from her waist out of reluctance, he spoke once again with a voice filled with authority. “Do as I say if you don’t want to twist your other ankle.”
That made Sonia pause her movements. He knows that I sprained my ankle! She wasn’t sure how she felt about that, but she stopped trying to wrench herself free from his protective embrace. Instead, she leaned against him docilely, for she didn’t want to have to go to work in a wheelchair in the case that she did twist both of her ankles.
The shaking went on for around two minutes before everything finally died down, and the elevator was able to reach the ground floor smoothly. When the sunlight filtered in the moment the doors opened, Sonia could feel her hanging heart finally settling down in her ribcage as relief washed over her.
Meanwhile, Tom tidied his clothes and marched out of the elevator in the lead to hold the door for them so that it wouldn’t close on the other two people. When Sonia lowered her head to check on Toby’s arm on her waist with a complicated look, she inquired calmly, “Can you release me now, Mr. Fuller?”
“Sorry.” Toby removed his hand.
After Sonia regained her footing by supporting herself on the wall of the elevator, she shook her head. “You don’t have to apologize to me. I should be the one to thank you for helping me just now.”
“It’s nothing.” Toby’s gaze dimmed when he noticed the distressed look on Sonia’s pale face. Then, his gaze travelled downward to her swollen ankle. His heart tightened at the sight of it. “Your ankle…”
Sonia looked downward to check on it before trying to move her ankle a little. As soon as she did so, an excruciating pain shot up from her ankle and then spread throughout her entire body. She grunted as beads of sweat formed on the surface of her skin. Even though her breathing picked up, she feigned nonchalance as she smiled. “My ankle’s alright.”
You call that alright? Toby’s lips were pulled into a thin line when he noted the beads of sweat on her forehead. After that, he bent down to carry her in his arms bridal style before stepping out of the elevator.
On the other hand, Sonia was dumbfounded. When she snapped back to her senses, she started to struggle. “Toby Fuller, what are you doing? Put me down now!”
“Don’t move, or you might fall off my arms!” Toby reminded her with a frown on his face.
Either due to anger or shame, Sonia’s face turned a shade of scarlet while her body was all stiff. “Then you should put me down.”
“Can you walk if I do that?” Toby swept a glance at her leg.
Although Sonia choked on her own words, she quickly regained her composure and let out a huff. “It’s none of your business.”
“This hotel is part of Fuller Group. As the boss, I am responsible since you got injured here,” Toby replied.
Behind them, Tom could hardly calm down as he gazed at their backs. He already noticed back when they were in the elevator that Toby was also having a hard time balancing himself, but he tried his best to protect Sonia nonetheless. When Toby came to know that Sonia had sprained her ankle, he even had a worried look on his face.
From what I saw, I think President Fuller has feelings for Miss Reed. Tom was pondering about the situation when he heard Toby calling out to him. Putting away his thoughts, he then walked toward the lounge area in the lobby. “President Fuller.”
“Get us some ice packs,” Toby instructed.
With a nod, Tom obeyed his instructions, and the ice packs arrived shortly. Toby sat down after taking them, and then bent down to pick up Sonia’s injured leg to place it on his own lap. Just when he was about to remove her heels, she pressed on his hand. “President Fuller, I can do this on my own.”
Sonia wasn’t sure what he was up to for treating her so nicely all of a sudden, nor did she plan to find out the reason. If he had done that way back, she would probably be moved to tears, but that wouldn’t happen now. After all, her heart had gone cold with apathy, so she wouldn’t feel anything just because he decided to be nice to her.
Therefore, Sonia removed her leg from Toby’s lap before taking off her heels to put the ice packs on her ankle to ease the pain. Toby pulled his lips into a thin line when he noticed her actions, slightly irritated by her reluctance to comply with him. Although he knew he didn’t like it when she deliberately tried to distance herself from him, he couldn’t place a finger on the reason.
“President Reed, I have come to fetch you!” All of a sudden, a familiar voice came through from somewhere nearby.
