Tina’s eyes went wide in disbelief. He admitted to it. Is he really courting Sonia?
Other than Tina, Melody and Cynthia were also stupefied. In fact, Melody was staring at Zane like she was staring at an idiot. Both of them hailed from prestigious families, so Melody looked down on him for falling for a woman who had once divorced. He’s bringing shame upon all of the upper class society!
“Mr. Coleman, are you sure you should be doing this? Miss Reed is…” Tina bit her lip as if there was something about Sonia that she should refrain from commenting about.
Sonia let out a snort of incredulity. “Go on, Miss Gray. What is it that you want to say about me? Are you trying to convey to Zane that I have committed certain atrocities by trailing off mid-sentence as if you’re trying to hide something?”
Tina panicked, as she never thought Sonia would expose her intentions directly, which caught her off guard. Therefore, she shook her head while explaining herself, “No, that’s not what I mean. It’s just that Miss Reed is Toby’s ex-wife, and you’re Toby’s friend, so isn’t it a bad idea to go after Miss Reed?”
“Nope. I think it’s a nice idea,” Zane refuted with a smile. “Although Sonia is Toby’s ex-wife, they’re already divorced, so it’s just normal that I would pursue her.”
“But—” Tina seemed to have something else to say.
However, Sonia cut her off. “Is my popularity that much of an eyesore?”
“No, I wasn’t—”
“If that’s not the case, you have no reason to stop Zane from pursuing me. If you think Zane shouldn’t be courting his friend’s ex, don’t forget that you and I used to be coursemates in uni. According to that line of thinking, aren’t you in the wrong for going after my ex?” Sonia wore a half-smirk while observing Tina.
Right away, Tina fell silent as the expression on her face changed drastically. What could I tell her anyway? No matter how I retort, I will only be humiliating myself.
“I guess Miss Gray has nothing to add. Let’s go,” Sonia told Zane.
Zane nodded while gazing at Sonia with a smirk on his face. It’s obvious that Tina is trying to play the victim. Toby is the only one who’s too blind to see that. Heck, he even thinks she is kind and innocent. I don’t understand why he would see Tina with such rose-colored glasses.
Right before they could leave, Melody detained them. “Hold on.”
Sonia narrowed her eyes. “Do you need something, Miss Stryder?”
Both Tina and Cynthia also looked at Melody, who had her arms crossed. With an arrogant look on her face, she demanded, “Are you not going to apologize to Tina?”
“Why should I apologize?” Sonia met Melody’s gaze.
Melody snorted. “You had your suitor kidnap Tina, which led to her being hospitalized. Shouldn’t you apologize considering what you have done?”
“What? Did you have someone kidnap Tina?” Zane was practically shrieking.
Upon hearing that, Sonia rolled her eyes at him. “Do you think that’s possible?”
“I think you might just do that.” Zane nodded in all seriousness.
Sonia’s lips quivered. “Get lost!” With a shrug, Zane fell silent. It wasn’t until then that Sonia returned her gaze to Tina and Melody. “Why would you accuse me of having someone kidnap Tina?”
“Tina told us she heard the kidnapper saying that you’re the mastermind,” Melody replied.
Sonia smiled. “So you believed in what Tina said, and in order to restore justice, you had the banks cut off Paradigm Co.’s funds. Am I right?”
Initially, Sonia thought Melody only did that because of what happened when they played cards previously. However, she dismissed the conjecture as soon as she saw Melody walking beside Tina, and switched to thinking that Melody’s actions might be because of Tina’s kidnapping. Now that Melody brought it up, Sonia was certain that that was the case.
A look of surprise fleeted across Melody’s gaze. “You knew?” Tina and Cynthia also had a similar reaction.
When Sonia saw their expressions, she smirked. “Anything that we do is bound to come to light eventually.”
Soon, Melody regained her composure. “Your knowledge of this makes no difference. Paradigm Co. will be done for anyway.”
“Is that so?” Sonia tilted her head. “Miss Stryder, you stepped in to teach me a lesson for Miss Gray’s sake. I’m touched by your friendship. However, I don’t think Paradigm Co. is anywhere near its end, Miss Stryder. On the contrary, it is your family that will be facing its doom.”
Melody’s pupils shrunk, but she quickly collected herself. “Are you kidding me, Miss Reed?”
“She must be kidding. That’s just how a clown like her is. Considering the Stryders’ status, she couldn’t possibly have predicted their downfall.” Cynthia sneered at Sonia’s words.
Similarly, Tina looked at Sonia disapprovingly. “Miss Reed, you need to check your facts.”
“I don’t think she’s making things up,” Zane interjected out of the blue while gazing at Sonia with a meaningful look. After all, the certainty in her tone made him realize that she might have proof to back her claims. Something might actually happen to the Stryders. I just don’t know how Sonia knows about this.
“Zane, do you believe in what she said?” Melody pointed at Sonia while glancing at Zane with a discontented look.
Just when Zane was about to explain, Sonia took over the conversation. “You’ll soon get to know if I’m telling the truth. I pray that you will be able to maintain your friendship with Tina by then.” With that, she smiled derisively before signalling Zane to take her away. After all the talking, her leg was in so much pain that it was almost numb.
Tina and her gang didn’t stop Sonia and Zane from leaving. At the side, Melody was deep in thought with her head hung low. Meanwhile, Cynthia latched herself onto Tina’s arm while watching the two of them leave. “Tch. Despite how serious she sounded, nobody’s going to believe in her.”
“Alright, stop that. Miss Reed might be too angry after what happened to her company, so—”
Before Tina could finish her sentence, the ringtone of a phone cut her short. Somehow, Melody was feeling uneasy the moment she heard her phone ring. She took out her phone, and her heart sank as soon as she saw the caller ID. “Mom, why are you calling me?”
“Where are you, Melody? Are you still in Seafield?” A woman’s anxious voice came through the line.
Melody was feeling increasingly uneasy. “Yeah. What is it?”
“How dare you even ask?” The woman on the other side of the line burst into tears. Her voice sounded accusatory as she cried, “You got us into big trouble. We received a report stating that one of the Stryders had interfered with another city’s political affairs. Your father was taken away by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, and your uncles are being suspended from their duties.”
“What?” Melody’s expression changed drastically while her limbs turned ice-cold. As her mind was filled with what Sonia told her, her body began to tremble. It’s true. Calamity has befallen the Stryders!
“I’m warning you, Melody. If the Stryders end up falling from grace, we won’t be acknowledging you as our daughter anymore.” With that, the woman cut the call, leaving Melody holding her phone with a blank expression while spacing out.
Tina and Cynthia exchanged a glance. With a look of concern, Tina asked gently, “What’s the matter, Miss Stryder?”
Upon hearing Tina’s voice, Melody snapped back to her senses. When she realized that such calamity only befell the Stryders because she helped to teach Sonia a lesson, she blamed everything on Tina. She had a malignant look on her face as she snapped, “Tina Gray, you’d better hope that the Stryder Family will come out unscathed! Otherwise, I will never forgive you!”
After that, Melody shoved Tina out of her way to leave the hospital immediately. She had to hurry back to Norfolk to apologize to her family, or else she would be done for.
“Tina, what should we do? It’s just as Sonia said—calamity has befallen the Stryders,” Cynthia said, sounding deeply troubled by the turn of events. Instead of replying to Cynthia, Tina rubbed her aching shoulder while biting her lip with her head hung low in an attempt to cover up the panic and uneasiness in her eyes.
