Lowering her eyes, Tina hid the grim look in them and replied in a panicky tone, “I didn’t do that. You’ve misunderstood me, Miss Stryder! I—”
“Say no more!” Melody cut her off coldly and sneered at her. “Mark my words, Tina Gray! We’re no longer friends from now on, and I won’t let you off! Just you wait!” With that, she hung up on her.
As Tina stared at the screen of her cell phone, she pursed her lips, which had turned a little pale.
In fact, she had already seen the news about what happened to the Stryder Family in the morning, and she had also prepared herself that Melody would blame it on her. However, she wasn’t expecting Melody to have such a deep hatred for her and even threatened that she wouldn’t let her off.
Tina’s fist tightened as her heart started to beat anxiously. Although the Stryder Family was in trouble now, they were still influential and could easily deal with her and the Grays. Therefore, she had to do something about it.
At the thought of this, she bit her lower lip and gripped her arms tightly. Tears rolled down her cheeks suddenly, and she left the room after grabbing her handbag. Then, she instructed the driver to drop her off at Fuller Group.
As the employees all knew her, nobody stood in her way, so she reached the top floor smoothly before opening the door to Toby’s office.
“Toby…” she muttered in a choked voice, her face tear-streaked.
Meanwhile, Toby was in the midst of a work discussion with Zane, and just when they had reached the most important part, she had barged in out of the blue, forcing them to stop.
“Oh, what happened now, Miss Gray?” Zane asked, stroking his chin and looking at Tina with an amused glint in his eyes.
Ignoring him, Tina merely stared straight at Toby, tears brimming in her eyes.
Setting down the document in his hands, Toby then stood up, a frown on his face as he asked, “What happened, Tina?”
Tina pouted and dashed directly into his arms. For the first couple of seconds, Toby’s arms were raised mid-way in the air before he placed them on her shoulder and back before patting her gently.
“Leave the room for now,” Toby said to Zane. Zane simply shrugged and cast a thoughtful look at Tina in Toby’s arms before turning to go, leaving the both of them alone in the office.
After pulling herself away from Toby’s embrace, Tina lifted her head and said in an aggrieved tone, “Miss Stryder’s family is in trouble, Toby. She’s placing all the fault on me, even saying that she won’t let me off. The fact is… I wasn’t the one who asked her to get even with Sonia. Why is she shifting all the blame on me? I don’t get it.”
“Get even with Sonia?” Toby repeated, his eyes narrowed. “What happened?”
Tina was feeling rather frustrated as she thought, After I’ve said so much, all that he heard was ‘get even with Sonia’?!
Although that was on her mind, she didn’t have the nerve to show it, so she sniffled before explaining, “Miss Stryder came to visit me at the hospital yesterday and asked me how I ended up there. So, I told her that I was abducted by Miss Reed’s suitor. Miss Stryder said she would avenge me by causing trouble for Miss Reed. I tried to stop her, but she refused to listen, and she’s blaming me now, saying that I’m the one who got her and her family into trouble…”
As though she had suffered a great grievance, she broke into tears again as she spoke.
Seeing how sadly she was crying, Toby felt a stab in his heart. He lifted her head, drew out a piece of tissue and wiped away her tears. “There, there. Stop crying.”
“Toby, what should I do now that Miss Stryder said that she won’t let me off? I’m so scared,” she whimpered while looking at him with reddened eyes.
Toby’s lips were pulled into a thin line and he told her, “Don’t worry, I won’t let her harm you.”
“Mmh. I trust you, Toby.” She sniffled and leaned against his chest, looking like she was dependent on him. However, her lips were curled ever so slightly into a smirk when he couldn’t see her face, and a triumphant look flashed in her eyes.
With his protection, Melody wouldn’t be a threat to her anymore because the Fuller Family was anything but a regular family running their own business.
“So you’re no longer scared anymore?” he asked, wiping away the last trace of tears from the corners of her eyes with his thumb.
Shaking her head, she answered, “I’m not afraid anymore. You’re so good to me, Toby.”
“You’re my fiancée, so of course I have to treat you well. Moreover, when we first met six years ago, I already said that I’ll protect you all my life. Did you forget about that?” he asked, gazing at her with a gentle look in his eyes.
She smiled through her tears and nodded. “Of course I remember it, but I didn’t think that you’d still remember it as well.”
“I won’t forget it. I remember everything about you in my heart,” he said, pointing at his own temple.
Her eyelids fluttered as the smile on her face turned a little unnatural. “Actually, everything is in the past and I’ve changed a lot of my habits since then. You should just forget them, Toby.”
“Forget them?” he asked, confused.
Circling her arms around his neck, she said, “Yeah, isn’t it good to just remember me for who I am now?”
As he stared into her expectant eyes, his lips parted and he said, “Okay.”
“You’re so good to me, Toby!” she exclaimed. Then, she went on tiptoes and kissed him on his cheek. Her gaze fell upon his lips and she slowly leaned in.
Toby didn’t dodge and lowered his head as well, but just a second before her lips were about to touch his, Sonia’s face flashed across his mind and he suddenly pushed her away.
Shocked, Tina stared at him blankly with reddened eyes. “You’re pushing me away again, Toby?”
Even Toby knew how his actions had hurt her, so he lowered his eyes apologetically. “I’m sorry, Tina, but this is the office…”
“Do you dislike me?” she asked before biting her lip.
Fixing his eyes on her, he asked in return, “What makes you think this way?”
“Isn’t it true?” Once again, tears began to well up in her eyes. “Are you pushing me away because you dislike the fact that I was touched by other men before?”
“No.”
“Then why did you push me away? Tell me!” she demanded, looking at him sadly.
Toby rubbed the space between his brows, for he had no idea where to begin to explain himself, but right at this moment, Tom came into the room. “President Fuller, all the directors have arrived. Are you going over now?”
After letting out a sigh of relief at Tom’s arrival, he answered, “I’m going now.”
“Okay,” he said and closed the door.
Placing his hands on Tina’s shoulders, Toby said, “Alright now, Tina. I’m going for a meeting first, and we’ll speak afterward.”
“Okay,” she answered while nodding her head reluctantly.
With that, Toby left the room with peace of mind as Tina stared at the direction he had left, her hands tightening into fists slowly. This is the third time already, she thought. This is the third time he has rejected me.
She had no idea why he was turning her down, but she couldn’t leave things as they were now. Even though he said that he loved her, he wouldn’t touch her, and that made her feel really insecure. I have to find a chance to go all the way with him, she thought. Only then can I keep him by my side completely.
On the way to the conference room, Toby suddenly said to Tom, who was behind him, “Later, head to the finance department and claim for yourself a month’s bonus.”
“Huh?” Tom blurted, bewildered. Why is he giving me a bonus out of the blue?
Without explaining himself, Toby added, “Also, buy some supplements which are helpful for a sprained injury and send them to Sonia.”
Knowing about the accident with the elevator the previous day, Tom nodded and answered, “I got it.”
With no other instructions left, Toby then pushed the door open and went into the conference room, whereas Tom stayed outside and called someone on the phone to buy the supplements.
Soon, Sonia received a call from her receptionist. “President Reed, someone sent a lot of things to you. Should I send them upstairs?”
Sonia, who had just sent off the officers from the bank, stepped out of the guest lounge and asked, “What did they send?”
