Chapter 821 You Have No Right to Ask
Zane made his way up to the highest floor of the building without much hassle and found himself standing just outside Toby’s office.
He was just about to knock on Toby’s door when the one next to it, which led into the personal assistant’s office, opened.
Tom emerged with a folder in hand, and when he saw Zane outside Toby’s office, he froze. “Mr. Coleman?”
Zane raised a brow but made no reply.
After snapping out of his initial surprise, Tom adjusted his glasses and asked, “What are you doing here, Mr. Coleman? Are you here to see President Fuller?”
“Why else would I be standing outside his office?” Zane rolled his eyes at the question. He then added, “Is Toby in?”
As though realizing that his question was redundant, Tom let out an embarrassed cough and answered stoically, “Yes, he’s in. If you’d like to see him, I’ll go and inform him of your arrival. Just a moment, please.”
Zane narrowed his eyes and asked before Tom could slither into Toby’s office, “What, do I have to announce myself now that I want to see him?”
Tom could tell that the man was decidedly grumpy about this, but he remained composed as he explained patiently, “Here’s the thing, Mr. Coleman. Your affection for Miss Reed has made President Fuller rather unhappy, and as such, he has told me that you are not allowed to go right into his office like old times just to see him; you will need his permission.” With that, he shrugged helplessly as if to show that he had no choice in the matter.
Zane quirked his lips and clicked his tongue, clearly irritated by this unexpected rule. “A little childish and petty of him to deny me from seeing him without prior notice just because of my feelings for Sonia, don’t you think so? Fine, whatever. Just go in and tell him that I’m here.” He waved his hand impatiently as he spoke.
“Very well,” Tom said with a professional smile. Then, he turned to knock on Toby’s door.
“Come in,” Toby’s cold and crisp voice called out from beyond the door after Tom had knocked thrice.
Tom let his hand drop to his side and opened the door. He walked in and said, “I have the documents you asked for, President Fuller.”
As he sat behind his work desk, Toby hummed in response without looking up to acknowledge his assistant. “Just leave them here.”
“Yes, sir.” Tom carefully placed the folder on a spot on the desk that was within Toby’s reach. After that, he took a step back to put some distance between himself and the desk before saying, “President Fuller, Mr. Coleman is here to see you.”
Toby stopped writing abruptly when he heard this, and his pen scraped a hole through the paper. His handwriting was ruined too, and it didn’t look as neat now.
As he frowned, he set his pen aside and took up the piece of paper before crumpling it and throwing it into the trash. After that, he rubbed the space between his brows and asked somberly, “What is he doing here?”
Tom shook his head. “I’m not sure. I didn’t ask, but judging by how at ease he seems, I reckon he’s here to catch up with you.”
Upon hearing this, Toby sputtered. “There’s nothing for us to catch up on, so he must be here for some other reason or ulterior motive. Let him in.”
“Very well, President Fuller,” Tom said with a nod. Then, he turned to walk out the door.
Toby leaned into his seat and closed his eyes. He used his hands to massage the area around his eyes as though to relieve them of the weariness from a day’s work.
Just then, he heard the sound of approaching footfalls. He knew who had come into his office, but that didn’t deter him from massaging the area around his eyes, nor did it make him open his eyes and greet the person. It was as if no one had entered in the first place.
Zane was not at all peeved by Toby’s outright indifference, and he merely chuckled as he looked around the office. While doing so, he mused mischievously, “My, my, Toby—it’s only been months since I last dropped in here, but I can see you’ve made some very big changes. I won’t say much about the warm-colored carpet, but those throw pillows on the couch and the adorable odds and ends that I’m sure are part of your new decoration? I’m a little surprised, honestly. You didn’t redecorate the space for Sonia, did you?”
Toby’s preferences when it came to interior designs were emblematic of what he was like as a person—cold and aloof. Be it his own bedroom or his office, he would always go for cooler palettes that brought an intimidating edge to the space, and anyone who found themselves standing amidst such decor would be unnerved by its obvious lack of warmth.
There had been several occasions in the past when Zane tried to persuade Toby to switch up his preferences and stop turning his office into something like a torture chamber. “Others might start thinking of you as a sadist or something,” he had pointed out to Toby back then.
However, Toby did not take any of his advice.
Now that his office had decorations that would’ve never been there in the first place, Zane couldn’t help but wonder if Sonia was the driving force behind this sudden change in Toby’s preferences.
Presently, Toby put his hands down and opened his eyes slowly. He ignored Zane’s question and instead asked impassively, “What are you doing here?”
Zane did not try to force an answer out of him. He shrugged nonchalantly and pulled out the seat across from Toby before he grinned at the latter. “It’s not a big deal or anything; I just want to know why you’re trying to hide the identities of Sonia’s birth parents from her.”
Toby’s expression shifted at once as a dark look flashed in his eyes. He stared at Zane like how an eagle might zone in on its prey and hissed, “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
Zane rolled his eyes. “Please, like I’d believe you. I heard with my own ears that Jessica was about to tell Sonia who her birth parents were while they were in court today, but before she could get her words out, the bailiff stopped her. Under normal circumstances, the bailiff would never stop the accused from speaking to anyone after the court hearing, especially if the perp has only committed a minor offense like Jessica. Yet, the bailiff stopped her from continuing her conversation with Sonia anyway.”
He continued, “Anyone with common sense would know that the bailiff was acting under someone’s orders, and there are only three people in Seafield capable of giving such orders. Two of them have nothing to do with Sonia whatsoever, which leaves you as the third and only person who could have intervened.”
He was still smiling at Toby even though the latter was already looking mutinous. “Toby, I just want to know why you’re so intent on keeping Sonia’s birth parents a secret from her. I can tell from the fact that you had someone stop Jessica from spilling the truth that you are terrified of Sonia finding out. Is there something about her birth parents that you think could be a problem for her?” he asked.
Toby clenched his fists and asked in a voice so emotionless that it sent chills running down Zane’s spine, “How would you know what took place during the court hearing unless you were there too?” He could think of no other reasonable explanation otherwise.
Upon realizing that he had exposed himself, Zane flashed him a sheepish smile. “Come on, that’s not the point here. I was only there by coincidence. After all, I thought you knew about my being there at the court hearing after Sonia called you on the phone. Sonia and I had agreed to meet up not after the hearing but before it, so I ended up sitting in the courtroom, and…” He let out an awkward cough. “Well, that’s how I found out about it.”
Upon hearing this, Toby pressed his lips into a thin line. The nerve of this guy to attend the court hearing with Little Leaf! I didn’t attend the hearing, and I’m her boyfriend! However, this douchebag decided that he would take my place and stay through the entire hearing instead!
The thought infuriated him to no end, and it upset him even more that Sonia did not mention this to him when they spoke on the phone earlier. He began to wonder if she conveniently left this detail out because she thought it insignificant or if she was trying to keep it a secret from him.
As he pondered on either possibility, his brows drew together. Meanwhile, the air around him grew cold and suffocating.
Even Zane was starting to feel uneasy. He scratched the back of his head and chuckled nervously before saying, “Forget about that, Toby. Come on, tell me what’s the deal with Sonia’s birth parents and the exact moment you discovered their identities.”
Toby wouldn’t have gone to such lengths to keep Sonia from learning the truth if he had no idea of it. As such, Zane was sure that he had the answer.
“What’s it to you anyway?” Toby’s eyes narrowed into slits as he gazed at Zane indifferently. “This is between me and Sonia, and it has nothing to do with you. You have no right to ask about this.”
