Toby was looking at some charts on his tablet when he heard Jean’s words, which made him frown a little. Tina had been glad to see Jean’s attempts to bring Toby and her closer to each other, but her heart sank the moment she saw Toby’s frown. “Do you not like the idea of me sharing a room with you, Toby?” Tina asked before she bit her lip.
He was just about to part his lips to speak when Jean gave him a light hit on the lap. “Why would Toby not like that idea? Alright, it’s all set!”
“Mom!” Toby’s frown deepened. “This isn’t good for Tina. We’re not married to each other yet.” Tina’s face turned pale upon hearing his words. He’s still rejecting Madam White even after Madam White comes to a fixed decision. Has Toby ever considered how I feel in this situation?!
Meanwhile, Tyler, who had been calmly munching on an apple the whole time, felt oddly pleased when he saw the color draining out of Tina’s face. “Why does it matter if you’re married? You guys are engaged, and you guys are going to stay in the same room eventually. You’d just be doing it a little earlier now,” Jean muttered in a relaxed tone.
Toby turned to look at the woman beside him, who hung her head low. “That would be disrespectful toward Tina,” he uttered.
“What has that got to do with disrespect? Tina is—”
Before Jean could finish her sentence, Tina spoke up. “It’s fine, Madam White,” she said while forcing a smile and shaking her head. “We can forget it since Toby doesn’t want to do it. There are tons of other rooms in the Fuller Residence. I can just stay in another one of them.”
“But…” Jean was still rather dissatisfied; she wanted to continue talking about it.
Then, Tyler threw the core of his apple away before he dusted his hands. “You should just forget it since that’s what Tina wants, Mom. Toby needs to help me with my homework tonight. He wouldn’t have time for Tina anyway.”
Toby shot his brother a glance, and his eyes glinted for a brief moment.
“Homework?” The puzzlement in Jean’s eyes couldn’t be concealed. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe in her own son; it was just that Tyler had never enjoyed studying in the past. It was therefore near-impossible for Tyler to want to work on his homework.
“What does that look in your eyes mean, Mom? What’s wrong with me wanting to work on my studies?” Tyler jumped up to his feet like a cat that just had its tail stepped on.
Jean pouted a little. “Didn’t you say that you’re going to choose basketball over university? What’s the purpose of studying now then?”
“That’s different. I’ll still have to study for my cultural classes even if I don’t go to university. The basketball team will ban me from my competitions if my cultural subject’s marks are too low. Come on, Toby.” Tyler dragged Toby upstairs right after that. As Tina watched the brothers heading up the stairs, both of her hands were curled into tight fists.
Toby spoke after he shut the door behind them in the room. “You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”
In response, Tyler chuckled. “I did it for you. I only did it because you looked like you didn’t want to stay in the same room as her.” There was another reason Tyler did such a thing—he wanted to get revenge for what Tina had done to him at the dining table. “Why don’t you want to stay with Tina, Toby?” With his gaze upon his brother, Tyler posed the question that had been on his mind.
Toby was stunned by the question, and he couldn’t find the right answer to it. He didn’t know why, but he could tell that he felt resistant to the idea; he and Tina had slept on different beds even while they were on holiday. “Alright. Stop asking so many questions. Pull your books out, and I’ll help you out.” Toby was trying to change the subject.
Tyler widened his eyes. “No way, Toby. That was just an excuse. Are you really going to help me with my homework?”
“Hurry!” Toby snapped in an unyielding tone as he shot his brother a cold glare. Tyler wore a dejected look as he speechlessly went over to grab his textbooks.
The next day, Sonia had just arrived at the company when Daphne stepped forward with an envelope addressed to Sonia. “Who sent this?” Sonia took it over and checked it, but there was no sender’s information on it.
Daphne shook her head. “I’m not sure. The front desk said that a teenage boy had sent it over and stated that it was for you.”
“A teenage boy?” Sonia pressed her lips together as Tyler’s face popped up in her mind; he was the only young man she knew. It can’t possibly be him, right? “Got it. You can send me the documents that I need to review today. I’ll be in my office.” Sonia placed the envelope under her arm.
“Noted,” Daphne replied. Once Sonia was back in her office, she lowered her bag and pulled her chair back to sit in it. Then, she opened the envelope to find a ticket and a tiny memo. There was an orange ball printed on the ticket, with ‘U17 Youth Expedition Competition’ written on it. Sonia’s suspicions were confirmed immediately—she was right that Tyler was the one who had sent the letter over.
After placing the ticket aside, Sonia picked the memo up to see a series of crooked and unruly handwriting. She could feel her eyes burning at the unpleasantness of his writing. A disdainful look flashed across her face before she began to read the content of the memo with curiosity. ‘Tomorrow will mark my first competition since I joined the national team. You need to come and watch me! It’ll happen at 4.00 p.m, in the stadium downtown. Sincerely yours, Tyler.’
Sonia stuck her bottom lip out. “Why would I want to watch you play basketball?” I’ve already been nice enough to help him enter the national team. He’s dreaming if he thinks I’ll watch him play! I don’t understand what is up with the sons of the Fuller Family. They were all so uninterested in me when I was still in the family, yet they’re starting to act all nice to me now that I’ve left. They’re crazy!
With a smirk on her thin lips, Sonia tore the memo apart and threw it into the trash can. “President Reed.” Someone then knocked on the door.
“Come in,” Sonia replied as she lifted her head.
“These are the documents that have just been sent over.” Daphne lowered a stack of files onto Sonia’s table.
In response, Sonia nodded. “Alright. I’ll take a look at them later. Also, I’d like you to inform Mr. Lane that there will be a meeting at 10.00 a.m.”
“Okay.” Something flashed across Daphne’s eyes when she heard Charles’s name, but she only nodded before leaving the room. Sonia took her fountain pen up and began to go through the pile of documents. When it was nearly time for the meeting, she stood up and walked over to the meeting room with the help of her walking stick.
It was noontime when their meeting ended. Daphne had ordered lunch for Sonia and sent it over to her office. However, Sonia had only taken a few bites of it when Rebecca knocked on the door and entered with a dejected look on her face. “I’m back, President Reed.”
“Welcome back,” Sonia replied with a smile, but Rebecca continued to sigh. “What is it?” Sonia was confused.
Rebecca shrugged. “I just went on another wasted trip. I still can’t find the person that I’m looking for.”
“Don’t worry. You just need to take your time.” Sonia tried to comfort her. “Have a seat,” she said as she pointed toward the empty seat opposite her.
Thus, Rebecca pulled the chair back to sit down before she continued to speak. “The loans from the few banks have been transferred over, President Reed. There’s a total of six billion, and I’ve already distributed it to the various segments of the business that need it. Take a look.”
“Sure,” Sonia said as she took the file into her hands. After finishing the document, she nodded. “Your distribution is pretty good. Many sections of Paradigm Co. can gradually open up now that we’re working on them one at a time. I’ll talk to Charles and the rest about it, and we’ll proceed with your plan if we don’t find any issues with it.”
“Alright. I won’t bother your mealtime any longer. I’ll head out now.” Rebecca got up to leave, and Sonia picked her chopsticks up to continue her meal.
After the meal, she had a discussion with Charles and a few of the other senior members of the company. They came to a consensus—the funds would be distributed according to Rebecca’s plan, and they would reopen the various projects that they used to have in the past.
Once things were put into action, Sonia found herself overwhelmed with work. She rushed up and down the building to deal with different departments, and it was 2.00 p.m. the next day by the time she got to take a break. She let out a long sigh as she sat by her desk. With her opposite arm, she massaged one of her sore shoulders before switching to the other. Her shoulders felt a little less tense after some massaging, and she looked into her drawer to get herself a teabag. She was about to make herself some tea that would energize her a little when she saw the basketball competition’s ticket lying in the drawer.
“What time is it?” Sonia glanced at the bottom right corner of her computer. 2.39 p.m! It’s not 4.00 p.m. yet. Should I go? Sonia was rather hesitant. She was more inclined toward not going for the competition, yet she didn’t want the ticket to go to waste.
In the end, Sonia decided to take a look. She was the reason Tyler had the tickets in the first place, so Tyler was probably showing his gratitude by getting her to enjoy one of his competitions. With that thought, Sonia picked up her landline and got Daphne to arrange for a driver.
