Chapter 869 Toby’s Classmate
It was not a joke as Sonia was dead serious about this.
If Toby was still upset with her even though she had tried her best to coax him, then she would definitely be exasperated with him. It would feel like all her effort had gone to waste, so naturally, she would not be happy about it.
Toby picked up on the fact that Sonia meant what she said, so he straightened up and composed himself before shaking his head in response. “I’m not upset anymore. I’m fine now.”
He shot up in high alert as if he were sitting on the edge of a cliff, and Sonia could not help herself from feeling amused by his reaction. Of course, she could tell that he had only said so because he sensed that she was beginning to get a little impatient with him. It was only for the sake of not riling her up, but she had to give him credit for that.
“Since you’re not upset, then show me a smile.” Sonia looked at Toby.
Toby’s lips twitched into a grimace.
She nodded in satisfaction. “Not bad. I’ll accept that.”
Frankly, it was not much of a smile at all, but she knew him well enough to know that it was a good effort. He did not like to smile very much; at most, he gave a faint smile or a slight chuckle whenever he did feel a surge of pleasant emotions. If anyone else asked him to smile, then he would not have even attempted to do it at all. However, he was willing to at least try for her sake, which meant that he really did care about her. Therefore, she was happy to accept it.
The atmosphere in the car finally returned to normal, as if nothing had happened at all. Since Toby did not bring the matter up again, obviously, Sonia did not either.
Half an hour later, they arrived at the police station. She strode into the lobby hand-in-hand with him and signed their names in the visitors’ log book before one of the policemen arranged for them to see Anya. However, it turned out that they came at a bad time, as Anya was currently in the interrogation room and could not be brought out to meet them.
It was to be expected, and since the investigation took precedence, Sonia was happy to cooperate. Both she and Toby settled into a bench nearby. They were in no rush and were willing to wait until Anya’s interrogation ended.
However, just as soon as they took their seats, a man in a suit walked over to them. Sonia noticed his shadow on the floor, and she looked up to see an average-looking man in glasses smiling at them. While his looks were unassuming, he had a confident air about him that made it seem like he had everything under control.
He gave them a polite smile which would usually leave a good impression, but oddly enough, Sonia did not have a good feeling about him at all. In fact, she felt a little uncomfortable with him. She frowned as she asked, “Who are you?”
Judging by his aura and the luxury brands he wore, he had to be someone of status. Sonia may not have recognized him, but Toby did and his expression was a little grim.
“You’re Anya Steinfeld’s attorney?” Toby spoke up and disclosed the man’s identity before the man could answer Sonia’s question.
“Attorney?” Sonia felt surprised, and she began to scrutinize the man in front of them. So, he’s an attorney, huh. Well, he does look like one. It’s too bad that he’s Anya’s attorney.
No wonder she did not have a good first impression of him. Why would she think favorably of anyone who was involved with Anya?
“Yes, President Fuller. I am Miss Steinfeld’s legal representative. Long time no see, President Fuller,” the man responded with a polite smile that had a hint of awkwardness to it.
Sonia noticed the man’s awkwardness as well as the grim expression on Toby’s face. She was rather puzzled as she asked Toby, “You’re acquainted with him?”
Toby narrowed his eyes and said, “Yeah, we’re acquainted. We went to university together, and he used to head our legal department at Fuller Group.”
Her eyes grew wide after Toby made the introductions.
University mates?
Head of the legal department?
She turned her startled gaze back to the man.
The attorney was rather ill at ease and even began to seem a little distressed. He rubbed his nose sheepishly. “It’s a little embarrassing.”
“You’re Toby’s classmate, and you were even the head of his legal department, so how did you end up as Anya’s attorney?” Sonia could not wrap her head around this.
There was no way that an attorney would not check who he would be going up against before he took on a case. Details such as who the plaintiff was, and what kind of influence he had, were information that would sway an attorney’s decision to accept a case. If an attorney had to go up against a powerful figure, then the attorney would be caught between a rock and a hard place. Losing would be the lesser of two evils, but if the attorney won the case, then he would worry about the likelihood of retribution from the plaintiff.
This attorney had to know that he was going up against both her and Toby when he agreed to represent Anya. Since he knew that Toby was involved, then should he not have declined to accept the case to avoid going up against Toby?
It was unusual that this man took on Anya’s case and became her legal representative.
One reason could be that this attorney felt like he had no reason to be afraid of offending Toby. Or perhaps, he thought that his prior connection with Toby would protect him from any sort of payback?
Sonia’s thoughts were spelled out on her face and the attorney added awkwardly, “About that… President Fuller would know why.”
Upon hearing him say that, Sonia immediately turned to Toby. “You know why?”
Toby narrowed his eyes. “He’s a very materialistic man. If he’s willing to accept Anya’s case despite the fact that he would go up against me in a case that he’s bound to lose, then it must mean that Anya offered him a high retainer fee.”
Sonia turned her gaze back to the attorney as if she was seeking verification from him.
The attorney quickly nodded and admitted, “I couldn’t help it. She made a very lucrative offer.”
He had an embarrassed look on his face again as he said, “Actually, I’m well aware of the fact that I’ll just be going through the motions for this case. I’ve gone over the file, so I have a good idea of what happened. My client is the one at fault. There’s enough evidence to prove that, and she has even admitted it herself, so there’s no way for me to try and fight this in court. The only reason why I accepted this legal hot potato is because of the sum of money she’s offered me. After all, why would I turn down a free lunch?”
Sonia’s lips twitched a little. She was rendered speechless by his words, but somehow, he did sound rather convincing. If she were in his position, she might not have declined the case either. Who could say no to free money? Something would not be right with the person who could.
Therefore, after hearing what the attorney had to say for himself, Sonia seemed to have understood why he decided to take on Anya’s case.
“Surely it can’t be that simple?” Toby had a shrewd look on his face as he spoke up. “Anyone with half a mind can tell that this is a no-win situation since Anya is guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt. Even if she hired an attorney to go through the motions, wouldn’t it be enough to just get any random attorney? Why fork out such a huge sum to hire you instead? Let me guess, did the person helping Anya hire you to get to me?”
The attorney adjusted his glasses and gave a helpless smile. “I really can’t hide anything from you, President Fuller. You’ve always been a sharp observer ever since our days in university. You’re absolutely right. Mr. Salzburg did hire me specifically because he somehow found out about our past connection with one another. He was willing to pay a large sum to hire me in the hopes that you would show mercy on Miss Steinfeld for my sake.”
The attorney pointed toward the trial room where Anya currently was in.
Sonia glanced at Toby before taking another look at the attorney. Moments after that, she snorted to herself. Have mercy on Anya?
Anya’s mysterious helper was in for a sore disappointment if he thought that Toby would show mercy to anyone.
Toby had no qualms about disregarding his relationships with other people when it came to doing what he thought was right, unless the person was his grandmother, or perhaps Sonia herself.
